The Magnificent Goldberg Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 The wages differences are interesting, aren't they? Mobley 275 for a week Monk 750 for a week Stitt 900 for 3 nights Getz 575 for 1 night Cannonball 1100 for a week Recent discussion on AAJ about musicians who were great sidemen but so-so leaders tended to overlook what this makes clear - a leader is supposed to generate a good income to feed the sidemen and their families. Hank wasn't a leader. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K1969 Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 BTW, "THIS IS NOT A DRILL PEOPLE" gets my nomination for 'topic description' (a.k.a. topic "subheading") of the year!!! too right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umum_cypher Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 I have a feeling that 46th St address was were Mobley's father lived, with Hank in and out of town. (6 blocks from U Penn - but another world) I heard that those matinees, which were required in Philadelphia (Peps, Showboat also) but not always elsewhere, meant that some musicians resented travelling to the city. Big market tho, obviously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 Reading those contracts is quite a fascinating inside view of the workings of jazzmen's extramusical doings Thanks for posting them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 Actually, the Armstrong contract is a doozie! He had the leverage to get MGM to cough up $485 a week for his own staff, IN ADDITION to the fees for himself and his band! Compared to him, the others were hardly in the same business, were they? MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 Actually, the Armstrong contract is a doozie! He had the leverage to get MGM to cough up $485 a week for his own staff, IN ADDITION to the fees for himself and his band! Compared to him, the others were hardly in the same business, were they? MG I was thinking that at that time, you could make a nice living as his valet - $100 a week buys a lot of 5 cent Snickers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catesta Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 Reading those contracts is quite a fascinating inside view of the workings of jazzmen's extramusical doings Thanks for posting them There are indeed fascinating. I wonder who the seller/owner is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Stream Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 I like how the club owner wrote in on Cannonball's contract that he (the artist) would not play another engagement within 20 miles prior to the date. I guess that was standard at the time for some places (and maybe still is?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Stream Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 The wages differences are interesting, aren't they? Mobley 275 for a week Monk 750 for a week Stitt 900 for 3 nights Getz 575 for 1 night Cannonball 1100 for a week Recent discussion on AAJ about musicians who were great sidemen but so-so leaders tended to overlook what this makes clear - a leader is supposed to generate a good income to feed the sidemen and their families. Hank wasn't a leader. MG Actually, Mobley's was just $175.... THAT is a big price difference between the other artists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 The wages differences are interesting, aren't they? Mobley 275 for a week Monk 750 for a week Stitt 900 for 3 nights Getz 575 for 1 night Cannonball 1100 for a week Recent discussion on AAJ about musicians who were great sidemen but so-so leaders tended to overlook what this makes clear - a leader is supposed to generate a good income to feed the sidemen and their families. Hank wasn't a leader. MG I'm not sure that it's fair to make such an assumption simply from reading these contracts. There could be many reasons that the pay varies so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 The wages differences are interesting, aren't they? Mobley 275 for a week Monk 750 for a week Stitt 900 for 3 nights Getz 575 for 1 night Cannonball 1100 for a week Recent discussion on AAJ about musicians who were great sidemen but so-so leaders tended to overlook what this makes clear - a leader is supposed to generate a good income to feed the sidemen and their families. Hank wasn't a leader. MG Actually, Mobley's was just $175.... THAT is a big price difference between the other artists. Yes - a slip of the mind. Very big difference. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 The wages differences are interesting, aren't they? Mobley 275 for a week Monk 750 for a week Stitt 900 for 3 nights Getz 575 for 1 night Cannonball 1100 for a week Recent discussion on AAJ about musicians who were great sidemen but so-so leaders tended to overlook what this makes clear - a leader is supposed to generate a good income to feed the sidemen and their families. Hank wasn't a leader. MG I'm not sure that it's fair to make such an assumption simply from reading these contracts. There could be many reasons that the pay varies so much. True - but who's got the leverage here? The club owner mostly, because in those days, there were plenty of first class jazzmen competing for gigs. So the owner's trying to get people who can fill his club as cheaply as possible. And the musicians are doing the best they can. These contracts all look rather similar. