Gas Money? Maybe with luck! [Update MMIII]

Gas Money? Maybe with luck! [Update MMIII]

Subject: Gas Money? Maybe with luck!

2003 UPDATE of an August 25, 2001 post: <http://tinyurl.com/ris1>
From: Icono Clast ([EMAIL PROTECTED])

Those of us who enjoy listening and dancing to music should never let
a day pass without thanking Euterpe and Orpheus for the musicians who
make music for the love of doing so regardless of what they get paid
for our pleasure.

The Lyratones is an 18-piece band (5/4/4/4 configuration) with a boy
singer and Leader Tom ???. I first heard them playing with the
outstanding Redwood Symphony, Dr. Eric Kujausky's beautiful baby.
        They also play at the Santa Clara Senior Center every Fourth Thursday
(http://calendar.yahoo.com/seniorsfo) for the pittance of a $4
admission that, from the perhaps 400 attendees, could pay them a
maximum of $80 each presuming the gig has no other expenses such as
rent, janitorial service, utilities, snacks, etc. Deduct those and
they're lucky to get as much as $60.
        Today's Big Bands, such as those of Harold Jones and the Bossmen,
Rudy Salvini, SaxFrancisco, Moodswing Orchestra, City Swing, the
Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, the Collective West Jazz Orchestra,
Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, the Realistic Orchestra, and the San
Francisco Bay Area Big Band exist only because the musicians love the
music and challenge of playing in a big band. We would have to pay at
least $10, presuming an attendance of 400, to make it financially
worth the musicians' while.
        We should never let a day pass without thanking Euterpe and Orpheus
for what they have done for us.

The August 2001 Santa Clara Senior Center gig of the Lyratones was
musically very satisfying. They swung almost every number, played
badass charts, had some good solos, and were tight and loose in the
best senses of those words. Wow! The concert aspects of the gig were
wonderful.
        But it was a dance gig and the dance aspects of it were far from
ideal aside from the somewhat slow, very large, floor. The tempi were
so high that I counted them. On two occasions, three consecutive
numbers were faster than 160 BPM. Even a fine rendition of "¡Oye!
¿Cómo Va?" was at a blistering 166 BPM. You KNOW Tito never played it
that fast.
        The FoxTrots were the most suited to Swing dancing and the so-called
Swings were faster than Jive tempi normally are. One number was close
to 200 BPM. Mind you, this gig was at a Senior Center and, guess
what?, most of the attendees were quite old, many of them lucky they
could still walk much less dance.

[Please see "How to Play for Dancing" at the site at Left in the sig.]

The dancing level was among the lowest I've ever encountered. Even my
girlfriend was appalled and so dis-satisfied that she wants to never
return.
        There were about six couples who appeared to dance well but they
never let go of each other so it's impossible to know whether they
really know how to dance or just how to dance with each other. During
the mixers they hugged the walls while the rest of us mixed. They
returned to the floor for the music and then the incredibly rude,
inconsiderate, and uncoöperative assholes unfairly huddled against the
walls during the mixing.
________________________________________________________________
A San Franciscan who never says "No!" to an invitation to dance!
http://geocities.com/dancefest/     http://geocities.com/iconoc/
ICQ: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/19098103      IClast at SFbay Net