[Dixielandjazz] RE: Playing for Free

[Robert S. Ringwald]

Here here!


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Elazar Brandt" <jazzmin at actcom.net.il>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, July 11, 2005 1:20 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] RE: Playing for Free


> Shalom Jazz Fans,
>
> My band learned about playing for free a few years ago. A large settlement
> in
> the West Bank called Ariel was putting on a carnival during our 8 day fall
> festival called Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). They claimed they had no
> budget
> for entertainment, and asked if we would come from Jerusalem -- a one
> hour-plus
> bus ride each way, and only at certain times during the day -- to play
> several
> 1/2 hour sets over a 4 hour period.
>
> To play the times they requested, we had to leave and return to Jerusalem
> on a
> schedule which required the entire day, more than 12 hours. They offered
> to
> cover bus fare, which is only a few $$ each way. I thought I was being
> smart
> when I asked if they would give us a symbolic payment in respect of our
> time of
> $25 each player, to which they quickly agreed... too quickly. Oh, and they
> offered to provide "food and drinks".
>
> Well, we arrived to find the site of the event filled with booths with
> arts and
> crafts and food for sale, some for workshops and puppet theater, etc., and
> a
> huge stage and sound system. The sound system included speakers throughout
> the
> entire park, so one idiot with a wireless mike can blather all day and
> sound
> like the voice of G-d, merrily drowning out any other attempt at audible
> communication. They must have spent tens of thousands of dollars on the
> event.
>
> OK, so we're there. Where do we set up? Oh, it doesn't matter, but not on
> the
> stage, which is for the headliner. Ah, but it does matter. There was no
> shade
> provided for us, no tarp, not even a friendly tree. They put us in the hot
> September sun. While setting up we were told 3 times to move because we
> were in
> someone's way. Finally we managed to get set up with no further
> complaints.
>
> Every time we started to play, the idiot with the wireless mike started
> blabbering endlessly, including shouting, "Where's the jazz band?!", as
> though
> we were shirking our duties. The truth is he couldn't hear us because he
> never
> stopped talking! After the first set we inquired about the promised food
> and
> drinks. What they provided was cake and coffee, kind of like offering sand
> to
> someone who is lost in the desert. If we wanted real food or cold drinks,
> we had
> to buy them at the regular prices.
>
> A couple sets later we hear this inane chatter coming over the wireless
> mike.
> It's some kiddie show TV star who showed up in plain street clothes with a
> little portable cassette player that played his sound tracks so he could
> do his
> kiddie show shtick. The whole park had to listen to this guy's nonsense as
> he
> shouted into the mike for the couple of dozen kids who had the patience to
> sit
> in front of the stage. For this they spent G-d knows how much for the
> stage and
> sound system, and no doubt this fellow did not perform for a symbolic
> payment
> and cake and coffee.
>
> In other words, not only did we play practically for free, but because we
> were
> free we were not considered of sufficient value to be taken care of
> properly. We
> were an afterthought. And we promised ourselves, never again! They could
> have
> paid us a respectable but not exorbitant amount that would have left us
> and
> everyone else happy, and not put a dent in their budget which they
> allegedly
> didn't have.
>
> If you really want to be obnoxious, which fortunately I don't get there
> very
> often, you can ask if the person requesting your free services is offering
> his
> or hers for free. You have to be careful there because sometimes they are.
> But
> often they are well paid. I am frequently asked to write scholarly
> articles on
> religious subjects (in my other life), also for free. Oh, they're a
> religious
> organization, and don't have budget to pay the writers. I ask them if they
> have
> budget to pay the editors, formatters, graphic artists, typesetters and
> printers, never mind the janitors, secretaries, and so on, and I suggest
> they
> let them write the articles. Why should the ones who produce the content
> be the
> ones who are not compensated for their services?
>
> Which leads to my last jibe -- sound men who get paid when the musicians
> don't.
> I say, let the sound men put on the show if their services are the more
> valuable. My performances have been ruined too many times by incompetent
> sound
> people. I often opt to step away from the mikes or turn them off and play
> unplugged while the sound idiot sits there trying to figure out what to
> do.
> Nothing personal meant toward any of our sound people on DJML. I know
> there are
> competent pros around. I just haven't worked with many yet.
>
> OK, I'll go back to my room now.
>
> Elazar
> Doctor Jazz Dixieland Band
> Tekiya Trumpet/Brass Ensemble
> Jerusalem, Israel
> <www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz>
> Tel: +972-2-679-2537
>
>
>
>
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