[Dixielandjazz] Doom-sayer

[Gary Lawrence Murphy]

on the subject of radio vs trad jazz or trad folk or even classical, it's
good to remember Gil Scott Heron's line on how the Revolution Will Not Be
Broadcast :)

you need to forget about "mass media" because it is neither.  yes, time was
the media thought it a social responsibility to inform and elevate their
audience, to bring the world to their door so to speak, but that world is
long gone; radio today is about selling ears to advertisers by any means
possible, and that is the end of the story.  One of thos advertisers is the
record companies, and so they stations are TOLD what to play and when
(remember when 'payola' was a bad word?) and the songs you hear on those
stations are not being played to be the music of your culture, they are
little 4 minute infomercials for pop culture products.

the so called 'festivals' are largely no better, they have become trade
show exebitions of latest product by the top brands.  Check out your local
musicians networks for the number of seminars on "making your brand" or
"branding your product" -- the sound they make sounds like music, but when
I search 'music' on google, I almost never encounter anything I recognize
as 'cultural' from an anthropology sense of the word, only product lines,
what the marketing people call "Values and Lifestyles" selling your whole
personality in a can.

but as Pete Seeger said after leaving the Weavers when the band decided to
work for Big Tobacco, "we were here long before they got here, and we'll be
here long after" -- in my own area there are contra-dance sessions that
attract good sized crowds to dance to trad fiddlers, there are huge
jamborees who still fill legion halls to dance to "Hillbilly music" (as
Billboard used to define it) and the city of Toronto has more OKOM venues
than I can count, and the best part is none of these groups has any hope of
"making it big" or even just making money, and so it becomes
anthropologically a culture, a network of people sharing in the creation of
their world.


On Sun, Mar 9, 2014 at 12:01 PM, Roy Taylor <budtuba at gmail.com> wrote:

> I have been listening to another ideom of past music on the public radio
> Saturday mornings. This a show called Folk Alley.  The performances have
> been recently recorded at festivals thoughout America and feature some
> really talented young people.  I also noticed one other main thing:  most
> of the music is NOT the traditional folk music we grew up with and
> resurrected by the likes of Bob Dillon, Arlo Guthrie, the Weavers, and the
> Kingston Trio (to name a few), but they write their own music and none of
> it is familiar to me.  It is beautiful, but I miss the old folk songs.
>
> Dixieland has not had the same resurgence of style with new music being
> written and to some degree is hampered by the copyright laws being enforced
> by ASCAP.  The 75 year conversion to public domain stalled out (as I
> understand it) with tunes written before 1923.  Consequently, there is a
> least one additional expense to be paid on public gigs that gain any
> significant publicity to draw a crowd.  Yet this is the music that pleases
> us and our followers for it reminds us the fun days now past.  New
> musicians capable of learning dixieland are no longer being exposed to the
> old songs unless the remaining veteran musicians recruit them and teach the
> style.  There is a handful of excellent musicians who reach the airways and
> stages, but not the groundswell that I experienced as a youth in the 1960s
> and 70s.
>
> I would not say a new resurgence is impossible for the early recordings are
> available in much higher sound fidelity that we learned from, and music
> schools like the Eastman School teach the underlying music theory and do
> pay homage to The Great American Songbook. However, music students must be
> multi-disciplined in a large range of ideoms to make a career successful
> enough to pay for their training and may just not land a gig that leads
> them to totally embrace Dixieland.
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 9, 2014 at 10:03 AM, Marek Boym <marekboym at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Dear Bob,
> >
> >
> >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > What I've always known would happen, is happening now- at least in the
> > > USA. The remaining few players of live OKOM are rapidly aging, as are
> > their
> > > audiences.
> >
> >
> > >From time to time US listmates send links to videos by young American
> OKOM
> > bands, such as Tuba Skinny.  This year a young American traditional band
> > led by E,ily Asher on trombone played here in Israel.  So even in the US
> > things are not as gloomy as you paint them.  OK, there are no young dyed
> in
> > the wool fans who'd subscribe to the Dixie Flyer, but there are  young
> > players and young audiences.  Perhaps not of the very mouldy variety, but
> > they still listen and dance to traditional jazz.  Our ex-listmate Steve
> > BArbone often plays for young audiences.  Swing dancers dance to OKOM
> even
> > in th US.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > I'm sure all of you in the USA know this. I think we must recognize
> that
> > > our kind of music has not caught on with the younger generations, and
> > that
> > > we will see live hot jazz disappear into the sunset, probably within
> the
> > > next ten years.
> >
> >
> > As long as there are young players, and there are, there will be young
> > audiences, even if the world is no longer jazz crazy.  In ten years the
> > musicians I've mentioned will be in their thirties of forties, so you
> > haven't that much to worry about.
> >
> >
> > > I, for one, do not see this as a disaster, but only as our failure to
> > have
> > > gotten our kids interested and for not providing opportunities for
> Black
> > > players to make a living.
> >
> >
> > Some players in the young American  bands are black.  On the other hand,
> > the revival was a white phenomenon; it might have provided work for blac
> > musicians, but did not attract black audiences.
> >
> >
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > The President's column suggests that we could attract a new set of
> > members
> > > by offering swing dancing - and conjectures that they might be
> converted
> > to
> > > righteous music.
> > >
> > >
> > > Through 19 "Serenades for Mouldy Figges" (see my book, "The World in a
> > > Jug"), I have been trying make conversions. I assure you, it can't be
> > done!
> >
> >
> > "Can't be done."   How do you know?  You have tried and failed, but don't
> > forget that the previous revival thrived on dancers.
> >
> >
> >  I don't see any hope of a 'revival' such as occurred in the 40s and 50s.
> >
> >
> >
> > YOu may be right (I was too young the, anyway), but nobody saw it coming
> > before it occurred.
> >
> >
> > > SO my fellow Americans and Canadian friends, dust off your victrolas
> and
> > > retain your memories. I remember Greenwich Village and 52nd St. after
> the
> > > war, when there were over 10 venues that featured OKOM 6 nights a week
> > from
> > > 9pm to 4am,
> >
> >
> > When I look at jazz in New York, there is much more OKOM there now than
> > there was in 1996, my last visit there.  Not necessarily the Yerba Buena
> > variety, but traditional nevertheless.
> >
> >
> > > with an equal number of Black and White musicians.  Those were the
> glory
> > > days!
> > >
> >
> > You Americans are so colour conscious!
> >
> > Age gracefully,
> > >
> >
> > Gracefully?  How about the fun?  A good friend of mine, quite a few years
> > older, has just told me she was aging disgracefully and enjoying every
> > minute of it!  I'm with her (not physically - she lives in the south of
> > England), not with you.
> >
> > Cheers
> >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > >
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> > >
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> >
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> Roy (Bud) Taylor
> Smugtown Stompers Jazz Band
> Rochester, New York
> Traditional Jazz since 1958
> "we ain't just whistling dixie!"
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