[Dixielandjazz] Dukes of Dixieland & Marek

[David Boelke]

Thanks for that, Jim. 


Over the years as a lurker and silent onlooker to this email stream, I've read the diatribes against the Dukes from various jazz proponents and can only conclude that the worst people to talk about music are usually really good musicians. Perhaps they have operated so long in the more rarified air of "real jazz" that they take solid musicianship for granted. Calling the Dukes of Dixieland "corny" reminds me of how the critics savaged a corny musical, "The Sound of Music" when it debuted, only to have it become one of the most successful productions on Broadway and a box office smash as a movie. As was said at the time, "Apparently, nobody liked it but the public."


In the meantime, I'm seeing fewer and fewer musicians and members in the jazz clubs here in Los Angeles and its environs. Whatever you think about commercially slick, popular jazz groups, you can't deny the power of some of that so-called corny music to amaze newer and younger audiences. But hey, what do I know?  I'm just a Dukes of Dixieland fan who once brought his too-hip-to-like-jazz 15-year old rock drummer daughter to hear them down in New Orleans on a riverboat. She walked away awestruck by their musicianship. Would more corny groups of younger musicians possessing what you so rightly call the "swing and clarity" of the Dukes of Dixieland spark a revival here? I don't know, but I'd be there to listen.




Dave Boelke
 




-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Kashishian <jim at kashprod.com>
To: Dave Boelke <DBoelke at aol.com>
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Fri, Aug 31, 2018 11:31 am
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Dukes of Dixieland & Marek



Yes, I knew that Marek was not a Dukes' fan, but have heard various cons about them over the years even on this list.  Seems folks either are for or very much against them!  As someone else said, as a machine for early inspiration, they filled the bill for me.  The bass line was always very present in their recordings, and I learned to hear the chords by following those lines, eventually not only playing the bass lines on the trombone, but branching off further with improvisation while playing along with their records.  Ok, some of the songs put out on AF records could be corny, but the real Dixie tunes were played with great swing & clarity.  I don't understand the comments about the banjo & tuba songs, as there was an equal amount of songs played with string bass.  Their recording of L-O-U-I-S-I-A-NA displays a light swinging rhythm section and a great vocal.  How can one complain about that?  Anyway, it seems to be another one of those subjects that will never be agreed upon.  For me, my personal thanks to a band that got me on the road I have travelled all my life!


Jim Kashishian


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