[Dixielandjazz] applause and Bud Freeman

[Charles Suhor]

Speaking of Bud, I’m just catching up with the strand that discussed the box set of Condon with Freeman Commodore sessions—I just got through hearing the entire set. Thanks for recommending. 

I was never a huge fan of Freeman but I came away with a greater appreciation of his invention. And the vintage Chicago jazz of Wild Bill, Kaminsky, Pee Wee, Wettling, and the less raw but fine performances of Hucko, Hackett, and Dixon were a joy to hear. In some cases, to revisit. I had several of the sides on 78 rpm in my teens. I wasn’t converted, though, from my bias against the tenor sax in the Dixieland front line. It still seems to obscure the wonderful clarity of the trumpet/bone/clary interplay.  

Re applause between solos, that has never bothered me except when it’s an automatic after every solo, with no difference in intensity proportionate to the excitement or originality of the solo. When audiences do show some spontaneity, it’s a sign of authentic response--I’m encouraged that they’re actually listening. This is confounded, of course, when a soloist gyrates and grimaces a lot, whether naturally or as a showcasing antic, or too often quotes cutely from other tunes as a crowd-gooser. 

I’ve long found myself wishing that at classical music concerts, the convention of not applauding between movements would give way to earnest applause, especially when the performance is brilliant. Let joy ring out. There’s no question of drowning out the next movement, since there’s a pause in between anyway. In operas, a fine aria often meets with applause and bravos. Double standard there.

Charlie



> On Dec 26, 2015, at 9:36 PM, ROBERT R. CALDER <serapion at btinternet.com> wrote:
> 
> I remember dear Bud, when he was caught out by a polite audience, for rather than dive in when the preceding soloist was still being applauded he would play softly, saving his breath, with a few notes audible over the noise, and have his breath available to cut through as the volume of applause tapered off. So in fact rather than people missing the start of his solo he began with a late start like a long pause.  
> 
> Of course if he had been following Doc Cheatham he might well not have needed that, for Doc could shape a solo to conclude with an introduction for the next soloist. 
> 
> Listening to Doc, I was always conscious that whichever band he was with sounded less noisy than before he was brought on -- of course I was once asked, before Doc had taken to playing with his trumpet almost vertical, why he lowered it when playing louder. Being very tall I could see over the crown around the bandstand, and quite simply he was lowering the bell of the horn closer to a microphone the man who asked couldn't see. 
> 
> Dynamics, dynamics, 
> 
> Robert R. Calder
> 
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