Post 257: 'YEARNING' - A GREAT CD FROM THE SHOTGUN JAZZ BAND

Many people seem to have enjoyed the video I made of The Shotgun Jazz Band giving a pulsating performance of Climax Rag. I filmed it when I saw them at The Spotted Cat, New Orleans, in April 2015. If you would like to watch it, CLICK HERE.

But may I also remind you that late in 2014 this great jazz band released a CD that is well worth listening to? It is packed with riches. If you would like to buy it, go to 

https://shotgunjazzband.bandcamp.com/album/yearning and follow the instructions.

All sixteen tracks of the CD (entitled 'Yearning') were recorded in one session without an audience in the building that used to be Luthjen's Dance Hall in New Orleans. For bands with less stamina, it would have been an exhausting undertaking. The acoustics are terrific but obviously the emptiness of the building meant that it lacked the atmosphere that comes from having an audience. The recording is well balanced: you hear all instruments and vocals clearly.

The Band on the day comprised Marla Dixon (trumpet), John Dixon (banjo), Tyler Thomson (string bass), Justin Peake (percussion), Ben Polcer (piano), Charlie Halloran (trombone) and James Evans (reeds).

As well as playing the trumpet in a bold, forthright manner, Marla also delivers lusty, emotional vocals, in which one of her specialities is the thrilling rising glissando.

The rock-steady rhythm section, which is responsible for much of the band's distinctive house style, is on superb form throughout. The combination of Justin Peake (one of my favourite drummers), Tyler Thomson and John Dixon would be hard to beat. What a joy it must be for any 'front-line' players to be pumped along by them.

Here are the tunes on the CD:

I Believe I Can Make It By Myself

Sammy Penn with the Kid Thomas Band used to make a big feature of this 12-bar tune in Bb. The Shotgun Band gives it a raw treatment, with much trumpet growling and flattened thirds as well as a lusty vocal from Marla.

You Always Hurt The One You Love

This sets a great foot-tapping tempo. The rhythm section shines. Note the unusual key change - after a start in Bb, Marla sings the vocal gently in Eb and later more powerfully in Bb.

Get A Working Man (a.k.a. Pinchbacks, Take 'Em Away)

Marla offers a vocal with a message for the ladies: it's better to have a hard-working man than one who is good-looking but idle. My thanks to blog-reader Phil in the USA for telling me it was originally recorded in 1924 by Bessie Smith under the title Pinchbacks, Take 'Em Away. It has a 16-bar verse and a 32-bar chorus (harmonically identical to It's a Long Way to Tipperary). James' fluid solo (backed so well by Charlie and the Rhythm Section) distinctly demonstrates the Shotgun house style.

Tears

This raggy number which I think Lil Hardin composed for King Oliver's Band in 1923 (when they recorded it) is technically challenging but the Shotguns make light work of it. The tune is played fast (as by King Oliver) and, although it's full ensemble all the way, there are some nice 'breaks' for James.

Dream

Marla delivers a pleasant vocal (complete with Verse) right from the start, with solid backing from Ben, John, Tyler and Justin. Then there's a nice relaxed chorus featuring the clarinet and trombone again, with the chosen key (F) suited very well to James' higher register.

Yearning

This standard from 1925 seems to be a favourite with the Shotgun players. They played it in the great Abita Springs video. (Click here to see it.) Marla offers a punchy trumpet and vocal and there is a pleasant 16-bars-each chorus shared by James and Charlie.

Hindustan

Every band plays this tune from 1918. So how do the Shotguns make it fresh? With terrific front-line interplay; some Kid Thomas-style attack; and a vocal from Marla.

He'll Have To Go

This is one of two tunes in waltz time on the CD. Imagine Careless Love played slowly in 3/4. It's harmonically similar. Composed by Joe and Audrey Allison, it was a hit for Jim Reeves in 1959. Much of the performance consists of a gentle vocal from Marla, well supported by Ben. There are a few bars of special beauty when James leads with the melody in the ensemble. 

