[Dixielandjazz] Amateur Bands

[Stephen Barbone]

> Dan Augustine <ds.augustine at mail.utexas.edu>
> Steve and others--
>      I have a question relating what you wrote to John Farrell (below;
> incidentally, i think he may have been pulling your leg a bit--or
> whatever the British slang for that colloquialism might be, maybe
> "bruising your sporran"--about you and Tom always preaching about
> money).

A careful reading of what I preach will reveal that I am preaching about the quality of the music. How to upgrade it. The audience, how to reach it. And getting young musicians interested in playing OKOM, rather than some other genre of jazz. Money is one of the key ingrediants to that message. Why should we somehow be ashamed to make money, doing something we love? Lately people have asked me at performances with Jonathan Russell, our 9 year old jazz violinist (he is a wiz): "Don't you
hate being upstaged by a kid?" Well, no I don't let it bother me that this young man generates an astounding audience reaction. After all, soon enough I will no longer be playing, but he will, if he can make a living at it. That is a powerful motivator for me to pass on what little I know about the music business to him.

>      What is an amateur band to do?  What do amateur bands in your
> area do if they aren't good enough to get gigs for money?  Do they
> play for free at local pizza-parlors, parks, and so forth?  Should
> they?

Hi Dan: (My opinion, not necessarily anyone else's)

You raise some a great points. Several suggestions about them:

Play where they do not devalue the music. There are hundreds of venues where a band can play free, or for little money to sharpen their skills and in effect pay their dues. Including but not limited to:

1) Nursing Homes that have little or no budget, The residents will appreciate you and you will feel good about contributing to their quality of life. In effect, play anywhere that you are not undercutting the market.

2) Be the "intermission" band at your local jazz society. Our local society, had several, bands that they were not willing to pay, however were willing to have guest as the intermission band. EVERY jazz society in the USA should do this if they are "believe" their mission statements. And some intermission bands will improve and be able to create their own paying gigs.

It is a judgment call. Dave G's Creole Jazz Band has several gigs at Pizza Parlors. It is, by all accounts a solid band. It would, for example, be a no no to approach those venues with a lesser band and cut the price that he gets.

> How do they know when they're good enough? Where do they get
> experience playing in public if they can't play for free, or for tips
> or cheap wages?  (And an aside: what IS an 'amateur' band anyhow?
> Same as a part-time band, or a festival band?  Is the 'amateur'
> status defined solely by if they play for free, if they make money,
> if they make good money, or if they play full-time?)

As a generalization, an amateur band, IMO, is one that is made up of players who do not make their living in music. Thus an OKOM band comprised of pros who make their living in music is not an amateur band even if they only play OKOM occasionally. How do you know if you are good enough? On the other hand, a band of musicians who do not make their livings in music is an amateur band. Ask Dave Stoddard in you area for his opinion. Or the local jazz society that is starting up. If they
will not pay you for a program, you are not good enough.

>      I agree that good bands need to charge what the market will bear,
> preferably even more if possible (in order to make adjustments for
> unrealistically low markets).  But we've all been in
> less-than-wonderful bands before, as less-than-wonderful players, and
> there are still a lot of these bands all over the country.  Certainly
> a novice band ain't gonna underbid a good, established band to open
> for Billy Joel, but on the other hand a well-known band ain't gonna
> play at the local Pizza Face for $10 either.  Seems like there should
> be some kind of balance, some kind of understanding among bands.\

Yes, I agree completely. Example here is a fine OKOM band that developed a gig at Ortlieb's, a famous modern jazz club. Never were other OKOM bands there. The gig paid $300 total for a 7 piece band. The leader put in another couple of hundred out of his own pocket to pay the musicians at least the union scale. Raised a stink among short sighted OKOM leaders here. They felt (not me) that he was undercutting the market by having a club owner think 7 piece bands should get $300. My view?
Hey this leader created a brand new OKOM gig and wasn't undercutting anything since there were/was no OKOM gig there prior. Sadly the gig failed after a month or two because the style did not connect with the existing club customers and the trad fans did not support it.

By the same token, early in my band career here (10 years ago) I created a gig in a Blues night club. Club owner was making money on us, but not a fortune. A lesser OKOM band came along and pitched the "same" Dixieland as Barbone Street for $200 less per night and stole the gig. Audience declined, and eventually the club folded. That was a no-no as far as I'm concerned. In the old days, I'd have called Guido to take care of that leader. ;-) VBG

> Maybe it also depends on the market, on where you are.  Here in
> Austin, where we're striving to get OKOM before the public as much as
> possible, and where it historically has not been prominent, amateur
> bands are 80% of the existing bands (i.e., 4 out of 5 bands), and
> they work wherever they can, because there are so few gigs for good
> money.  In your area, i suppose it is entirely the opposite case.
>      Anyway, i'm curious what you and others think on this matter.

Yes, all markets are different and it should become the band's mission to change unfavorable market dynamics. A good jazz band can find a way to connect with the audience in any market. The market in Philadelphia was death on OKOM 10 years ago. It is nor longer that way. The bands in this area, new ones spring up every few months have changed the dynamic by focusing on the "new" audience. And, all of us are able to raise performance fees every year. In your case, from what I understand,
you should play where ever you can because there is no existing professional OKOM band there, that you would be undercutting. The only danger is that if the OKOM bands play "bad" music, you'll turn the audience off. Again, ask Dave Stoddard his opinion of the music in that part of the world.

> P. S. I think that the worth of OKOM has nothing to with how much
> money the audience is willing to, or does, pay.

I disagree, believing there is a bottom line to just about everything. But then, that's what makes horse racing so successful. :-) VBG

Cheers & Good Luck
Steve Barbone