[Dixielandjazz] Getting tired of popular songs

Elazar Brandt jazzmin at actcom.net.il
Fri Jun 24 15:39:26 PDT 2005


Shalom Larry,

1) I guess I'm not greedy enough, but when I get students who can play well
enough to do a gig, they get paid like regular players. Because money is tight
here and we're trying to field a larger band that average people can afford for
their events, I generally do not take a leader's cut, despite the fact that I
buy the costumes, maintain the music library and the website, get most of the
jobs, and am responsible for managing the band. I make money from my students
when they pay for instruction, and rent or buy instruments from me. Then I give
them the opportunity to work hard to learn to play and to make it back and then
some by offering them the possibility of joining a working band. And the more
the band works, the more we all benefit. When Dr. Jazz decided to make a CD,
myself and my 2 students/partners split the costs equally, and we split the
profits equally. Together we paid the other 2 players in cash and disks.

As for quality of the music, well, we're not a cutting edge band, and don't
claim to be. I train my players by performing on the street downtown, and people
hear us and hire us. Then more people hear us at the gigs and hire us. Some
people out there think we're good enough to pay real money to have us at their
events. We do our best to turn out good performances and leave them happy. Cuts
from our CD can be heard at www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz and speak for
themselves. [NOTE: Did I mention we have a CD for sale?]

2) Thankfully in Israel the municipalities do not require licenses or permits to
play music in the streets. I think they assume that most street players are
poor, unemployed Russian immigrants, and they recognize that this is one outlet
where some immigrants can find a way to support themselves, so they leave it
alone. In rare cases, visionary city management also recognizes that the
downtown areas benefit culturally from the street performers. Jerusalem also has
an active jugglers' club, and they are seen working the streets as well. The
only law on the books is one that says no amplification without a permit, and no
"noise" between 11PM and 7AM, which also applies to construction and other noise
sources. The no amplification thing often is not enforced unless someone
complains, since many players use mini or practice amps for nominal
amplification without overdoing it.

I used to play in Santa Monica, California, on the pedestrian mall. They had a
fine array of street performers there. But there is always someone who cannot
stand anyone having a good time without regulating and controlling it, or
getting a piece of it. Under pressure from the same local business who benefited
from the atmosphere created by the performers, the city made a show of holding
hearings before arriving at the predetermined conclusion that street musicians
need licenses. (of course, beggars do not!) So they drove away the talented
musicians, and they now have only the beggars, and whatever hackers decide it's
worth paying for a license. But they managed to kill the street performance
culture.

Elazar
Doctor Jazz Band
Tekiya Trumpet Ensemble
Jerusalem, Israel
<www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz>
Tel: +972-2-679-2537



> -----Original Message-----
> From: LARRY'S Signs and Large Format Printing [mailto:sign.guy at charter.net]
> Sent: Friday, June 24, 2005 10:30 PM
> To: jazzmin at actcom.net.il; DJML
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Getting tired of popular songs
>
>
> He got a lot of
> criticism from people because he paid his musicians almost nothing...
>
> You can't have a street band here because of city ordinances...





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