[Dixielandjazz] Young musicians

[Marek Boym]

Hello Phil,
When I say "we," I don't mean "we musicians," as I have never played an
instrument, I mean "we the audience."  We are getting older and older, and
hence fewer and fewer of us can make the trips to jazz festivals which, on
top of everything, are costly.  Here in Israel the clubs, not too numerous,
have younger audiences whatever they feature; at 79, I usually raise the
age average, and when an 85 year old friend and his wife come, we double
it.  But when I do to an in-door jazz festival abroad, I am in the younger
bracket; sometimes I get the feeling that I am not going for the music,
just to feel young!  Festivals with free open air activities do something
to spread the music - in Bude they have free concerts on the lawn, a free
show on the porch of of the Hartland hotel, and buskers; those things don't
happen in four star hotels, and festivals fold due to dwindling audiences.
Cheers

On Fri, 1 May 2020 at 10:21, philwilking <philwilking at cox.net> wrote:

> 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!
>
>
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