We’re all familiar with the jazz artist’s lament:

“There’s nowhere to play!  There’s no money!  Nobody’s listening!  Nobody cares!”

I counter:

Listeners don’t care about performers; they care about themselves.

Why would the public support an artist with whom they have no history of positive experiences? Why hire Chris Donnelly when you could hire Dave Brubeck?  Why hire a local artist when you could hire an international superstar? Why have jazz music when you could have rock music?

Artists with nowhere to play have a problem:

The public decides who plays and who doesn’t.  They pay the cover charges; they provide the playing venues.  If you want more places to play, don’t play for yourself.  Don’t snub the public!

Yet, if we play exclusively for the public, we’re snubbing our individuality. As I’ve said before, performing is intimately connected to exploring, discovering, understanding and enriching ourselves.

It’s a balancing act.  Though I suspect that if artists find themselves with nowhere to play, they’re off balance.  They’re not feeding the public with enough positive experience.

I reckon it’s time to re-evaluate the priorities; something needs to change.

From ‘Round Midnight:

Listen to it here:

Round Midnight1

I’ve updated my list of grants available to Canadian jazz artists.  It now includes grants available from Factor and the British Columbia Arts Council.  The list can be found under my Grant Writing Guide.

Stay tuned for more updates!  The new list looks like this:

• Audience and Market Development Travel Grants
• Career Development Program: Project Grants to Artists
• Grants to Professional Musicians: Non-Classical Music
• Music Touring Grants
• Travel Grants to Professional Musicians

• Demo Program
• Domestic and International Showcase Support
• Domestic and International Tour Support
• Emerging Artist Program
• Juried Sound Recording Program
• Marketing and Promo for Factor Supported Sound Recordings
• Marketing and Promo for Non-Factor Supported Sound Recordings
• Songwriters Workshop and Seminar Support
• Video Program

• Professional Project Assistance Guidelines
• Professional Development Assistance Guidelines
• Scholarship Awards Guidelines
• Touring Initiatives

• Chalmers Arts Fellowships
• Chalmers Professional Development Grant
• National and International Touring
• Ontario Touring

• Music Creators and Composers Grant

From Ruby, My Dear:

Listen to it here:

Ruby, My Dear3

Put #2 and #3 together and you get this:

Ruby, My Dear4

My mother-in-law is a belly-dancing teacher; I recently attended her studio’s belly-dancing recital.

Something occurred to me while I was watching all the performances: how did people start belly-dancing in Oakville, Ontario, Canada?  How was the seed planted?  Who taught my mother-in-law?  Who taught her teacher?  What’s the connection to Egypt?

You could probably trace it back to one or two people.  At one time, they shared their passion for belly-dancing with Canadians. Social circumstances were fertile in Canada so belly-dancing gained popularity.  Thus, belly-dancing is still gaining popularity and I occasionally find myself at belly-dancing recitals!

What about the jazz seed?  Who planted it?

It depends on where you’re from, but originally, it was probably planted three or four generations ago.  We’re its offspring, which makes you and me jazz cousins!  We share a passion for this music and if you’re like me, you want others to experience it as well.

So let’s bypass the useless, wasteful doom, gloom and all its variants so we can focus on this important question:

How does one plant and water the jazz seed?

The answer lies in education; there’s no other way!

I use education in a very broad sense.  It doesn’t just mean the transfer of information from teacher to student. It also means creating positive associations between a student’s mind and jazz.  I also use the word ‘student’ in a broad sense.  It means any person – regardless of his or her age – who is open to creating and preserving these positive associations.

I think our social circumstances today are particularly fertile for these associations to take root and thrive.  Here are a few points to reflect on:

1. Jazz Education is a Viable Alternative

You’d have a hard time arguing otherwise.  Especially considering how much progress has been made in high schools and post-secondary schools since the 70s.  But I say “viable alternative” because jazz education still isn’t mainstream.  This can change, and I think it should.  In comparison to the default, I think jazz education is equally good (if not better) for a student’s music education and for a student’s childhood education.

If we’re going to plant the jazz seed, we have to be confident in this.

Also, there may be some people who still think that kids under sixteen aren’t ready for jazz.  This is ludicrous on many levels.  For one, such a view cuts off the community’s lifeblood.  Doom ‘n gloom becomes inevitable.

As I wrote in my post Jazz Education, Jazz Unity:

“The fundamentals for a jazz education can start at age three.  Kids can improvise and play tunes at age ten.  Pre-teens can communicate musically in jazz ensembles.  Mid-teens can write tunes and start their own jazz ensembles.  I know this because I lived it.  And kids are still living it at the Humber College Community Music School.”

2. Share the Passion

People dig jazz because they associate it with positive experiences.  Students and former students will be naturally drawn to things with a history of positive experiences.

If you’re a lame jazz teacher, your students are going to have lame experiences.  Jazz = lame.

Passion, love and joy are infectious.  Teachers should share these things unconditionally.  Conversely, if you’re not passionate about music or jazz, you shouldn’t be teaching.

3. You Are a Jazz Hero

Are you a jazz musician? Do you teach jazz?  At a high school?  Music school?  University?  Privately?  That means you’re a jazz role model.  You are a jazz hero.  Kids need heroes and you possess certain qualities and skills that your students admire and want to imitate.  You may not be the hippest cat in town, but that doesn’t matter.  What matters is that they look up to you.

