[Dixielandjazz] A Venue Suggestion

[Chris Calabrese]

Whoa--you got all that from "ouch"? Impressive piece of stereotyping. I
particularly enjoyed this passage:

> In today's world most musicians and all stars just want to treat every gig
as
> a walk on jam session for an hour or less and get paid well get free booze
> food, loose women and travel expenses get their ego massaged by being
called all
> stars.

~ Chris

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <TCASHWIGG at aol.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2004 9:39 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] A Venue Suggestion


> In a message dated 9/17/04 8:53:13 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
> lists at jazzpiano.com writes:
>
>
> >
> > >barbonestreet at earthlink.net writes:
> > >...after our 16 hours of music presented over two days...
> >
> > Ouch.
> >
> > ~ Chris
> >
> >
> >
> Hi Chris:  and all the other listmates:
>
>
> Whadda ya mean OUCH?
>
> With all respect: the above statement is exactly what is wrong with live
> music and the entertainment business in general:
>
> Almost every other profession in the world is required to work an eight
hour
> a day or night job to make a living, and many like doctors and nurses work
> double shifts, as do a lot of other highly skilled folks, like engineers,
bus
> drivers, plumbers, electricians, hotel workers, etc.
>
> Who the Hell ever decided that a Professional musician only had to work a
> four hour a day gig with three or four fifteen minute breaks between
> performances?  Get free food and booze and take the liberty of 30 minute
or longer breaks
> between sets, transportation expenses, hotel accommodations if out of town
as
> well as additional meals.  Not to mention the riders demanding three or
four
> bottles of top name liquor and cases of Beers soda and soft drinks and
food
> backstage just in case they should want to invite fifty or sixty of their
> favorite friends on the free guest list to party with them at the
promoters expense.
>
> Somewhere down the line the picture got reversed and the Party became for
the
> Musicians rather than the people hiring the band to play for their party.
> Musician seemed to for the most part lose all class that they strive so
hard to
> get.
>
>
> In today's real world most so called professionals are hard pressed to
> deliver a 90 minute show without repeating three or four songs, including
some of
> the top recording acts in the business.
>
> I grew up in an era where we played eight shows a night from 8:00 p.m.
until
> 1:00 a.m. and on Friday and Saturday nights we went on to play after hours
> clubs 2:00 till 6:00 a.m., and then went off to play a session from 8 a.m.
to
> 12:00 p.m., took a break for lunch and ran a jam session from 2-4 p.m. at
another
> joint, then went off for dinner and or whatever and then back to our show
gig
> again at 8:00 p.m.
>
> Today's acts are a bunch of overnight wonders and wimps, Wild Bill, Louis,
> Bix and Oliver never did it that way folks, they became legends because
they
> worked at it many hours a day not even counting rehearsals.  That in my
opinion
> is a major factor in the short longevity of most acts in the past forty
years
> or better.
>
> Many of them became great from just playing gig after gig after gig, they
got
> so good they did not need rehearsals, and they played with like musicians
who
> made a decent living in their day from doing it like a business.
>
> In today's world most musicians and all stars just want to treat every gig
as
> a walk on jam session for an hour or less and get paid well get free booze
> food, loose women and travel expenses get their ego massaged by being
called all
> stars.  When in fact they should be working their butts off to book their
own
> hot bands all around the globe and keeping music professionalism at a much
> higher standard.
>
> In my side of the business folks this is called believing your own press
> releases, and sooner than later usually will come back to bite you in the
butt.
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Tom Wiggins
> Saint Gabriel's Celestial Brass Band
>
> You bet I like a 1 hour hit and run, but I am prepared to do five of them
a
> day if they are available within driving range.
>
>
>
>
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