{"id":226,"date":"2017-04-13T17:10:59","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T21:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cindyfiles.com\/?p=226"},"modified":"2017-04-13T17:26:53","modified_gmt":"2017-04-13T21:26:53","slug":"big-band-sounds-a-lesson-in-social-norms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cindyfiles.com\/index.php\/2017\/04\/13\/big-band-sounds-a-lesson-in-social-norms\/","title":{"rendered":"Big band sounds: A lesson in social norms"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Vaughn Wiester’s Famous Jazz Orchestra gets ready to perform. (Cindy Decker)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What I expected to be a simple night out a few weeks ago \u2013 a one-and-done kind of activity \u2013 took an unexpected turn into discussions of audience behavior, expectations, and, well, what constitutes fun.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The performance by Vaughn Wiester’s Famous Jazz Orchestra at the Clintonville Women\u2019s Club fell into the category of \u201cthings I didn\u2019t know that I don\u2019t know\u201d (which is a large category indeed).<\/p>\n

Evidently, I went into the event with one gigantic misconception.<\/p>\n

I thought that because the orchestra performs weekly in a social club\u00a0\u00a0 \u2013 an event that has been going on 20 years \u2013 the atmosphere would be somewhat casual. Food is served, and guests may bring in alcoholic drinks. I expected the music to be dominant, of course, but I also expected talking, laughing and perhaps even some dancing.<\/p>\n

I thought my friend was kidding when he texted before the event, \u201cNO DANCING!!!!\u201d (Caps and exclamation points all his.)<\/p>\n

The extremely talented 22-member orchestra plays fun big band pieces, prompting toe-tapping and wriggling in one\u2019s seat. I couldn\u2019t complain about the quality of the music.<\/p>\n

But I didn\u2019t interpret the event as being a stage performance like what I would find at the Ohio or Palace theaters. Even with the $10 cover, I interpreted it as a club, a place for fun versus a place for intense study of musical theory and arrangement.<\/p>\n

I seem to have been in the minority on that viewpoint. I drew the stink eye from three older women when I tried to carry on a conversation with a table companion whom I had not seen in months.<\/p>\n

From then on, I sat stoically face-forward in a kind of forced attention to the band. And that just felt wrong and truly un-fun.<\/p>\n

The event was well-attended, and audience members enjoyed the well-executed pieces.<\/p>\n

But I left wondering what was more typical. No talking during\u00a0 the show? Or using the (very nice) music as background?<\/p>\n

I took my question to three friends who know music well: my cousin, who plays trumpet with nine bands (and sometimes, he says, even gets paid); a pianist who performs in the Washington, D.C., area; and a friend whose father was a well-known jazz performer.<\/p>\n

What they agreed was it all depends on the venue and audience expectations.<\/p>\n

Ed Wiley, owner of a North Carolina restaurant that used to offer live jazz, gave the explanation that most closely dovetailed with my thoughts.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome places employ musicians, mostly locals, who just want to play. They are there merely to offer some background fodder. People don’t actually pay to hear their music and a radio station would suffice,\u201d he said. \u201cThe \u2018A\u2019 house, on the other hand, is where people pay a pretty decent cover to hear touring musicians and\/or recording artists, some of whom are nationally renowned. Generally, in these venues the house rule is, \u2018If you must talk, please keep conversations to a whisper!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thought is that jazz musicians, as the purveyors of America’s only classical music, deserve the same deference as those who perform European classical music. I have seen jazz musicians walk off the stage and refuse to return until the house cleared for the next show.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, there are many, many jazz musicians \u2013 of which my father was one (Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Jordan, Clark Terry, James Moody also come to mind) \u2013 who encouraged audiences to clap, click, sing along, even dance. To players like these, participation is a sign that you’re digging the show. My father believed that quiet, unresponsive crowds were often a sign that the music was too mathematical, too sterile or just plain un-fun. He felt that a musician had the responsibility to compel people to pay attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

The local orchestra is beloved, and the event is an affordable night out. I think I ran afoul by not understanding the social code of the particular event.<\/p>\n

I also think my cousin identified the predictor\u00a0 succinctly for future forays into the unknown:<\/p>\n

\u201cHow dedicated are their fans?\u00a0 If the band was playing for dancing … Have fun and drink and give them the stink eye back.\u00a0 But, If it’s being mostly accepted by the audience as a concert performance \u2026 then talk at your own risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Conclusion: I probably never need to go back unless the event loosens up. The staff \u00a0 started snatching linens off the tables within minutes of the band\u2019s last note, before we\u2019d even said a goodbye to table companions.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What I expected to be a simple night out a few weeks ago \u2013 a one-and-done kind of activity \u2013 took an unexpected turn into discussions of audience behavior, expectations, and, well, what constitutes fun.   The performance by Vaughn Wiester’s Famous Jazz Orchestra at the Clintonville Women\u2019s Club fell into the category of \u201cthings … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Big band sounds: A lesson in social norms”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columbus-activities","tag-columbus-activities"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8ocxK-3E","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyfiles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyfiles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyfiles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyfiles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyfiles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/cindyfiles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":232,"href":"https:\/\/cindyfiles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226\/revisions\/232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cindyfiles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyfiles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cindyfiles.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}