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I've been going to local jams, they're at a bar and I assume the bar is paying the band. The band also puts out a tip jar for the night. As a jammer, am I expected to tip? What's the correct etiquette here?
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04-04-2022 04:33 PM
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not typically but the band will like it. the problem w/jam sessions is all these musicians showing up but never buy a drink or patronize the establishment, they just play, hang out and go home. when that process keeps repeating itself, say goodbye to the jam session. the club owners aren't there to listen to people jam, they want people to spend money.
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Yeah, unfortunately for them I stopped drinking. I'll enjoy it while it lasts.
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you can always buy a soft drink or some food if they serve any.
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When I was going to jam sessions I made it a point to buy a beer, at least. I never attended one where the band was paid, it was just people getting together, and someone had convinced the bar owner to let them, I suppose hoping to draw a few customers. Covid killed that entirely, at least for me.
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Think of it as the price of admission.
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Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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The 3-4 jam sessions that I go to vary. One club charges the equivalent of 20 bucks for a 4 hour monthly weekend afternoon session, including tea or coffee. It’s run by 2 pros, bass and piano, who play with everyone but are not a house band, i.e. they don’t do their own set. Participants call tunes and they accompany us. Sometimes other pros show up.
Another club has a jazz, funk, blues night every Wednesday, $5 cover plus 1 drink, so the club owner gets a minimum of $10 from each participant. He sits in when needed on bass or guitar. They also have an acoustic night every Friday that depending on who shows up can be a jazz jam. Same terms, 5 cover + 1 drink.
A third has Saturday night jam session every other week. No cover or minimum, most people buy at least two drinks. This place also has a dinner menu.
All seem to be doing well, even with corona curtailments. I think it may have something to do with community loyalty that plays a role. There was a blues club with a Tuesday night jam, but they didn’t survive corona.
Personally I’m happy to drive 30-40 minutes each for these sessions and to support the clubs that hold them, because on any given week there’s at least 2 sessions. It’s a blessing.
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Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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Ragman, I am asking somebody. I'm asking you. I don't want to ask the band leader and seem like a cheap weirdo, and the other jammers all seem to be friends with each other and the house band.
All the threads can't be about where to start, Gibson bashing and celebrity gossip.
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Originally Posted by JazzPadd
So I never count other people’s money. I decide what things are worth to me, and I try to be both fair and consistent in my decisions. I tip a few dollars even if all I have is a glass of water, even when I’m in the house band (which I am twice a week). FWIW, we don’t get the tip jar contents - we leave it all for the waitstaff and bartender. You might ask the bartender or waitstaff who gets the tips. It’s sometimes surprising, as is the sudden closure of so many venues that everybody thought were doing well.
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I don't know where all the used gear is these days. Maybe on Craigslist?
Oh sorry, wrong thread.
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Originally Posted by AllanAllen
But if it is a recurring jam than of course I can't expect these folks to show-up. Thus I'll stop going (or go way less often) letting others new-folks join the jam.
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Originally Posted by AllanAllen
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Yes, tip the band. Especially if you’re sitting in.
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If you value the chance to play jazz guitar in public with a rhythm section $15-$20 in the jar oughta cover it.
Drinking gets me playing worse so I either get tea and a sandwich or
buy a round for the band.
House wins, band wins, Sam plays!
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Originally Posted by Sam Sherry
John, I think the use of a tip jar by a paid band varies with the pay scale and from location to location. In the greater Philadelphia area, most house bands at organized jams are paid and I rarely see a tip jar for them. We had an active blues jam scene and a few regular jazz jams, with weekly runs at the Twisted Tail, Ashburner, Rusty Nail, Crooked Eye Brewery, Manayunk Brewing Company, and many others with paid bands - and I never saw a tip jar at any of them. They're slowly coming back, and nothing seems to have changed. But before the music died, there were several low paying but popular dives at which even "featured" bands got paid peanuts, free beer, and tips. A typical local hole was good old South Street Blues, a true dump that paid the band $100 no matter how many were in it, and you could have all the draft beer you wanted. I remember several bands that put tip jars on stage there, although none of the ones with which I ever played there did that. Most of those places are permanently gone now.
But I've seen tip jars for many paid house bands at jams in the south and west. IME, it's more common at blues jams, acoustic open mic nights, etc than it is at jazz jams. And I know that a few of those tip jars were split among the band and the staff. The only problem with that is when tips are given directly to an individual or to the band directly, since all tips are supposed to be pooled. Once you see it happen, you have no desire to agee to that kind of arrangement again.
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