"If big bands had stayed where Bernie would like them to have stayed, there would be no big bands today. Sorry, but playing moldy fig music for old folks and maybe a few young swing dancers is not moving the music forward.
Now that I've gotten your attention by purposely being negative, let me explain what I mean.
I love playing for dances, but dancing isn't the only reason for bands to exist. There are literally dozens of wonderful big bands playing for good-sized audiences and not trying to sound like Lawrence Welk, Glenn Miller or Kay Kyser. And not playing primarily for dancing.Musicians didn't kill the big band era; economics did. Among other factors, record labels wanted to record singers with their own studio orchestras instead of traveling big bands and the musicians' union struck against radio. Interestingly, the bands that did survive into the 1960s and beyond were jazz-oriented, not dance bands. Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich and Maynard Ferguson kept traveling pretty much until they passed away. And the Herman, Basie and Ellington bands continued even after the deaths of their namesakes.
Yes, the Miller band is still out there, as is the Harry James orchestra -- another whose namesake never quit the road -- but now as then, lots of the James band's gigs are sit-down concerts.
I lead the Stan Kenton Alumni Band and we get good crowds for all our concerts. We're also one of the few bands that still gets on a bus and travels like the old days. Another example of a successful contemporary band that doesn't play dances is Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band.So Bernie, your blanket comment about bands like Kenton and Basie not drawing is just not true. As for your inability to get people out on the dance floor, maybe you aren't executing those arrangements correctly. When the Kenton Alumni Band plays a dance once in a while, folks don't hesitate to show their moves. After all, there are many ways of swinging!"
Mike Vax
www.mikevax.net
Trumpeter Mike Vax has performed with artists ranging from Gene Krupa and Clark Terry to The Four Freshmen and The Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band.
I propose that Bernie and Mike meet in a steel cage match. In the spirit of old-school professional wrestling, loser leaves town.
