Jazz cats

[Theo Verelst]

It's a bad time for Jazz cats, nothing they normally stand for is really popular, "new" music isn't considered interesting, even, improvisation skills not in honor, music scenes covered by Jazz and sensitivity unfriendly attitudes, and music knowledge of a high standard probably is not often looked for or looked up to.

 

T

[KuruPrionz]

I enjoy listening to jazz but I don't think I'd want to learn how to play it. 

My brother got me in deep long ago with Miles, Monk, Mingus and Trane. We played those records often. 

 

Jazz has always existed on the fringes, it's not simple pop music that most people can sing along to, it is an acquired taste. 

So it goes... 

[GovernorSilver]

I like jazz 😎

[Notes_Norton]

I like jazz, but mostly in the cool school genre: Stan Getz, Stanley Turrentine, Jimmy Smith, Kenny Burrell, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Richie Cole, Sweets Edison, and so on. But variety is nice, so a lot of other styles are appreciated too, if the song and interpretation appeals to me.

 

There are two kinds of music, (1) music I like and (2) music made for someone else's ears.

 

Notes ♫

[KenElevenShadows]

I liked jazz since I was in high school.

 

But it also helps that I worked with two jazz musicians when I was lifeguarding, who stoked my interest further. And it also helped that I used to go to Alice Coltrane's ashram and have dinner with her to goose it along as well, or that I traveled to India with Coltrane's son for a month.

 

My tastes are probably similar to KuruPrionz. As you might guess, I like Alice and John Coltrane's music, but also Miles, Coleman, Brubeck, and others.

[ProfD]

Jazz musicians have known for at least a half century and counting that their chosen style of music is an acquired taste. 

 

There has always been enough of a Jazz scene that allows the better Jazz musicians to earn a living while playing music. Academia helps too.

 

As acquired tastes go, I'd imagine it's no different for musicians who chose to play Zydeco, Bluegrass or Celtic Funk.😎

[Notes_Norton]

Around here, you can't make a living playing jazz.

 

Years ago, I was in a jazz band. The leader was a former teacher at the University of Miami's jazz program, and he played with Ira Sullivan. We would have jazz stars come sit in with us occasionally. It was a lot of fun, very challenging, and when some of the greats same in, a bit humiliating.

 

But it was Sunday only, and the only jazz gig in town. I had to hold down a day-gig to afford to live and play jazz. That's when I decided a day-gig was a bigger sell-out than playing pop music. I targeted the retirement audience in Florida in the 1980s, and never looked back. The only time I lacked work was when COVID reared its ugly tentacles. Now that COVID is not so much a death sentence, I'm gigging steadily again.

 

A day playing any kind of music is better than a day doing any day-job that I can think of.

 

I like a lot of different music, and I've played classical, jazz, blues, rock from 50s to present, American Songbook era swing, salsa, reggae, pop, country, and quite a few other genres. In my duo, we play a variety and I get to put on different genre 'hats' and do my best to be authentic in each style. Here is our songlist https://www.nortonmusic.com/cats/songlist.html

 

I'm learning a new one today. I do my own backing tracks, from scratch.

 

Notes ♫

[jerrythek]

1 hour ago, Notes_Norton said:

Around here, you can't make a living playing jazz.

 

Years ago, I was in a jazz band. The leader was a former teacher at the University of Miami's jazz program, and he played with Ira Sullivan.

 

Notes ♫

Just curious, who was the leader? I went to the U of M back in 73-75.

 

Jerry

[Notes_Norton]

13 hours ago, jerrythek said:

Just curious, who was the leader? I went to the U of M back in 73-75.

 

Jerry

Lucky Elden (Dan)

 

Sadly, Lucky is no longer with us.

 

Notes ♫

 

[jerrythek]

Thanks - I didn’t know him. A lot of great talent there when I went, both in the faculty and the students. 

[ProfD]

20 hours ago, Notes_Norton said:

Around here, you can't make a living playing jazz.

I would imagine that to play Jazz for a living would require 1) residence in a big city or 2) being a top-tier musician or 3) traveling a lot or some combination.😎

[jazzpiano88]

This may have something to do with it.

 

 

However Alan Broadbent turned it into this with the Woody Herman Big Band.

 

 

[KenElevenShadows]

On 8/31/2023 at 5:08 PM, Notes_Norton said:

Around here, you can't make a living playing jazz.

 

 

Is there a place you CAN make a living playing jazz? 

