09.18
Starbucks, Main Drag, Lake Geneva.
The view-from-a-room was much better this morning…
Following the yesterday-drive of Terror, Fear & Arising Terror, a somewhat numb, necessarily gentle, beginning to the day in this ideal Starbucks. On the street & half-a-block to the main drag with Starbucks on the right of the pic…
The coffee-provider apologised for my wait: there were two people in the queue ahead of me. I asked him (apropos of our gig on November 1st. & the Starbucks at Lincoln Center): have you ever waited for a Starbucks in NYC? He had not.
View from the coffee, reading & computing table…
10.22 Hotel Acceptable, Lake Geneva.
News in the inbox, from DGM HQ: Mr. Davies, the architect who supported us generously & honourably at Reddish House, has died in Dorchester at the age of 86. Mr. Davies was an exceptional draughtsman & served his apprenticeship with a man from Lutyens’ Delhi office. When Mr. Davies retired for the third time, and moved to Canada (for a while), further building work at Reddish became unlikely, if not impossible.
2.58 A gentle morning. Most of the Team are going into Chicago for their day off. I am opting to remain in Lake Geneva, to dribble in a most acceptable small American town.
On the DGM Guestbook:
Q: How do make a million dollars in jazz?:: Posted by bobpasc on November 07, 2007
A: Start with 2 million
This is why THE TIME FOR JAZZ TO STRIKE is now.
This joke is always a hoot, and well told by Ronnie Scott (probably, on many occasions!). And, on the DGM Guestbook, this is a good comment from an experienced industry insider.
The beginning-artist has one main recourse to deal with disadvantageous industry practices: withholding their labour.
The successful artist has two main recourses to disadvantageous industry practices: withholding their labour & access to publicity.
In both cases, they’re fucked.
Giles, Giles & Fripp went on strike at La Dolce Notte Italian restaurant, on Jermyn Street (right in the heart of London’s West End), in 1967. (If memory serves) we were each being paid £34 a week, and discovered in short order that the restaurant was paying the agent £44 per week per player.
This was an agency practice, also prevalent in the Bournemouth area. (In 1966 figures) the agent offered a band (say) £15 for one show, less 10% commission. The band didn’t know the fee was £25.00, so the agent received £1.50 + £10 = £11.50 against the band (of 4) getting £13.50. Bright wheeze, or what? I note, this was also a practice employed by some band-leaders at the time – offering their players £30 a week for a residency, taking £40 from the hotel & pocketing the £10 difference. How do I know? Because this was the situation when I was offered 6 months work in Lebanon, Beirut (1967) – and that’s another story. (And yet another story is that in 1967 I was offered the First Class Lounge gig on the QEII).
When GG&F discovered this Italian-arrangement, I recall on the Thursday, we went on strike on the Friday, returning to work on the Saturday; when our employment was terminated. The agent was a noted Italian accordion player, who died in 2005 during his 91st. year. A well-respected player, he moved in his mature years to the role of impresario. Clearly, his impresarial skills were developed in agency.
We heard that the restaurant terminated its relationship with the agent as a result of our action. Several months later, on the GG&F hotline at 90a, Brondesbury Road (a line characterised by its lack of heat) I got a call from Mr. Agent – he was stuck for a band that night & would GG&F do the gig?
19.25 An afternoon practising.
The GC Office in Room 110 is accounting & burning LCG CDs to make available to innocent audients at our remaining two performances, that they might part with their hard-earned pay for these customised items. The office’s accounting has not yet determined whether this tour will break even, or if a bill will be sent to me.
Yes! The musical life: we pay for the privilege of musicking, in many & varied ways. Our payment in return: the privilege of musicking.
This is what it is. My advice to aspirant professional players remains the same: become a plumber (cf Lennie Tristano’s advice to students, cited on the DGM Guestbook recently). A plumber will not only always find work, but will discover an increasing stream of work-offers; and probably more than were they a graduate in media studies.
22.23 An evening practising.
"Welcome the unexpected, but not the arbitrary."
