[Dixielandjazz] Fwd: Cruise ship gigs for Bands :))

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

You called it pretty close Larry:

This is why so many Cruise ships entertainment plainly SUCKS,  they get 
some twit entertainment director who knows little or nothing about 
music but was once the assistant director of the High school drama's 
musical  and they make him ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTOR ON A CRUSIE LINE or 
Disney Land  etc.   They want to have a YOUNG group ( translation Under 
Thirty) play like seasoned pros, and pay them chump change wages on top 
of it.   The Results is about the same as going to a Denny and having a 
steak and expecting it to taste and look like one form Ruth's Chris 
Steak House for $2.99.

The music they are asking for never had charts and was not written and 
or played by musicians with charts, it came from the heart and the soul 
of the performers and nobody can put that on a chart and make it sound 
the same.   Either you can play it or you can't, AND 99% OF THE GUYS 
THEY HIRE CAN'T.   And if they could they would not need to or would 
not Audition for the gig anyway.   Nobody who can play auditions 
anymore,  they don't have to they have earned a reputation as a Player 
and don't need to audition for some twit who would not know a good 
player from a bad one anyway.


Hello!!!  I may need a heart transplant operation in a few years, all 
doctors interested in the gig sign up now for auditions :))
Cheers,

Tom



-----Original Message-----
From: larrys.bands at charter.net
To: Gluetje1 at aol.com; TCASHWIGG at aol.com; dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Sent: Fri, 24 Nov 2006 9:29 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Fwd: Cruise ship gigs for Bands :))

    The problem Ginny is the almost age old one - If they can fake they 
can't read and vice versa. People who can do both well are generally in 
demand and somewhat rare. Most musicians fall on one side of the fence 
or the other. Personally I feel a whole lot stronger on improv than I 
am in reading and as I get older reading becomes even more 
problematical. 
 
  Many of the young whiz kids are dynamite readers but take the paper 
away and you might as well have twisted a key off their horns. Most of 
their improv comes right out of a book and just doesn't flow because 
they don't learn how to make it flow. Doing arrangements on the fly is 
also becoming a lost art. I doubt seriously if they will find a group 
that can do both. 
 
  As you know trying to find someone who can do both has been the 
problem in my never ending quest for a trombone player. 
 Larry 
 ----- Original Message ----- From: <Gluetje1 at aol.com> 
 To: <TCASHWIGG at aol.com>; <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com> 
 Sent: Friday, November 24, 2006 8:47 PM 
 Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Fwd: Cruise ship gigs for Bands :)) 
 
  > Thanks, Tom. It was interesting to me to read the invite for show 
band 
  > auditions for cruise ships. Have done maybe 8 - 9 cruises in recent 
> years, and 5 
  > on Holland American. Generally these "kids" are quite impressive in 
the 
  > versatility of the music they play during the length of the cruise 
in a > variety 
  > of capacities. It must be a great experience musically and socially, 
> etc. 
  > for them. But one early evening I was torn between my amusement, and 
my 
  > motherly desire to call 911 for them and get them some mentoring. 
The > daily 
  > program had advertised Dixieland Quartet in one of the rooms during 
one > of the 
  > cocktail hours. So hubby and seated ourselves at that spot. Bless 
them, > they 
  > were trying to hard to be hot and they just did not know how to make 
it > happen. 
  > They were sticking to standards such as Bill Bailey and they might 
get > off 
  > to a good start, but next thing you know the keyboardist would be > 
boppin', 
  > the reed player looking flummoxed and just blowing any ol' note to 
keep > the 
  > sound going, etc. So while I would be amazed if a DL band got hired, 
a 
  > Dixieland coach for them during rehearsals and before departure--I 
have > been told 
  > these occur prior to sailing in Las Vegas and such places--would be 
a > really 
  > good hire on the part of Stiletto or whomever is putting the 
competencies 
 > together. 
 > Ginny 
 > _______________________________________________ 
 > Dixielandjazz mailing list 
 > Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 
 > http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz 
 >  


________________________________________________________________________
Check out the new AOL.  Most comprehensive set of free safety and 
security tools, free access to millions of high-quality videos from 
across the web, free AOL Mail and more.