The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Hey guys, I was wondering, who know how a top tier musician (Guys like Metheny, Jarrett, DeJohnette) charge to play as sidemen? and go down a step, pro level guys (such as Bernstein, Kreisberg, Bill Stewart, Mehldau, Aaron Parks, ect.) would charge to play? What would you pay a guy who doesn't have much of a name (fresh out of college guy, along those lines)?

    A friend told me that drummer Marc Ferber charges like 100 per gig, plus transportation. What do you guys know?

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  3. #2

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    what gig?
    festival or club?

  4. #3

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    I guess a club gig? Or both...

  5. #4

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    it depends on who it is. I know what a lot of cats ask for, high profile guys because... well I asked them.

    but I'm not willing to post that sort of information on a public forum.

    I'll say this tho, you may be surprised how little it could cost you to get say... Brad Mehldau on your record.

    or what some high high profile cats make per gig when on tour. Or a high profile festival.

    I routinely "hire" people to come to where I teach to give clinics and concerts. If you cover their expenses, you can get high name players for what seems pretty reasonable... and a great time.

    All I'll say is that some guys just want to get out there and cover expenses, make it home with a little something and other guys have a "fuck you" price which is essentially... I don't want your gig but i'll do it for "X"

  6. #5

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    2nd what Jake has to say...and it all depends on perks and expenses covered

  7. #6

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    I know a jazz musician who plays at local restaurants for as little as $75 a gig and has made as much as $1,000 per show when on an international tour as part of the backup band for Linda Rondstadt. At last that is what I remember he told me.

  8. #7

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    Once Gary Peacock was asked to do a recording session and was offered 5K.
    He laughed and said he wouldn't even take the bass out of his case for that price. A lot of these top guys are very selective about the projects they do. Even if you paid Metheny what he would require he might not want to do it for artistic reasons or he is simply too busy.
    The best way would be to get in touch with the ones you are thinking about and ask them what they charge for the specific gig you are thinking about. Be sure to include all the details, times, location etc and also if there is a rehearsal involved. If you are planning on doing a rehearsal you should expect to compensate for this as well.

  9. #8

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    Hmm, interesting. I would think lots of guys wouldn't mind doing "any" gig. My old guitar teacher used to tease around about being afraid we would take his gigs away and stuff haha, and that he would usually take most gigs that he gets offered.

    I'm not really asking this because I wanna actually hire pros. I'm not at that level and I would just look bad if I did. I'm getting close to performing my senior recital for college and I was thinking about hiring a band since my school doesn't have many great jazz players, so as I was thinking what I should pay these guys, the general question came to my head.

  10. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by jtizzle
    Hmm, interesting. I would think lots of guys wouldn't mind doing "any" gig. My old guitar teacher used to tease around about being afraid we would take his gigs away and stuff haha, and that he would usually take most gigs that he gets offered.

    I'm not really asking this because I wanna actually hire pros. I'm not at that level and I would just look bad if I did. I'm getting close to performing my senior recital for college and I was thinking about hiring a band since my school doesn't have many great jazz players, so as I was thinking what I should pay these guys, the general question came to my head.
    Try doing some local networking. . . rather than jazz guitar forum networking. I think if you talked to a few guys, you just might find some people will to do it as a courtesy to the profession and a further inspiration to your success. Offer to pay their expenses, even if they don't ask you to. If several rehearsals are necessary to prepare your recital . . . then, that might require some compensation. Find some local (gulp) "professionals" and talk to them about it. (OK . . . so, what exactly is a "professional musician"?) PLEASE . . . don't start that up again!!!

  11. #10

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    You can usually find experienced, competent AFM jazz musicians that will work for union performance scale, based on length of gig, and size of venue.

  12. #11

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    Well I mean, I have the people haha. I have a bassist and drummer, and my drummer is hooking me up with a pianist. They both go to New School so they must be good, I know for a fact that the drummer is actually good. The question about the pros was a curiosity thing that surged.

  13. #12

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    WTF??? Between posts #1, #9 and the last post #12... . this story has changed 3 times??

  14. #13

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    What story? I asked a simple question about how much musicians generally hire. There's no real story to my question. Im just asking something.

  15. #14

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    It's commonly place for respected artists to have a 'fuck you' price. It's a price that says... i don't want to play on your gig, but for "X" I will do it.

    The Peacock reference was probably his Fuck You price, the guy has done so much that he probably just wants to slow down and do his own thing. Plus, if you knew how much Keith's trio wanted for a performance, you'd probably say bollucks to 5 grand for a recording session too.

    a friend of mine recently recorded a record and hired Antonio Sanchez to play kit, I wonder what that cost her, probably a reasonable price but a few grand at least.

