[Dixielandjazz] Fw: Dixieland School Assemblys? Part III

[Robert Ringwald]

Jim has some very good ideas below.

There are several members of DJML who have given school assemblies.

I've done several over the years.

Here are a couple ideas.

1. Contact the drama teacher or whomever would be appropriate to see if 
there are any students who are dancers. You can talk a little about Jazz 
being the dance music of its day. Get the students to Swing dance, 
Charleston, whatever type of dance they can do from the 20s and 30s. Having 
students be involved always creates interest with the rest of the kids.

2. To start, play one song. Then talk about the various roles of the 
instruments in a jazz band.

For instance, start with the trumpet playing the melody. Then add the 
clarinet, then trombone. Then piano, banjo, bass and finally drums.

Or start with drums and work the other way.

Remember, now days with 10 second commercials, kids multiple tasking, etc, 
it is harder to hold their attention. Do one hour, don't dwell or make long 
drawn out explanations of whatever you are talking about.

You can talk a little how the original Jazz bands were not called Jaz. They 
were dance bands.

Meanwhile piano players were playing Ragtime in bars. I don't think I'd 
refer to whore houses in a school assembly. If you have a good piano player 
in the band that can demo a little Ragtime, tell the kids that Ragtime was 
originally called Ragged time and have the pianist demo this fact by playing 
a little bit of a Rag with no syncopation, then play it again with the 
syncopation.

For dances, the bands would get on horse drawn wagons and go around town 
playing to advertise the dance that night.

Some times they would pull up two wagons and have a battle of the bands.

Eventually the bands added piano players.

This all was in New Orleans. Eventually the musicians started going to 
Chicago. Then prohibition came in and the Jazz bands had to play in 
speakeasy's.

Tell em how the first Jaz recording was made by the Original Dixieland Jass 
band. Jass was changed to jazz because people would cross out the J on the 
posters.

Other bands were asked to be the first to record but they declined because 
they felt that if their music was on a record, other musicians would steal 
their "licks."

You can tell them how in the late 20s and early 30s, musicians started 
writing arrangements for bigger bands. Thus you could have a bigger band, 16 
or 17 pieces and by playing a written arrangement, they didn't get in each 
others way.

You can demo the different influences that went into Jaz. Marches, Hymns, 
Latin, Country, etc.

Of course some of what I am saying is simplistic, history of Jazz in a shoe 
box. But you can tailor it to your audience.

HTH


-Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com



-----Original Message----- 
From: Jim O'Briant
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2016 8:21 AM
To: Bob Ringwald
Cc: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Dixieland School Assemblys? Part III

Larry Zaidan wrote:

... [I] have been contacted by a school to play for a Mardi Gras assembly
> for 1 hour, or 1 1/2 hours.  The band would be the main focus of
> attention,
> not background music. ...
>
> Any ideas on presentation?

I see a great opportunity to involve students in the music. If this is a
high school, you might speak with the band director to see if they have any
jazz or improvisation going on in their music program. If so, and if the
students are good at improvisation, you could have one or two of them "sit
in" on a tune or two. This would likely involve additional time to audition
these students to see how they would do -- after all, they don't want to
fall flat on their face in front of their friends, and you don't want them
to, either -- but if there are a couple who can improvise in a trad style
(not just using blues scales to noodle over modern jazz chords), we might
win some new converts to OKOM.

I also see that on your website [
http://coppelia-enterprises.com/crescent_city_ramblers.html ] there's a
photo of the "Crescent City Ramblers" wearing straw hats and striped vests.
If this is your standard uniform, and if you're playing for elementary
school students, this will probably go over well. If you're playing for
middle school, junior high or high school students, however, I fear that
they'll take one look at this "uniform" and immediately classify the whole
thing as "corny" and not worth their time or their attention. For middle
school, junior high or high school I'd suggest that the band's "uniform" be
dress slacks (all the same color), a white or colored dress shirt, and a
necktie, and perhaps a sport coat.


Jim O'Briant
Gilroy, CA
Tuba & Leader, The Zinfandel Stompers Vintage Jazz Band
Youth Activities Coordinator, South Bay Traditional Jazz Society






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