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez Posted April 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 IF I WAS THE CLUB OWNER I WOULD OF GIVEN HANK ALL MY BANK ACCT. BOOKS AND LET HIM GIVE **ME** BACK THE AMOUNT OF MONEY HE THOUGHT **I'D** DESERVE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 IF I WAS THE CLUB OWNER I WOULD OF GIVEN HANK ALL MY BANK ACCT. BOOKS AND LET HIM GIVE **ME** BACK THE AMOUNT OF MONEY HE THOUGHT **I'D** DESERVE No wonder then why you're a college graduate without credit cards who refers to dollars as 'big ones'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcello Posted April 14, 2007 Report Share Posted April 14, 2007 I like how the club owner wrote in on Cannonball's contract that he (the artist) would not play another engagement within 20 miles prior to the date. I guess that was standard at the time for some places (and maybe still is?) Sure, that's still common. Some NYC contracts call for the contracted group not to play ay another venue in 3 months time. Before and after the contacted date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybleaden Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 IF I WAS THE CLUB OWNER I WOULD OF GIVEN HANK ALL MY BANK ACCT. BOOKS AND LET HIM GIVE **ME** BACK THE AMOUNT OF MONEY HE THOUGHT **I'D** DESERVE No wonder then why you're a college graduate without credit cards who refers to dollars as 'big ones'. MeeeeeeeeeeeOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW Proud of ya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 Hank didn't need the money. He was in the hotel business: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Magnificent Goldberg Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 Hank didn't need the money. He was in the hotel business: I see where you got your name 3 people entry from! Wonderful piece! MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez Posted April 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 -can you describe that youtube clip w/ words for chewy, i cant do youtube on my computer -and DONT U START GOULD-PIE dont u start U dont know nothing about chewy. chewy dont need no credit card to ride this train. i buy charles the bird parker bootlegs every other week and i dont even need 2 do ebay, just a 5 spot ea. muthafucka, a buck less if i trade 'em back a chick corea record so dont u start - has anyone seen any other hank memorialbiliia (sic): i recall a singned ROLL CALL on ebay, ive posted the jpg here before, also there is a signed card, with many jazz musicans on it, hank included; also cecil payne and like 10 others. have i posted that? what others have we all seen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 -can you describe that youtube clip w/ words for chewy, i cant do youtube on my computer It was just a comedy clip about "The Mobley Hotel" from the old (early 90s) Night After Night show. Nothing to do w/Hank. but pretty funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spontooneous Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 I like how the club owner wrote in on Cannonball's contract that he (the artist) would not play another engagement within 20 miles prior to the date. I guess that was standard at the time for some places (and maybe still is?) About three years back, someone tried presenting a jazz festival in Lawrence, Kansas, about 40 miles from Kansas City. They wanted a lot of Kansas City jazz musicians to participate. But they also insisted on some kind of wacky "no gigs within 100 miles for six months" clause in the contract. So nobody signed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 We couldn't play any gigs within 100 miles and 60 days before or after the Philadelphia Museum gig. Since we don't live on the east coast, it wasn't that big of a deal. But for local cats, it's a deal breaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDK Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 (sic): This, in a Chewy post, really cracks me up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 (edited) I find this practice by jazz clubs reprehensible. It's a throwback to the cabaret card days. Many bands (mostly rock) will play the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA one night and Ram's Head in Annapolis the next. These towns are way less than 100 miles apart. Are jazz musicians more constricted by this rule than rock musicians? Let's take a hypothetical example to see how it would affect me, the consumer. Hypothesis: Hypothetical musician X (whom I love and go see whenever I can, sometimes driving several hours) is booked to play in Baltimore, about a 50 minute drive for me. Strathmore Hall, which is five minutes from my house, decides to book him on the same tour, but cannot because Baltimore is less than 100 miles from Bethesda. So I have to drive an hour to see him because of this crap? We're not talking about venues that are minutes away from each other; we're talking about an hour plus wear and tear on the car, gas etc. If a band is on tour, they have to drive at least 100 miles from one gig to the next. This adds to their cost, and, like I said, screws the fans over as well. The only restriction I can see is that you cannot take a gig that has no charge to the customer and that is nearby, since the savvy consumer will almost always pick the free gig (as long as the venue is OK). But how many free gigs are out there? I blame it all on Mingus, who used to do shit like playing a museum gig between sets at a club Bertrand. Edited April 16, 2007 by bertrand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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