Over In The Gloryland

This spiritual is another tune that most bands play. Some musicians don't like it because of its very limited harmonic pattern. But the Shotguns make it last for over six minutes and leave you wanting more. There is hearty singing and great collective improvisation.

I Love You So Much It Hurts

This is a country and western number recorded (and probably written) by Floyd Tillman in 1948. The Shotguns give a no-frills straight-ahead performance of the 32-bar simple tune. They choose not to offer a vocal.

Kentucky Blues

I don't know the origin of this tune. (There are at least two other different tunes with this title). It seems to have two themes (16-bar and a standard 12-bar). The arrangement is the most sophisticated on this CD - from a band that normally does not bother with very sophisticated arrangements. The lovely clarinet of James Evans is well featured.

Love In Bloom

James is singing this one a great deal recently at the band's performances. He is no mean vocalist. It's a very nice song composed in 1934 by Leo Robin and Ralph Rainger. James also plays some lovely fluid clarinet with Marla (for once using a standard mute) in the background. It's one of two tunes played in Ab. The other is Gloryland, of course.

Mobile Stomp

This famous number (written and recorded by the Sam Morgan Band in 1927) is also on the Abita Springs video. I like the rock-steady work from all members of the band, especially at its more delicate moments. Note the saxophone's second chorus against offbeats; and the amusing 'quadruple' ending.

You Broke Your Promise

This 1949 pop song by Wyle, Taylor and Pole was a favourite with the early Preservation Hall bands. In an unpretentious performance of this 32-bar tune, Marla offers a nice clear vocal - a help to those of us who want to learn the words. As in You Always Hurt The One You Love, above, she drops the key (to C) for her first vocal but sings her second vocal higher - in F - the key in which the rest of the performance is played. This must be a device she enjoys. It certainly is effective in setting the two vocals in contrast.

Tennessee Waltz

This is the second tune in 3/4 time. It's also the most touching tune on the CD. Marla sings the sad words about lost love, with good instrumental support from James and Charlie. A beautiful melody, gently presented.

I'll See You In My Dreams

The famous Isham Jones and Sammy Kahn song from 1924. No vocal is offered; and they do not make the mistake of taking it too slowly. Charlie's trombone gives a melodious lead; and there is some lovely ensemble playing.

POST 256: THE KENNY BALL APPROACH TO REPERTOIRE

I owe so much to the late Kenny Ball.

I went to hear his band at the King's Lynn Festival (in 1985, I think) and I recorded the entire performance on a little Tandy machine. He inspired me! I immediately decided I wanted to become a traditional jazz trumpet player.

So I set about learning. And thus began a hobby which has become the greatest passion of my old age.

The following year Kenny Ball's band returned to the King's Lynn Festival. The amazing thing was that they played a programme almost identical to that of the previous year. I knew it so well by heart, having spent twelve months with the recording. The tunes and arrangements were exactly the same, as were even some of the 'improvised' solos (and most of the jokes!).

I think this is why some 'purists' have been inclined to say that Kenny Ball was too 'commercial' and didn't play 'proper' New Orleans jazz.

However, Kenny and his entire band were brilliant musicians - technically of the highest standard. And whatever you thought of his programme, there can be no denying that he was one of the few trad jazz musicians to be commercially very successful even in the difficult final decades of the Twentieth Century. He played a narrow range of tunes the public quickly grew to like; and he went on playing them in the same way for years because he knew that was what the public wanted. It was a clever formula.

I'm telling you all this because I received an email from Richard, an English jazz trumpeter, recently in which he wrote:

I used to love going to see Kenny Ball in concert. What an inspiration! Great trumpet player, fun band, always a good performance. But I noticed that the band would have a concert repertoire that they would repeat at each gig that year, in much the same order, with pretty much the same solos. Perhaps it was because he had famous recordings that people expected to hear – but some (not me) would argue that perhaps this wasn’t “proper” jazz because it wasn’t on-the-spot improvisation. Then again, once you’ve learnt the tune, is it ever spontaneous again?

