[Dixielandjazz] Piano player?

[Larry Walton Entertainment]

Good luck - piano players are the bane of my existence.  Now you might find 
out why I use a computer.  I just gave up about 10 years ago.  The guys that 
are interested aren't that good and the guys that are good aren't 
interested.

If you have a band you just can't have some guy cutting out on you when 
better jobs come along, he just doesn't want to play or booked his own gig. 
That's OK if you have several players to call but if you don't then you lose 
the job and worse appear unreliable to the customers.

There aren't that many good players here that are available especially for 
pick up jobs.  There's a really good friend of mine who plays really well 
but he makes $200-250 a gig.  I don't even ask him - there's just no way.

Then there's location.  This is a big city and guys that live South don't 
want to play North and the same with the guys that live North.  Then guys 
don't want to cross a river or work in the city.  You have to understand 
geography to book a job around here.  This happens even if you are willing 
to pay extra to drive.

My computer never gripes, plays perfectly, doesn't care where or how often 
we play, attends rehearsals and best of all has never asked for money or a 
raise.  In the beginning many customers balked at the idea of using a 
computer but no longer.  It's no longer a new thing.

I book better paying jobs and I can work singles that I could never do 
before.  I depend now on how well I can do a show,  my own reliability and 
talent.

It's always more fun with good live musicians and I wish I could 
consistently pull it off but I just can't.  There have been too many years 
of lost opportunities because of rhythm section guys to even mess with it. 
The other factor is people just don't want to pay for larger bands.  My 
competition is now other duos and single acts.

I even re booked a job yesterday I got fired from and got a promise of more 
from them.  It's the only job I ever had a problem with and I was really 
surprised that I got a call back from them.  The people like us there - what 
can I say?

BTW the score from my mailing that I have been talking about is now 7 plus 
with a turn down because I'm already booked for a date.  A post card works 
and reminds them that you are still there.  I said Plus because jobs 
generate call backs.  It's like getting on a roll.  This has generated over 
a thousand dollars worth of gigs at a cost of fifty dollars.

Turn downs work for you too because it gives you the opportunity to maybe 
book a day after or before.  I might get the day or weekend before Fat 
Tuesday.  They are thinking about moving the party to evening or another day 
so I may get it anyway.  It just depends on if they find another band or 
not.   I've even gotten people to move the time to morning.
Larry
StL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Phil Wilking" <philwilking at bellsouth.net>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 15, 2011 3:27 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Piano player?


> Is there a piano player who would like to join a band which plays at 
> nursing homes in the New Orleans area on Tuesday evenings? We call 
> ourselves the "Gallatin Street Jazz Band."
>
> We usually start at 7:15 PM and play for a little over an hour.
>
> We play jazz classics such as "Sensation," "Clarinet Marmalade," "Fidgety 
> Feet," and "Milneburg Joys."
>
> We have lead sheets for each player, if they are needed, or even band 
> arrangements for a few tunes such as our theme tune: "The Gallatin Street 
> Grind."
>
> Phil Wilking
>
> Those who would exchange freedom for
> security deserve neither freedom nor security.
>
>
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