dfnw membership sucks

bbwood_98

I'd go!
Crested butte is beatiful, and the mountains as a backdrop would be a great place for GJ - Perhaps some time in the future (or if archtop ever asks me to perform!). I'm sure there will be lots of great guitarists and musicians, and often the first time or two will be the best time to make new friends, and jam a lot- as there will be less players there!
Cheers,
Ben

andoatagn

djadam wrote:

Heck, I wouldn't mind seeing the GJ event organizers taking a page from the Planet Bluegrass book and using some less-than-pure swing to draw in some folks.

By all means correct me if I'm wrong, but last I checked, this is what virtually all the GJ event organizers are doing...or trying to do anyway. Nick's always got (great) non-GJ acts at Djangofests, as does Pat Phillips at her NYC productions. It's hard to believe the other, smaller events are so purist about it....Where would they get the talent?

For better or worse, Django in June may be the only exception to that rule. But then, we only have two concerts all week, which doesn't leave a lot of room for eclectic programming!

Cheers,
Andrew

djangology

I think its cool that they add fusion acts to the gypsy jazz festivals but I also believe that they could keep at least one of the festivals pure and without fusion acts. What I mean is that all those acts at that festival could commit to playing Django stuff, regardless of what style they use to perform it. Bringing in already successful fusion/other acts is a way to cheat and make the festival successful without requiring that gypsy jazz artists step up to a higher level.

There is SOOO much territory that we haven't covered and so many Django songs barely even touched upon. Why dilute it when there is so much left to explore? Why not challenge current gypsy jazz artists and force them to the level of these nice/pretty fusion acts? Otherwise gypsy jazz will never aspire to anything bigger and will fall to the wayside trying to senslessly compete with popular culture acts.

Personally, I think many people are losing their attention span and losing sight of the big picture. It is as-if nobody "trusts" that Djangos legacy has the power to truly entertain and make money and so they think they need to add outside influences in order to succeed.

Klezmorim

"...they think they need to add outside influences in order to succeed."

Let's not forget that Django added the "outside influences" of American jazz artists, such as Louis Armstrong, to the Roma folk tunes and French musettes that he started off playing.