Non-famous jazz musicians

[ejaime23]

Hey there!! The more I see albums out there and hear about reputations and popularity among recording artists, I realize that there are a lot of amazing, better musicians on the street scene that don't have record deals, why is that?? Here in Houston, we have Carol Morgan, Dennis Dotson, Paul English, Larry Slezak, the list can go on forever, and granted, a lot of these people have recorded before, a lot of them don't have record deals of their own ,and are way better musicians than some of the "recording artists" of today. Do politics play a lot in this or is it just a matter of being at the right place at the right time? Thanks a lot guys!

[Larry Smithee]

This is something I’ve occasionally thought about too. My take on it is that there may be a variety of reasons why exceptionally good players don’t make the big time recording deals. Here’s a few that I thought of off the top of my head:

1. Like you said, not being in the right place at the right time.
2. And related to #1 could include not meeting the right key people who could help a career move forward.
3. Not having a lot of business savvy or not having much interest in the business side of a music career.
4. Living in the wrong area. In other words, Memphis is a nice town but if you want to break into recording work that might be the wrong place to establish a studio career.
5. Having too many ‘other’ commitments that make it almost impossible to focus an exclusive career playing music for a living.
6. Lack of playing versatility. He/she is a great high note lead player, for example, but others get gigs because they’re more versatile.
7. The luck factor. Having a lucky break is helpful in any career.

Larry

[stukvalve]

I also think that in general there are less and less jazz musicians being recorded and signed, due to cuts in the budgets of various companies (EMI for example).

I agree with everything Larry said, and I also would like to add that sex appeal counts. If Diana Krall was 400 lbs and had three arms, I doubt she would be recording right now. -Max-
_________________
"It's not about working hard, It's about being organized." -Wynton Marsalis

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[EddieLewis]

I think I'm getting a complex......



Let me ask you a very serious question. Have you bought a copy of Carol's CD? Have you bought any of Paul's CDs? Dennis is on at least twenty local CDs that I know of, how many of those have you bought? The same is true for Larry.

I agree with the original poster 100% that these guys are all better than a lot of the players who are getting the deals. But that doesn't mean that they're not recording. I've gone out of my way to support my friends and other local players buy purchasing every CD I can afford. I pride myself on having probably more local CDs than anyone I know. But I'm just one person.

You know, everyone talks about the pros and cons of file sharing and all that. But in my opinion, from where I'm sitting in my career, the people who get hurt the most are the local, not so famous players. If you feel this strongly about it, go do something about it. Buy their CDs.

If you need a heads up about where to get these recordings, let me know becuase I've been at it for a while.

That said, I strongly recommend that EVERYONE, regardless of where you're from, should get John Adams' CD called Fly by Night. This is my favorite recording of Dennis Dotson and the band is primarily Houstonians; Dennis Dotson, Warren Sneed (who I'm working with this sat. at Cezannes), Joe Locascio, John Adams and Ed Soph. Great band and great playing by Dennis Dotson. You can get the CD at Amazon.com

[PH]

Actually, there are a LOT more people who play well who have recorded producted available tocay than even 10 years ago. The technology revolution has made it possible for someone to produce a fine professional sounding CD these days for a very affordable price. The only issue is that people with self-produced CDs and smaller independant labels can't invest the kind of mega-bucks in marketing that Warner Bros. and their peers can.

One of the biggest factors in being "non-famous" is where one chooses to live. This is not to denigrate the many fabulous players living in New York and Los Angeles, but there are wonderful players who live in Cincinnati, Seattle, and (probably) Oshkosh. Most of those non-famous players have chosen a specific lifestyle, knowing they will languish in relative obscurity. However, most jazz musicians don't choose this career to get famous anyway. If they do, they have been sadly mistaken. Even most of the NY & LA heavies we TH denizens consider "famous" are incredibly obscure or anonymous to the general public.

It ain't about the dough or the press clippings. It's about the music.

[Larry Smithee]

PH said -
<Even most of the NY & LA heavies we TH denizens consider "famous" are incredibly obscure or anonymous to the general public.>

So true. Maynard, Doc, Arturo, and even Wynton could walk around the local malls in my neck of the woods all day and it's very likely that nobody would know them.
Larry

[BAS]

PH...I totally agree with your post! Many players, including myself, have opted for a quality of life in smaller populated areas, but where the core of likeminded musicians with excellent abilities reside. With the internet possibilities, the recordings of the music that you make will reach the ears of those that are interested in it!

[Larry Smithee]

[quote]
On 2004-08-11 00:54, EddieLewis wrote:

Let me ask you a very serious question. Have you bought a copy of Carol's CD? Have you bought any of Paul's CDs? Dennis is on at least twenty local CDs that I know of, how many of those have you bought? The same is true for Larry.

[quote]

Not supporting jazz trumpet player’s recorded works is at least one charge that won’t stick in my case. In fact, I should be the poster boy for jazz trumpet cd buying. My wife and I added a new room addition to our house last year at a cost of conservatively $4500. Anybody want to guess why the additional room became necessary? If you guessed to have space for my ever-growing cd collection, you’re right.

By the way, there is a RECORDINGS page on the TH. I am always looking out for new recommendations from fellow trumpet players. It’s a big country and it can be a daunting task to know every great player around. Advice is always useful (hint, hint).

Oh by the way, I’ve loved Dennis Dotson’s work for years. I remember being exposed to him through his work with Woody’s band back in the middle to late 1970’s. Wonderful player, for sure. I ordered the John Adams' ‘Fly by Night’ cd. Thanks for pointing it out. I will check out the other cats too.

Larry


[ This Message was edited by: Larry Smithee on 2004-08-11 13:08 ]

[wiseone2]