Good point. And I suppose many of us play pretty well the same solos over and over again - particularly with tunes with which we are over-familiar.

But the whole topic raises this question in my mind:

Is it better to play a small number of tunes (concert after concert) really well; or should we be seeking constantly to widen our repertoire?

My trumpet-playing correspondent wrote:

In my bands there are two schools of thought: one is that it is better to have a couple of dozen tunes that we can pitch up with and play on auto-pilot – reasonably well; the other is that we should always tailor the playlist to the venue and introduce new tunes as deemed appropriate.

I tend to hold with the former as I would always prefer to turn in a passable performance – after all, we are just part-time players, not professionals.

It is also the case that in my band I will sometimes throw in a new tune at a rehearsal and the guys are quite happy to play along if the melody is clear and the chords follow a reasonably standard pattern. If it seems difficult we drop it quickly but also if it seems just plain boring! Have you found that sometimes you hear a tune on the radio, a CD or YouTube and think it would be great to play – but then when you try it, it just doesn’t seem to work? That is quite common for us. I think in most cases it is because they need a good vocalist. Some tunes just don’t work as instrumental numbers.

We’ve got a repertoire of about 85 numbers but still end up playing the same hard core of a dozen or so.
===========
Reader Sam Wood has sent me this comment:

Hello Ivan,

Good to see your piece on Kenny Ball.  He was a regular at Buxton Opera House which is where I got to know and love his band and its music over the last twenty years.

I don't take the purist view that this wasn't jazz.  It was a jazz band playing a lot of pop music and show tunes in their own style, but so what?  The musicianship was faultless, and it was entertainment that pulled in an audience.  You could excuse the bad jokes because they were delivered so well, it was all part of the show.

The purists also criticise Chris Barber who plays some superb Blues and Ellington.  Makes me think the "purists" don't know what they are listening to.

I do miss Kenny Ball, I always regard the classic line-up as Kenny, John Bennett, Andy Cooper, Hugh Ledigo, John Benson and Nick Millward.

The band were always immaculately dressed and always stuck around after the show, signing CD's and so happy to talk to the crowd, who of course pay their wages!

I last saw Kenny about five years ago at a "Three B's" night at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.  He was playing Cornet, an easier blow than Trumpet I believe, and had another player alongside him but the show was as good as ever, including the jokes.

Regards,

Sam

PS. Regarding pop and show tunes, a lot of cinema/theatre organists still make a living playing contemporary popular music on their 1930's-style instruments, so why shouldn't we?

Post 255: FROM BRASS BAND TO EARLY JAZZ BAND

Towards the end of the Nineteenth Century, there were hundreds of small bands such as this one scattered throughout the United States of America.

Such bands could contain cornets, tubas, percussion, trombones, clarinets, saxophones - and sometimes stringed instruments.

Very often they played for dances, where of course they had to keep a strict tempo and were required to play the tune through four or five times in succession, maybe with different instruments taking the melody with each change of chorus.

It's easy to imagine how players must sometimes have felt like pepping the music up a bit, partly out of boredom. Add to this the influence of cakewalk music and the developing craze for ragtime and we can see how easily jazz must have been born.

Jack Laine's Reliance Brass Band
in New Orleans, 1910

The emergence from bands such as those photographed above of this early Twentieth-Century jazz band is not difficult to imagine.

Post 254: JAZZING ON MY YAMAHA MAESTRO CORNET

As someone who is interested in classic bicycles from several decades ago, I know there are many cycling enthusiasts who make, study and refer to databases of bicycle frame serial numbers so that, for example, they may know the year of manufacture of a vintage bicycle they have purchased.

