[Dixielandjazz] Dado Moroni and Rosario Giuliani

[philwilking]

Thank you for a calm voice in the hubbub of angry shouts (I almost wrote 
"prejudiced shouts").

I am of a similar age to you (I turned 79 yesterday - and I can prove it) 
and I have been listening to music since before I was born. My mother was a 
classically trained pianist and practiced while she carried me.

I could write a long term paper on why popular music changes over time as it 
does, but I won't here.

For myself, I have an optimistic personality. Therefore I tend to prefer the 
tunes of the 1920's, an optimistic decade, to those of the 1930's, the Great 
Depression, a pessimistic time. But I still love "As Time Goes By" (1931) 
and "Over The Rainbow" (1938) because I think they are beautiful tunes. I 
even like "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy," (1950) which has a nice bounce.

But one thing all these tunes have is a feeling of progression; they start 
there, and go through here, and end over yonder. They have a beginning, 
middle, and end. They do this through the use of melody. When you play one 
of these tunes, even when you play "variations on the theme," to hold my 
interest you must first prove you know the melody, as well as have a firm 
rhythm, and then never lose track of the melody completely. If you do lose 
track of it, I leave and I don't come back, and I don't buy your recordings. 
That last includes the music of most bands of the later Swing and Big Band 
periods and their modern imitators. The big bands tended to play the same 
riff over and over, they have rhythm but they wear out what little melody 
there is: boring. The later swing people and their successors seemed to be 
interested more in showing off their technical ability than in playing a 
tune of any kind: more boring. If you are not technically proficient, why 
are you on the bandstand?

For those who prefer displays of technical fire to hearing a tune, go for 
it. Just don't blast me with it. Play your record of a twelve minute drum 
solo, but keep it to yourself. I don't blast you with my Joe Oliver and 
Jelly Roll Morton records.

Phil Wilking - K5MZF
www.nolabanjo.com

Like earthworms, wire coat hangers are hermaphroditic.
Unless each one is covered in its own plastic shroud,
any two or more wire hangers in a dark closet will breed.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Robert Ringwald

Come on guys. Ease up. Marek is right about his right to like what he 
enjoys. Some of the comments pointed at Marek have been a little rude, 
especially comments about
“Cleaning out your ears.”

I too have been through the full range of jazz. At the age of 78 1/2, I’ve 
been listening to all forms of jazz since 1945 when I was 5 years old. While 
I love the original Brubeck Quartet and the Rob McConnell Boss Brass, most 
of the modern jazz leaves me cold. As a musician, I can appreciate the 
technical prowess and ideas of most of the modern players, but their music 
does not turn me on. It does not excite me such as the YBJB, Turk Murphy, 
original Dukes, Condon, WGJB, etc does.