[Dixielandjazz] Young musicians

[philwilking]

Yes, schools, especially the younger grades, are a wonderful place to play. 
In some cases a union band can even make a "green sheet job" out of such an 
excursion. For non-members, "green sheet" means "Music Performance Trust 
Fund," a union device to allow union members to play for public functions 
while still claiming they never just give away their services.

I suspect that a large part of the problem you mention with school courses 
happens because the teachers grew up listening to their grandparents' 
records, and their grandparents grew up in the the big band swing era. Those 
teachers have little inclination, and no incentive, to ask "What did the big 
band musicians listen to when they were young?" So what else is new? Almost 
every one of us subconsciously assumes the way the world was when we were 
growing up is the way the world was always. How many age 30 or less could 
use a rotary dial telephone easily? How many in a "Drivers' Ed." class could 
change a tire? For Heaven's sake, how many young girls (never mind young 
boys) could replace a button on a shirt or close up an open seam in the seat 
of a pair of trousers, or rustle up some bacon and eggs for breakfast 
instead of popping open some package from the refrigerator? How many could 
set a snap trap for a rat (or even a mouse) without breaking a finger? These 
are standard life skills in a non-computer world.

If you do get to play at a school, watch out for the early grade "teacher" 
who will try to ruin the experience for the first and second graders.
This really happened:
Our band was playing for an elementary school. The very youngest children 
got up and started bouncing around to the music, just as they were supposed 
to do. Their teacher put ferocious scowl on her face and sternly ordered 
them to sit down, be quiet, and enjoy the music. They sat, she was happy, 
they were not. She was a tall beefy blonde woman who looked as if she threw 
anvils for exercise, and I have always remembered her and her manner as 
"Brunhilde of Buchenwald."

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: Gordon Pascoe
Sent: Friday, May 01, 2020 02:57

But many high schools and universities teach jazz courses where much of the
music is almost undanceable. It is often announced as a "classic dance
number" (say a Glenn Miller) and the players proceed to play a hodge-podge
of technique disguised as "variations." We are often told who the arranger
is but rarely the composer.