Post 242: THE JAZZ GUIDE (U.K. MONTHLY MAGAZINE)

I have mentioned the British Jazz Guide before.

This excellent publication was founded in 1973 by a couple living in the English Midlands - Bernie and Lynda Tyrrell. At first, it was a single folded sheet of A4, in black and white. They built it up over many years to the glossy A5 44-page magazine that it is today. Sadly, both Bernie and Lynda died not many months ago. The British jazz public owes them a great debt of gratitude.

Fortunately for us all, the magazine has been taken over by the publishers Cheney Graphics Ltd., 7 Blackwell End, Potterspury, Near Towcester, NN12 7QE. They also have a Jazz Guide website at:

www.thejazzguide.co.uk

The magazine is free. That is to say, it has no cover price. It is distributed at several jazz clubs and by some jazz bands. However, if someone in the U.K. wants to receive it in the post every month, they can do so on a modest payment for six months - to cover postage and packing. Have a look at the website if you are interested.

What does the magazine contain? Hardly ever does it have any articles about jazz. But what it offers are the following invaluable pieces of information:-

(1) details about dozens of traditional jazz bands playing in England (and a few in Wales and Scotland).

(2) a day-by-day list of the traditional jazz public performances coming up in the pubs, clubs and other venues throughout the month. These are listed by regions.

(3) advertisements for traditional jazz festivals (typically held over a full weekend at a seaside resort).

(4) advertisements for festivals overseas, including package tours for jazz fans (for example, to New Orleans).

(5) advertisements for particular jazz venues.

(6) advertisements by sellers of specialist jazz CDs.

What a great service to traditional jazz!

Post 241: MUTES FOR CORNETS AND TRUMPETS

The word 'mute' is slightly misleading because it suggests silencing. Although most mutes do indeed reduce the decibel level, their true function is to alter the instrument's tone. They capture different moods and create different textures; and they produce 'jazzy' effects.

For anyone interested in adding mutes to their kit, I will offer you my thoughts about my collection. However, please bear in mind that what suits one player may not suit another.

Trombonists and tuba-players: please note that there is a similar range of these mutes available in larger sizes for you.

I will work from the right to the left in the picture above.

(1) Rubber PLUNGER mute. Manufacturer unknown. This is one of my favourites and I use it a great deal for traditional jazz. As it is so flexible, you can squeeze and hold it in various ways and positions to achieve a huge range of effects from the mellow to the raucous and growling.

(2) Humes and Berg 102 stonelined trumpet cup mute. This is another great favourite. It gives a crispness to the tone. And you can slightly vary the effects by holding it only partially inside the bell, rather than simply jamming it in by the corks. A great point in favour of this mute is that, unlike some, it does not distort the tuning of the notes you play: it is good over pretty well the full range. No wonder this mute is so popular with many traditional jazz players.

(3) Humes and Berg 112 stonelined PIXIE aluminium mute. This is also very good. The intonation of the instrument is unaffected by it; and the tone produced is relatively mellow, so it's specially good for simply playing quietly or for 'background effects' on ballads. It also makes interesting sounds when used in combination with a rubber plunger mute, though I haven't experimented much with it.

(4) Humes and Berg 101 stonelined trumpet straight mute. This is a very efficient mute: it does just what you would expect - it allows a bright but 'different' sound out past the corks down the sides. It also keeps all the notes in tune, without distortion. It's not exciting but it is safe and is typical of what most people would expect to hear when imagining a trumpet played with a mute.

(5) Humes and Berg 120 stonelined trumpet DERBY (red and white bowler hat) mute. So far I have been a little disappointed with this, particularly because it was expensive when bought four months ago and I can't get anywhere near the sound Ken Colyer used to achieve with his famous Derby mute. I think this is partly because is has a sort of felt lining rather than metal. But mainly it's because this mute needs a lot of practice to get the feel of the many effects you can achieve, depending on the precise position and angle at which you have it, in relation to your instrument's bell. You can deflect the sound in so many different ways. I have not yet felt confident enough to use it in public. But I can tell you that it too does not distort the tuning of notes and that it certainly can produce a huge range of jazz effects. You may find - as I am doing - that it is not easy to master.

(6) The distinctive HARMON mute (complete with pull-out wah-wah stem); manufacturer unknown (but marked with a 'K'). This can be used in a variety of ways. Remove the stem and you have the silky tone associated with Miles Davis. What happens is that it stifles the familiar trumpet sound that bounces mainly off the inside edges of the bell and allows out only the sound that is left coming out of the middle. But if you put the stem in, this gives the sound a metallic tube through which to escape. You achieve a sweet, 'distant', lovely tone that is ideal for gently playing spirituals. And, of course, if you're so inclined, you can use your fingers over the end of the stem to produce semi-comical wah-wah effects. I use this mute sparingly but it certainly offers something different.

(7) BUCKET mute of a kind (manufacturer unknown). This is heavily lined with what appears to be polystyrene padding. It has a stifling, blanket-like effect on the sound. At best, you could say it produces a 'velvet' tone. I don't find this much use, so it hardly ever gets used.

(8) Humes and Berg 'color-tone' straight mute. I think Humes and Berg may have discontinued the manufacture of this mute, which is just as well, because if you want a straight mute you are far better off buying the one I described under No. (4) above. I think this 'color-tone' was made from cheaper materials. There's nothing wrong with it but it doesn't offer anything special for public performance. It would be fine as a first mute for a beginner. I use mine simply for keeping the sound down when practising within earshot of other people.

