[Dixielandjazz] Pay for gigs

[Steve barbone]

"Laurence Swain" <l.swain at comcast.net> wrote:

 >> Tom Wiggins recently said:
> 
>> The good news however is that Admission prices will remain at 1935
>> levels. 
 
> A recent post about the JRM LOC recordings put the price for the full set of
> records in 1947 at $120, and reported that would be about $1000 in 2006
> dollars.
> 
> Using the same inflator, the $25 each man in my small combo used to get for
> playing high-school dances in 1952 would be a little over $200 in today's
> dollars.
> 
> How often do most of us see a gig paying that?

Hi Larry;

We get more than a few 6 piece gigs at $200+ per man every month.

New Years Eve exceeds $400 per man.

Every jazz wedding we play exceeds $200 per man. Most private parties we
play exceed $200 per man and go up from there. (3 hour gigs + dinner etc)

Club dates/restaurants, steady gigs etc., are usually $150+ per man. (More
if we work in a trio or quartet)

Retirement facilities, townships etc., for one hour are a minimum of
$100/man. Afternoons or weeknights. (These generate the private gigs)

We don't leave the house for less unless it is a high profile charity event
and we are strong supporters of that particular charity. Or around Christmas
when we play a bunch or assisted living facilities for expense money.

We lose a few gigs here and there to cheaper Dixieland bands in our area,
but always make up for those few losses with new venues.

As you know, we work a lot. There are a lot of high priced Dixieland gigs
out there. Getting them depends upon how one markets and which circle of
clients one develops. Wealthy folks like jazz too, no matter what the
conventional wisdom implies.

Check our schedule at.  http://www.barbonestreet.com/schedule.html

Cheers,
Steve