Post 359: GO BUSKING - TRY SOME OUTREACH WORK

Here's an unusual and wonderful sight - An ENGLISH band busking on the streets of ENGLAND:

It's Bazzer's Jazzers recently photographed in Lancaster.

I run up against surprising language problems occasionally. After I last wrote about busking, an American reader e-mailed to tell me it took him some time to work out what busking was. But it's a common enough word here in England.

When I refer to jazz bands 'busking', I mean 'giving impromptu un-booked concerts in the streets, to promote their bands and pick up some tips' - in the manner of the many street bands in New Orleans.

'Busking' is a word of ancient and obscure origins. It probably came originally from a Germanic word of medieval times. It seems to have entered English via the old Spanish word buscar or the French busquer (meaning seek out or go about selling things). Of course, in addition to musicians, there are other forms of buskers (street performers). And the word 'busking' is also sometimes used by musicians in a slightly different way, meaning 'having a go at playing something by ear, without having seen or properly learned the music'.

But for the purposes of this article, I mean simply giving an un-booked concert in public.

Some of the best venues in which traditional jazz groups can be heard are outdoors, in streets or open spaces, where members of the public are passing by.

Scene in America

We should make a greater effort to take traditional jazz into the streets. That's the way to increase its appeal to the younger generation and give pleasure to the masses.

In the September 2014 issue of Offbeat Magazine, there was an article by Geoffrey Himes in which he sought the views of Tuba Skinny. This band no longer needed to busk for tips: it had plenty of good gigs on offer from all round the world. And yet the players still loved to perform in the streets.

Shaye Cohn told him: It’s important to every single person in the band that we keep playing on the street. If we stopped, something important about the band would be gone. We can take more risks and play more freely when we’re busking. No one’s telling us what to do or what to play when we’re on the street; no one’s telling us when to start or when to stop or how much we should talk. It’s our time and we do what we want to do. When people stop on the street to listen, it’s because they’re drawn to it. It’s not because they’re a tourist in a bar trying to ‘experience’ New Orleans music.

When we travel, we try to busk a lot, because it connects us to the place we’re in. If we’re out in the open, people are going to pass by and react. People bump into you and say, ‘What kind of music is that? I never heard that kind of jazz.’ Which I can relate to because, at one point, I had never heard this kind of jazz either. You’re outdoors, which is nice, and it’s acoustic so we don’t have to worry if someone’s amplifier is drowning out someone else. Some spots are better: small streets with fewer cars and more pedestrians—which are easier to find in Europe than in the States.

I had burned out on classical piano; I had spent so many, many hours practising in a tiny rehearsal room going over the same four measures again and again. I needed more social activity in my life. Until I started busking, I had never achieved such a special rapport playing music with people.

Another joy of playing in the street is that small children are fascinated by the music and react to the rhythms. Toddlers can't stop themselves dancing.

The music also gives pleasure to many elderly people for whom it brings back memories. Street performing is indeed 'Outreach Work' and very important.

To hear an example of three friends of mine attempting a street performance with me CLICK HERE.

If you play al fresco in this way, you give a delightful surprise to people of all ages. Many passers-by (accustomed to ipods and disco music) will never have seen and heard anything like this - live - before.

You will be heard by two thousand people in a couple of hours. (Isn't that better than playing to 25 people in a club or pub?) And a young lady in those two thousand could well book you to play at her wedding reception, so you will attract a good gig too.

As Shaye says, you will not have to meet the demands of a promoter. And you can choose your own programme, even including a few 'experimental tunes' if you like. You can start and finish at any time and maybe take a break in a bar or coffee shop.

In my country (England), there are plenty of buskers on the streets. Yet I hardly ever see a traditional jazz group among them. The few I have spotted attracted great interest.

Things are very different in other countries (especially America) where such street performances as this are welcome and commonplace:-

I don't know why English musicians are reluctant to get out there. It seems such an obvious way of keeping in practice, having fun and spreading joy.

Maybe the English are too reserved and too ready to imagine obstacles. It is a myth that you need some kind of 'permit' or 'licence' (other than in a very few places), though of course you must not cause an obstruction or play in a spot where you could disturb nearby businesses.

(Sadly, correspondent Robert Duis tells me, the situation is bad in Holland, where he says playing music on the streets is permitted only in rare circumstances.)

In England, most people and local authorities will give you a warm welcome for brightening up the scene and making everyone feel cheerful.

If you pick an appropriate location in an English high street, with good acoustics, preferably on a sunny day, you can enjoy a terrific concert and soon have a delighted audience. A reader has told me it is possible in some places to colonise a disused shelter or bandstand, like this:

Another reason why some musicians are reluctant, I suppose, is that this is not a money-making enterprise. You can put down a collection box and hope for donations, but you will be lucky if you collect more than enough to pay for the band's travelling expenses and a drink.

