A Swiftly Tailored Hope

Welcome, faithful readers! I’ll begin this entry with a confession, followed by a question that I sincerely hope one of you might be able to answer. First, my confession: I do at times enjoy playing for general audiences that aren’t intimately familiar with early American pop music more than I do for the cognoscenti. It isn’t that I feel I have to be more “on my game” with ragtime and jazz fanatics; it’s more that by playing for the largely uninitiated, I’m presenting something that they just might like, thereby creating more people who have an awareness (and desire to hear more) of the music I hold so dear. I take little credit for this. The material is superior, so even an average rendering of it is sure to induce more followers. If you listen to a local dramatic society soprano sing Carmen out-of-tune, you’ll cringe, but if a B-level band stumbles through “High Society” or “That’s a Plenty” the crowd goes wild. Regarding the audiences I play for, I sometimes find that the less one thinks they know about OKOM, the less prejudiced they will be and the more likely they’ll settle back and enjoy the show without comparison, judgment, or note-checking; a happier experience for listener and performer alike! This is not to say that I suggest we performers should try to get away with something; it’s crucial if one is going to put oneself forward to represent