Bear in mind too that, even with my eight mutes, I am well short of the full range available.

So much for my impressions. But if you would like to have a terrific YouTube tutorial on mute usage - yes, this is really good - from a great expert, click on this video:

CLICK HERE.

Post 240: WHAT IS THE PAY-RATE FOR PLAYING JAZZ?

Should traditional jazz musicians be paid for giving a performance?

If so, how much? What a thorny question this is.

In New Orleans and Chicago during the 1920s and in England during the 1950s, traditional jazz musicians were young people (mostly men) playing for large, excited young audiences, usually with many of the customers vigorously dancing. Provided that the musicians worked hard and took plenty of gigs, they made a living - enough to support a family. Jazz was their full-time career.

But in the last fifty years, with the oppressive rise of other forms of popular music, only a small number of 'big names' have continued to make a living by playing traditional jazz.

However, traditional jazz has continued to be played by hundreds of amateur musicians, mainly in pubs and clubs. The musicians have had to earn their living from 'day jobs'. Jazz has been to them a wonderful hobby, not a profession. Once a week, they have turned out with their pals to practise their craft in such places as the back-rooms of pubs. The audiences, like the musicians, have grown ever older and their numbers have dwindled.

The kind of chaps I have known in such bands over these years include a plasterer, a dentist, an electrician, two doctors - one of them a heavy-smoker(!), two maths teachers, a laboratory technician, a car dealer, a builder, a construction engineer, a music shop salesman, a school caretaker and a telephone engineer. On one night a week, they would come together and make pretty good music. Their reward? Nothing, other than a 'first drink free' from the bar.

But wait! Being a traditional jazz musician requires hundreds of hours of learning, of practice and of perfecting your art. A competent traditional jazz musician is a highly-skilled craftsman. And you wouldn't expect a highly-skilled craftsman such as a plumber or car mechanic or doctor to spend three hours working for you in return for one glass of beer. So why does this fate befall jazzmen?

Alas, the laws of the market place apply. You can't expect a pub or club to pay musicians a decent fee when there are fewer than 20 paying customers on the premises, as is often the case.

Here in England, the gigs that survived month after month were those where the musicians were happy to play just for the love of it. The gigs that did not last were those where the musicians asked for a fee of, say, £25 or more each and this proved to be unaffordable.

Many of the pub and club musicians of the 1970s and 1980s are still alive and still playing - though long into retirement from their 'day jobs'. So playing traditional jazz has become the major pastime of some elderly pensioners. Some are devoting more time and effort to it than ever and a high standard is being achieved. But there is still no money to be made. Their bread and butter are paid for by their pensions, not by their music.

I recently heard a band playing at a pub in the English Midlands. It was a six-piece and the pianist - now well into his seventies - was a man who in his prime had been famous as one of the best in England. He was still playing brilliantly. But there were only 15 people in the audience. How sad. Money for the band was raised by passing a collecting box among the customers. The bar manager himself made a decent donation. £72 [making £12 for each player] was raised for the band. When the pianist had received his £12 [that's about 19 US dollars or 16 euros], I asked him why a great musician such as himself had been willing to work so hard for so little.

He said playing the music was what he loved and that he would rather do it - even for a sum that would not quite cover his travelling expenses - than sit at home in front of the TV.

Of course, it's not all bad news. Occasionally bands attract bookings that bring in more than enough money to cover travel and related expenses. Bands can and do charge more for weddings, where they have to be flexible about timing, music styles, costumes and venues; and where they will often have to shrink into the role of 'pleasant background music' during a drinks reception.  And there are in England still plenty of rich people who like to give garden parties. Jazz bands are sometimes invited to play and of course can expect an appropriate fee.

There are also jazz festivals. I have spoken to several musicians who have played at these and what I learned is this. The headline acts can attract quite a high fee. But most of the other bands taking part - though reasonably well rewarded - end up out of pocket after forking out for travel expenses and at least one night's hotel bill. So musicians who play at the festivals tend to do so for the prestige and for the camaraderie with other traditional jazz groups.

One of the very best bands in England has a leader who - when asked to quote for a 'serious' gig - replies '£450 negotiable'. [This is to cover his six-piece band.]

I think this is quite clever. He is saying in effect, 'We would like to receive £450 but if you can't raise that amount and want to offer us - say - £300, we may possibly accept it.'

That would give each of his players £50 [79 US dollars or 70 euros] - not too bad, perhaps, but no great reward for giving up a day of your life to travel 50 miles to the venue and working hard for three hours when you get there.

Sometimes a person who wants to book a jazz band (perhaps for a wedding) has no idea how to find one, so he approaches an agency. Through the agency, he books a band. The agency adds its own commission (typically 25% more than the band would normally charge). So it's not a good deal financially for the customer; and it puts the band at the disadvantage of having to communicate through a third party with the client - and perhaps having to wait for quite a while after the event to be paid. However, ultimately the arrangement benefits the customer, the band and the agent.