However, I wish more bands (or small groups) would try this form of performance.

It is a great way of keeping the music alive and it can bring you bookings, so it's a way of publicising yourselves too.

I stumbled upon a lovely YouTube video which graphically and movingly demonstrates the points I am trying to make. Please have a look at it:

CLICK HERE.

When a passer-by sees and hears you, the first ten seconds are the most important. Think about this vital point and it will help you get everything else right.

Choose carefully the spot where you set up. It is not fair to play in the same spot for more than an hour. (You may annoy a nearby shopkeeper who tolerates you but is not really happy to have you there.) And it is neither fair nor sensible to set up in a spot with another busker already performing nearby. Similarly, don't get too near someone who is collecting for a charity: people will think you are together.

Have a small repair kit with you, in case there are any problems with your musical instrument.

If you want to attract bookings, have a clear and visible notice; and have business cards available.

When people take an interest, make eye contact. Smile and say thank you if they put a coin in your box - even if it means missing half a bar.

Carry a notebook and pen: somebody may talk to you about a possible booking.

Be clean and smart. You could wear something distinctive – but don’t be scruffy.

When in a busy main thoroughfare, such as a high street, perform if possible between 10am and midday. Between those hours the public is most receptive. Later, people grow wearier and less responsive.

When there are plenty of people around, play merry tunes that you know you can play well.

Choose music that is mostly bright and cheerful.

Do not use amplification, or at least keep it minimal. You will attract complaints from shopkeepers and annoy your potential listeners if you are 'too loud'.

Don’t try to sell CDs unless you are licensed. In England, this does require a licence.

Don't make the excuse that your instrument is difficult to transport to such a venue. The lady below goes busking on her bicycle. It is a very pleasant tall, upright loop-frame model, complete with dynamo lighting and a very sensible chain-guard. I am a bicycle enthusiast.  I like cellos. I like ladies, especially ladies who play musical instruments. So this is the perfect street scene for me.

The lady cycles with the chair, stool, clothes pegs and CDs in her panniers. But how does she manage to carry the cello? In a cello bag on her back. And what about these chaps? An inspiration to us all!

Finally, here's Hannah - a great happiness-spreading street musician.

For a treat, watch her playing and singing by

CLICKING HERE.

Post 281: KEEPING THE MUSIC ALIVE - A YOUNG MAN'S VIEW

When you come across an Englishman who is still in his early 20s and who enjoys playing traditional jazz and has strong opinions about it, you have to sit up and take notice.

Laurence  Marshall (sousaphone, trumpet, washboard, whistles, trombone, vocals) while still at school in Scarborough (on the north-east coast of England) organised the young group that calls itself The Jelly Roll Jazz Band. They are still playing together a few years later.

I found the opinions of this young man well worth noting.

I sort of got into trad jazz around the time I was getting into the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. I was into magic and art and stuff, and I think trad jazz is just good fun.

We initially set up the band for a church fayre. As I wanted to play sousaphone, I borrowed a tuba and wrote out some march cards with tunes on that I'd picked out from listening to bands and from what sheet music I could get hold of. We soon started busking - I eventually bought a sousaphone. We did a lot of busking, and trad was perfect as the repertoire we played was happy and upbeat and lots of people know the tunes in the backs of their heads. It always made us some pocket money and it's very fun music to play as you can do whatever you want really. 

I don't think it's particularly intellectual or academic music, which draws me even more to it. It is about making a good vibe, and as buskers we're good at that - we have a laugh and muck around and enjoy the more abstract instruments such as the spoons and washboard. So really it wasn't that I got into trad: it got into me.

It is just a music which I think suits certain people, as I feel it definitely has an ethos to it. We all get a lot of enjoyment out of playing it, and listening to other people who like doing the same sort of stuff as us. 

I now play full-time - mainly old jazz, r'n'b, and novelty music as well as everything else. I like to stay open to a lot of music, unlike a lot of trad fans. I've had people walk out of trad jazz clubs because there was a violin in the band. I think this is the reason a lot of young people don't get into trad - because of some of the narrow-minded older people who work hard to put people off. These people have no ownership of it. Although they came up through a trad revival in the fifties, this was all just copied. Neither the fans nor the musicians had anything to do with the origins of the music, and in fact did little to develop the genre. This is why fans should be open to creativity and development within the genre. Otherwise they are pinning it down, saying it has been made so now let's box it up and look at it in a reminiscent way, back to when we had "our" revival. 

But if trad is to attract a younger audience, young musicians playing this style must be celebrated and the ways they change and embrace the music must be encouraged, or we are just trying to remake a remake. I think a big thing for clubs would be to lose the word 'jazz', as a lot of people misinterpret that as meaning atonal, eyes-down, non-entertaining and non-inclusive. But trad is the opposite to that, and it seems popular as a jazz sub-genre because there are many young people who enjoy the associated fashions and swing dancing. 

