Donn wrote:David Richoux wrote:
seems like there are always a few audience members taking notes during performances and stepping up to complain about some perceived "lack of accuracy" after the set.
What is their standard for accuracy - are you supposed to be like Turk Murphy, Kid Ory, ...?
I'd like to get back into something of this nature, but indeed I'm not sure "Dixieland" is really the word for what would work for me. Does it matter what you call it? Well, sure it does! Try calling it "death metal" and see how that works out. If there are audiences that will show up for traditional jazz, but not for dixieland (and I assume there are), I'd be very interested to know what the difference is in their minds.
I have not been able to figure that out in 25 years! I called my radio show "The Jazz Parade" and I felt free to play not only "Hard Core Traditional Jazz" like you can hear on
http://www.redhotjazz.com but also Dixieland, Ragtime, New Orleans Brass Bands, Marching Bands, Big Band Swing (hot and sweet,) Western Swing, early Blues, Jugbands, Novelty and period Comedy. I am sure I lost some purist "Mouldy Figgs" every once in a while, but this kind of music was getting hard to find on broadcast radio (long before the Internet and satellite radio could provide similar programs.)
As for my jazz band - just got this review from a performance we did a few weeks ago:
The bio description (last month) of And That’s Jazz … “Chicago-style”
may have been misinterpreted by some of our members who
chose not to attend. Gene Maurice plays a very early version
of the Chicago style, which would have satisfied those who
prefer a New Orleans style. Nevertheless we had a
very decent attendance, which Gene’s band well deserved,
because it is a very good band indeed.
Gene’s band benefits from long-term regular gigs. Accordingly they
get things right from the first note, their tempos don’t wander and
they play some of the more sophisticated material that cannot be
executed well without plenty of practice. We were struck with their
very tasteful rendition of “Sobbin’ Blues” (more usually played by
pro bands), a very effective “Chimes Blues,” and a particularly
enthralling version of “The Mooch.” Several musicians in the
audience stopped by my table to compliment the band. The music was
excellent for listening, and our dance floor was consistently full.
Many thanks, Gene, for a great afternoon...
(the performance was for the New Orleans Jazz Club of Northern California - they have been presenting local bands (plus national and international bands on tour) since the mid 1960s - an audience of very knowledgeable jazz fans, dancers and musicians. We have played there many times, but maybe they saw the words "Chicago Style" and thought it might be "Dixieland!")