Should traditional jazz bands register with such agents? On the whole, I think they should, provided that the agency is reputable. From what I have observed, the best agencies are small businesses (a husband and wife, for example) and they set up very effective interactive web-sites with plenty of information about the artists available - usually including videos. The agencies also advertise in Yellow Pages. They supply very detailed contracts for both the booker and the band to sign: this ensures clearer and firmer arrangements than those under which most bands usually operate. For example, the contract may stipulate how the band should dress, what breaks the band will be allowed to take, and whether drinks and other refreshments will be supplied to the musicians.

A flourishing agency will represent many musicians and other entertainers - not just from jazz - so it is the size of its portfolio that keeps the agency in business.

A typical traditional jazz band in England will not get many bookings through its agent (perhaps half a dozen in a good year) but they may be its only lucrative gigs.

If you are a jazz band looking for an agent, do not assume the agency will automatically take you on. The agency has its own reputation to consider. It will need first to be convinced that your band is good, smart, well-behaved and reliable. But once a band has been accepted and a rapport has been established, the relationship between the band and the agent is likely to benefit both sides for years to come.

Several bandleaders have told me they frequently receive invitations to play for nothing at events which are 'for charity'. The bandleaders regard this as unreasonable. Would you expect six plumbers to travel a considerable distance and then work for three hours 'for charity'? Or six doctors? Or six bus drivers? So why make such a request to six musicians?

This is not to say that bands are unwilling to play once or twice a year free of charge in aid of good causes. Most of them undertake an occasional engagement of this kind - but it is for a cause of their own choice. An example is the Prostaid Cancer Fund-Raising Jazz Day in Leicester, England, when bands throughout the day play for nothing. This annual event was started as a tribute to a local popular jazz musician, who died of prostate cancer.

I'm not arguing that traditional jazz musicians should be paid more, even though I think they deserve more than they get. (You could say the same about people in many other jobs.) I am simply describing how things are.

I must finally mention the horrible 'Pay To Play' system. The Musicians' Union is vehemently opposed to this; and rightly too. What happens is that a venue invites a band to come along and play and then reveals that it expects THE BAND TO PAY for the privilege of 'hiring the floor space' on which to perform! I have come across only two examples of this and I'm pleased to say the bands firmly refused the invitations.
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I have received this email in response to the above by a man I greatly respect and admire, Fred Burnett.

Hi Ivan

Interesting blog about payment to musicians.

Not sure it’s fair to compare trad jazz musicians with doctors or plumbers.  You mention two doctors who you have known could play jazz, but how many full time experienced jazz musicians have you known that could do the job of a doctor or fix their own plumbing?

"A competent traditional jazz musician is a highly-skilled craftsman."  So tell me?  How would you describe a competent brass band musician, and how much do they get paid? How much does a  skilled St John’s Ambulance volunteer get at a football match, or a cave rescue or mountain rescue member get?  Surely they are as skilled in their own field as a musician, they turn out in all weathers and face incredible danger too.

Is it fair even to compare hobby musicians with full time professionals?  I’m reminded of a band leader who was complaining to his wife about how much they’d been offered for a gig, so she turned round and said, “You only do it for a hobby, if you were playing a round of golf and someone stuck a tenner in your pocket for doing it, you’d be over the moon!”.

How many full time professional musicians whose livelihood depends on music lose work, because some people on Company pensions plus old age pensions do it for a hobby and can undercut them and do it for beer money? 

I’m not trying to state an opinion one way or the other, I’ve no axe to grind, and I’m not a musician, but just trying to show that there’s more to it than a simple comparison of a part time musician and a highly paid full time professional worker.

Fred

Post 239: CLARINET, TROMBONE OR TRUMPET? WHOSE JOB IS MOST DIFFICULT?

Which has the hardest rôle in a traditional jazz band - the clarinet, the trumpet or the trombone? I ask because a clarinet-playing correspondent wrote to say he thinks the clarinet's part is easier than the trumpet's. Here's what he wrote:

Clarinet is easier than trumpet in that we generally don't have to learn many melodies. If you're flexible and have a good ear and instinct, you can listen to the trumpet for specific types of melody lines that tell you a) what the next chord might be, and b) if we do a double-ending or change pitch, etc. But clarinet has its own mostly technical issues - the danger of squeaking, running out of muscle strength, having the weight of the horn on your right thumb and arm all the time. The clarinet basically has three registers, and the bottom two are 12 tones away from each other, not an octave like on the saxophone. That means you have more notes to pick from when playing, but the highest register is again completely different from the other two. And embouchure is always tricky. But it's worth it - if played well, you can really sing with the clarinet. It's an emotional instrument if played right, and that's perfect for little emotional me.

To play the way I do, clarinet is easier, because I can play whatever I want and don't need to know the song one bit. You can't do that on trumpet. That's the main thing I find easier on clarinet.

This insight is supported by another correspondent (a trumpet player), who told me he often asks whether - for a change - one of the other players would like to play the melody line in the first chorus or two of a tune. He has been surprised to find that very fine players are often reluctant to do this, claiming that they are not sure of the melody - even though they can create wonderful decorations around it! He says:

Unless they have learnt the tune as a feature, they invariably recoil in horror at the thought of having to play what might be a simple tune! It doesn’t matter how good they are at accompanying – they don’t like to play the melody.

My own view is that in a full-size, busily-working jazz band, the clarinet's job is more important than the trumpet's. I have written on this topic before. As I implied then, a really good clarinet-player can turn an ordinary band into a great band.