As a musician I enjoy the accessibility and the room for self-expression. I enjoy the effects and trickster ways in which you can play your instrument, and the ways in which gags and a bit of goofing around only add to the music. 

This is a bit of a rant, but I think that the trad community needs ranting at, as although what I have said is not true of everyone (I have had wonderful times and seen nothing but encouragement from many clubs), it does apply to those who are stuck in their ways and do not offer a welcoming, open audience for bands, new fans and dancers and who therefore may put off young people. I suspect many of these kinds of people don't want young people in 'their' clubs, but without breaking down age barriers and integrating, the music will be buried with its audience. 

We should all love trad together and embrace how the music is living and breathing now in our modern society, so that we can all share a lot of stories of past gigs, future ideas and silly lyrics, and have a good knees-up.

What a lot of wisdom from young Laurence!

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 200: HEALTH AND SAFETY

I wonder whether those of you who attempt to play traditional jazz have come across many health and safety issues at gigs?

Apart from the obvious dangers of tripping over wires or stands or falling off a stage (really our own fault), I have found the following experiences to be the most unpleasant.

(1) Playing outside in very cold weather.

I have occasionally been in a band asked to play outdoors with no protection in freezing temperatures. This usually happens in the English winter (for example, at Christmas-related events) and, even if you wear your thermals, you can still end up bitterly cold and shivering. It is hard to play your instrument when your mouth, fingers and the instrument itself are so cold. I have seen banjo-players suffering particularly badly. Not only are their fingers frozen; their instruments go out of tune because of the temperature. And this does not happen only in the winter. It occurs sometimes in other seasons when the band is required to set up in a spot where it is exposed to sharp easterly winds. What a relief it is - at the end of such gigs - to get back in your car and have the heater on while you drive home and thaw out!

(2) Insect bites.

Garden parties on summer evenings can be especially scary. I remember our band being seated next to a substantial hedge on a warm late-August evening. The first hour was all right. Then out came the pesky little critters and they bit us like mad - all over our faces, hands and ankles. This experience taught me always to carry insect repellent in my accessories.

(3) Collapsing chairs.

I have seen two sousaphone players take nasty backward tumbles. Peter Jenns was on the back of a float during a carnival procession in Wisbech: the lorry moved forward suddenly and he was thrown over backwards and injured. He refused ever to take part in such an event again. The other - David Parker - was required to sit on a chair that had been placed on ground sloping slightly backwards. Lawns can be softer than they look. Half-way through the gig, poor Dave suddenly disappeared backwards. This also happened to me last year. One of the back legs of my chair dropped very suddenly into a crack in the lawn. This happened right in the middle of a tune, so my tumble must have looked very amusing to the audience, but I sustained a gash from my elbow to my wrist and my shirt sleeve was covered in blood.

(4) Sunstroke.

One summer afternoon The Nene Valley Stompers were invited to play for two and a half hours on a small stage at a village fête in Norfolk. I was a member of the band at the time. There was no wind, a clear blue sky and the sun beat down remorselessly on our heads. We were offered no cover. By the end of the gig, I felt ill. I had to drive home cautiously, take aspirins and go immediately to bed. It was more than a touch of sunstroke.

(5) Barbecue Smoke

You arrive at the gig and settle down to play on the spot allocated to you - on a stage or in a gazebo. All goes well at first. Then they start cooking the barbecue. A breeze blows the smoke directly on to the band. The musicians have no escape. They do not wish to appear wimps or killjoys by requesting a move, so they endure it. I'm not sure whether this is really a health and safety issue. But I know it is unpleasant taking gulps of air in these circumstances and that after a time the eyes begin to sting.

Post 11: TRADITIONAL JAZZ MUSICIANS IN NEW ORLEANS, 2015

While I was in New Orleans in April 2015, I had the privilege of conversations with several of the musicians I had previously seen and admired only on YouTube.

I also listened to several of the great bands playing in the bars and clubs (such as The Spotted Cat and The DBA and The Maison) and to dozens of street musicians (buskers, as we say in England).

It was a special thrill to chat with them wherever possible. Some - under pressure from their adoring public - could spare me only a few moments; but with others I managed to have quite long conversations, from which I learned a great deal about how they practise, rehearse and manage their lives.

They tend to live in rented shotgun houses just outside the French Quarter. Some of them are near enough to walk to work. But many use bicycles, often fitted with trailers, to take themselves and their kit to the spot where they will play.

They work long and hard - even on a birthday! For an illustration of this, look at this Facebook entry by guitarist Shine Delphi:
Thank y'all for the birthday love. If you're in New Orleans come give me a hug. I'll be busking with Yes Ma'am  11 - 2, then Goorin Bros hat shop 3 - 5 and I'll finish the evening over at Buffa's 11 - 1.

