[Dixielandjazz] Playing for free

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

A musical whore is one who plays "In the Mood" for the 7 thousandth time 
even though they hate it but they do it for the money and smile at the 
customers while they do it.

So then what is a musician that plays for free?  Since you used the word 
Whore I would use the word "slut".  That is one who still does it but could 
care less who they do it with and takes on all comers as often as possible 
sometimes in the middle of the street for free.

It makes it very difficult for musicians who depend on their talent and work 
to make a living if someone is giving it away free.  Charity is a noble 
thing, depriving someone of his living isn't.

The guy who plays piano for me supplements his retirement with working the 
Senior communities as does my Cornet player.  They live on very modest 
retirement incomes and try to maintain a semblance of middle class 
existence.  They too enjoy playing and doing all the things you do but they 
need the money.  By playing free you are competing with people who need the 
money.

The Senior venues are mandated to have a certain amount of entertainment for 
their guests each month and entertainment is a factor in their bottom line. 
They profit from your work.  Why shouldn't you.

You should ask, has the place ever paid for entertainment?  If the answer is 
yes then I think you might re-think what you are doing.  Find out what the 
going rate is and then donate it to something if you must.

Gathering on some random corner to play is probably less harmful to the pro 
or semi pro musician and might lead to actual jobs where there was none 
before as Elizar has often pointed out.  Doing that is generally illegal 
here.

There may be things that might be OK to play for free but think carefully 
about it first.
Larry Walton
St. Louis


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <JDut953944 at aol.com>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 5:32 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Playing for free


> Does this make me a whore?  But, I love to play my clarinet and I  play on 
> a
> street corner once a month with a group of musicians, some of  whom have 
> their
> own bands.  We donate our tips to funding young  musicians jazz camps.  I 
> was
> so pleased when I was asked to join in with  them.  It didn't occur to me 
> to
> think about this being "free."  What  occurred to me was that it was going 
> to
> be a lot of fun, I love people watching,  dog watching, and whatever else
> happens to meander by.  We were told to  play quietly so as not to scare 
> the
> horses, pulling the carriages - like in New  Orleans - who also were 
> giving free
> rides.  What a kick.  We also  played for free last month at a retirement
> center.  Goodness were we  insulted by one of the older gents who used to 
> play in
> the big bands!   Nobody but nobody could play like he did!  We go around 
> once in
> this  life.  I will play all the music I can, while I can play it!  Yes 
> it's
> nice to get a nice bunch of cash at the end of a gig.  But the enjoyment I
> get out of just playing any old where is nice too.
>
> Carol, Clarinet
>
>
>
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