[Dixielandjazz] Giving it away! NYTimes 10-26-2013 Charlie Suhor

[Norman Vickers]

To:  Musicians and Jazzfans, DJML and Pensacola Mencken list

From:  Norman Vickers, Jazz Society of Pensacola

 

Academician, percussionist, jazz historian Charlie Suhor, now residing in
Montgomery, Al.  Writes about his experiences as musician and writer ( for
fun and profit). 

For those who don't know about Charlie,  he's a native New Orlenian from a
jazz family.  He wrote the definitive history of Jazz in New Orleans, Post
WWII.

 

Here are Charlie's comments:

 

 

From: Charles Suhor [mailto:csuhor at zebra.net] 
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2013 1:18 PM
To: Norman Vickers
Subject: Re: Giving it away! NYTimes 10-26-2013 Louis, Steve Barbone and
Steve Gilmore write

 

I don't know if the work-for-free syndrome started in one field and became
contagious, or it it arose spontaneously or concurrently, egged on by
"consumers" greedy for free services. Writing for free has long been the
norm in Academe. One's vita must be fattened by articles in journals seldom
read, or read only by other specialists. In the sciences, I've heard,
writers must often PAY the journal to have their work published. This is
supposedly (often, actually) for the advancement of knowledge or for useful
professional dialogue. Yet writing for free is certainly a part of the
ritual expectations for promotion and tenure. Fuzzy bottom line: it can be a
shared passion, a forced march, a smoke and mirrors show, or some or all of
the above. It's complicated.

 

As an educator (K-12 English and language arts), I came through a
nontraditional path and wasn't caught in the publish-or-perish trap. I
wrote--excessively, for sure--from a passion for doing so and clearly, for
the ego strokes. To my surprise it led to good higher paying work and
lucrative textbooks for cutting-edge publishers. Some professional journals
paid modestly well for articles. I'm sure that one still moves ahead with
gratis writing. Of course, there are new rules (non-rules?) now, with so
much being exchanged on blogs, e-zines, etc. 

 

My writing about jazz was strictly from my devotion to the music (and yes,
ego again) and New Orleans musicians. It paid a little from the beginning
(Down Beat in the 60s) and got better when I wrote for New Orleans and got
freelance gigs--GQ, Rotarian (!), etc. In retirement I combined my academic
research skills and personal experiences to do jazz history. Far more work
then was justified by the money, but I loved it.  It's complicated.

 

Finally, as a drummer in N.O., I was in the union at age 18 and like my
older brother Don, a true pro, I was flatly opposed to playing for fee.
Except of course, that we jammed all the time to play the music that we
couldn't get paid for!

 

Charlie

 

On Oct 28, 2013, at 12:09 PM, Norman Vickers wrote:





To:  Musicians and Jazzfans list; DJML

From: Norman Vickers, Jazz Society of Pensacola

 

Some nice responses.  Thanks Louis, Steve Gilmore and Steve Barbone

>> woodlanders <woodlanders at free.fr>

Louis from France writes.  He's coeditor of a website celebrating Kid Ory.
He writes:

Asked once by a fan for tips on playing the trombone, Kid Ory answered
"Never do it for nothing."

 

Steve Barbone:  clarinetist/ bandleader in Philadelphia area writes.

From: Stephen G Barbone [mailto:barbonestreet at earthlink.net] 
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2013 10:07 AM
To: Norman Vickers
Subject: Re: Giving it away! NYTimes 10-26-2013 Mike Vax and Ed Middleswart
respond

 

Dear Norm:

 

I wholeheartedly agree with Mike Vax and suspect that just about every
working musician also agrees with him. Like him, we have made ourselves
personna non grata in some circles because of our preaching. The bottom line
is that when musicians routinely perform for free, they devalue the music.
And make no mistake, music is a business.

 

Of course there are exceptions to that general rule. Young musicians may
perform on the street in order to gain fans and exposure, however most of
them have tip buckets out there also. And most of them grow up to charge for
their performances, or they leave the business of music.

 

The most vexing problem to playing for free, is that it takes money out of
the mouths of those who perform to make a living. Venues "hire" those
freebies and so those of us who expect to be paid for our performances can
no longer find paying gigs.  Musicians follow the money just like anyone
else. And while all music is "Art", and performers are "Artists" it doesn't
necessarily follow that because we love it, we should play for nothing and
become suffering artists. 

 

It's like that line from the movie "The Gig" when a professional musician
rescues a group of amateurs who can't cut it and takes over a band at a
resort. That pro tells them;  "Loving the music is not enough."  

 

Cheers,

Steve 

 

 

Bassist  Steve Gilmore of Panama City writes.  He's bassist with saxophonist
Phil Woods  30+ years and had gig with Phil in NYC a couple of weeks ago.
Drove all way up and back so he could carry and play own bass. On driving
back, he performed at Gulf Jazz Society's annual JazzFest and then hustled
over to perform with the local symphony.  Busy guy!  He writes:

From: Steve Gilmore [mailto:stevegilmorebass at gmail.com] 
Sent: Sunday, October 27, 2013 11:43 PM
To: Norman Vickers
Subject: Re: Giving it away! NYTimes 10-26-2013 Mike Vax and Ed Middleswart
respond

 

It's hard to imagine how someone could make such insensitive remarks as Mr
Middleswart. Unfortunately Professional musicians can't go to the grocery
store , pay their medical bills , pay their mortgages , etc. etc. with love
, joy of uniting with a form of expression ,or desire to share his medium
with others. He seems to think that musicians ( and other artists ) live in
some kind of dream world and magically appear to perform and than disappear
into cosmic dust not requiring any kind of maintenance or consisting of any
worthwhile character - not mention the years of practice , study , and
discipline that got them there in the first place.

                              Steve Gilmore

 

Your genteel  moderator suggests that we've worked this subject over on the
Mencken Pensacola list and the Musicians and Jazzfans list. So let's move on
to other interesting and challenging subjects.  As everyone knows, subjects
on DJML take a life of their own and go on in perpetuity ( at least the
perpetuity I've observed over 20+ years, ).  So whatever happens there is up
to the participants and esteemed DJML moderator  Bob Ringwald.  Thanks all.