How much do you charge?

"How much do you charge?" is a hard question to answer sometimes when it comes to music. Most musicians charge different amounts depending on the nature of the event and sometimes how they perceive the hiring person's ability to pay. The object is to not quote too high of a price for fear of being rejected nor too low of a price. Other musicians, mainly less experienced ones, will sometimes even "play for the experience/exposure," a.k.a. free, in a commercial establishment which really messes things up.

I'd someday like to do a survey of jazz musicians and what they charge for different types of events venues. I would want to find out what people would charge for a 3 hour gig in a restaurant vs. a jazz club vs. a wedding reception vs. a concert hall vs. a school vs. a friend's 2nd cousin's graduation party etc. and ask what area of the country the respondents are located in. I wonder if more transparency and uniformity in what musicians charge would help strengthen the jazz working class when it comes time to talk money. What would the "living wage" for a jazz musician be?

Solar Tax Credit Bill Fails

Senate Republicans managed to scuttle a bill that would extend energy tax credits for companies investing in solar and other renewable energy sources:

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/ecogeek/564/senate-nixes-solar-tax-credits.html

The Republicans were upset that the bill would be offset by closing tax loopholes for hedge fund managers operating offshore funds. Hedge funds, which are basically secretive, unregulated financial playgrounds for the rich, are apparently more important than finding a solution to energy problems which affect poor and middle class people the most. Hopefully technology will advance to a point where a person or community could easily and cheaply generate their own energy and not have to be at the mercy of the oil industry and their political enablers.

Red Garland vs. Wynton Kelly

Here's a quick comparison of the styles of Red Garland vs. Wynton Kelly:

Red Garland	Wynton Kelly
more legato touch	more staccato touch ("pop")
block chords with root-fifth-octave in right hand common	block chords not as common and many times they just have an octave in the right hand
uses more blues devices sometimes repeated over several choruses (see "Soul Junction" for example)	favors b5 more frequently
long phrases a la Bud Powell	uses triad arpeggios frequently sometimes with b5; sometimes with tremolo "fanfare"
eighth notes are a tiny bit straighter than Kelly's	eighth notes have a triplet feel (try playing transcriptions with boogie woogie triplet left hand to get rhythmic feel)
Left hand chords are frequently played on the upbeat of 2 and 4 or with a "Charleston" rhythm	Left hand chords frequently consist only of 3rds and 7ths

Lennie Tristano and White Jazz vs. Black Jazz

Some interesting analysis from pianist Ethan Iverson with a cameo by mega-critic Stanley Crouch on the Tristano school, racism and white jazz vs. black jazz:

http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath
/2008/05/lennie-tristano.html

http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath
/2008/05/a-note-on-trist.html

http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath
/2008/05/warne-marsh-lee.html

How would the Wynton Marsalis school (to pick a lighting rod example!) fit in with a simliar analysis? Iverson's comment about jazz and American slavery being related is powerful as well as disturbing - associating such a beautiful American art form with something so repulsive - and deserves an article of its own. I'd agree that slavery brought the African influence that is a fundamental part of jazz but I wouldn't say that black jazz musicians are only creative because of this and this seems to be implied by these kind of statements. With there being more white jazz musicians than black jazz musicians today (I'd say very unscientifically from observing musicians on gigs and at other concerts a 70/30 split) I'd like to see Iverson and Crouch give their take on racial issues in jazz today.

Corporate gigs

I had a good gig last night for a private corporate event on the Chesapeake Bay in Stevensville, MD. even though no one was listening closely. These "corporate gigs" have a number of pros and cons. On the bad side no one listens very much to the music that you're playing. That's not to say that the people don't listen at all or don't appreciate having music at their event; they do - they're just focused on socializing more. On the plus side these type of gigs frequently offer better working conditions than "club dates" or even wedding gigs. Much better pay (enough to actually support the fortunate musicians who do many of these types of gigs), food is usually included, the venues are frequently nice and the staff that you deal with are usually very professional. I just think it's important to balance these background music gigs with ones where people are actually listening and interested in hearing the type of music that you're playing.

2 Amy's

Here's a picture of a margherita pizza from 2 Amy's in Washington, D.C. This restaurant is one of only about 21 in the US that are certified by the "Pizza Police" as making authentic Neapolitan-style pizza. Whatever they're certified it's very good pizza although the pizzas aren't cut so you have to work a little bit before you can dive in. Their cannoli are really good as well.

Don't Buy a Navigon GPS

Don't buy a GPS made by Navigon. Not because they might break after a month (which mine did) but because their customer service is horrible. After the Navigon 2100 that I had gotten wouldn't power on, I called the customer service number a number of times trying to get a replacement but was given the "run around" each time. The phone rep even refused to give me a manager when I requested one. I eventually returned it to the store where I had bought it. If you want a GPS try one from Garmin, Magellan or TomTom.