But I have discovered the same thing goes on with brass musical instruments. After hearing that Shaye Cohn plays a very old Yamaha cornet, I checked on the Internet for information about the history of Yamaha cornets. I found there are enthusiasts who are building up databases of the various models Yamaha has produced over about 50 years and of their serial numbers. You can see how impressive such a database can by clicking on
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11UnDEHRTpaBRlG5CEO6h0Yb3VsDP5IadrIUvmOZNXSc/pub?single=true&gid=0&output=html

So I added to the database by submitting information about my own Yamaha cornet.

My Yamaha Maestro Bb cornet was purchased on 12 November 1996 from Myatt's Music Shop in Hitchin (north of London). The instrument is the model known as YCR 6335H. These details are imprinted on the casing of the middle valve. The unique serial number of my cornet is 201057. The word 'Maestro' is printed on the mouthpipe. At the base of the second valve - on the reverse side - are the words 'Yamaha Japan'. There is no engraving or printing on the bell.

Although I have two newer and more valuable cornets, my Yamaha Maestro seems to be the most easy-blowing. I have been using it a great deal recently.

Post 253: 'IT LOOKS LIKE A BIG TIME TONIGHT'

I was thinking about a tune called It Looks Like a Big Time Tonight. I could remember it vaguely. I think I heard a band play it in Preservation Hall, New Orleans, when I was there about twenty-five years ago.

So I tried YouTube.

Sure enough, up came a spirited recording of this tune, made by Ken Colyer and Acker Bilk a few decades ago.

Then Google led me to the discovery that It Looks Like a Big Time Tonight was written more than a hundred years ago by those distinguished producers of popular music - Gus Kahn and Egbert Von Alstyne. Think of Memories, Goodnight Ladies, Pretty Baby and On the Road to Home Sweet Home.

What a great tune this is for traditional jazz bands - happy, catchy and with a simple harmonic progression - all best played at moderate foot-tapping tempo.

So by ear I worked out a lead sheet for myself. Here's what I came up with. I hope it's about right. There are two sixteen-bar sections; and the best way to play it, I think, is to go through (A) twice, then (B) twice and then return to (A), including for any solos.

Post 252: GREAT TUNE, GREAT PERFORMANCE - 'TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME'

The first time I heard Take Me Out To The Ball Game, it was being played by Dave Donohoe's Band in Peterborough, England - probably in about 1988. It must have struck me forcibly at the time; otherwise, how would I still remember the occasion?

Now I have come across the song on YouTube being played in New Orleans by Loose Marbles. These musicians (some of whom you will recognise as being also members of Tuba Skinny and The Shotgun Jazz Band) play in New Orleans, to the highest standards, virtually every day; and to them this was probably just another routine performance. But to the rest of us it is a most exhilarating example of how to play traditional jazz really well. The tune romps along, supported by a driving rhythm section of Robin, John, Julie and Todd (the latter on guitar on this occasion). The melody is led in turn by Michael (clarinet), Barnabus (trombone) and Marla (trumpet). Note how brilliantly during the opening choruses these three support each other with the subtlest of quiet background colouring: for me, this is our kind of music at its very best.  And there is a terrific ensemble chorus at the end: you could say it's restrained or understated (nobody is over-blowing) and yet WOW! What excitement! Yes, the playing succeeds in being tasteful and yet thrilling throughout. Marla's vocal is delivered naturally - as ever - from the heart, without electronic amplification.

You can watch the video by clicking on here. Many thanks to the video-maker codenamed Wild Bill for filming it.

Amazing to think Take Me Out To The Ball Game was written as long ago as 1908. The composer was Albert Von Tilzer. Lyrics were provided by Jack Norworth (Take me out to the ball game. Take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and crackerjack. I don't care if I never get back...etc. As Marla sings it - no doubt thinking of her Toronto background! - If the Blue Jays don't win it's a shame!)

