Comments on Vanessa Rodrigues: Respect, just a little bit.

@ Krzys again: You also brought up the idea of us...

2009-09-10T22:08:10.753-07:00

@ Krzys again:

You also brought up the idea of using the internet to foster creativity. There's of course a huge push on the part of big corporate entertainment lobbyists in the opposite direction, and our government is more than happy to bend over for them:

http://rodriguesvanessa.blogspot.com/2007/12/copywrong.html

@ Krzys Thank you for this post ... yeah I'm not ...

2009-08-26T10:15:11.016-07:00

@ Krzys

Thank you for this post ... yeah I'm not surprised that this trend reaches into other creative fields ... however I am surprised that your colleagues in Europe don't enjoy jazz. Though now that I think about it, even though my audiences in Europe were very appreciative and respectful listeners, most of them were indeed over 35; but not all ... we actually had JAZZ GROUPIES in the little town of Hjørring, Denmark, who were probably about 19 yrs old! There is hope ...

Keep on bringing your friends out to shows ... "jazz" is such a broad term, it's hard to settle for the "I just don't like jazz" argument. There are many styles AND individual performers of jazz that I don't like either. I really feel there's something in the wide world of "jazz" for almost everyone; for every time the jazz concert is no more than an introspective circle-jerk for the participants on stage (which I feel is what turns most people off jazz these days), there's most certainly another show where the interplay among the performers and between them and the audience is so exciting and engaging, it is a soul-rewarding experience like no other.

WRT Keith Jarrett, my reasons for not wanting to be him are purely personal. There is no question of his musical greatness, and that of the company he keeps in his professional/creative settings ... but as a person he is a self-righteous, bitter, miserable, sniveling, tortured soul, and I think it's a lot more fun to be me, thankyouverymuch!

Damn, looks like your typing is pretty good too. W...

2009-08-26T00:43:47.825-07:00

Damn, looks like your typing is pretty good too. Which reminds me: freelance writers also get paid crap. I was considering switching from engineering to journalism a few years ago until an editor friend pointed out that the standard rate for freelance writing in Canada is $1/word, same as it's been for a few decades.

So yeah, it looks like we (or, at least you! I now live in Europe) live in a society which does not reward creativity. Can we use the Internet to fix that somehow? I don't know. I use the Internet to "steal" lots of great music and even though I probably wouldn't buy the corresponding CDs otherwise (I save my money for live shows!), if I could make a small voluntary payment with each download I probably would.

(So you wouldn't want to be Keith Jarrett? What about getting to play with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette? Is KJ not respected by working jazzers? I guess I'm also tired of hearing the Koeln Concert in every pretentious college student's apartment, but his standards trio was on pretty regular rotation in my pretentious college student apartment. Does this forever mark me as an engineer? Ah, shit.)

(FWIW I mostly go to jazz shows alone, because very few of my young, upwardly-mobile, urban professional friends like jazz. Whenever I convince someone to see a show with me they end up loving it, but I still end up going alone most of the time. In a way this is nice because it makes it easier for me to perpetuate my elitist snob persona, but I guess it sucks for you guys. Not sure the Internet can help with this problem. Maybe the electronic Kind of Blue remake that Vincent posted about on Facebook?)

Vanessa, you really have read my mind. I was a s...

2009-05-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

Vanessa, you really have read my mind.

I was a semi-professional bass player in my home country (lebanon) and I used to do as an extra job (mainly latin and jazz gigs, weddings etc.)...I used to practice madly my chops and when I started playing as a musician, I found out that the whole frustration, hustle, pay, and all the negatives which dealt with being a freelance jazz/popular music player wasn't worth it...playing music became a chore, when previously I would prepare very hard when I was young for a free gig...
I realized that unless one is a "superstar", no matter how talented and professional he is, he is treated in like a animal circus performer and given treats (beer) and expected to play for hours long (oh, but you are enjoying it!)

I decided to forget about music as a way for success, and I opted for a graduate degree in business!!
I now play bass for pleasure, as a serious hobby whenever I get the chance to.

anyways much love!
N.

ps: btw are you looking for a solid bassist for any of your projects :-)?

@ regan & onefunk, Thanks for adding all of that ...

