Casino or bar related gigs

[Michael Kaye]

What do you play to open and close sets? I'm fascinated by those choices.

.....This was our set list. I think we sandwiched in a couple more for time reasons but this was the basic list:......Set 1...Soul Burst .....The Jody Grind ..... Gregory is Here ....Timeline ....Throw it Away...Troy.....Set 2.....Agua de Beber....Sister Sadie....26th and Paragon....Just Like Breathing....Recorda me....The Chicken....Set 3.....Comin' Home Baby....Invitation.....My Foolish Heart....Solar.....Look of Love....I'll Take Les.......BRS Blues........BRS Blues and Troy are originals. A few of the tunes we have original arrangements like "Look of Love" has an entire fast samba solos section inserted in to it........Edit: wow. It didnt like my bullet list hmmmmmm. Not sure how to fix that... ok, I dont know if its my mobile or what but its not letting me fix this. What a mess. I cant even create paragraphs.

[MarkRhodes]

Is that better? Not a bullet list but at least the song titles don't all run together.

Sounds like a good list. Where I am---South Florida---Cal Tjader stuff tends to be well received. Many don't even think of it as jazz so much as "island music."

[targuit]

Mark - Those statistics are interesting, as I thought rap was the largest seller, but then again, I don't follow the Billboard charts. I can enjoy country music. I once learned the music and lyrics to some fifty songs by George Strait (!). I could easily be in an Eagle cover band, as I know their repertoire very well. I enjoy certain elements of country, especially the vocal harmonies and guitar, though I get bored with it after a while. My vocal range is baritone through second tenor, and I've sung on stage from the time I was a young teen.

When I write original tunes, some are country oriented, which is a commercial choice more than an 'artistic' one. Still, I think of country as partly taking the place of the singer songwriter genre that was prominent in rock and country rock back in the Sixties through the early Nineties or so. I could cover country without working up a sweat, but I just prefer singing and playing jazz standards. But if you are playing to an empty room....

I agree that Michael Buble is a "pop" singer, but few pop singers sing as many jazz standards as he does in concert. Of course, some would call Tony Bennett a pop singer, though he is more oriented to jazz in my opinion. Who is a jazz singer? Names from the past like Johnny Hartmann come to mind, but the current crop don't knock me out that much on the male vocalist side.

So, Reg, where do you find the jazz gigs in terms of settings? Jazz clubs? In the RI-MA region where I am, we used to have a vibrant club scene back in the Seventies and Eighties, but things have definitely dimmed over the past twenty years. Ideally, I would like to work with a female vocalist in a duo or trio situation. The scarce jazz jam situations have dried up around here for some time, so even networking is not easy. Actually, I don't think there is a lot of future here for performers right now.

[Reg]

Hey Targuit;

For duos, guit and vocal. Tons of private events, that pay well. Get an agent, work with an agency, or set up a good website and book yourselves...Most dinner/ bars that have crowds usually will have duos, pay not as well but can be steady gigs. If you are established... people come to see and hear you or your vocalist... you can get better $. I Back up a couple of vocalist sometimes, and usually double the crowd, owners see that, if the register fills up, you'll get more $.

You really need to be able to play just about anything...

The whole thing is fairly straight ahead, but .... Duos are not what I would call Jazz, play some jazz standards. But very POP in direction. Doesn't mean you can't raise the level of your performance and entertain, but your not stretching the harmonic limits etc... I lock in some deep pockets and take chances when pickin up the tempos or very expressive beautiful BS and usually can draw audiences in.

Musical Duos are very fun.... no limits etc...

The reason there might not be a future for musicians.... really it's the musicians. Most of my buds on the road etc... are doing well.

Why would people want to go out to hear and see you perform...

One of my good friends, Tommy P., tenor sax for Tower since 2001, is classically trained, great jazz player but makes his $ touring around the world playing... what is hip etc... He can entertain very well...doesn't really matter what style of music he plays.

[mr. beaumont]

I have had good luck by befriending an event planner...granted, the gigs I get through her are basically just private parties, but the pay is good and I can basically play what I want, as long as its not too loud...but I can be pretty adventurous harmonically.

[targuit]

So, you guys playing country tunes at gigs - throw out a few song titles you like. I'm curious - Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Little Big Town....?

[ronjazz]

What is jazz, these days? None of the younger "stars" are playing bebop standards, as far as I can tell, except once a set or so. Look at the guitar world, I can't think of anybody under 50 doing well with straight-ahead, bop-based jazz. Here's a possible marketing tactic: senior facilities will listen to jazz standards, if you call it "swing" or "Great American Songbook", and you MUST do some singing. Casinos will also book swing if it's danceable, energetic and not too boppish.

Even Herbie Hancock is doing recordings of contemporary pop tunes. Take a page from Frisell: find a compelling voice, use the guitar as a guitar, not a horn, don't eschew the technology, and don't ignore the past 60 years of music. Or, consider your improvisations the jazz aspect of your creativity, but find some relevant tunes. My last CD has 2 "old" standards on it: Nuages and Besame Mucho; everything else was original or more contemporary, although the Jobim, Beatles and Mancini stuff on it is now fully 50 years old. It was well-reviewed by the jazz press, though, and many of the writers are younger folks who are aware of the tradition, but grew up with different music around them. Jazz needs to stay current, or it becomes moldy and dusty, like classical music, which is also suffering.