Royal Society Jazz Orch.: "When It's Sleepy Time Down South"

[theworkbox]

I know it is presumptious, but I say this even surpasses Armstrongs original. Perfection!

[katzinjammer1]

I like!

[thewildandthenerdy09]

mr.storar = my great music teacher

[Bobchai]

thewildandthenerdy09: That's wonderful! I had no idea. I think he's one of the best trumpet players on the planet.  Lucky you!

[thewildandthenerdy09]

Bobchai: Did you have any connection with Andrew? (that felt weird.typing his 1st name)

[Bobchai]

thewildandthenerdy09: LOL, no I really don't, but I know Don Neely the bandleader, and I have seen "Andrew" perform a number of times. He's great!

[blaintheking]

This band does have taste and technique. Subjective, I suppose, but I thinks so anyway.

Great vocalist too!

Thanks for sharing.

[Bobchai]

Subjective, of course, whether one likes this music or not. But I think all agree that taste and technique is a little more "objective" There's some music I don't care for, but I can agree that it's well-performed. Thanks for the comment!

[gassyoldman]

Sweet nostalgia. This is the sort of thing my dad would have been into! 5*****

Bill

[Bobchai]

gassyoldman: Thanks so much!

[JoeOliverIsStillKing]

what!! a band with technique & taste? no way haha

[susisan]

Maravillosa música. Me encanta. Saludos

[Bobchai]

susisan: Nomas estoy presentando lo que creo que es lo mejor de nuestra tradicion musical, amada en muchos paises, pero por desgracia, olvidada en mi propio pais. Gracias por comentar.

[Bobchai]

tdud1941: I tweaked the contrast on this video to boost the faces of Carla Normand and Andrew Storar, the trumpet player. They were silhouettes. As a consequence, the colors of the rest of the program are washed out. But I hope you enjoyed my pan of the stage floor and my zoom to Jeff Gilbert, the main singer of RSJO. You may see in my pan a short view (2-seconds)of my father, with long white hair, at the wine bar. It's the last video I have of him. He died in January 2003, almost 90.

[tdub1941]

Dear Bob,

Lovely! 5 Stars!

This is more my style! Love it!

Thanks for posting this one!

RagJazzMonkey

Tom Warner

[BlitzWing00]

I guess it's exposure...kids typically get exposed to whatever is mainstream at the time, and they tend to stick with that as it's what they feel comfortable with & it's what all their friends think is cool.

[BlitzWing00]

For me growing up, I was never really exposed to mainstream music much...didn't have the interest in music. Any music that I was exposed to was incidental....though TV shows, Movies, Games.

I think that's why I can appreciate a range of different types music...I never latched on to any specific type to stick to. I like what sounds good to me. Sometimes it's from odd places like instrumental music from Movies & Games.

[BlitzWing00]

I think the majority of the artists out there are doing what's mainstream and sticking to that type. Either that or the non-mainstream stuff is not getting broadcasted as much; they have to appease the masses after all.

I think that's sad...no exposure for non-mainstream, less people will get into it.

[BlitzWing00]

One of the things I love about MaryAnne's work is there's variety; There's a lot of different kinds of music I haven't heard before. And it's different than the mainstream...like one of my favorites is "Anything Goes"...I heard that song in Indiana Jones. It's a great song, but you'll never hear it on the radio today.

I think it's great her work is preserving the music & regenerating interest in it.

Her work is also great for all the other reasons as well! =)

[BlitzWing00]

Ah...maybe I'm just getting old, LOL!

"Darn kids and their Gangsta Rap!"

=)

[Bobchai]

BlitzWing00: YOU'RE getting old?? We all are.

Take care.

[Bobchai]

BlitzWing00: Don't get me started on MaryAnne/Ysabellabrave. I've never heard anything like her in my life. Phenomenal isn't even an adequate word.

But she does preserve the music tradition I love. We're grateful for that.

[Bobchai]

BlitzWing00: Well, artists tend to stick to their niche. However, occasionally you see a modern artist doing an early blues number, for example. It's when they have the confidence in their careers to do what they want.

[Bobchai]

BlitzWing00: You're probably fortunate that you weren't imprinted with a certain style in music. There are some people who simply can't appreciate this musical style. Musical tastes are personal, but heavily influenced in general by the crowd you hang out with.

[Bobchai]

BlitzWing00: You're right. I grew up in a household with lots of music (except my parents weren't especially interested in classical music). This 1930s music I love today was definitely not cool when I was a student. In fact, people would think you were gay for liking this stuff, because many gays love Broadway musicals, etc. I thought this was stupid. I'm not gay, but my musical preferences in no way reflect my orientation, but I used to feel that I had to hide my love for this music.

