[Dixielandjazz]Professional jazz musicians

[john petters]

Lewis said
> Wow!  How anyone could make such a broad and ludicrous statement is beyond
> me.  I have know many extremely talented professional musicians over the
years
> who do not solely derive 100% of their income from music.  In fact, if you
look
> at the history of some of the more prominent musicians of traditional
jazz,
> you will most certainly find that many...if not most of  these
professional
> musicians had other forms of employment while they were playing

Perhaps I should have made my statement in a clearer manner. I refer to full
time professional musicinas whise sole income comes from jazz. There may be
times during a player's career when he needs to take a day job. Most of the
top players did nothing else, eg Louis, Bechet, Hodes, Davison,Condon etc.
On the current Amnerican scene I can think of Kenny Davern as an example.
There are many over here also. Some were pros at the beginning then were
forced into employment by the economic climate. Kid Ory was one of these and
indeed Bechet and Tommy ladnier had a tailors shop as I recall.
There is a distinction between the attitude of SOME hobbyists or semi pros
and those of the pro muso. For example some bands play certain festivals and
treat them as a holiday. The go in at much lower fees because their day jobs
or pensions subsidize the band gigs. There has been prologed correspondance
in Just Jazz Magazine here in the UK resulting from a band wife stating that
musos should be grateful to play for next to nothing and travel hundreds of
miles to do so. Pro bands cannot afford to play many jazz clubs because the
promoters will not charge enough money on the door to cover the costs. Free
admission pub gigs have prevented the traditional jazz scene from
flourishing. The Britrish Musicians Union has certain rates that most of its
members ignore. Some six piece bands still go out for £30 a man.
I decided long ago that this was not for me. If I was to present a quality
product then the venues would have to pay the right price. I guess Steve and
Tom would agree as would Mike Durham.

As for young bands entertaining a crowd, we have two over here, Allen
Beechey's Bright Stars of Jazz and Richard Bennett New Orleans Jazz Band. I
have booked both at my festivals and have been delighted with their
performances. I wish there were more of them.

John Petters
Amateur Radio Station G3YPZ
www.traditional-jazz.com
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