You sometimes pass a band playing for tips at a certain spot and then - when you return five hours later - you find they are still there and still playing. What stamina they have! Here's the famous Doreen Ketchens, for example, playing a very long session in Royal Street.

Musical standards are so high. For example, I noticed street musicians have no problem playing terrific improvised 32-bar solo choruses even when they have a singer who chooses to sing in an 'awkward' key. Pretty well any of the musicians busking on Royal Street would be instant stars on the jazz scene here in England. But in England they would not make a living, whereas in New Orleans the tips from tourists give them just enough to live on.

There are now so many street musicians in New Orleans that competition for attention and for tips has become a problem. In Royal Street (the main location for buskers), you may be brilliantly singing songs accompanied by your own guitar, but there will be a five-piece band only 100 yards to your right and a solo classical violinist 100 yards to your left. So it's not easy to hold the attention of passers-by.

In addition, the streets are full of other 'entertainers' - the human statues, tap-dancers, the man who types instant poetry, the sword swallower, the magician, the exhibitionists (often vulgar) who expect tips just for posing in outrageous costumes, and so on.

I was told independently by two musicians (so it is surely true) that, if you want to play in a prime spot from 11a.m. (when music is allowed), you need some member of your band to man that position from 11p.m. the night before. All through the night, someone must be on the spot to hold it. Sometimes members of a band do this in 'shifts', with one arriving at 2a.m. to relieve the musician on duty since 11 p.m., and so on. How can they be fit to play after such a night? It's tough; and for this reason some who are now being offered decent gigs in the bars have decided not to play on the streets any more.

Of course there are other spots (such as on the Walk along the north bank of the Mississippi) where you could set up and play, but far fewer people pass by there.

When you talk to the musicians, it's not easy to get some of them to be serious on the subject of their talents. They constantly joke and belittle themselves.

But some of the musicians, notably Tommy Sancton, Ben Polcer, Charlie Halloran and John Dixon, were happy to chat about the technicalities of the music. What impressed me was how seriously they take it and how hard they work and practise. Often they will do two gigs (sometimes three) in a day - gigs of three hours or four hours each. On rare days when there is no gig, they still insist on the need to practise for a couple of hours. As one musician said, 'It's like being an iceberg. The public sees the little bit above the water; but there's a huge amount of hard work that goes on underneath the surface'.

I asked how important it was for trumpet, clarinet and trombone players to know the chord progression of a particular tune. To my surprise, they all considered it essential. Of course, they pointed out that - when you have played a tune many times - the chord sequence is 'in your fingers' and instinctive, so you no longer consciously think of it; but you must learn it in the first place. For an example that shows how thoroughly a trombone player knows his chord sequence, look at Barnabus Jones from twenty seconds into this video, where he is calling out the chord sequence of Dallas Rag for the benefit of other players: CLICK HERE.

Did they reach a point at which they had no need to learn any more tunes? Definitely not. The joy of mastering new tunes goes on and on. Ben Polcer - who as a young music graduate was among the first to migrate to New Orleans - is a brilliant player of both the piano and the trumpet. He has been one of the most important influential figures on the New Orleans scene since Hurricane Katrina. Yet he is still learning new tunes. He told me he can usually pick up a tune of the more 'straightforward' kind after hearing it a couple of times, especially as he will usually recognise familiar chord sequences within it. I had great pleasure hearing Ben play both instruments during my visit. You can watch his piano playing at close quarters if you click on this video of 'I Can't Escape'. And - with the same band - you can see him playing trumpet on 'The Original Dixieland One-Step' by clicking here.

One of the most exciting musicians on the current New Orleans scene is Aurora Nealand, who plays in various contrasting styles with different bands, some of which she leads.

Typical of the sort of thing Aurora does was this: her band started to play Dans Les Rues d'Antibes with its usual brisk up-tempo Introduction. Then they suddenly stopped and switched to a weird almost dirge-like bit of (what seemed to me ) free-style jazz. It was fun and went on for about a minute. Then they bounced back into Dans Les Rues and performed it in the conventional way, with some sensationally good solo choruses. Playful treatments such as that seem to be something Aurora is very keen to experiment with.

Aurora - like many of the musicians there - went to New Orleans intending to stay for about six months, mainly working at composing. But the culture soon got into her blood. Inspired by The Preservation Hall Band in her childhood, she had always loved traditional jazz. So she started to study it more deeply and soon found herself constantly playing on the streets - with various bands.

She is now one of the most brilliant and versatile reed players and band-leaders in the world. Aurora told me there is something very special about playing with bands in New Orleans. She said the technical standard of traditional jazz musicians in New York is extremely high; and yet compared with New York (where incidentally some of the New Orleans musicians spend a month or two in the summer), she found there was something more 'relaxed' and less cerebral about the music in New Orleans. This quality is hard to define; but it's there all right.