2009-05-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

@ regan & onefunk,

Thanks for adding all of that insight, it's important to get people talking about this stuff.

** note to all ** the reason I deleted the comment from May 7 at 8:07 is because it was an exact duplicate of a previous comment. I'm not into censoring; feel free to come on here and tell me I'm dead wrong, I enjoy the discourse :)

wow v great rant i agree wholeheartedly i've bee...

2009-05-07T08:06:00.000-07:00

wow v great rant

i agree wholeheartedly

i've been playing in a professional context for over a decade now and have seen all types of gigs

in time i've come to realize that it's all about contracts and demanding our just due

get it on paper and signed for and go full tilt in what we demand

(the firmer the demands, the more business-minded we are considered, and the more room there is for negociation)

eg.

proper pay/venue/crowd ratio (like you said 30$ make it bad for everyone)

sound check times

conditions for sound guy (is there one included, how much it costs for your own)

green room or other accomodations

food, drink, et cetera

transpo

breaks, set time, beginning and end times of event
tech rider with set up

merch table

and on and on

(there's tons i'm missing but you get the point)

we musicians, need to learn to demand what we need on a contract

let the booker/venue/event organizer negociate from there

it's easier to take stuff out than to add stuff in

have a template contract on file and adapt it to whatever situation

people want a party, we bring the party

people want a romantic vibe, we bring it

it is a business in its truest sense

the entertainment business

supply and demand

we have a service to offer and it deserves to be recognized as such

i've also realized that it's less about whether others get what we do or not and much more about how we carry ourselves and what we expect of others
i was brought up in a culture where you didn't spend hours on end discussing with children about what was right and wrong

i was expected to behave in a certain way and i did

it is the same with people in this industry

expect a higher level of respect from them, require it of them, demand it

and i'm really glad you mentionned the whole race card too

it's an interesting way of seeing it and it makes a lot of sense to me

that north-america is bereft of any longstanding history is surely a factor in the imbalance we feel socio-economically as musicians

true north-americans who have a real history here have been battered by the colonial and post-colonial north-americans

and so any remote sense of history has been lost and what we are left with are the chaotic impressions of a nation in the making

the pains of birth

maybe one day we will see a change

we might need a bit more history behind us though

@ Tiny, I personally don't sell soap, and therefo...

2009-04-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

@ Tiny,

I personally don't sell soap, and therefore don't make $1000/month doing it. However, there are local artisans with their own small businesses who do. Any business has to turn at least a small profit in order to survive, so if you've seen a particular local mom & pop product available for more than a few years, you can bet they're making at least $1000/month in profits (and that's after overhead). The owners have to live on something, right?

Then again, this IS Montreal after all :)

I just ran across this blog from Do The Math, grea...

2009-04-29T03:25:00.000-07:00

I just ran across this blog from Do The Math, great stuff. Nice to see a fellow Montrealer!

You make $1000 a month selling soap? How the hell do I get that gig? I make less than doign something terrible.

I will now forever use that prostitute quote... si...

2009-03-17T06:36:00.000-07:00

I will now forever use that prostitute quote... simply brilliant...

As a freelance classical musician I relate SO much. I've done hundreds of weddings. Far too often people ask why our rates are "so high" or a bit of "background music" and we get the "it must be nice doing something you like" while we pull out Pachabel's canon for the 6 millionth time. People just have no concept of our line of work.

AND everyone ALWAYS asks where I'm studying. I say that I graduated university a long time ago and actually have been playing for 27 years and am a PROFESSIONAL even if I look young.

I could go ON and ON but this is, afterall, YOUR blog not mine!

Well written - although it took me a little while ...

2009-01-17T01:11:00.000-08:00

Well written - although it took me a little while to read, I get where you're coming from. I'd love to see it condensed & it could make a great editorial piece in some more traditional media or on other related blogs

:)

I dunno, between the 12-course fancy-schmancy meal...

2009-01-06T23:35:00.000-08:00

I dunno, between the 12-course fancy-schmancy meal and the pickled pigs' feet... pigs's feet are pretty darned tasty...

Also, regarding the agitated napkin-throwing lady, I can arrange to have her family dog peed on. Just let me know and I'll call the right people.