The Jazz Artist's Survival Guide

As you know we are exploring all of the possibilities of jazz performances and how a jazz artist can create opportunities to get these gigs. As we continue to see, “it ain’t easy”.  As far as I can analyse in my experience we have 5 performance venues (each as a range of levels):

• Clubs – dining, just jazz, small localized, national recognized artist
• Festivals – regional, regional cities large city oriented, national
• Performing Arts Centers – arts councils, cities, universities, private

As we have discussed and continue to discuss each of these have their processes and challenges for artists of all levels to book.  But this post is to discuss a NEW type of gig that has been gaining popularity through out the world and opens the door to tremendous poossibilities for the jazz artist. The House Concert. 

What is a House Concert?
It’s an invitation-only concert in someone’s home, presented by a host who does not
profit from the event.

Most house concerts are:

• held indoors and on weekends
• attended by 20-50 people
• paid for by a $10-20 donation per guest (to the performer)
• known to include light snacks, beverages or a pot-luck dinner
• attended by the host’s friends, neighbors, co-workers, and maybe a few fans of the
artist
• attended by a 25-60 age group
• performed by solo acts, duos and small groups
• performed with a very small sound system or no amplification
• very intimate — the audiences sit close and are attentive
• performed in two, 40-minute sets with a 20-minute break
•stronger for artist’s merchandise sales than traditional venues
• known to house and feed the artist for the night

House concerts hold a place of esteem in jazz history and are making a comeback today. In 1920s Harlem they were “rent parties,” where the likes of Fats Waller played in the apartments of people hosting music and dance parties literally to raise money for the rent.  In the 1970s, musicians pushing the frontiers of jazz weren’t making it on the shrinking club scene. Musicians like Anthony Braxton and Oliver Lake found private loft concerts a more viable way to present their music.

House concerts have become popular across the country once again, so much so that Down Beat magazine, Minnesota Public Radio, and The New York Times have reported on the trend in cities from New York and Washington to Atlanta, Minneapolis, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Check out our new resource guide for a comprehensive guide to how to run a house concert and where they exist.

So I am getting back into the “flea markets of gigs”,  the US national booking conferences sponsored by presenter organizations. We are going to the National in NYC Jan 10-14th called APAP  The Association of Performing Arts Presenters.  Whew, what a “black hole $$s).  More on that later.  There are 3 major regional conferences in the early fall and then the national in Jan in NYC. What happens there if you can  skinny up da money?

The conference is held at the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan, what was that song “money money money”  Approximately 400 plus presenters from around the US attend that include majors like The Lincoln Center to smaller arts organizations from all over. Also, European and Asian arts organizations attend to either sell their artists or look for performers. The conference is for all areas of performing arts not just jazz.  Jazz is a solid component though of what is sold. In fact Lee Mergner, the publisher of Jazz Times, helps produce a pre conference program called Jazz Connect that is geared towards helping the jazz industry look at the future of jazz and artists to understand the DIY (Do It Yourself) concept.

The senariao basically is that the APAP organizes networking oportunities for presenters with workshops, speakers, etc . A large exhibit hall is setup and we sellers, managers, booking agents, artists, etc. buy booths and present our stuff at dedicated hours. Within that the latter can create showcases either in the hotel or through out NYC (1,600) last year. The showcases are an added expense.   We also get a great database of presenters that we can continue to develop relationships with past the conference. This is a very short summary of what goes on so go to the site to find out more.

Why do we want to spend $2,500 to join APAP, register for the conference, and buy a booth, decorate the booth, put together promotional materials and more?  Simply this, presenters are one of the few places that artists can get paid a decent fee and be treated as an artist. What do we have…. presenters and festivals.  Clubs do not pay unless you have a established name/following and if you do then you are probably already being represented at these conferences by a established company. And if you can get two hits (usually $1000 to $10,000) you can get your money back, network with a whole lot of people that want to know (maybe some you do not) and continue to build your career.

Since Blujazz Label and Promotions have added the booking arm we are getting into this game.  We will rep our whole roster with two emphases since we are a cooporative company. Those who helped us set up financially will be accented and those who are financially setting up showcases will get the obvious extra attention.  This year at APAP we have Chicago guitarist Paul Kogut, LA Guitarist Doug MacDonald, Chicago vocalist Sam Fazio, Chicago Saxophonist Kevin Kizer, Boston percussionist Zeke Martin, NYC bassist Francois Moutin, and Chicago violinist Diane Delin plus the rest of our roster.

There is so much more and I would be lying if I told you I was not excited about the possibilities!