    I offer people 2k+ expenses give or take to come up here to teach and perform over 2 days and they almost always jump at it. Last October we had John Abercrombie come up and he was (obviously) more expensive then that, but it was very reasonable and well worth every penny.

    I have a friend who is trying to get in touch with Herbie Hancock to get him to play on a record for even just a few tracks and the only issue is getting past his people and probably not the money (he's sort of rich).

    I have a Fuck You price for lessons which is a price I quote people if they want 1 lesson only and I don't really want to teach them, I give them the price and they will say 'no' and I get the afternoon off or 'yes' and I make a fast 100 bucks.

    both work for me... and i'm nobody haha

  16. #15

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    Haha Jake that fuck you price for lessons is great. Mick Goodrick and other somewhat equivalent name players in Boston charge $100.

    Just out of curiousity, in what circumstance do you "really not want to teach them?"

    I usually have to have a few lessons with somebody before I realize I really don't want to teach them

  17. #16

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    "Fuck you" price for lessons? hahaha

    All the pros here in NYC charge the same for lessons. I know Bernstein charges 120, took a lesson with him. Did I get "Fuck you'd"? hahaha

  18. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by jtizzle
    "Fuck you" price for lessons? hahaha

    All the pros here in NYC charge the same for lessons. I know Bernstein charges 120, took a lesson with him. Did I get "Fuck you'd"? hahaha
    Well, that might, or might not have been Peter's intention. But, did you get fucked? That's another question altogether. Only you can answer whether or not an hour of his time was worth that much money. Anyway . . . if you drove to his studio in Manhattan, you probably paid more than that to park your car in a garage.

  19. #18

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    Haha, didn't drive. And it was way worth it. He was also really nice, so probably not. I would definitely take another lesson with him. And hopefully I will. Trying to get into NYU just because he teaches there haha.

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by JakeAcci
    Haha Jake that fuck you price for lessons is great. Mick Goodrick and other somewhat equivalent name players in Boston charge $100.

    Just out of curiousity, in what circumstance do you "really not want to teach them?"

    I usually have to have a few lessons with somebody before I realize I really don't want to teach them
    I'll give you an honest answer to your question Jake because you're a good cat and I don't want to bullshit.

    I teach a lot. I team full time, all day and when the day ends I pretty much just want to do my own thing. I'm cool if someone wants an extra lesson or someone who wants to get ready to come to study with me or anyone here I'm more then happy to.

    I get a lot of people who are not serious about Music want a guitar lesson or beginners wanting to maybe get a head start on scales etc. I am not saying I'm above doing that, but I just would rather read a book or spend that hour practicing. This is a chance for me to either give that person to one of my students who is more then capable or for me to make 100 bucks. I suppose as I type that I feel somewhat guilty, everyone deserves a fair chance I guess.

    But when you put as many hours in a week teaching private lessons and lecture classes, then you don't want to spend your saturday or sunday teaching more. That's gig time baby!

  21. #20

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    Nah Jake I think that is completely fair, you shouldn't feel guilty at all.

    I've spent the past year working on applications and auditions for a couple of programs and I cut my student load quite a bit to make time for practicing. I cut the people who weren't practicing. I gave them warnings and told them it wasn't a good use of my time if they weren't putting in the effort (though in some cases I sympathize that they were adults who really just were juggling too many responsibilities to be taking an instrument seriously.) Given I was applying for merit based scholarships it just made much more sense to spend that hour in the shed rather than get paid to teach a lesson that was mostly just for the student's enjoyment or parent's peace of mind.

    Someone in your position (experience, title, etc) could probably teach as many private lessons a week as you wanted to, I understand completely that at a certain point you have to draw the line and make time for yourself. That's what this past year has been about for me, entirely. Previously I just tried to teach as many lessons as possible but I'm starting to think there are things that are more important than that. If I had kids to feed I'd sure think differently.

  22. #21

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    I would like to record CD with rythm section from US...
    how much it can be?

  23. #22

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    How many hours do you need them for? Do you want them to come to Poland?

  24. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
    How many hours do you need them for? Do you want them to come to Poland?
    Two recording sessions 2 X 6 h
    I am not sure in Poland.

  25. #24

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    I'm not a serious musician. I am a serious engineering manager. I get tired of working with new customers particularly if they are government and think aggression is the answer to their inexperience. For side consulting, I have a f* you rate and a normal rate. I also have special rates for colleagues and pro bono. I don't feel guilty. I feel fortunate to be at a point where I can take more time for guitar. I think this is a normal career progression and not unique to professional musicians and educators.