[Dixielandjazz] Your Weirdest Gig

Tue Dec 16 10:12:31 PST 2003

One of our wierdest was a corporate booking for British Airways to play at 
their call center in Newcastle. It was for the day their bonuses were 
announced, and we had to go from office to office playing The Gold Diggers' 
Song (aka We're In The Money). This took about two hours, and we must have 
played the damn thing several hundred times (all ensemble). Very well-paid, 
but extremely odd.

Mike (I used to like that tune) Durham

>From: "Kurt" <bowermastergroup at qwest.net>
>To: MikeMarois at HireLiveMusicians.com, "jazzfact" <jazzfact at ozemail.com.au>, 
>  "Djml" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
>Subject: RE: [Dixielandjazz] Your Weirdest Gig
>Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 21:17:28 -0600
>
>One of the weirdest gigs I have played occurred a couple of years ago.  My
>dixieland band was hired by the Chrysler Corporation to perform on a car
>transport carrying the 5 millionth Chrysler mini van produced.  They had a
>nationwide contest with their dealers to determine the most loyal Chrysler
>customer in America and the winner was found in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  The
>transport holding the new mini van (and my band) was all decked out with
>balloons and streamers. The truck drove through a residential neighborhood
>until it arrived in front of the winner's house at 7:00 a.m.  They had a TV
>crew and guy from Chrysler with a microphone (Ala Publisher's 
>Clearinghouse)
>to capture the surprised looks on the winner's faces when they opened the
>front door when the doorbell rang.
>
>The winners were presented with the keys to the van and the band played for
>about half an hour to an excited crowd of neighbors.
>
>As I recall, the gig paid real well, and each guy in the band received a
>limited edition hat with a photo of the 5 millionth Chrysler mini van on 
>it.
>I think I sold it in a garage sale for 50 cents.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com
>[mailto:dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com]On Behalf Of Mike Marois
>Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 7:13 PM
>To: jazzfact; Djml
>Subject: RE: [Dixielandjazz] Your Weirdest Gig
>
>
>As a tuba player who plays all forms of jazz from ragtime to bop I take
>offense to the exclusion of banjos and tubas to the jam session.
>
>Anyway my weirdest gig occurred back on fathers day 1990.  Once again a
>Mickey gig call time was 8am at the Dolphin Resort in Orlando.  This was 
>the
>weekend that the flick "Dick Tracy" opened and all of the stars of the film
>were in Orlando for a big press thing.  Well Saturday night late we got a
>call from Talent booking for a trio to go up to Dustin Hoffman's suite and
>jam tunes with him sitting in on the 9 foot grand that was in the suite.
>Well we showed up and met in a room across the hall from the suite where we
>were greeted by the big Eisner himself pacing back and forth hoping the
>group was going to show up.  He was very appreciative of us making it on
>such short notice and of course reminded us that we'd be "On-Stage" (A
>Disney phase meaning that you were in the public's eye, so you'd better 
>obey
>the Disney commandments of on stage etiquette).  After some management 
>dweeb
>ran down to the gift shop and brought back 3 cabana boy shirts, we changed
>into them and went across the hall to Dustin's suite.  When we got into the
>suite we took our positions near the piano and immediately Dustin's wife
>offered us coffee, donuts, and told us to make ourselves at home.  Right
>there that was three etiquette strikes, so we all looked at Eisner for the
>OK which he gave us immediately.  So we're on the gig chowing down, 
>drinking
>coffee, and talking with Dustin and his wife, when we finally realize "WE
>SHOULD BE PLAYING MUSIC"!  We ended up playing 4 or 5 tunes with Dustin
>sitting in on piano, he did quite well.
>
>After the gig is when it go weird.  We rode all the way down from the top 
>of
>the resort to the lobby with Eisner in the elevator and he didn't say two
>words to us.  That made the group fell like a bunch of cheap Dixieland
>whores.  It was that event that drove home the phase whoring yourself out
>for a gig.
>
>Mike "and I don't mean Eisner" Marois
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com
>[mailto:dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com]On Behalf Of jazzfact
>Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 3:30 PM
>To: Djml
>Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Your Weirdest Gig
>
>
>Hi All,
>
>I was asked a few months a go to do a "set" at a "Giants of Jazz" concert
>with 90 year old Australian piano player Graeme Bell. The gig was last
>Sunday week.  Unfortunately the show was mainly not OKOM and the musical
>director obviously not a fan either. The set turned into 2 songs, Graeme
>played beautifully and has not lost a bit of his wit, Bob Barnard, Len
>Barnard, Paul Williams, Ed Wilson, John Withers and I swung our way through
>the two numbers chosen then were invited to stay for the rest of the day.
>The footnote on the running sheet said all players would be presented as
>they mounted the stage at the end for a jam session EXCEPT BANJO AND TUBA
>Lucky for us we didn't dig what they did to music so we could leave early.
>Fee/ about $1 a bar! (2 beat = 50 cents a note, but I put in a few extra
>notes as a bonus!)
>PS I was not listed as a "Giant", but an "others including"
>
>regards,
>Richard Stevens
>www.thejazzfactory.net
>
>
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