[Dixielandjazz] Good music + fun, George Probert + FH5+2

[Jim Kashishian]

With mention of George Probert, the name of the FireHouse Five + 2 comes up.
And, when that band's name comes up so does the argument about the
"entertainment" side of that band.  I bought gobs of their albums when I was
a teenager, and saw them live in a tiny club in Los Angeles even.  

I think the poor FHF+2 suffered too much condemnation for their entertaining
& the costumes & sirens.  Much of that came from other musicians that
weren't doing as well as they were.  They were a solid, strong dixieland
band...that didn't mind having a little fun, also.  The main thing is that
they first played well.  The fun part was secondary.
 
It's a lesson I learned from them, and I'm not particularly adverse to the
fun bit myself as you can see in this video from our gig last Saturday nite.
http://youtu.be/Y75FmHXhkR0
 
We originally were contracted in November to play this restaurant one nite a
month.  We have been booked for two weekends (4 nites) this month after our
first two month's successes.  

We play good music, plus have a good time at it = more gigs!  We had one
nite at another club at the beginning of the month, and have another 4 nites
at another at the end of this month, which gives us a nice round gig
calendar this month.  And...we get snubbed by some other local musicians
'cause we are "entertaining"!   :>  
 
The owner has latched on to our playing Happy Birthday at tables, and is
advertising now to "come to our place" for your birthday! In the video we
had two different birthdays...Carlota & Elio (who turned out to be the
son-in-law of the owner!).
 
Jim