[Dixielandjazz] Turning off the young

[Ministry of Jazz]

Turn-off is right, Dave. I'm not that young, but I'm not that old either,
and I have put together a band of 5 players, all of whom, except for me, are
25 to 40 years old. I'm 54, still a relative youngster in the OKOM world.
Our Doctor Jazz Band was booked to play last night at a large mall just
outside of Jerusalem, a 90 minute show that was to be open to the public
free of charge. The gig was arranged by the CEO of a non-profit organization
who has hired us a couple times to play for handicapped children. His
organization was going to split the cost of the show with the mall. Total
bill about $100 per player for 5 players, so not enough to break the bank of
either of them.

It would have been a great show. Many of our gigs are only for 3 players. We
had already mapped out the show -- song list, patter, gags, props, etc. We
advertised it, and even had people coming to hear us who were considering
hiring us for a wedding. My partner called the other day to ask a simple
question about the gig, and was informed that the mall decided to cancel
their current roster of musical programs, including us only 3 days in
advance. We had held the date and had 5 players booked for nearly 2 months.
The non-profit guy was furious with them. We demanded a 25% cancellation
fee, but since we took no deposit and had no contract, we are unlikely to
ever see it.

Now in glorious hindsight, we began to realize that this was the 3rd time
we've been screwed by corporate customers, and we've been shafted twice by
another company that arranges events for the City of Jerusalem. We have
tried to work without contracts and advance deposits, and our wonderful
private customers have never done this to us. Some even offer to pay half or
all of the fee up front, even when we don't ask for it. On the basis of this
grand revelation, we have decided to begin requiring a 50% non-refundable
deposit from corporate customers to close the booking. Not that we're likely
to get it, but we will at least require a contract that includes a
cancellation fee. Corporations here tend to pay 1 to 3 months after the gig,
while I try to pay my players cash on the day of the gig. I'm still out a
couple hundred bucks from a gig 1 1/2 years ago that we did and were never
paid for it, but I paid my crew out of my pocket. What really irks me is
that these soul-less corporate tightwads don't even see the problem with
last minute cancellations. I've told them we've advertised, that some of my
players cancelled other bookings to do these jobs, that we've turned down
other jobs for the same date, etc., and they can't even manage to say
they're sorry. It's just too bad. they decided not to do the gig. I wonder
what would happen if we cancelled on one of these yahoos 3 days before a
show!

Now my young partner, who has listened to me squawk for several years about
the extra time and money a bandleader invests in the band, and why he
deserves more money than the side men, has learned a good lesson. This time
the customer called him, and he's the one who spent hours arranging the
players and making the preparations, and now he's crying in his beer with
the rest of us. I only hope this kind of treatment doesn't kill my young
players' enthusiasm for performing and gigging for fun and profit.

Elazar Brandt
Dr. Jazz Dixieland Band
Tekiya Trumpet Ensemble
Jerusalem, Israel
www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz
+972-2-679-2537


Talk about turning off the young.

-----Original Message-----

David Richoux <tubaman at tubatoast.com> wrote (polite snip)

> While we are on this topic, something that happened recently to a
> local youngish "sorta-dixie" band is disturbing. Without naming any
> names, a trad jazz society had hired them to play a monthly session,
> then the music director was replaced for unknown reasons. When the
> band leader called the new music director to get a bit more
> information on the gig he was told there was no contract, no gig, and
> goodbye.