Dmitry Posted January 4, 2022 Report Share Posted January 4, 2022 (edited) I'm curious to know how much people like Pops, Billie Holiday, Trane, Miles, Lee Morgan, Bill Evans, and anyone else that we know, were making per appearance. How much were the sidemen paid? Some old contracts must have survived. Edited January 4, 2022 by Dmitry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted January 4, 2022 Report Share Posted January 4, 2022 (edited) Yes, contracts are out there but those who have them are not getting the research importance. Blue Note has contracts which would prove when an artist was signed to them but they are hanging on tightly to this info. It is needed whenever a tape shows up and it has to be determined which label, if any, has jurisdiction. This will be an issue if that Grant Green Left Bank tape ever surfaces. I think he was not with Blue Note, but they may claim otherwise. The Left Bank archives at UMBC does have a few contracts, let me see if I scanned any of that when I visited last August. I know the fee for a Duke Pearson Big Band gig was shown, and maybe a couple of others. To watch someone in action claiming contracts are of no historical importance, please watch the YouTube panel discussion I was on last year. You should be able to find it by searching for 'Baltimore Jazz Alliance Left Bank Jazz Society'. Edited January 4, 2022 by bertrand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted January 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2022 Found this 1929 Okeh invoice for Pops. $100 check for for playing [and singing] with Lillie Delk Christian on the 1928 recordings. Paid a year post-factum...royalty check? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted January 4, 2022 Report Share Posted January 4, 2022 That's about $1600 in today's dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted January 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 8 hours ago, felser said: That's about $1600 in today's dollars. Seriously? I was just reading Gene Lees' liner notes to Gene Bertoncini's Evolution! album, and he writes that Bertoncini was making $400 per week as a staff musician for NBC, playing on the Johnny Carson, and before that the Merv Griffin shows. That was ca.1966. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted January 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 Sarah Vaughn contract for a concert in Blackpool, July 6, 1958 Two appearances on the same night. 350 pounds. I'm assuming this was a sizeable amount in 1958. Did the management fee cover living expenses, meals, band compensation, transportation, etc., or all of that came off the top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 Its about 6931 pounds today and about $9400 US dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 12 hours ago, Dmitry said: Seriously? I was just reading Gene Lees' liner notes to Gene Bertoncini's Evolution! album, and he writes that Bertoncini was making $400 per week as a staff musician for NBC, playing on the Johnny Carson, and before that the Merv Griffin shows. That was ca.1966. About $3400/week today. A lot more than I ever made, though I also never had the cost of living in NYC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Dryden Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 The McCoy Tyner Trio was paid $5500 in cash prior to their 1991 concert here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 1 minute ago, Ken Dryden said: The McCoy Tyner Trio was paid $5500 in cash prior to their 1991 concert here. Who collected? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felser Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 1 hour ago, Ken Dryden said: The McCoy Tyner Trio was paid $5500 in cash prior to their 1991 concert here. About $11,000 in today's dollars. Did concert incur a financial loss? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 Also wondering if that is the total fee for the gig, a post-deposit payment, did it include commissions, or were those paid separately (I doubt they were on salary?)? And how that money was then distributed. Were sidemen paid a per diem of a flat fee from which they paid all expenses, stuff like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Gould Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 2 hours ago, JSngry said: Who collected? Ray Charles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 2 hours ago, JSngry said: Who collected? Richard Carpenter ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Dryden Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 McCoy Tyner collected the cash backstage before the concert. I am sure he got at least one rubber check or disappearing promoter in the past. I have no idea how muchAvery Sharpe and Aaron Scott made, or if any travel expenses were prepaid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 5, 2022 Report Share Posted January 5, 2022 Did McCoy get booked through an agent/agency? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted January 6, 2022 Report Share Posted January 6, 2022 2 hours ago, Ken Dryden said: McCoy Tyner collected the cash backstage before the concert. I am sure he got at least one rubber check or disappearing promoter in the past. I have no idea how muchAvery Sharpe and Aaron Scott made, or if any travel expenses were prepaid. When he played at Bohemian Caverns in DC in the late 90s he got a rubber check. That was under the old owner. The guy who ran it after for about 10 years until they closed, Omrao Brown, was a class act all the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Dryden Posted January 6, 2022 Report Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) 19 hours ago, JSngry said: Did McCoy get booked through an agent/agency? He was. I was part of the committee that booked him and I emceed. Edited January 6, 2022 by Ken Dryden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted January 6, 2022 Report Share Posted January 6, 2022 So, that agency got their fee in advance and McCoy got the balance in cash? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted January 7, 2022 Report Share Posted January 7, 2022 Both Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter were paid 40k to perform at the Chicago Jazz festival; separate shows of course. I think the year was 2008. Somewhere I saw the contracts posted on a site for both of these concerts. Each then probably had to pay their band out of that 40k, or would those musicians be paid from the event organizers under different contact? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted January 7, 2022 Report Share Posted January 7, 2022 1 hour ago, Hardbopjazz said: Both Sonny Rollins and Wayne Shorter were paid 40k to perform at the Chicago Jazz festival; separate shows of course. I think the year was 2008. Somewhere I saw the contracts posted on a site for both of these concerts. Each then probably had to pay their band out of that 40k, or would those musicians be paid from the event organizers under different contact? That seems a bit high to me. Please find the posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted January 7, 2022 Report Share Posted January 7, 2022 9 hours ago, Chuck Nessa said: That seems a bit high to me. Please find the posts. I am sure it was posted here a good 10 years ago. I’ll try to find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertrand Posted January 7, 2022 Report Share Posted January 7, 2022 40K is consistent with the fees I was hearing for Shorter around 2008, if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.