{"items": [{"author": "Phillip", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308276495874502", "anchor": "fb-308276495874502", "service": "fb", "text": "I have been to both open band nights with PB. My first analysis was that I have never seen Peter in a bad band so I feel there is some impact there. Your bringing this up, made me recall that Sunday there were several other musicians who I have seen and enjoyed else where. I am also willing to bet that you know most of the folks who \"show up\" either directly or through close music friends (I used to be able to cause chess teams to come together this way). I am not saying you specifically (could be, but I don't know enough), but probably a core group of BIDA folks know and inspire most of the open members.", "timestamp": "1326823299"}, {"author": "Phillip", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308277659207719", "anchor": "fb-308277659207719", "service": "fb", "text": "Actually I should be clearer about Peter Barnes: the Latter Day Lizards, Big Bandemonium, and Yankee Ingenuity are/were all top notch bands.", "timestamp": "1326823425"}, {"author": "Hollis", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308277872541031", "anchor": "fb-308277872541031", "service": "fb", "text": "I wonder whether it's relevant that a lot of your musicians (at open band) are also dancers in their own right. I've found that when musicians and dancers know each other, the open band nights are more fun because \"those are our friends up there!\". It's possible that the bump in dancers is due to friends-of-musicians coming out to dance to their friends' music, too.
At least for me, the open band nights are usually pretty unsatisfying musically--but they can be really fun if there's enjoyable interaction between musicians and between musicians/floor.", "timestamp": "1326823445"}, {"author": "Phillip", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308281185874033", "anchor": "fb-308281185874033", "service": "fb", "text": "I do notice (now that I am thinking about it) that I heard a number of the classic contra tunes (e.g. Evil Diane). BTW I loved the variations on Turkey in the Straw, it was amusing.", "timestamp": "1326823824"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308282285873923", "anchor": "fb-308282285873923", "service": "fb", "text": "@Hollis: \"open band nights are usually pretty unsatisfying musically\"
when dancing or playing?", "timestamp": "1326823954"}, {"author": "Hollis", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308284795873672", "anchor": "fb-308284795873672", "service": "fb", "text": "For me, both. I think it's probably significant here that my introduction to playing trad music was as a competing bagpiper in solos and bands, so my innate expectation about wall-of-sound \"big band\" contexts is that they will be musically tight and well choreographed. For me, it's lots of fun to play in a session, but I often find that open bands either gravitate toward just playing the tune 15 times through with no variations, or they end up with too many different ideas and it doesn't really work. Same thing from the floor--I get distracted from the dance.
Now, this isn't always true. I played in a really fun open band led by Pete Sutherland last summer (after a friend's wedding) where Pete actually *led* the band, kind of orchestrating on the fly. That was more fun for me because it led to more coherent variety.
I'm going to throw another caveat lector in here: it's quite likely that my tastes here are unusual ones.", "timestamp": "1326824292"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308286959206789", "anchor": "fb-308286959206789", "service": "fb", "text": "@Hollis: \"kind of orchestrating on the fly. That was more fun for me because it led to more coherent variety.\"
Both Peter and Debby do this. I agree it's important.", "timestamp": "1326824590"}, {"author": "Jean", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308306899204795", "anchor": "fb-308306899204795", "service": "fb", "text": "I agree that having a good bandleader is key, as is their ability to orchestrate on the fly so the wall of sound gets varied. Bandleader does not have to be a rhythm player as long as they can coach the rhythm player(s): at the Harvard Sq ECD we've had fiddlers, concertina players, and when Peter leads he usually plays winds instead of piano.", "timestamp": "1326826914"}, {"author": "Taviy", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308312812537537", "anchor": "fb-308312812537537", "service": "fb", "text": "I concur with a couple of Hollis' comments: the situations in which i find open bands unsatisfying are usually those in which the musicians have little to no grounding in the dance, and no clear or coherent leadership. Having a bandleader who can \"orchestrate on the fly\" and having confident, experienced musicians who know how to dance with their instrument are key. If a musician can't dance with his/her instrument, chances are their music isn't much worth dancing to, and with no leadership the sound becomes mush. (And that, unfortunately, describes the majority of \"open band\" experiences, in situations where they tend to attract less competent or confident musicians.)
