[Dixielandjazz] Musicians as Guests?

[Steve Barbone]

Robert S. Ringwald robert at ringwald.com wrote

>The first thing a professional musician should  realize is that while
>working a job, he is not a guest.  He is a hired hand.  He should not expect
>free food, drinks, etc.>

>If the client offers, fine.  If the band leader negotiates such, fine.
>However, eating or drinking with the clients guests is a big no-no.

>If you hired a Plumber in your house, you would not expect him to raid your
>liquor cabinet or sit down to eat with you, would you?

Au contraire.

I think the first thing a professional musician should realize is that he is
there to satisfy the client's entertainment and psychic needs.

When we played a late (1 AM) private party for Henry Ford 2 about 1960, for
Robert McNamara who was leaving. (He sent his man at midnight to see if we
would play there after our club gig in Southampton ended at 12:30 AM) We
were an 8 piece band and he had 8 other guests in his summer home in Water
Mill L.I. They had a dinner party complete with servants earlier and this
was a continuation but the servants had all left by the time we got there.

Henry himself served the band drinks and his wife served us snacks. We
chatted with his wife about art on the breaks. (Dufy, Pollack, Klee were
hanging on the walls etc). Ever since that night, I've had a different
attitude about musicians as hired help.

I don't know about other bands, but I think we are talking about a different
gig world between the gigs you guys play and the gigs Barbone Street plays.

Since many of my gigs are repeats, and many of them are for friends of mine,
they treat us as guests and/or friends. As far as expecting food goes, if
the gig takes place at dinner time, and the event is serving dinner, I damn
well expect the band to get fed. Ditto for lunch.

By now, my clients are mostly friends and some travel in the same social
circles as I do. They expect me to socialize with them and since they all
have class, they include the band.

Even some clubs too. When Sydney's Jazz Club hired us for Louis Armstrong
weekends, Ms. Sydney put us up in a condo, and fed us dinner each night at
her well known restaurant in Rehoboth Beach. We also go free drinks. We also
got paid well. She also thought it was great that we socialized with the
customers. And why not? Every night, at least 30 were friends of mine. She
also hired us for the Rehoboth Jazz Festival several times, ditto there.
That also paid us very well. Too bad she retired and the club is now a no
music, family restaurant.

When you do a lot of repeat gigs, for friends and social peers, you build
somewhat of a local rep that puts you in demand. Both as a band and as a
person. All sorts of people want to get to know you, buy you drinks, feed
you, etc, invite you to their house for non gig social events . . . and pay
you well on gigs.

So please forgive me if I disagree with the hired help routine. After all,
we've been wined, dined, chatted with, flattered and well paid, by some
pretty upscale folks in the Philadelphia-Wilmington social whirl over the
past 15 years. So I get a little prickly if some officious country club
food/beverage manager tells me there is no food for the band.

Likewise, when I need a plumber, I call my daughter who works in the home
building industry. She sends her friends and I supply them with food and
drink and even offer dinner if they work during that time.

It is all a matter of perspective. If others want to be considered hired
help that's OK with me, but I choose otherwise and if a new client treats us
like hired help, we never work for them again.

Life is too short to gig for people who have no class.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone