Great questions, MJ. whatever happen to appreciation for live music and can we get people away from their computers, CD players, tv's and revive playing and hearing good quality live music?
Nearly all classical music performed live is subsidized by either the Federal government, city governments, large corporations or universities.
Most jazz music in places other than hot areas like NYC or New Orleans is subsidized by the monies collected by recording companies to help save live musicians. This money is used by unions in the Northeast and Midwest and through other agencies in right-to-work states to keep bands performing live.
And nowadays in hot music centers like L.A., bands are expected to pay club owners to allow them to play their music in a club. Yes, you heard right. It is nearly impossible to get paid in LA to play music and in fact, it is the pretty much the rule nowadays that the bands pay the club owners.
Songwriters here in Nashville are lucky to get $35. I don't know how they do it. $35 is not enough to get me to drive to the job, let alone play all night. That is why when I was in California, I used to mostly play private parties. $200 to $600 per person is more like it. But that is cover music and dance music. For jazz, it is far more difficult to bring in that sort of money.
Funny thing is that, for the first time in a long while, I am considering putting together a Latin/jazz group for both recording and live. I haven't played live in 10 years, so this would be quite a departure for me, should I go forward with it. But then, I would need to find a hot tourist area with a strong economy before committing.
You see how that works, at some point one must draw the line between what they love to do and what they are willing to do. I have never been one to compromise when it comes to remuneration for my art. I have had toe-to-toe fights with many a club owner for holding back pay. . and we are talking "Tony Soprano" in Ohio and "Tony Montana" in Miami.
Frankly, it was always easier to get paid well in the union run states. I could always sick the union on non-payers. But in right-to-work states, there was no recourse. The club owners knew it and they would exploit bands every chance they could.
I never got paid less than one very hot summer in Miami. Two of the top salsa bands in the city were sharing the door of this supposedly "hot new club". We played from 11pm until 6 am. . . 7 nights per week. There were original members of Miami Sound Machine in these bands . . . and yet I calculated the between the 12 of us musicians playing this club, we were averaging $3.50 per hour each over the course of the week. And the funny thing was that we lost the gig to what was then the "most popular" salsa band in Miami. . .a band called, "Clouds".
But then there were plenty of good times that more than made up for it. I remember the trumpet player for Miami Sound Machine and myself were both booked for two jobs at the same time one New Years Eve. You should have seen us driving up Collins Avenue to play a set with one band then book right back. . .running through the hotel lobbies horn cases in hand. . . to jump in the middle of a set already in progress with then next. We did that throughout the night. But it was worth about eight-hundred bucks, so we didn't mind so much.
Reminiscing: I wish I had recordings of the salsa band, "Versailles" from back then. . . led by Fito Foster. That was an absolutely amazing group. Far harder book to play than any big band. . . including Bill Watrous and Thad Jones.
So I guess you take the good with the bad. And the problem is that the good is becoming fewer and farther between, while the bad is becoming the norm.
I agree with supporting live musicians. I think I will take you up on that offer and take my wife out this weekend. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. . . and again for your interesting questions.
Live entertainment everywhere should get subsidized. It would be a real shame if our generation allowed it to become extinct.
Rande Is |