I recently attended a lunch time trio gig lead by a great pianist.  This gig was at a major university and was held in the cafeteria.  The group played while the audience ate.  The audience were mostly students and the listening section was sparsely filled.  Does this type of gig sound familiar to you.  The bottom dollar for them was that they got paid and they got to play “their jazz”.  It got me thinking, as we have the Blujazz Mgt/Booking company and I talk to a lot of artists about what type’s of gigs they play, want to play, and what their strategic plan is………..strategic plan….what’s that……

Anyway, many jazz artists take a lot of gigs to pay the rent so this is not a criticisim of the gigs.   One would not believe the wide span of gigs that I have played to survive.  But it is a area I believe that deserves discussion.

In most cities there are a garden variety of non concert gigs available for the jazz artist.  There is probably one main theme through all of them and that is the music is background and people are expected to be able to talk over the music.  Many jazz artists literally make a living playing these gigs (lots of bossas).  A general description is:

• Dinner Clubs – This can be everything from expensive restaurants to small cafes. The group is generally a value added product for the club and most of these places do intend for the music to be background to the food though a few artists have followings and can bring in a few people to listen and who are expected to buy drinks or EAT.
• Commercial Gigs – These include corporate parties, special events, private parties, etc.  Most artists get these gigs from agents.
• Misc. – There are some borderline concert gigs like the lunch time gigs I described above that are series that also book other music besides jazz and are put on by city cultural organizations, local street fairs, art fairs, etc.

I am sure there are many more but the point I want to get at is what artists go through to get these gigs and how frustrating it is.  Obviously there are more of us than them so a lot of competition.  We go into our offices and get out our databases of who books these gigs and we start making the phone calls.  We get a lot of message machines, we get a lot of “oh I’m busy can you call tomorrow” (they are not there tomorrow usually),  we get a lot of “ah, I just booked up the month, wish you had called earlier this week”, and a small percentage actually book you.  Now that gig is, say, in the middle of the next month.  You now start your promotion campaign and hit your email lists and hope that the people that did not hit your gig at another dinner club last week will come to this gig.   The gig comes and all goes very well, you have some friends and fans show up, the staff swears that you are one of the best and they are going to tell the booker, it was fun and you made enough money for some groceries that week.  What now, you go back to the phone the next week and start the process all over again as most of these places do not rotate and if they do you need to be one of the lucky ones that gets on the rotation otherwise your chances of a gig are at a very low percentage.

Many artists have been doing this for years and are real pros at the process.  I bow down to them for the fortitude that it takes and the patience they have.  But for many artists it is a wearing experience with out a lot of future in it.  It can help your overall branding but the artist has to becareful that it does not brand them.  I get so many calls asking what do I do to take things to another step.

Next post in this category – OPTIONS!

Over the years I have been a “jack of all trades, master of none”  when it comes to booking.  I have booked my own bands since I was 17, worked as a sideman off and on for 30 some years, booked several nightclubs weekly, owned a nightclub, produced concerts, booked a  theatre, and helped produce some festivals.  In each area there are remarkable talented and experienced personalities each with there own filters, philosophies, networks, friends, etc.  The most common thread through all of this diversity is the phrase “can you put butts in the seats”.  I have seen every plan, method, and even scam that I thought could ever be possible to accomplish this feat.  This is why most of the clubs, concert venues, and festivals that have experienced staff are very “jaded” when a manager or artist calls and begins there sales pitch on why the venue should book their artist or them.  And most of these people are truly good people who love jazz and would love to help a artist develop their career.

What we do not understand and is very important in the conversation is to understand what the venue’s owner, booker, and staff have to deal with to survive themselves.  Actually there is more material and support systems written and created about that side of the business than the artists side.  We have to learn the perspective on the other side of the fence.  A venue has city and state licenses that are monitored constantly and cost money, it has overhead like, supplies, electricity, heat, water, air conditioning, furnaces, sound equipment, furniture, cleaning, staff, point of sale systems, advertising, website costs, internet costs, booking costs such as paying hotels or developing relationships with hotels, waste management, artists performance costs, etc. etc. etc.  So when a artist calls and says, and trust me I have experienced this many times, “hi, I’m putting together a midwest tour and I want to play your club, call me and go to my website”, you can imagine what the venue operator is thinking.  “WHO ARE YOU!”

There are many scenario’s and caveat’s in the above and it may seem like I am biased against the artist but not true.  I am a artist my self.  What we have to do is to learn to navigate through this maze in a logical, methodical, and non-personal way.  I promise to give the other side of this story very soon and show you that you can play almost anywhere in the world and what it takes to accomplish this task.