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jazzypaul

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Posts posted by jazzypaul

  1. I wish I could go ... sadly, I think it'll have to wait this year.

    As for the autograph thing, I know at the Atlanta festival a few years ago there was a booth set up off to the side of the main stage where some bands would sell autographed copies of their CDs. Good way to meet the musicians and at least let them know how much you enjoy their music. So ... if Gerald Wilson has a new CD out, there might be a similar setup in Chicago. ... Just guessing.

    They always do this at whatever company is set up to sell CD's.

    In the past, it had been the jazz record mart.

    Last year, inexplicably, it was best buy.

    :blink: ..best buy sells jazz cds??? Who knew?

    only when contractually obligated to do so. Gotta love a CD store onsite of the Chicago Jazz Festival that doesn't stock stuff from Origin, Delmark or Southport, though. That was a great touch.

  2. I wish I could go ... sadly, I think it'll have to wait this year.

    As for the autograph thing, I know at the Atlanta festival a few years ago there was a booth set up off to the side of the main stage where some bands would sell autographed copies of their CDs. Good way to meet the musicians and at least let them know how much you enjoy their music. So ... if Gerald Wilson has a new CD out, there might be a similar setup in Chicago. ... Just guessing.

    They always do this at whatever company is set up to sell CD's.

    In the past, it had been the jazz record mart.

    Last year, inexplicably, it was best buy.

  3. Paul, I've heard some of your recent recording on WDCB, your take on Caravan is damn cool...

    thanks man!

    if you want to check out some more of our stuff, go here. Our myspace page has everything from our CD except for our two lengthiest jams: an original called "Love Blossoms at Stateville" (local folks usually get the joke), and "La Vie En Rose."

  4. I saw him a couple of times at the Jazz Showcase when it was on Grand Ave. Johnny was such a bad ass. I mean, so thorougly and completely. Others will probably tell me I'm wrong, but I think you can really hear how much DEPTH he really had on the couple of live sides he did with Monk. Dude had speed, humor, technique, everything that a well rounded musician should have.

    Listening to Misterioso now.

    I'm gonna miss him.

  5. Jim,

    I can't tell you how thankful I am that there are cats like you on this board.

    Seriously.

    Because of the fact that this is a passionate business in which we are all surrounded by passionate people, it's really, really easy to forget that this IS business, and not personal. And because of that, instead of looking at this as "those fuckers did me wrong," I probably need to be looking at this far more as "alright, I could use the day off anyway!" Especially because my guitarist's wife should be having their baby any day now.

    Now, that still doesn't absolve the headlining star/troll under the bridge who got this ball rolling in the first place. I mean, seriously, how does he benefit from us not being on the bill? It's hard for me to look at that portion of it as anything but personal. And some sort of help steering the karmic energy on that one could be useful.

    Now that I'm beginning to cool down from this whole thing, I'm learning that there's a whole lot to be learned from this, and I'm learning those lessons. Fair enough.

    So, again, thanks for the sage advice. Some of the best I've gotten in a while.

  6. I'm bummed to see people selling off their recorded music to meet expenses. I can only hope to be spared that unpleasantness...knock wood (or whatever the expression is). To all experiencing this or other hardships, I wish you well.

    Seriously, this bothers me, too.

    Why should it concern you though? Be like Lowe, cry for the jewel boxes instead.

    uhhh, this is a music board. People take their music very seriously around these parts. How would you feel if you had to sell some Scott Hamilton CD's to make ends meet? Or some precious piece of Red Sox minutia?

    I may not be a fan of either, but I'd still feel bad for you if you had to go that route.

    I had to sell all of my Richard Dworsky CD's.

    It crushed me, I tell you...

  7. Fine line between establishing yourself as a serious entity (i.e. - one who respects one's self enough will not allow one's self to be fucked over) & getting a reputation as a pissy whiner.

    A fine line indeed, but one worth walking. If you have confirmation emails, I think you got some leverage to get something out of the deal. Settling for nothing when you've been promised something is pretty much putting a big FUCK ME, I'M A LOSER sign on and not taking it off...

    Negotiate. Be nice, but negotiate until you get something out of them. They are obligated.

    Talked to them yesterday. I attempted to try to get something out of the deal...especially because we turned down a festival gig that we WOULDN'T have gotten booted from to play this one, and all I got was, "wouldn't it be a waste of money to pay someone that isn't playing?" To which my response was "Well, then put us on the stage!"

