[Dixielandjazz] Your opinions on "sit-ins" please?

PJ Ladd pj.ladd at btopenworld.com
Fri Oct 10 20:24:44 PDT 2003


`What do you think about musicians sitting in on a band's regular weekly
gig?`

I think this depends entirely on the gig.
A fully paid up top class booking. No way. Unless the guy who pays the bills
wants to sit in.

A jazz club gig.
 When I visited the Alligator and Gumbo lot in Florida they  had so many
visiting musicians they were able to form whole pick up bands but in the
usual club gig it is OK on the say so of the leader, plus the OK of the
drummer or the bass player as their kit will be used. Usually the `sitter
in` will be known and a judgement can be made. In the case of a totally
unknown musician a bit of judicious questioning might be wise.

In a pub environment in the UK things are usually fairly laid back and a
sitter in can usually get a seat. Again up to the leader and never more than
2 numbers unless they prove to be very good. Perhaps a bit more latitude for
a keen youngster and perhaps a a few words of help and encouragement in the
`beer break`

Always it is up to the leader to say `Yea or Nay`

Cheers

PatL





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