[Dixielandjazz] playing for charity

[Trumpetom at aol.com]

Romans Said "....I said sure and 
quoted them my price. I was met with  stunned silence and then "Well, 
aren't you going to play for free? After  all, it's for charity....." 
 
Man, ain't that the truth!  I used to be a sideman in a group  that did the 
same freebe year after year for  a society fundraiser. They treated us like 
crap & wouldn't even  feed us sandwiches (the wait staff and stage crew were fed 
the same baron of  beef as the guests). I kept asking our leader when we were 
going to get one of  their real gigs from them; he couldn't answer me. I had 
nothing to lose, so I  approached the boss of the committee regarding a booking 
us at their annual  black tie gala, he said they only hire PROFESSIONAL 
groups for that event! go  figure Last I heard, the same group was still doing that 
freebe. 
 
Tom Loeb
California