It was originally a waltz, complete with a 32-bar Verse; but for traditional jazz purposes it works brilliantly in 4/4 time if you play just the 32-bar Chorus [16 + 16 structure] in stomping fashion. Improvising is easy. It doesn't use the Bill Bailey chords but the sequence is simple, involving some familiar four-bar blocks, such as the Four-Leaf and Magnolia Progressions.

For those of us outside the USA, this is all very exciting; but correspondent James Sterling tells me Americans still sing the tune all the time, especially at the ball games, and in the original waltz tempo. For example, have a look at this video - click on here.

Here's how I have written it out for my own purposes in my mini-filofax aide-mémoire system.

Post 251: 'DANCING WITH TEARS IN MY EYES' - AND AL DUBIN THE LYRICIST

I have been asked to learn Dancing With Tears In My Eyes. A scratch band in which I shall be helping soon at a gig has decided to play it.

I did not know this tune but I found it is a very pleasant melody, especially the Chorus - which I suppose is the only part we shall use. I made a lead sheet of Dancing With Tears In My Eyes for storage in my mini filofax.

It seems to have been written as a waltz, and I guess that is how we shall play it. But it would be easy to play it in 4/4 time if we wished to make it more 'jazzy'.

I noticed that it was written in 1930 by Joe Burke (music) and Al Dubin (words). It was Burke who wrote the music for Yearning, Carolina Moon and On Treasure Island - so the world of traditional jazz is greatly indebted to him.

Al Dubin and Joe Burke also collaborated on Painting the Clouds With Sunshine and Tiptoe Through the Tulips; and Dubin (who worked mostly with Harry Warren) wrote the lyrics for several famous songs, including The Anniversary Waltz, September in the Rain, Lulu's Back in Town, You Let Me Down and I Only Have Eyes for You. Burke died in 1950. Dubin died in 1945.

Al Dubin : 1891 - 1945 

Harry Warren : 1893 - 1981

Note: Since writing the above, I have received the following interesting comment from blog reader and friend Carsten Pigott:
I recently happened across your blog article about Dancing With Tears In My Eyes.  It's a terrific tune which, in my view, lends itself far better to up-tempo jazz treatment in 4/4 time than as the originally-intended waltz.  This link gives a fine example of a 'hot' dance band version: Jack Teagarden has the beautiful trombone solo and Joe Venuti's on violin.  I think you'll agree that this is a fine rendition of the tune:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lhDAclgssQ 

Thank you, Carsten: that certainly is a pleasant, swinging, neat arrangement.

Post 250: THE SISTER KATE CHORD PROGRESSION

Like The Hot Nuts Chord Progression, there is another fairly common 16-bar chord sequence known as THE SISTER KATE PROGRESSION.

Sometimes, as in I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate itself, a two-bar tag is added, making 18 bars in all. But here (in C) is the essential progression - with breaks often taken in bars 7 and 8.

G7 | G7 | C | C | G7 | G7 | C*** | C***

G7 | G7 | C | C | F/Fm | C/A7 | D7/G7 | C

It may be heard in such numbers as:

As You Like It
Gatemouth 

Up Jumped the Devil 

I Wish I Could shimmy Like My Sister Kate 

Red Light Rag
South 

Southern Shout
Bogalusa Strut

Like the Hot Nuts Progression, this one ends with the Sunshine Sequence (described elsewhere in this Blog). So nothing could be more natural or simple to play and improvise on. But the progressions are very effective.

Post 249: HOW TO IMPROVISE IN JAZZ

If you're wondering how on earth to go about learning to improvise, may I suggest you watch a wonderful tutorial on YouTube? It is given by the American trumpet-player Charlie Porter. It is full of wisdom, inspirational and also entertaining.

Charlie is a thousand times better at improvising on the trumpet than I am. And he is a natural gifted teacher. He's the man to follow (in this and other YouTube tutorials that he has generously given to the world).

To see the video
CLICK HERE.

And another super little video that gives you some idea about how the trumpet, trombone and clarinet go about collectively improvising is this one:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW.