[BlitzWing00]

Classical music is great...like classical piano. Can't name any of the music...I'd recognize it though. Again, I've heard them in cartoons mainly. =)

[BlitzWing00]

The sad thing about society is if your opinion or passion doesn't agree with the popular majority, you almost have to hid it or face ridicule...even if your opinion is valid.

[BlitzWing00]

It could have nothing to do with "gays" even. Think of legitimate firearm owners, nothing "gay" about firearms. But you can be sure they pretty much have to hide their hobby. Funny thing is, it seems now-a-days it's more acceptable to be "gay" than a firearm owner.

[Bobchai]

BlitzWing00: Interesting question, and I only can state my opinion. I think there is great music being written in all eras, but there have been some periods of intense creativity--the 1920s was one such period, as were the 1960s. To listen to a modern songwriter like Corinne Bailey Rae, it gives me optimism. I think also you need to have audiences who have the "ear" to appreciate it, which is the point you are making.

[Bobchai]

BlitzWing00: When I was growing up, there were still some people alive who remembered the "Gay Nineties" as a period of great music.

[Bobchai]

BlitzWing00: By the Gay Nineties, I refer to the whole barber shop quartet tradition. That's a genre I'm not really crazy about, but it was good, and when ragtime came along, it changed the world.

[Bobchai]

Blitzwing00: Hmmm is right. Don't forget this was the tail end of an all-day concert, so many of the 20-somethings and younger couples had already taken their children home. Also, it was a charity benefit for the local hospital, and ticket prices were rather high (and deductible); probably around $50 US at the time.

[BlitzWing00]

That would explain it.

I guess I just think it's a shame younger people these days in general are more likely to be exposed to stuff like Gangsta Rap than stuff like this. But maybe I'm just bias as I don't like Gangsta Rap and stuff like that. =)

[Bobchai]

Gangstah rap has had its day, but not all rap is bad. I personally don't think it's music --rather, street poetry set to rhythm, but don't forget that some of the 1920s blues music was equally "wicked"; I'm only posting here some white performers' interpretations, what was the mainstream of dance band music of the day. Even Louis Armstrong had a wicked side, and elder people of the time thought that youth morals were being corrupted by black jazz and blues. But at least this music was melodic.

[Bobchai]

BlitzWing00: I also think it's a shame that younger people haven't been accustomed to "real music", so that's why I'm doing this Youtube site.

Even their parents only grew up with stuff like heavy metal, so they can't be faulted for not knowing this music.

For me, the two main differences between what we now call "popular standards" and what is currently in vogue are: the old music emphasized melody, and modern music usually doesn't.

[Bobchai]

BlitzWing00: (part 2 of this reply):

A song needs to have a melodic base line, and then it needs to have a chorus which tweaks it into another dimension, what I call "the hook". All great songwiters from Cole Porter to the Beatles, always had a hook during the middle eight bars of a song. You seldom see that today.

The other difference is that bands in those days employed a wide variety of instruments, from clarinets to saxes to trumpets and tubas; you won't find that today-- just guitars.

[Bobchai]

BlitzWing00: (part 3) Finally, jazz is improvisation. Soloists are featured during the course of a jazz song to interpret the melody line on a trombone, a trumpet, a bass fiddle, a banjo, a clarinet, etc.

In the early days, sometimes you'd hear some real improvisation, but during the dance band era, these performances tended to be scripted.

[Bobchai]

BlitzWing00: (part 4)

However, the particular "voice" of that instrument could often vary from performance to performance, which is why jazz collectors dwell on such minutiae as one "take" or another.

This is particularly important with vocalists.

I have Ethel Waters, for example, in one take from 1932, and she sounds lackluster, and then another take from the same session, and she's brilliant. That's jazz.

[BlitzWing00]

Do you feel in general music is getting better/worse?

Or is this something that's not comparable like apple & oranges, music is just becoming something different?

[BlitzWing00]

Hmmm...didn't seem like any younger people around. Am I the only one that thinks that's kind of a shame?

[Bobchai]

BlitzWing00: (part 2 of my response) But I do think this music seems to be preferred by Boomers, perhaps many of them grew up with some aspects of it. My parents, for example, were of the pre-rock 'n'roll generation, so I knew this reperoire growing up, before I got into rock. However, I think today you'll find many Xers and Millennials who dig this stuff. The generation of musicians who wrote this music had a social "personality" very similar to today's "slackers".

[Bobchai]

BlitzWing00: (part 3 of my response): Jazz is the product of what was known as the "Lost Generation", post-WW1 youth who felt alienated from old social norms, who embraced modernity and risk-taking behaviour, from sex to politics to quirky business innovation. Today's Xers are remarkably similar in psyche to that 1920s generation, from the Goths, to alienated grunge rockers to the founders of Google-- and as the Xers mature, I think this early jazz will resonate with them. That's why I'm here.