[Dixielandjazz] FW: Club & Restaurant Jazz Gigs

[Jim Kashishian]

The "ten facts" earlier sent to the list are meant to be humorous, but have
a lot of truth to them....particularly two of them:

>Top Ten Facts of Life for Playing in Clubs and Restaurants............
1.  Unless you are in a concert situation, most of the people are not there
to hear you. Your music is incidental. 

Although a lot of our playing is at so called jazz clubs, many of the
customers wind up attending not out of love of jazz but for any other
reason, so we can quite often get a boisterous crowd.  I start out each set
by announcing that the "Jazz Concert is about to begin, etc, etc", and that
tends to get the crowd's attention.  It usually works!  If a band just
starts playing, with no announcement, then the chatter just continues. If
during our set, we get the occassional noisy persons with back to the band
standing at the nearby bar, then I have been known to ask them to quiet
down, or even leave....usually to loud applause from those that had been
trying to listen to the band.  It's really up to the band to control these
things....if the club people don't!  I never expect a church atmosphere, but
out of control carry-ons is not generally tolerated. 

>4.  The talent of anyone who wants to sit in is inversely proportional to
how insistent he or his friends are about his sitting in. The most talented
musician that you would really like to play with will be sitting there
quietly and will have left his axe in the car.

Boy, that quote is taken right from my mouth!  I'm always saying that!!  The
wantabee sit-in with a large group of friends is generally a no-no!

Jim