As for me, I took up trying to play traditional jazz too late in life. I had no Charlie Porter to advise me and my learning processes were more pedestrian.

A wise old friend and jazz musician - Bill Stevens, who alas died several years ago - got me started by telling me there were two ways to improvise when playing jazz. He said you can improvise either on the melody or on the chords. Bill said that if you improvise on the melody, you will sometimes sound terrible but you will also achieve some exciting things. If you improvise on the chords, he said, you will always sound 'right' but will not be so exciting.

Since then, I have come to the view that there is a third way and that it is used (wittingly or unwittingly) by most jazz musicians: it is a mixture of the two above.

My advice will be less useful to you than Charlie Porter's but it may just give you a further means of support if you are really struggling.

Let us take for an example the first four bars of All of Me. And let us have it in the key of C. Written in 1932 by Seymour Simons and Gerald Marks, this song has long been a jazz standard. Here's how the melody and chords for those first four bars appear:

So the chords are two bars of C major and two of E7th:

To improvise on those four bars, you could simply play notes from the chords over the sixteen beats. Indeed, this is perhaps a good exercise for complete beginners. You might come up with something like this:

But when you feel confident, move on to something with a bit more sparkle. You must still work round and through notes from the chords but don't be afraid to throw in notes adjacent to them; and build in some syncopation, to keep things swinging. For example:

Now you are on your way!

Bill Stevens' 'chord' method of improvising over a complete tune involves doing this kind of thing with all the bars. The great majority of 'standards' (such as All of Me) comprise 32 bars, which you come to feel as four eights. There is usually some repetition of chord patterns within the tune, so this helps.

When learning a new tune, you may feel more confident if you memorise the notes of the melody and the chord sequence. You may be clever enough to work these out by yourself. But I find it easier to learn from 'busker's books' (sometimes called 'fake books') - obtainable in music shops or from the Internet, where there are many resources.

Post 248: THOSE SCRUFFY MUSICIANS OF NEW ORLEANS!

Tuba Skinny: Scruffy? Unprofessional?

In recent months, a few elderly musicians have complained about the 'scruffiness' of the young bands who currently busk so brilliantly on the streets of New Orleans.

There was even a minor debate on this topic in the English 'JAZZNORTHWEST' web-site, sparked off by a comment from Louis Lince, the great banjo-player, bandleader and former jazz magazine publisher. He said: '...if Tuba Skinny want to play concerts in the UK they will have to smarten themselves up. Dirty jeans/cut-offs, tennis shoes and t-shirts are NOT the way to go.' I smiled when I read this, as I thought Louis was making a good ironic joke - deliberately mimicking a long-retired colonel living in Kent - the kind of man who used to write to the newspapers under the pseudonym 'Disgusted, Tunbridge Wells'. But I later came to realise he meant what he said.

And this week a correspondent (who says he is a 'huge fan' of Tuba Skinny) wrote to tell me he wishes the band would 'become more professional'. He says 'I wish they would smile more, dress better and look like they are having fun'. He goes on to name particular members of the band, saying they look bored and that one appears to be in dirty clothes.

He asked me to give my opinion. Well, here it is.

I must warn you first that - sadly - at the time of writing this article I have never personally seen Tuba Skinny. So I'm not well placed to judge. But I have spent many hours watching them on dozens of YouTube videos.

I am a very old Englishman and I grew up amidst the British conventions of the 1940s. Those conventions were still influenced by Victorian and Edwardian manners and by military discipline, because our school-teachers and fathers and grandfathers - our rôle models - had fought in the First or the Second World War.

So in my working life, I was required to wear a clean shirt, a smart suit and a tie every day - even in the hottest weather. (I did not enjoy doing so.)

If I had turned up for work with a tattoo or with a ring through my nose, I would have been summoned to the boss's office and sacked.

So you can see that the culture from which I come is alien to that of the young jazz musicians on the streets of New Orleans. But what they and I have in common is a love of traditional jazz and a desire to play it as well as we can.

