[Dixielandjazz] Playing for free

[Ministry of Jazz]

Shalom Carol and fellow list-mates,

This vexed question of playing for free and for enjoyment surfaces
frequently on DJML. Those who work hard to make a living at this musical
business feel strongly about not playing for free. Those who do it for fun
don't see the problem. After all, music can also be a hobby, and people are
entitled to take it up as a hobby. All things considered, playing on the
street corner is probably not going to hurt the music business for the pro
players. But playing in legitimate venues for free does hurt the business.

My situation in Israel is unusual, because there are almost no OKOM bands
here to compete with (and I'm *still* not making a full living at it! Oy!).
I started playing on the pedestrian mall in Jerusalem, and sometimes in
similar places in other cities, for advertisement, for experience, and to
put  some happy energy into the air in places where it can be badly needed.
I typically make about $10 per hour for this from tips. That's not a bad
take for here. There are engineers and nurses and other professionals who
don't make more than that. But of course, I don't do it more than a couple
hours at a time, a few times a week. We have street musicians who make their
living doing this, and I suppose I could if I wanted to.

I use the time to work on new songs, to try new ideas. And I have learned to
use this venue for training new players and new bands. It's a great half-way
house for people who deal with stage fright and want to get over it. The pro
players that I perform with rarely join us on the street -- unless it's for
that rare occasion that we get paid for it by the city. That does happen
sometimes, like when they have street festivals, and they know to hire us
because we already play there and they're familiar with us. I have learned
over the years that most of our paying gigs come to us because people know
us from the street. How would I advertise a Dixieland band here? People
don't know what it is. They have to see and hear us, and then they like us
and they hire us and they still don't know what to call our music. So I look
at playing on the street as getting paid to advertise instead of paying for
it. (Incidentally, we have tried playing without a receptacle for tips to
see what happens if we really play for free, and people were lining up to
ask us where to put the money, or putting it into our pockets, or just
leaving it on the nearest flat surface. Maybe Jerusalem people are just
generous?)

To put a really new twist on this subject, I have also done a lot of
entertaining in places that are under attack, or that have been attacked,
like in the aftermath of a suicide bombing. We don't play, of course, right
after a bombing. A couple days or so must pass to allow some healing from
the shock, and to begin cleanup and rebuilding or repairing damage. But at
the right time, live music can be an important part of the healing process.
And it is a great morale builder for people stuck in shelters or living
under the threat of rocket attacks. Lately I have been taking teams of
musicians and other entertainers into Sderot, a border town near Gaza that
gets several rockets a day (most of which don't hit anything, but sometimes
they do; but in any case it's no fun to live with that). We've worked with
another group that gives out ice cream, cold drinks, watermelon or pizza.
Now there's a justifiable free gig if I ever heard of one.

But I've begun to realize that for all the good we do, and for all the
courage some people are willing to muster to come along and help make this
happen, we are limited to going when we can find volunteers who are willing
to come along, and who are *available*. It's usually a full hot day of hard
work. So I started to think that, if I could find sponsors to cover a team
for a day's work, I might be able to do this more often, and attract more
experienced performers. You know what? I put out some feelers, and I found
some. So our next trip two weeks from now will be covered by an organization
from Holland. I'll be able to pay my people close to $100 each, plus cover
the travel costs, food and drinks, and some extra money for myself to offset
the time and effort of putting the gig together. The $100 may not be much
for a full day gig under the threat of rocket attack, but it's a whole lot
better than asking people to do it for free. Most of us buy things we need
from the local merchants, including groceries and such, giving them a needed
financial boost, and doubling the impact of the sponsors' donations. We are
finding that doing these sponsored "gigs" for pay is better for everyone
than doing them for free.

**In case any readers are interested in sponsoring such a gig, you can
contact me off-list. $300 to $500 will send a team of 4-5 performers for a
day. We're also looking into the possibility of providing live music for
weddings and other events for people who have been displaced because of our
ongoing disagreements with our neighbors. A similar amount would cover a 3-4
piece band for such an event.**

Back to the matter at hand. Another issue is that amateur players who
perform on the street or here and there for free usually are not prepared to
take on professional work. Being a pro player is not just about playing the
music well. You have to have the proper documents from the tax authority and
your accountant, and be able to give a legal receipt, to work for most any
customer other than a private party. Sure, a restaurant or bar may be
willing to give you food or drinks in return for playing, but they won't
usually pay you for it. Over here, they can't, unless you can give them the
needed documents. Amateur players will not have the experience to work with
the customers to make a gig come off the way they want it. They tend to look
and act like amateurs, and most people don't want that for serious events or
venues. We have a group of high school students here learning to play
Dixieland from charts. They sound pretty good, but no improvisation, so the
music is not "real" Dixieland. They turn up on the street now and then, and
they've been invited to play in a restaurant or two, but not for pay, just
for drinks. I went to hear them. It was fun, but it only happened once each
in 2 places so far. Not a terrible threat to the music business. But it may
help put some new players into the professional music world. I have no
problem with that. Am I going to play in these places for food or drinks? I
did when I was new at it, but not anymore.

I could go on ... all right, never mind ... but you get the idea. Those who
play for free, think of us in the trenches trying to make our living at it.
And those who are pros, consider that maybe the freebie players are helping
to keep the music alive so people will want to pay for it, and maybe they're
training players who will eventually become an asset to the business.

Elazar "don't shoot me, I just love to play" Brandt
Dr. Jazz Dixieland Band
Tekiya Trumpet Ensemble
Jerusalem, Israel
www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz
+972-2-679-2537




-----Original Message-----
From: JDut953944 at aol.com [mailto:JDut953944 at aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 12:33 AM


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...