Wednesday, July 11, 2007 at 12:10AM Wednesday
11Jul
Applause and Ovations
A while back, writer Doug Ramsey had collected and written comments regarding excessive applause, bordering on the feeling of mandatory applause after all solos at jazz performances. The subject of ovations has now been brought into the picture. Ramsey picked up an article from last week, and I clipped a different one, albiet from the same newspaper on the same date.
As a performer, I can certainly say that it feels good to be appreciated, and am genuinely affected by applause and ovations. I also recognize that there are many performers out there that play "for the house," as we say -- doing and playing certain things simply to generate applause. There must be a "happy medium" somewhere in between, but in the end I feel that in any live music situation, each person should experience it as they wish -- after all, that's what they are paying for. In the words of Ray Brown, "If you wanna pat your feet, pat your feet. If you wanna clap your hands, clap your hands." As a side note, I disagree with the argument that applause covers the beginning of the next soloist -- this is simply part of going to hear live music, and performers who are sensitive to their audience respect this and simply wait. If we were listening to a political debate, or an oration of poetry, the next performer would logically wait until after the applause of the previous performer before beginning his/her own presentation -- I see little difference between these examples and a jazz performance. Please feel free to add to the discussion here in the comments section, on our Discussion Board, or over at Doug Ramsey's site, Rifftides.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007 at 12:10AM References (3)
References allow you to track sources for this article, as well as articles that were written in response to this article.
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Source: Think Before You Stand Up -
Source: Think Before You Stand Up
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Reader Comments (1)
As much as I hate to write this - audiences around Seattle will pretty much applaud for anything, especially "Jazz" audiences. It has become the custom in jazz music to clap after solos. This custom is old, and nowadays, people to do it more to show that they are in the know about jazz customs, rather than to applaud the soloist's solo. The audience wants to let the artists know they are paying attention, and they are "hip." That's fine, but an audience that properly gives an applause after a solo does not feel like a sincere audience. It feels like a "proper" audience. It is a fine line, to be sure.
As a performer, I want to give the audience what they want, but not to the exclusion of what I, as a professional, deem to be in good taste. That being said, it's just as hard to read an audience that properly applauds politely after each solo as it is to read an audience that just sits there blankly.
A good audience makes the band play better, it is true. But the repetition of solo-applause, creates a lack of enthusiasm. What is the crowd supposed to do if the soloist really hits a home run? The average jazz listener around Seattle is white, fairly reserved, middle-aged, middle to high income. Are we to expect these well mannered people to jump up and down and holler and shout like on the live version of "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy?" Probably not.
I try to clap when I hear something that turns my crank, that way I am letting the performers know that I liked it. Not just because the solo is over. Audiences - we love you, help us out and show us your love and your scorn! We need to learn from you what works and what doesn't. We're doing it for you!