[Dixielandjazz] Young musicians

[philwilking]

Too true.

I have heard this and variations upon it too many times to count through the 
years.

"We need to get a younger audience." "We need to get some younger players; 
all the old guys are dying off." Etcetera.

Onto my soap box:

The fact is: if we want to get some young blood, we are going to have to go 
seek it out and make a significant effort to interest it. It is NOT going to 
come looking for us. Learning and playing music of any kind is WORK, work 
which the majority of the population can not, and a significant portion of 
the rest will not, do. For that remainder which might take up OKOM, there 
are too many other distractions, all available to any couch potato at the 
push of a button, to expect them even know it exists, much less go looking 
for it.

That means we, the current players who claim to want new blood, must go to 
that potential new blood, it is not going to come to us. If one of your band 
members lives in a house with a decent porch, rehearse on it so the 
neighbors can hear it. Organize a block party and play for it just for the 
fun of it. Donate an afternoon to a church function; especially an outdoor 
function where the neighbors will hear it. Make sure there is room to dance 
in front of the band stand. Play for the dancers - not just ultrafast 
numbers for yourself. Don't just do foxtrots and swings; believe it or not, 
if you play a waltz, the youngsters will try it. If you play a rumba or 
cha-cha, they will try it. If you let it be known that lessons in how to 
play this music are available, you will get a recruit every now and then.

This is not pie in the sky. Back in the middle 1980's, the Louisiana 
Repertory Jazz Ensemble would play in a termite-ridden dump of a saloon on 
Wednesday nights in New Orleans' "Irish Channel." They filled the place with 
college kids who danced. On a Wednesday night in a tough neighborhood! That 
was 35 years ago.

Currently, a band called "Tuba Skinny" attracts a large following. They are 
young adults and they play very well. If they don't have a gig in a bar, 
they play on the street for tips, which they get. When they do have an 
indoor job. They over-fill the place. They are careful to play a variety of 
rhythms and play dancing tempi, and everyone - band and audience - has fun.

And that is the secret: get the audience participating - dancing - instead 
of just sitting listening and getting drunk. That's how jazz started; it was 
dance music. It still is. Once you get them moving, they will have more fun 
and so will you. And look out for the five or six year old child who 
literally MUST move to your music. The joy on that face is all the pay you 
need.

Off soap box.

Phil Wilking - K5MZF
www.nolabanjo.com

"And God promised man that good and
obedient wives would be found in all
corners of the earth." Then God made
the earth round and laughed and laughed
and laughed.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Marek Boym
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2020 11:01
To: philwilking
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Young musicians


OK, so Norbert Susemihl has been around for a while, but is certainly 
younger than most listmates (Joe excepted), but the others are all young.
Now what we need is young audience!