[Dixielandjazz] Rehearsing in Front of an Audience

[Russ Guarino]

Rehearsing outdoors in front of passers by can lead to a surprising amount of tip collections.

I used to use an open horn case for this purpose, but had problems with the breeze blowing the money about and sometimes little kids
dipping their hands into the bills.

I recently switched to a stand up brief case with an open mouth and taped my sign on it that reads..."Thank you for supporting the
performing arts" with my cartoon logo.

It is common for us to collect $70 in a couple of hours.  So it is not really an unpaid rehearsal, it is a paid rehearsal.

Russ Guarino

Ministry of Jazz wrote:

> Shalom Jazz Fans,
>
> Pardon me, but I assumed it would be clear when I suggested taking
> rehearsals out to the streets or parks, that I did not mean the kind of
> rehearsals where you stop every few bars to iron out problems. I was
> referring to the kind of rehearsals where you play to keep repertoire fresh,
> or maybe to throw in a few new tunes (not cold, but that the players have
> been learning and are ready to take them for a test drive), or just to
> improve how you reach out and grab the crowd, which is harder on the street
> than in a paid gig. Or, as I suggested, to give students or new band members
> a chance to break in before going on a real gig.
>
> Depending on how you work the street crowd, you might have a gathered
> audience for 5-10 minutes or more, but just as often, people don't stop at
> all, or they stand and listen to part of a tune, and then go on their way.
> You don't have to be so polished for this kind of crowd. Now I don't mean
> that it's OK to play badly. But the street can stand some rough spots as you
> play newer material or with newer players. You want to go over something
> again? You don't have to say, "OK, take it from the top, guys." Just play
> another tune or two, and you will have a new crowd who didn't hear you the
> first time. Then do your new number again.
>
> Sit-ins? On the street, we encourage it, but we are careful not to get
> idiots who will try to upstage us, or who can't play. At a paid gig, I
> almost never allow sit-ins, for all the reasons everyone gave, but with
> exceptions, as noted in other posts. With a little practice, you can discern
> who will work and who won't. Dr Jazz has a handful of washboard players who
> are "regulars". These are people who tried it once, sometimes at our
> insistence, and it worked, and so whenever they come by while we're playing,
> they don't even have to ask. They take the washboard, or we hand it to them,
> and away they go. And this is fine. Sometimes I stop high school kids who
> are walking along with instrument cases and invite them to do a song with
> us. We have charts if they don't know the songs. Of course, we have learned
> to note how they're dressed, groomed, how they carry themselves, do they
> seem cocky, etc., and we avoid those who we get bad vibes from. But
> generally it works out OK, and the crowds love it. I guess it depends on
> what kind of image you want to project, and what kind of show you want to
> put on.
>
> Once I saw a teenage boy walking along with a trumpet case that said "Bach".
> I figured, how bad can he be if he's playing a Bach? So I asked if he plays
> jazz, and he said he does, so I asked him to play a tune with us. He opened
> the case and pulled out a Jupiter, or Blessing, or some more modest name
> horn, whereupon I told him, "My other horn is a Bach," which it is, but I
> wasn't playing it that day. He played a couple songs with us, and did OK.
>
> Street performing is its own world. You can get away with a lot. You can
> learn a lot. And you can work on improving your game, right in front of the
> crowd. OK, so it's not a full blown nose to the grindstone workout, but you
> can still put the band through its paces.
>
> I do make every effort to respect my passive audience on the street. One
> thing I almost never do is to stop or start a song in the middle, or play
> too loud, or make abrupt or startling noises. (We don't like startling
> noises in downtown Jerusalem!) If people want to talk to me or shake hands,
> they wait until I finish the song, even if someone is barking at me that he
> wants to hire us for a wedding. I point to the business cards, and they can
> either wait for a break or call me later. I don't stop songs to sell CDs
> either. I believe people who frequent downtown appreciate me for this,
> because I create an upbeat, comfortable atmosphere that relieves stress
> rather than adding to it.
>
> As for playing for free, I like to think of it as advertising for free. And
> you can usually pick up some change in tips that will help make the effort
> worthwhile.
>
> Another couple of shekels' worth from:
>
> Elazar Brandt
> Doctor Jazz Dixieland Band
> Tekiya Brass Ensemble
> Jerusalem, Israel
> www.israel.net/ministry-of-jazz
> +972-2-679-2537
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis
> [mailto:larrys.bands at charter.net]
> Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2007 8:13 AM
> To: Robert S. Ringwald
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Rehearsing in Front of an Audience
>
> Everything you said is absolutely true.  We have done all that but without
> gigs at least fairly often it's hard to keep focus and you will lose the
> edge.  But as I said playing for free is against my grain.  I used the word
> rehearsal very loosely but like you I don't "rehearse" in public.  If I do
> anything like that it won't be "let's try it again at the top guys."
>
> I'm not sure exactly what I will do but I have to do something or my big
> Dixie band will wilt and just go away.  I had that happen before.  They
> really perk up when a public performance is pending.
> Larry
> StL
>
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