I feel envy and admiration for the courage and determination of those young people who (in some cases after a good college education) have thrown up the chance of becoming bankers or business executives or lawyers or accountants in order to busk on the streets. I suspect some of their critics are unconsciously envious of them too. While honing their music-making skills, they barely make enough to pay the rent; they have to buy their clothes from charity shops (what the Americans call 'thrift shops'), and make do with old bicycles for transport.

I can understand audiences being disappointed because some of these young musicians do not always look cheerful. But when you are playing session after session in 80 degrees to 90 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees to 32 degrees Celsius) - sometimes till 3am as at The Spotted Cat - and repeatedly playing the same tunes, it is difficult to appear always fresh and cheerful. Sometimes you will look weary. What makes it harder is that you are constantly pestered by tourists wanting to 'sit in' or to be photographed with you or keen to tell their friends they talked to you.

By the way, I have frequently seen Shaye smile in videos. I think it's only because she is such a thinker and because she concentrates so hard on what is going on that she sometimes gives the impression of looking too serious.

I don't object to their casual laid-back approach to life. As far as I can tell from the many videos, they keep as clean as is possible in the hot, humid and sometimes dusty conditions. Their dress for busking is appropriate to the weather and the environment. At commercial gigs it is 'smart casual' and that's fine with me.

[Edited note - added several months later: I have now seen the band on the streets of New Orleans. I stand by all I have written. They are clean and smart, wearing sensible casual clothes that are just right for the hot climate and the music scene in which they participate.]

On tour, they typically attract audiences of 500 happy, excited, mainly young people. How many of our bands dressed in jackets and ties could do that?

Thank goodness we all agree the music they produce is - as my correspondent said - 'fabulous'.
--------------
Footnote: I have received many emails in response to this post. Nobody so far has agreed with the view that Tuba Skinny are 'scruffy'.

Here is a selection. First from Fred Burnett who runs the JAZZNORTHWEST web-site:

Hi Ivan,

In case you hadn’t seen it, there’s a  whole debate on this subject on my site which started back in July 2012 and the last entry being towards the end of April this year.

I appreciate though that Tuba Skinny first got cited as an example by Louis this year after Norman Gibson resurrected the subject.

http://www.jazznorthwest.co.uk/scruffy.htm

Fred

From an Englishman who visited New Orleans in April:

Morning Ivan

Totally agree with your comments. The band members might appear to be bored and uninterested but they all take their work seriously. Off duty they are chatty, charming and great fun. We had long chats with most of the band and they were happy to share their thoughts on their music and their fans. When I told Shaye that she had inspired me to start playing cornet again after 20 years she was genuinely chuffed. Bill

Here's another email from England:

Hi Ivan

I want to say how much I agree with your view of Tuba Skinny. The dissenting voices come from that club that does so much to kill off accessible jazz: the old man's club playing old man's music. The accent is on 'man'.

There are two women in Tuba Skinny. Not girls, not ladies. Women.

If it's image you're after then get a band full of shop window dummies.

The future of acoustic swing has been passed to another generation. 

Long live the music of the future.

Alan

And another:

Hello Ivan,

I must say I agree with your every word about Tuba Skinny's dress.  Contrary to the quoted comment, casual clothes are not necessarily dirty or scruffy!

Tuba Skinny is a street band and I don't see any problem if they choose to appear in more formal settings dressed like a street band.  I'm just trying to imagine Metallica performing in grey lounge suits.

After the hottest two weeks of the year, I guess a lot of orchestral musicians would prefer T-shirts to white tie and tails!

Sam  

And one from a Dutch reader:

Dear Ivan,

Also I find this band: fabulous

The band members should receive all our respect: I feel some shame that this discussion is raised here in Europe.

Tell those elderly musicians, that they better should write a letter to Obama, that this band should receive a subsidy or prize for safeguarding this jazz heritage.

Rgs, Jan