[Dixielandjazz] Brass Bands and Free Music

[Steve barbone]

David Richoux <tubaman at tubatoast.com> posted a brass band article from the
NY Times (polite snip)

> "People are tired of corporate-friendly rock 'n' roll and the cold
> nihilism of the electronic music scene," said Mr. Kaplan of Balkan
> Beat Box. "They're hungry for this really sweaty, personal, alcohol-
> driven, familiar, ceremony-like music. There's something very healthy
> about all of this interest in brass music. People just want to get
> back in touch with their feelings."

Dear List mates.

And then a whole thread started about playing free gigs etc. Perhaps those
who would play free need to re-read that last paragraph above. It speaks
volumes about the music scene today. (People are "hungry for this really
sweaty, personal, alcohol-driven, familiar, ceremony-like music) If I didn't
know any better, I'd have thought the writer was talking about DIXIELAND.
Are any of us listening?

I may be repeating myself, but there is no need to play for free when there
are plenty of paying gigs out there.

Play free on the streets? Why get hassled by the police. Play free in Malls?
What the hell for. There is no need to screw up the music market, any more
then it is now, by giving the music away. Damn, I know of lots of bands, my
own included, that get paid to play on the Streets and in Malls.

Gee Whiz, nearly every town, township, county in the USA pays bands to play
summer concerts. Retirement and Assisted Living facilities are paying bands
to play. Etc., etc., etc. Some of us work these concerts and get $100 per
man for one hour. Some get more, much more. Before you play free, ask
yourselves why the hell you aren't working on July 4 in the USA, playing
America's Music on America's Day? If you can't get a paying July 4th gig for
a Trad Jazz Band, within a 50 miles of your house, then you must either be
dead or living in the boonies with the bears.

Isn't free music like free investment advice, suspect at best? If we do not
value the music we so dearly love, who the hell will?

Let's no kid ourselves, we are not going to sell hundreds of CDs on the
street in a couple of hours unless we have a band that knows how to play
relevant music for a "street" crowd, or we know how to push the pity buttons
of the passersby. How many of us on the list, after Tom and Elazar, know how
to do this? How many of us will stick with it after we embarrass ourselves
the first time we try it?

Better to work all those other music gigs that pay, and there are a lot of
them around, than screw up the market by begging the audience to like us.
Case in point, a new, amateur, Dixieland Band formed here in the South New
Jersey area last year. Mediocre music right now, but getting better with
each paying gig they play. 10 gigs last year, 20+ this year.  If they can do
it, so can every band on this list.

Cheers,
Steve