It's true that trumpet playing can be very tiring on the muscles around the mouth. And it's also true that the trumpet player needs to have plenty of tunes accurately stored in his memory (though this is easier than some may believe).

But a good clarinet player has to know the chord changes of every tune - either by rote or intuitively - and he has to be a master of rapid arpeggios. His fingering must be confident and fast. He must also be skilful at throwing occasional long bluesy notes into his playing - usually flattened thirds and sevenths.

I guess that good clarinet players have spent hundreds of hours practising arpeggios, perhaps backed by recordings that give them a clear melody around which to weave their magic.

The best clarinet players avoid playing right on the beat - especially on the first note of every bar. Coming in after the first quaver or on the second beat contributes better to the syncopation. They also avoid playing too many bars comprising nothing but quavers and crotchets. Triplets, semiquaver runs, dotted notes and trills - as well as those 'hanging' long bluesy notes mentioned above - add so much to the excitement.

Above all, in ensemble work, where the trumpet is stating the melody, you won't catch good clarinet players playing exactly the same notes as the trumpet.

But what about the rôle of the trombone in all this? I consider his job extremely difficult too. He needs to know the harmonic progression of every tune the band plays (either as a result of hard graft in learning the chord sequences or by developing an amazing ear for the bass-line of the successive chords). He has to push the band along through the chord changes. This frequently involves (starting on the fourth note of a bar and moving on to the first of the next) taking the harmony from the root of one chord to the root of the next by means of a glissando or direct punching out of the notes.

But he must also have a huge repertoire of tricks and phrases. He should be able to take on the melody for an occasional chorus - to give variety to the presentation. And he should be a skilful user of mutes: a good range of trombone effects is possible to embellish the music.

So I come to no conclusion. To play any of these instruments really well in a traditional jazz band is very hard work and requires a great deal of practice and experience.
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After reading the above, Barrie Marshall - a well-known reed player in the north of England - sent me these observations:

The piece  about trumpet, clarinet and trombone, I found very interesting, in particular about playing melody. I am a clarinet player and I play with a cornet player in three bands, his, mine and somebody else's. I find learning the melody extremely useful. Neither of us can read music. He is a fine melody player and we do stuff by Morton, Williams, Oliver, early Armstrong etc. I have a good knowledge of chords so, with that and being able to play the melody, harmonies are very soon worked out, usually on the gig, just head arrangements that work very well. I do go busking with a trio, clarinet, tuba and banjo and I also play in a quartet where I am the melody instrument (alto and clarinet) so I can pick up tunes fairly quickly.Of course all is not perfection. Cock ups and mistakes happen. That's traditional jazz. As the cornet player often says, it has to be risky to make it exciting!

Often the cornet player and I swap rôles in a tune. He gets me to play the melody if I know it and he accompanies me.

So you reed players and trombone players:  learn melodies!

========
Another reader in his own blog (http://www.wilktone.com/?p=4545   - well worth reading; let me recommend it) has made the point that clarinet and trombone players SHOULD always learn to play the melody line accurately. The reasons he gives are:
(1) this will help the player to avoid clashing with the melody notes; and
(2) there may be occasions when a clarinet or trombone needs to play the melody, either as a pleasant variation on usual practice or because the trumpet-player could be absent ill.
These are very good points.

Post 238: THE BIZARRE AUDIENCE

Why is it that many people like to talk - often at the tops of their voices - while some of the world's greatest and most creative musicians are playing sublimely only a few yards away? Audiences would not do this at a concert of classical chamber music. (And traditional jazz, in my view, is a branch of chamber music.)

Yes, members of traditional jazz audiences can be strange. I am reminded of audience behaviour I have noticed in the past.

You often come across someone who gives a band-leader a 'request' and then walks away, gets into a conversation and doesn't bother to listen when the band plays the tune.

I'm also surprised that some people who claim to be 'jazzers' or 'jazz buffs' are unable to recognise even the most common tunes from the traditional jazz repertoire.

A revealing incident occurred when I was playing in an English pub with just three other musicians: we were clarinet, cornet, banjo, string bass.

A gentleman called out, 'How about giving us South Rampart Street Parade?' Our leader replied, 'It's really a big band number. It's a tune that needs a trombone - and we haven't got one. If we try it, it won't sound good. And in any case we've never played it together before.'

So we ignored the request and played the next tune in our programme - The Darktown Strutters Ball. When we finished it, the same gentleman stood up, applauded loudly and said, 'There you are! You can play South Rampart Street Parade! Don't ever tell me again that you can't play it!'

I'm also often surprised when there is some really poor playing and yet the audience applauds heartily. For example, some member of the band takes a 32-bar solo chorus in which he obviously makes a few mistakes, hits some horrible notes, loses the harmony for a bar or two and knows very well that the sounds he is making are far from what he is attempting to make. And yet the audience still applauds at the end of the solo. It seems to be ritualistic rather than truly appreciative.

Similarly, when at the end of a mediocre performance I hear people giving it high praise, I sometimes wonder whether we have been listening to the same music. What exactly have they been hearing?

Conversely, isn't it strange how unresponsive some audiences can be, even when terrific traditional jazz is being played?