[Notes_Norton]

20 hours ago, jerrythek said:

Thanks - I didn’t know him. A lot of great talent there when I went, both in the faculty and the students. 

 

Lucky wrote a couple of books on jazz guitar improvisation, that were published by Warner Bros. When WB sold their catalog to Alfred's, his books didn't make the cut. By the time I was playing with him, he was no longer teaching. He had just come off a tour with Ira Sullivan.

 

The UofM used to have one of the country's best jazz programs. It rivaled Berklee and North Texas U.

 

I moved up the coast a bit, so I'm out of touch, so I don't know if it still does.

 

11 hours ago, KenElevenShadows said:

Is there a place you CAN make a living playing jazz? 

 

I suppose they are few and far between.

 

When I lived in Fort Lauderdale, there were a couple of jazz clubs in Miami that I knew of. I don't know if they are still there.

 

Probably New York, Chicago, LA, and a few other big cities, but I'm sure there are more people who would like to play jazz than there are venues to gig in.

 

I haven't played jazz since the 1980s, and other than 2 years of COVID, I haven't been unemployed since the 1980s either. I wouldn't even sit in at a jazz jam now because if you don't use it, you lose it, and I haven't used it for a long time. But I'm happy playing pop music. Here is our song list, the jazz standards hardly ever get played anymore, because the people who grew up with them have all died https://www.nortonmusic.com/cats/songlist.html

 

I make my own backing tracks, and now I'm working on Hypnotized by Fleetwood Mac for a regular customer at the beach resort we play at weekly.

 

Our duo is a business, and we do our best to assess the demand and satisfy that demand. So we do everything from Patti Page to Metallica. We learn requests and the ones that get requested most often, or by the most regular customers get learned if we can cover them. That's how to stay working around here.

 

We learned the Metallica song for another customer.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

[murphybridget]

On 9/1/2023 at 2:14 AM, ProfD said:

Jazz musicians have known for at least a half century and counting that their chosen style of music is an acquired taste. 

 

There has always been enough of a Jazz scene that allows the better Jazz musicians to earn a living while playing music. Academia helps too.

 

As acquired tastes go, I'd imagine it's no different for musicians who chose to play Zydeco, Bluegrass or Celtic Funk.😎

Sounds like a tune with a good beat.

[Strays Dave]

I've never been a jazz cat, but I play a lot of jazz standards. I play things like Over The Rainbow, Back Home In Indiana, Embraceable You and so on.  I think of them as part of the Great American Songbook.  But I also play things like The Tennessee Waltz, and How Much Is That Doggee In The Window.  I use what you'd probably call jazz harmony with the appropriate songs (not the doggee type songs).   But my playing these days is in assisted living facilities.  To me the concept of "jazz" also involves extended soloing. And in general people aren't into that - unless they're in a bar talking over the the music and drinking. A lot of folks think of this as listening to jazz. 

 

I call my "holy trinity"  The Beatles, Keith Jarrett's 70's quartets (both American and European) and Ellington.  I play a good number of Ellington tunes (with the jazz harmony) and play and sing a good number of Beatles. I have a Beatles fake book and have transposed many of the songs into my vocal key.  Lately I've been running thru Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Dear Prudence and Revolution. I'm wondering if they'll be usable as baby boomer age into the ALF's. 

 

I suspect the jazz cats are at colleges. Either the teachers and professors or the students.  I've always identified as a musical eclectic. 

[ProfD]

There is no shortage of establishments featuring Jazz music in the United States:

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g191-Activities-c20-t104-United_States.html

 

Of course, Jazz musicians are gigging in places off the beaten path too.😎

[Notes_Norton]

When the then future Mrs. Notes and I decided to form a duo, we named it The Sophisticats and wanted to play jazz and blues.

 

Then we decided we wanted to eat and pay the mortgage, so we switched to pop music.

 

We got a 3 week with options gig on a cruise ship. That lasted 3 years until we decided to get off (Mrs. Notes' mom needed a caregiver).

Starting from day one, we asked for requests on cocktail napkins. The songs that got requested the most, we learned.

 

Some people think going pop is a sell-out, and they are probably correct.

 

But for us, working as a wage slave at a day job so we can play jazz once a week is a bigger sell-out. If that is someone's choice, it's OK, but it isn't my choice.

 

I suppose in a bigger city, there are more opportunities for jazz cats to make a living doing that kind of music, but around here, it's barren.

 

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