[Dixielandjazz] ' gigs'

[iVOR jONES]

Unlike Kash, we haven't been playing for 38 years, just 2 years 8 months, a 
five piece line up, reeds, piano, trombone/tuba, banjo,drums, plus lady 
singer, we average, like Kash, 12 gigs a month, a couple of decent ( well 
paying) residencies, council concerts, jazz festivals, private parties, 
weddings. So far 10 booked in for October. We rehearse, to put in new 
numbers, once a week on average. It is no secret that we have spent some 
time on publicity, As a retired graphic designer I have put together a 
ringbound 10 page brochure with bios, pic,etc. It takes me about 20 minutes 
or so to put one together, over the last year I have made around 80, work it 
out. Our vocalist was in marketing and together we identify possible venues 
and clients, mostly hotels and resorts. The other four guys are pro 
musicians, all read and all contribute arrangements, well  I lied, the 
drummer just arranges his drums, but we are all pros when it comes to our 
individual responsibilities. We live in the Algarve. A holiday area. A phone 
call to name the entertainment manager, a call to him. Send them a brochure 
plus a CD and a list of previous venues for gigs, all over Portugal and some 
in Spain. They are normally impressed. Arrange a meeting and try to sell 
ourselves. Today the guy ( first meeting ) from the Penina Hotel and Golf 
Course (venue for next years Portuguese Open) booked us in for 3 gigs, and 
all being well, a summer residency for 2006. We also send out invitations to 
selected possible future employers to come to our gigs. I follow up the 
local news for possible events. We have a good reputation for reliability, 
entertainment value and humour.We are fast becoming established, but 
certainly we will keep on working to get as much publicity as we can at our 
stage of our development as a band. It has been hard work but it is starting 
to get easier, we are now being approached for gigs. I suppose all of this 
is to emphasise that you do have to work at it. We only go out as a complete 
band, there are no egos, and no leaders, and we are not cheap, we do not 
play for peanuts. But we do have a bloody good time.

Sorry if I've bored everybody.

Ivor in drought ridden Portugal







----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Kashishian" <jim at kashprod.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2005 3:57 PM
Subject: FW: [Dixielandjazz] FW: gigs


> >Personally I don't feel that I could maintain my personal musical 
> >standard
> with a once a week >rehearsal or the twice a month nursing home gig.
> Larry Walton
>
> Larry, as we haven't spoken directly since you joined DJML, you won't have
> realized that ours is a group made up of professional recording studio
> musicians (all Spanish except for myself, a displaced Californian), and 
> the
> band has been pretty much the same line-up for 38 yrs.  Our newest member
> joined us in 1980 (the drummer).  I joined in 1967.
>
> All of us have been steadily on our horns since being youngsters.  We 
> play,
> without soliciting work directly, on average 12 nights a month, both local
> jazz clubs & concerts throughout Spain.  We do not travel further than the
> borders, nor do we need to, as you can see.
>
> We treat the band as a cooperative, and we are legally formed as such. 
> The
> last thing we want is for it to be a business.  I run a professional audio
> business during the day, and don't need business at night on top of that!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jim
> www.kashprod.com
>
>
>
>
>
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>