Friend and fellow trumpet player Richard Boswell from the south of England asked me to have a look at a YouTube video of Rod Mason's Band playing Grandpa's Spells in Germany. The year was 1986. It is a lively well-drilled and well-arranged performance, technically brilliant. And yet, as Richard pointed out, the audience (of whom we see quite a lot) looks uninterested, uninvolved and unresponsive. They almost look as if they are attending a funeral. (To be fair, there is just a hint at the end of the video they they were at least going to applaud.)

Click here to see the video.

All this reminds me of an incident that occurred in April 1993. I was in New Orleans for the French Quarter Festival with a party of 40 jazz fans (members of The Ken Colyer Trust) from the U.K. Quite a few treats were included in our programme. One of these was a Sunday Jazz Brunch in a top hotel - the Westin. Right beside us, as we dined, a superb band led by Clive Wilson was providing rich entertainment. His band included some of the very best musicians playing traditional jazz anywhere in the world at that time.

But I noticed that very few people in the restaurant - even among our own party - were paying attention to the music. There came a point when Clive launched into West End Blues and gave us the full Armstrong version - effortlessly (it seemed) playing that amazing opening cadenza and then even playing beautifully all the high-note stuff in the later choruses. It is no exaggeration to say it was sensationally good. Yet, at the end, nobody took any notice. I was the only person in the entire restaurant who applauded. 

Clive Wilson

When the band took a break, I had a word with Clive, mainly to say how sorry I was and to offer a kind of apology on behalf of all the customers. Clive graciously told me not to worry. He said the musicians were accustomed to that sort of thing.

It is a measure of how much the incident disappointed me that I still remember it so well.
==============
Footnote:

Henry - a banjo and keyboard player in Princeton, New Jersey, has emailed me to say his band (The Hot Taters) does its best to hold the audience's attention by marching in at the start (and out at the end) and by wearing flamboyant capes, masks and hats. He says the audience responds to this and the musicians consequently play better; and everybody enjoys themselves more:

Post 237: TUBA SKINNY TESTIMONIALS

I start my days at my In-Box, where I usually find at least a dozen e-mails from readers of this Blog. These are appreciated; and I try to reply to them all.

I must tell you the topic my correspondents raise most often is the joy that discovering Tuba Skinny (the young New Orleans band) has brought to their lives. Some of them thank me for pointing them to the YouTube videos of this wonderful group of musicians.

Here's a recent typical e-mail:

I’m happy to report that 'Tuba Skinny' are under my skin ... a narcotic mix of youth, exuberance and Shaye Cohn’s phrasing. I listen to their YouTubes and am compelled to have a blow myself.........repeatedly failing to reproduce their magic but I enjoy trying!

And another:

...I bought all of the Tuba Skinny CDs because of your blog. Thanks so much. They are terrific! I walk to work...........where I teach harmony, counterpoint and composition......I have an mp3 player and listen both ways. I am conducting my orchestra this Friday..............and I should be absorbing the concert music on my walks. Ha, instead I have had a week of Tuba Skinny - I can't get enough of it - comical.

Another:

Dear Ivan,

I just turned 79 last March. Quite by accident, I also discovered Tuba Skinny. I've long been a dixieland/jazz lover. Your treatise on Tuba Skinny was spot on. I agree with your comment on the washboard, but they do make it work..........Many thanks for your wonderful blog on Tuba Skinny. (I'm also in love with Shaye.)

 Sincerely,

Lou 

Another reader - an English trumpet player on holiday in New Orleans - told me he came across Tuba Skinny playing in the street and he stood 'absolutely mesmerised' for two hours by Shaye's playing.

There are over 250 videos of Tuba Skinny on YouTube. I am an admirer of - and greatly indebted to - the video-maker codenamed digitalalexa, who has filmed the band in the streets dozens of times. A fine example of his work is to be seen by clicking here.

Post 236: DOES TRADITIONAL JAZZ HELP FIGHT DEMENTIA?

An American friend sent me an article suggesting that an interest in music can help offset the arrival of dementia in elderly people.

Today all over the world there are said to be 84 million elderly persons who pass their final months in a state of dementia. This is very sad for them and a source of great distress to their families. The article says there are five million Americans aged 65 and over right now with dementia, and the figure is rapidly rising.

So my friend's article set me wondering whether those of us who participate in traditional jazz are in fact doing ourselves a great deal of good in the struggle to retain our soundness of mind. 

Like many of you, I guess, I have long thought that we should  not allow ourselves to vegetate as we enter advanced years. We need to take regular exercise and also keep our minds alert. Cycling, walking, jogging, swimming, reading, conversing, pursuing interests and hobbies - all these activities surely help in keeping the little grey cells in good shape. 

Likewise, even though the scientists have a long way to go in understanding dementia, they are already urging us to stay active, have hobbies and be socially engaged.

Many senior citizens - even some in their 90s - still feel the benefit of playing musical instruments regularly. And think of the great Lionel Ferbos in New Orleans, who led his band until beyond the age of 100.

If you play in a traditional jazz band, your mind contains an amazing amount of stuff that you must constantly bring out of the mental cupboard and refresh - all those tunes, chord sequences, and pieces of historical information.

You quickly notice that many traditional jazz players are well into their eighth decade. And I don't hear of many former traditional jazz musicians suffering from dementia. Maybe this demonstrates the value of this particular hobby.

