[Dixielandjazz] Equally sharing travel expenses

[Ministry of Jazz]

Shalom Bill,

I don't remember where you live, but over here in Israel, gas is over $6 per
gallon, and that $6 is a much bigger bite out of our income than in most
western countries. Fortunately, Israel is a small country, and you don't
have to travel very far.

It is not uncommon for us to get gigs 30 minutes to 1.5 hours drive from
Jerusalem. The farthest places from here in the country are about 4-5 hours
in each direction. After that you can't take your car, and you usually don't
want to go there anyway, and they usually don't want to hire you, because
we're not on the best terms with our neighbors. But that's another story.

I don't like the idea of "assessing"" or "charging" band members for travel
to play the gig. What I've been doing is, I simply tell the customer that we
charge about $10 per about 25 miles (we work in shekels and kilometers, but
you get the idea) per player to make the trip, in addition to our normal
price for the gig. With this money I do several things. I cover the gas plus
some extra for general vehicle expenses for whoever drives, which is usually
me. I have enough left to either pay the guys some extra for the travel
time, or buy them some food and drinks during the trip, or both.

Now I don't do the math with the players. The above calculations are for me.
I just add whatever extra money there is to the amount the guys get paid --
transparent to them. If someone needs to take his own vehicle when I am
offering transportation, I will still try to cover his gas, or part of it,
if there is enough in the "travel" amount to go around. Depends on the
reason, but I prefer to be a nice guy. Of course, this wouldn't work if
everyone wants to drive themselves, but that rarely happens.

This system keeps the guys thinking in terms of what they get for the gig,
and not what it will cost them. Hence, they are happier, and I have less
conflict with them.

Anyway, if the customer wants our band to come from Jerusalem to play
elsewhere, they are the ones who should rightfully pay for that. I'll bet
they get travel allowance when their work sends them out of town, right? The
concept shouldn't be too hard to sell.

That's been working for us, and I don't get complaints from the customers.
(If I do, I'm not so sure I would want to work for them.

Keep on jazzin'

Elazar "Scotty's not there to beam me to the gig" Brandt
Dr. Jazz Dixieland Band
Tekiya Brass Ensemble
Jerusalem, Israel
www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz
+972-2-679-2537


-----Original Message-----
From: billsharp [mailto:sharp-b at clearwire.net]
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 5:09 PM

... Currently I think it's fair to asses each person about $10 for each
hour of round trip travel ...