That BIDA has access to a community full of confident, competent musicians and the social connections which, as Phillip points out, enhance recruitment efforts, would make for a good group. Sad to have missed it!!", "timestamp": "1326827552"}, {"author": "Taviy", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308314279204057", "anchor": "fb-308314279204057", "service": "fb", "text": "What goes on at BIDA almost suggests to me a \"dance orchestra\", a rare and wonderful thing indeed : )", "timestamp": "1326827704"}, {"author": "Chris", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/117346402173047680184", "anchor": "gp-1326828441251", "service": "gp", "text": "Could it have something to do with the practice nights you guys hold or is that normal?", "timestamp": 1326828441}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103013777355236494008", "anchor": "gp-1326829852639", "service": "gp", "text": "@Chris\n The practice nights are good, and I think they're an important part of the open band serving to bring in new musicians, but I don't think the have a large effect on the overall sound. Mostly because almost all of the musicians who have come to the practice nights are the ones who are in the back row and are mic'd less. The lead fiddlers haven't come to the practices and neither has Peter Barnes.", "timestamp": 1326829852}, {"author": "Gianna", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308478605854291", "anchor": "fb-308478605854291", "service": "fb", "text": "I've participated in lots of open bands, and BIDA has been the most fun for me so far. Having an official leader, who is an experienced dance musician, seems key - Debbie and Peter both know how to vary parts and switch things up, and it's clear that they're having a lot of fun - which is contagious for musicians and dancers alike. I also think it helps that the BIDA band has a lot of very solid (even expert) musicians - it's not like everyone is there because they're not good enough to play elsewhere. Personally, I appreciate the tunes/set list, because my biggest challenge at this point is repertoire. If I really know a tune, I could probably hack it in the front row if someone made me sit there...but I don't have decades of tune learning efforts to draw from. With a list, I can focus on learning tunes that are more likely to be played, which is awesome because it's no fun to sit in with an open band only to find that you don't know most of the tunes, and I find it less fun to play while reading music (others may feel differently, or be better at picking tunes up on the fly than I am). Less group knowledge of tunes also makes it harder for the whole band to sound good. BIDA seems to have a nice balance.", "timestamp": "1326847866"}, {"author": "Mac", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308490212519797", "anchor": "fb-308490212519797", "service": "fb", "text": "Peter Barnes, Peter Barnes, Peter Barnes. A leader can achieve cohesiveness and fun - for both the band and dancers. In my book, Peter is at the very top level of pianists on the circuit. Unlike the other two of my favorite pianists, he is also a charismatic leader. He can carry a band. Stuart Kenney is another uber-musician with charisma for the band and dancers. And all the bands Stuart plays in produce a reliable good night of dancing. What you have here at BIDA is not strictly open bands, but Peter Barnes, accompanied by stellar musicians...and sit-ins. As others have said, without a Peter Barnes, open bands usually sound like mush. And even the band Sunday sound mushy occasionally, but always sounded like they were having fun. So anchor your \"open\" bands with tippy-top musician/leaders.", "timestamp": "1326849229"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308501669185318", "anchor": "fb-308501669185318", "service": "fb", "text": "@Gianna: \"I appreciate the tunes/set list\"
One of my goals for next time is to sort out with the bandleader in advance which tunes to play better than we currently do. Right now there's a short list, but we don't play all of them and add a lot of others. This is because we're using a list from last year. If we revise it in advance of each dance, I think we could do a lot better about letting people know what was worth practicing. Being able to be spontaneous and play \"turkey in the straw\" minor is fun, though, and you don't want to get rid of that.", "timestamp": "1326850757"}, {"author": "Gianna", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308511582517660", "anchor": "fb-308511582517660", "service": "fb", "text": "Jeff Kaufman, definitely agree that there needs to be room for spontaneity - that's basically what I meant by my statement that BIDA has a nice balance; the ideal scenario would have a decent number of tunes/sets selected from a pre-circulated set list, and some number of tunes/sets created on the spot by the musicians that show up, with everyone willing to be flexible and go with the flow.", "timestamp": "1326852010"}, {"author": "Rick", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/308258742542944?comment_id=308675989167886", "anchor": "fb-308675989167886", "service": "fb", "text": "I enjoyed playing in the band on Sunday. I think there are several factors that made it sound good. 1) A strong group of outstanding musicians in the front row. 2) Amazing and fun leadership by Peter Barnes. 3) A tunes list that most people knew.", "timestamp": "1326883612"}]}