I once gave a concert with some other elderly musicians in a secure care home, where the residents were suffering from dementia. (It was rewarding to note how well some of these persons responded to our music - but that's another issue.) What particularly struck me was that the average age of our band members was conspicuously higher than that of the unfortunate residents. It made me wonder whether our music had helped us to avoid their fate.

Some researchers believe that you can defer dementia by five years if you speak two languages. And they are wondering whether music has the same effect as a 'second language'.

Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, who studies cognitive functioning among musicians at Emory University, said: 'If you can delay the presentation of dementia by five years, then you add an extra five years of functioning to an individual at the end of the life span. In terms of fiscal cost and everything, that's quite a lot.' She found that in old age former musicians who had given up playing were still better at object-naming and rapid mental processing than those who had never played at all. Also, those who began playing before the age of 9 had better verbal working memory functions than those who started later or didn't play at all.

Beth Kallmyer, Vice-President for constituent services at the Alzheimer's Association, said that - for people already with dementia - some sort of music therapy, especially if the music has some significance for the listener,  can reduce behavioural issues and have a calming influence (perhaps confirming what I noticed at the concert to which I referred).

There will doubtless be plenty of research on this subject in the years to come. One big question for us will be: do you have to play traditional jazz to get all the benefits, or can you still benefit from just listening to and appreciating it?
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Footnotes: I have had responses to the above:
Ivan,
Yes indeed, an interesting topic.  I've also dwelt on a related subject: is it ever too late to take up a musical instrument?  Are there some instruments which are easier to take up than others as age advances? As we know, it is physically and mentally demanding, and I understand that different instruments suit different people.  But maybe there is also a sliding scale of age-related suitability. From your experience can you recall who has taken up what and when and with what degree of success?
Ralph
Ralph: I personally know of only five musicians who started to learn instruments from scratch when they were already 60 years old or more (one of them slightly younger than that). Three chose the banjo, one the clarinet and one the piano. They all worked hard at it and I'm pleased to report that they all now play in bands.
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Chris (pianist) has drawn my attention to this website:

http://www.helpguide.org/life/prevent_memory_loss.htm

The writer makes the point that you have to 'use it or lose it' and that taking up a musical instrument in old age (as a beginner) can be beneficial.
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Jazz saxophone / clarinet player John has written this:

Ivan, I agree with your comments concerning onset of memory loss. IF memory loss is because the grey cells are not frequently used, then surely playing as opposed to listening to music is to my mind going to be more helpful. However, one needs to be aware that a physical reason, namely lack of blood supply is very likely to be a very real problem, in which case regular exercise is surely of great help in delaying the inevitable. Low-fat diet is probably also very helpful, if a physical condition is the cause. Since brain cells cease to re-generate, heavy drinking could be a factor, though judging by the excessive drinking habits of some musicians, who nevertheless still have super memories,  in my opinion drink is not likely a meaningful reason. As an aside, lack of sleep severely affects my memory!  Though this  recovers after resting.

Post 235: STEPHANIE NILLES - ALL TOO RARE A JAZZ PIANIST

Stephanie Nilles

I was in The Spotted Cat, New Orleans, one evening in April 2015, enjoying a thrilling programme by Aurora Nealand's band. Partnering her on the front line was James Evans, and these two outstanding reed players were producing some thrilling choruses both individually and together, and obviously enjoying themselves hugely. Aurora is the kind of player who seems hardly ever to stop smiling, even when she is playing.

But something else quite wonderful also caught my attention.

There was a young lady pianist 'sitting in'; and her playing was possibly the best I have ever heard in a traditional jazz band. In the ensembles and backing the solo choruses, she did just what was needed - lightly sketching in the chords and fitting in with any rhythmic patterns established by the guitar and bass. But  whenever she was given a solo chorus, it was as if Franz Listz had suddenly occupied the piano stool. Using the entire width of the keyboard, she produced some astounding improvisations, notes tumbling and cascading from the keys - but always clearly on the correct harmonic progression. It was thrilling musicianship. On top of that, she even offered an occasional vocal, which she sang in an entertaining way, with an unusual light, girlish voice that brought back memories of the late Blossom Dearie.

Who was this amazing performer? Nobody around me in the dense crowd was able to tell me.

Fortunately, while sheltering from rain a couple of days later, I met Aurora Nealand and had the opportunity to ask. She told me the lady was a good friend of hers - Stephanie Nilles.

Back in England, I consulted the internet to find out more about Stephanie.

She is described as a 'Chicago-born jazz/punk/barrelhouse musician' who has been 'hustling around the United States, Europe, and Canada.... averaging 150 gigs a year, and captivating unsuspecting listeners with a voice that would make Jelly Roll Morton look orthodox and Ma Rainey look sober'.

But her background (I was not surprised to find) was a classical training. She studied piano and cello from the age of six, was a finalist at the Young Concert Artists' International Competition, a gold medalist at the Fischoff Competition, and had performed on National Public Radio on three separate occasions by the age of seventeen. At twenty-two, she had graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music with a degree in classical piano performance. She moved to New York City, where she began writing songs and performed regularly on the east village anti-folk scene.