    So, they wouldn't budge. I want to be a prick about it in return, but I don't know how to do so without making myself look like a whiny little bitch-man.

    Here's what I've learned:

    1) from here on out, I'm sending out contracts for non-club gigs.

    1a) said contract will have some sort of clause that states that if it ain't my fault and we don't play, we get paid anyway.

    2) I need a manager/agent pronto. Between writing reviews, being the radio guy, playing, and now writing the occasional set of liner notes, I don't have time for this bullshit.

  8. do you have emails agreeing to the gig? If so, I would go to small claims -

    Remember this advice comes from the man who has alienated countless gig-giving people.

    I'm sure you realize the last thing you need to do is to get a reputation for being difficult, let alone litigious.

    right. Not to mention, a quick peek around will tell you all about my day job, which means that if I pull a stunt like that, it doesn't just reflect on me, it reflects on my place of business. And they ain't be havin' that.

    That said, I DO have a confirmation e-mail, and we DID turn down other work to play this thing, so I think I will at least let them know that and see if they have ANY scruples whatsoever.

  9. I'd just chalk it up to paying dues. You'll have all sorts of great stories like this if you keep playing music. My advice it to play the good guy, be amicable and maybe they'll remember you for next year's festival.

    Oh, I know. And I also know that anyone who is that much of a dick will get their's in the end.

  10. Is this a union gig, this festival? Are y'all union players?

    nope. I don't think there are any union gigs left in Chicago outside of the society bands and the pit bands for the musicals.

    I keep wavering over whether or not I should join. Anyone do the union thing that has anything good to say about it?

    That said, my bass player is part of the Joliet union, and he says he gets tons of work. But Joliet is 50 miles from Chicago. Yikes!

  11. or go to the local papers and point out the poor treatment of local musicians - would make a NICE and embarassing story -

    I've given this thought.

    And yeah, we had an oral contract, we agreed on a price, and I plan on telling the guy I want at least half, because at this point (2.5 weeks till the gig) it'd be nearly impossible to land another gig that would pay the same amount.

  12. some midget that looks like one of the Keebler Elves

    Hmmmmmm....more clues, please.

    okay...grammy award winning Keebler Elf.

    There's still an off chance that we might still have this gig. So I don't want to piss anyone off as they do google searches on him.

    Although, the thought has crossed my mind to transcribe this guy's CD if we do have the gig and play the thing in its entirety.

  13. I'm going to withhold names here to protect the innocent and guilty, but here's the sitch...

    So, we're booked to play a festival in the Chicago suburbs. The guy who books this thing on behalf of the board loves us and tracks me down at work to ask us if we'd be interested.

    Sure, I say!

    He checks with the board for the festival, and at the very least, they like us enough to book us in the spot just prior to the festival headliner on Saturday night. Yay us!

    I start promoting it amongst the friends and family, e-mails are flying into my inbox, especially because this is going to be our last gig for a month while my guitarist and his wife recover from having a baby.

    Well, this morning, I get a call from the booking guy saying that we've been put on standby status, because Mr. Headliner thought that we "are less than we are representing ourselves to be," and convinced the board that we shouldn't play.

    Now, there are two ways to think about this:

    1) let's say that we suck: we're in the spot right before the headliner. No one is going to leave if they're here to hear Mr. Headliner in the first place, and if anything, it ensures that everyone realizes that he is SOOOOO much better than us.

    2) let's say that our MySpace page doesn't represent what we do live: fair enough, and TRUE enough. But, what, a jazz band doing quirky versions of jazz, blues and rock tunes isn't a good thing for an outdoor festival devoted to, ummm, very Whole Foodsian ideals?

    (for those of you who haven't seen us live, we are much more jam band that just happens to like playing jazz tunes as opposed to the jazz band that just happens to like playing jammy tunes, as the CD would have you believe. I am certain that Mr. Booking guy probably mentioned this fact when pitching us to the board.)

    Not to mention, who is this guy to be dictating who else plays at a festival? You take care of your set, and we'll take care of ours. But, there's no way to look at this other than this guy just being pissy for the sake of being pissy.

    Man this pisses me off. Even if I don't deserve better than this, the trio most certainly does. Mitch and Bob are damn good people and damn good players, and to get jerked around like this by some midget that looks like one of the Keebler Elves pisses me off beyond comprehension.

    Thanks for letting me vent.

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