[Dixielandjazz] The Beat of a Different Drummer

Wed Feb 7 00:34:25 PST 2007

Hi Steve:  Sorry to disappoint you but the answer is YES!

Makes about as much sense as going from being the greatest heart 
Surgeon in his field to being a veterinarian to doing heart surgery on 
expiring fish :))

Yes I am tongue in cheek with my comment but dead serious about the 
reality of it.   This is the epitomy of the reversal of the starving 
artist copping out on his fellow starving jazz artists and going out 
and getting a commercial hit record and or band to make real money.

Just shows you how very very silly and stupid many of us as artists can 
actually be and why we are often in the dismal situation professionally 
that we self inflict upon ourselves no matter how noble the cause may 
seem to be under the influence of whatever it is we may or may not be 
smoking or drinking at the time.  :))   That is if you actually do 
imbibe in such things to influence your financial support and status in 
life.   Too each his own, different strokes for different folks.

And hey how many OKOM players do you know who make  even $45,000 a 
year?  but hey they are happy and fulfilled so they say, well some of 
them anyway, but they don't usually post on this list .   I would 
venture to say that most OKOM players on this list that make that much 
money have a day gig earning at least half of that figure or better.

Now all you hot shot All stars jump in here and prove me wrong 
PULLLEEEZE  :))

Ya see guys that's pretty hard to achieve with a one night a week or 
month gig on an off night for twenty years in the same joint that holds 
50 or 60 people on a jam packed night with no cover charge, or a 
Preservation Society once a month gig on a Sunday afternoon.  who ya'll 
kidding except your selves.

I know I know it's all about ART FOR ART'S SAKE,  well wake up guys Art 
is a very Cheap SOB.  And he really dose not give a squat about YOUR 
ART either or he would PAY for it.   NOw if you want to be known as an 
ARTISTE' hurry up and Die so you can be discovered and valued as ART.   
Art is for Dead folks  Music is for the Living who still want to live 
and party and swing.

Cheers,

Tom, Now where is that velvet art collectors edition painting of Elvis 
??  It should be worth a fortune by now huh ?

-----Original Message-----
From: appledrums at gmail.com
To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Sent: Tue, 6 Feb 2007 12:35 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] The Beat of a Different Drummer

   >
> I did go to NY Times and read the whole article.  Let's not miss the 
real
> story.  The guy made a decision based on his passion as opposed to his
> income, that's admirable.  If this was a guy leaving the symphony to 
play
> and promote "OKOM" (and assuming he can squeak by on his $45,000 
current
> income) would you still feel it was stupid?   I know you're probably 
kidding
> and I've mis-read your post.

 - Steve Apple

------------
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Tue, 06 Feb 2007 12:22:12 -0500
> From: tcashwigg at aol.com
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] The beat of a different drummer
> To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> Message-ID: <8C9182A791058B1-964-52C4 at WEBMAIL-DC05.sysops.aol.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"; format=flowed
>
> Dats vedddy veddy intresting but still veddy veddy stupid !!
>
> He must have a lot of money saved, or a trust fund to live on, or an
> overwhelming desire to be divorced and die homeless :))
>
> But look at the bright side, that makes more money for the roadies and
> the guitar players in the band to have a retired Pro working for chump
> change money.   Someting is definitely wrong vit dis piture me theenks
> !!   Ahhh I know vat it is, he joined da IAJE and got the divine call
> to be a teacher.
>
> I tink he has lost hees mind or soon will.   Maybe he got tired of
> having to spell percussionist and explaining to people what he did so
> decided to just be a regular old drummer and indeed march to a
> different beat, or it could just be the grade of hemp he smokes in the
> midwest, I hear that Buffalo fertilizer they use out there will make
> you crazy.
>
>
> Tom "Old Rocker" who vill be glad to take his old job for a year or
> two, vat the hell he probably only had to play 200 or 300 notes a 
year.
> :))
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: barbonestreet at earthlink.net
> To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> Sent: Tue, 6 Feb 2007 8:04 AM
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] The beat of a different drummer
>
>     Too good not to post, though not OKOM. Here is one of the TOP
> percussionists
> in the world, leaving the Chicago Symphony to play . . . GASP/CHOKE  R
> & R.
>
> Like we always say, Them scraggly Rock & Rock Musos suck big time. :-)
> VBG.
>
> If anyone wants the full article, write me off list. It is an
> interesting
> story of a man who gave up a secure  $140,000 a year + first class
> expenses
> to earn about $45,000 through Rock & Roll club dates and teaching.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>
> >From Lead Percussionist to Different Drummer
>
> NY TIMES - By DANIEL J. WAKIN - February 6, 2007
>
> CHICAGO ? As the principal percussionist of the Chicago Symphony
> Orchestra,
> Ted Atkatz had reached a pinnacle in his profession.
>
> He had tenure in one of the world?s great musical institutions, with a
> fat
> salary and benefits. Stagehands set up his battery of instruments.
> Touring
> meant luxury hotels and per diems. And he had, just as precious, the
> respect
> of the percussion world, a singularly obsessive group of musicians who
> play
> the triangle, the bass drum and everything between.
>
> But in May, Mr. Atkatz pulled a modern-day Don Quixote. He quit his 
job
> to
> devote himself full time to his alternative rock band. He now plays in
> joints across the Midwest, sometimes performing for the bartender or,
> on a
> good night, several hundred people. Orchestra Hall? Carnegie Hall? The
> Musikverein in Vienna? Forget it. Try the Mousetrap in Eau Claire,
> Wis., or
> Beaner?s Central in Duluth, Minn.
>
> Mr. Atkatz says he doesn?t regret his decision. ?I wanted to make sure
> that
> every time I played, I wanted to be passionate about it,? he said.
> ?Based on
> that criterion, it was a no-brainer.? . . . snipped for brevity
>
>
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