Stephanie has made several CDs and has also been involved in numerous music projects in both Europe and America. On the internet, you can find plenty about her activities, but these quotations will give you some insights into Stephanie and her music: '....a highly accomplished, award-winning young pianist with a degree in classical performance and the whole world ahead of her chucks it all over to eke out a bohemian living playing punk clubs and sleeping in her car'; 'Her compositions are often dizzyingly witty'; 'Writing truthful and poignant stories of the world as it is'; 'With a voice that manically switches from sultry soul to wild yelping, not to mention mad piano skills and a wild performance energy, Nilles has the talent to shuffle past the mediocre label props grinding their teeth on Top 40 radio today'.

My message is: if you ever have a chance of hearing Stephanie Nilles playing in a traditional jazz band, jump at it. You will be in for a treat. But I think the opportunities may be exceptionally hard to come by. It seems that playing in a traditional jazz band is something she does all too rarely. I was so lucky to be there on one of those occasions.

This video will give you some idea of what Stephanie Nilles is capable of - just with a voice and a piano:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW.

And with a small band:
CLICK HERE.

Possibly, you may not enjoy her style in these far-from-trad-jazz YouTube videos. But I can assure you that - on that great night in New Orleans - Stephanie accepted all the disciplines of traditional jazz and that her playing in Aurora's band was sensational.

Post 234: MEETING THE SHOTGUN JAZZ BAND

The Shotgun Jazz Band

Ever since I was overwhelmed by the YouTube video of them playing at The Abita Springs Opry, The Shotgun Jazz Band has been one of my favourite groups of musicians. You can watch that video BY CLICKING HERE. They play a thrilling, raw, no-frills type of traditional jazz. Under the influence of their dynamic leader - Marla Dixon - they are a direct descendant from the bands of Kid Thomas, De De Pierce, Kid Sheik and Kid Howard. Marla learned her jazz by listening to the records of those great trumpet players.

Marla comes from Toronto, where she was also heavily influenced by 'Kid' Cliff Bastien (she met him shortly before he died) and by Patrick Tevlin (who kept The Happy Pals band going after Bastien's death and was instrumental in including a lot of younger talented players and introducing them to traditional jazz).

At school, Marla started by learning to play the bassoon, but she was soon lured away from it by the appeal of trumpets.

Although she now possesses some lovely trumpets, the one she prefers to play with The Shotgun Band is a vintage Olds Ambassador that she bought in a junk shop for a mere 75 dollars.

During my visit to New Orleans in April 2015, I managed to attend three concerts by The Shotgun Jazz Band and I enjoyed the great privilege of spending some time chatting with them, especially Marla and John Dixon. They were so friendly, generous, kind and willing to talk about their music. 

The day I got to meet John Dixon
- one of the great musicians working in New Orleans.

Marla started her working life as a graphic designer. Her husband John (originally from Florida) lived and worked with Marla in Toronto in 2008 before they decided to re-locate to New Orleans.

John had started his musical life by having piano lessons at the age of ten. But in his teenage years he took up the alto saxophone and joined various reading bands - both symphonic and jazz. The music of Duke Ellington was the kind of thing they played. John went on to learning Charlie Parker transcriptions. But his progress was brought to an abrupt end (the kind all musicians dread) by a serious accident and massive dental damage. 

It was not until many years later that he was able to try playing the sax again - but he modestly says he's nowhere near good enough to play it in a traditional jazz band.

So at the time of going to college, he abandoned the saxophone and switched to guitar (mainly electric) and he was soon playing bass guitar in a rock band. After college he formed a country band. John told me he didn't touch a banjo until he met Marla, who bought him his first one while he was staying with her in Toronto. He played it on a gig at Grossman's Tavern with Marla's dixieland band - The Don Valley Stompers - and has been hooked ever since. John specialises in a distinctive rock-steady pulsating rhythm, striking all four beats evenly. It's my favourite type of New Orleans rhythm-section playing and it possibly owes something to George Guesnon (1907 - 1968) whose recordings were an inspiration to John.

Marla playing with The Don Valley Stompers in Canada,
a few years before she migrated to New Orleans.
And doesn't that string bass player seem very familiar?

Over breakfast in my hotel, a gentleman said that in her trumpet playing Marla lacks the technique of the virtuoso trumpet players he had heard showing off in the nearby streets, where they produced torrents of high-pitched notes. I told him that such a comment completely misunderstands what Marla sets out to do. Having observed her closely, I can assure you Marla's technique is very good indeed. In fact it is perfect for the kind of jazz The Shotgun Jazz Band plays. Not only does she find just the right notes (often using sixths, ninths and flattened thirds to add to the excitement); she is a model in timing, phrasing, attack and sheer driving energy. She is also an expert in getting the most thrilling effects from a mute - especially her aluminium derby mute. I asked whether she inherited that mute from Kid Bastien; but in fact she did not. The Dixons think Bastien's similar mute is now being used by Patrick Tevlin back in Toronto.

As if that isn't enough, Marla knows by heart the words of dozens of songs, without any need to refer to sheets of paper. And she sings with a raw passion and heart-on-sleeve intensity that exactly matches her trumpet playing. And she can play the sousaphone - as she often did in the past.

It is interesting to trace the evolution of the great Shotgun Jazz Band. It seems the seeds were not sown until after John and Marla decided to leave Toronto and try their luck in New Orleans. There, they played as a duet for tips in the streets (mainly at The French Market). They were occasionally joined by a like-minded musician or two. The Dixons happened to arrive in New Orleans at just the right time. There was an amazing resurgence of interest in traditional jazz, with many fine young musicians migrating to that City. John thinks it was significant that dancers arrived too - especially such brilliant dancers as Amy Johnson and Chance Bushman. John told me: 'What followed were more dancers, and with more dancers, more musicians. It was coincidental that Marla and I happened to move here at the same time as this resurgence of interest in traditional jazz. We really had no idea what was going on until we were in it.'

Incidentally, the great reed player Aurora Nealand also told me about the importance for jazz musicians in New Orleans of playing for dancing. She thought this did much to explain the special free and relaxed quality of the New Orleans brand of traditional jazz.

By 2011, Marla and John Dixon decided to make a CD, so they hired a couple more players for this purpose and called the resulting band The Shotgun Jazz Band because they were living in a shotgun house. What a great choice of name that was, by the way. It's immediately striking and memorable. Suddenly they were a proper band, attracting gigs. That first CD (called Algiers Strut), with Ben Polcer on piano, happened to include Love Songs of the Nile, I Can't Escape and Oriental Man - all of which are still among the most popular numbers in their repertoire. The second CD (One Drink Minimum) did not appear until March 2013 and was recorded during several performances at The Spotted Cat. By then, the Dixons had a regular booking there. The CD involved twelve different musicians.

Marla and John's band had no settled personnel at the time. Among the musicians who occasionally played in The Shotgun Jazz Band were Christopher Johnson, Michael Magro, Peter Loggins, Orange Kellin, Todd Yannacone, Robert Snow, Benji Bohannon, Tommy Sancton, Aurora Nealand, Jon Gross, Robin Rapuzzi, Barnabus Jones, Craig Flory and several others.

Two more CDs appeared in 2013. And a fifth came out in September 2014. This was Yearning, well recorded at Luthjen's Dance Hall and demonstrating the high quality of playing they had by then achieved. I think it is the CD of which they are the most proud. (You can read my review of it BY CLICKING HERE).

But by then the Band had a reasonably settled line-up and had honed its distinctive sound into the form so many enthusiasts love today.

John pointed out that at Shotgun gigs Marla runs a fairly 'tight ship' and he is proud that their repertoire has become so varied. Of course they play the standards, but, as John says, they also do a lot of 'pop and R&B tunes as well as a few arranged tunes'.

The young Tyler Thomson - one of the world's most exciting players - followed the Dixons to New Orleans from Toronto and joined them on string bass. Tyler's hero was Alcide Pavageau (1888 - 1969); and it shows. It's no surprise that he forms such a great rhythmic engine-room partnership with John Dixon. Justin Peake from Alabama was recruited on drums. His light-touch 4/4 style of playing perfectly complements the strong rhythmic base of the music that Tyler and John provide. Even though Justin went off to college, the Dixons still asked him to play with them whenever he was in town.

The versatile and ubiquitous trombone-player Charlie Halloran from St. Louis played with them a great deal - and still occasionally does. And Haruka Kikuchi - the super young trombonist - moved to New Orleans from Japan at the end of 2013 and settled perfectly into the band - as if it fulfilled her dreams. Marla first encountered and recruited Haruka when she heard her busking with Yoshitaka Tsuji in 2014 on Jackson Square. (Yoshitaka, who plays Oscar Peterson-style piano in other bands, has since become Haruka's husband.) That superb musician Ben Polcer (originally from New York), long-time friend of the Dixons and an original member of The Loose Marbles, is very busy on the New Orleans scene; but he still helps out from time to time with The Shotgun Jazz Band, either on piano or - if Marla is unavailable - on trumpet.

Welshman James Evans (reeds) also joined the band at about the same time as Haruka. James told me that when he used to play in the U.K. he would often arrive home from gigs by train in the middle of the night; and that most of his fee would be eaten up by the train fare. He decided to try his luck in New Orleans and his family quickly settled, with his twin children now in school there. He seems to have been snapped up by Marla and John! 'Now,' he said, 'to go to work I have only to walk eight blocks.' As one of the best reed players in the jazz world, James is much in demand and also plays in other New Orleans bands. I could tell that he was a very happy man and really enjoying the fun in working with Marla and John. Just look at him at 3 minutes 26 seconds in this video:-  CLICK HERE.

With such a virtuoso as James on clarinet and sax, and Haruka Kikuchi or Charlie Halloran on trombone, and Tyler Thomson well established on string bass, the Dixons arrived at a line-up that plays gutsy traditional jazz of the most exciting kind. They have rapidly risen to be very special and one of the most entertaining traditional jazz bands in the world.

What a souvenir of my April 2015 visit!
It was a great thrill for me to meet
the dynamic Marla Dixon.

While in town, I spent an evening at The Maison, because The Shotgun Jazz Band was playing there. Someone in the audience asked Marla to play Lady Be Good. I hoped Marla would refuse. I had always thought that tune repetitive and not offering a band much to work on. However, Marla obliged and The Shotgun Jazz Band launched into Lady Be Good. To my amazement, the excitement built up chorus by chorus until it became one of the most sensational performances of a tune that I heard during my entire stay in New Orleans. (It taught me a lesson: I shall no longer have preconceived dislikes of tunes!) After the applause ended, an English band-leader of my acquaintance, who was sitting at a nearby table, came over to me and said, 'If I died right now, I would die a very happy man!' I know exactly what he meant.