This is very important: Teachers at all levels can be extraordinarily influential in a student’s development. That includes you! This means that you can be more influential than the jazz superstars. You are the teacher and have authority; you’re the best person to plant the seed.

Perform for your students. Bring in your heroes to perform for them. Play them recordings. Give them something to imitate.  Give them something to strive for.

4. The Aural Tradition

Jazz is deeply rooted in an aural tradition.  Being a part of an aural tradition means more than “playing by ear.”  It means that one can play, improvise, communicate, converse and respond musically with other musicians.  This also means that students will never be able to learn to play jazz solely with private lessons.

This is probably the most crucial step to a jazz education: Put your students in ensembles!!

I know what you’re going to say: “But I’m a saxophone teacher and my students only play the saxophone!”

Who cares!?  It doesn’t matter!  Put them all in a sax ensemble!  Teach them a jazz tune, teach them a bass line, teach them some inner voices and get them to improvise on top of it.  Be creative!  What’s important is that they’re all playing and improvising music together.

Yes, ideally you’d have a full ensemble with a rhythm section.  That’s what you’re striving for, but you have to start somewhere right?

Next time you’re teaching a private lesson with a student who isn’t fully engaged, try putting them in an ensemble with his/her friends.  How would that change things?

5. Private Lessons and Independent Study

…are still vital to a jazz education.  Students need discipline.  They need to build their skills.

Jazz is about the aural tradition, but it’s also about the individual.  And jazz is an excellent vehicle in which an individual can explore, discover, understand and enrich himself/herself.

Private instruction is a gateway into this undertaking.  It also works hand in hand with ensemble playing.  The more developed their skills, the more confidence they build.  Which means playing with other musicians is more fun and enjoyable!

6. Talented Students

It’s easy to get frustrated with students who lack skills and interest in music.  Consequently, much of a teacher’s positive energy is spent on talented students.

It’s important to remember that not all students have the skills, perseverance or desire to become musicians.  Instead, they may become directors, promoters, programmers, agents, managers, presenters, donors, sponsors, educators, journalists, critiques, radio hosts, page-turners, presidents, CEOs, public officials, taxi drivers, factory workers, moms, dads or a host of other jazz appreciators and supporters.

Their experience with you will last for their lifetime.

The jazz seed will thrive in different people at varying degrees.  If you have lame students, don’t combat them with more lameness.  They all need positive experiences.  And years down the road, we‘ll need their support. Every little bit counts!

7. Strengthening the Community

Music brings people together.

Being rooted in an aural tradition, jazz works exceptionally well in bringing people together – to play, listen, hang, eat, drink, share and bond together.

There has to be regular gatherings – at a place where the new generation, the old generation, teachers, students, heroes, and supporters can meet and interact around the music.

Jam sessions, student recitals and professional concerts are good examples of gatherings around jazz.  Combining all three into one event could be better.  Hosting it at a social establishment could be even better.

Doing this as often as possible is ideal; this is how the jazz seed really takes root!

How else can you create jazz gatherings?

- – - -

Education should be mutually beneficial for teachers and students.  Unfortunately it may take many years for them to realize this.  So when planting the jazz seed, you have to be patient!

Do you have anything to add?

How does one plant and water the jazz seed?

(Chris’ posts appear every other day at www.chrisdonnellymusic.com. If you enjoyed this post, please share using the buttons below! Sign up for free email updates or RSS updates.  Thanks!)

From Ruby, My Dear:

Listen to it here:

RSS subscribers can listen to it here: Ruby, My Dear

Sometimes Monk’s music makes no sense.

Though, I don’t think we’ve created a language to accurately describe it.  Certain elements are indefinable using conventional theory and analysis.

I’ve recently transcribed many of Monk’s solo piano recordings. So in the next few weeks, I’ll be posting some of the indefinable elements (or “wrong notes”) that have moved and inspired me.

They’re quirky, humourous, ironic, bizarre, intentional, beautiful, perfect and most definitely Monk; I hope they make you grin!

These posts will be small, micro excerpts.  If you want the macro perspective, download the entire transcription from my post page.

Here’s the first one – the opening chord from Ruby, My Dear:

It occurs a few times throughout.

Listen to it here:

Click here to download the Canada Council’s brochure on preparing grant application.  I don’t think this information is available on their website.

If you’re preparing a grant application, I recommend that you read this.  Here are a few points that I think are important:

• The most important aspect of the committee’s decision is assessing the artistic merit of your project.

• The best time to apply for a grant is when a planned project or activity is well developed.

• Understand the assessment criteria of the program, since they form the basis for the peer assessment committee’s decisions

• Committees tend to prefer an application that is clear, concise and personal.

• There is no formula or recipe for writing effective grant applications

• Even the most skillfully written application will ultimately not be successful if the submitted support material is weak or has little relevance to the planned project or activity.

Much of the information here crosses over with my own grant-writing guide.  I recommend reading that too!

When I was a university student, I was once offered $250 for a four hour jobbing gig.  I turned it down and told him that $250 wasn’t enough money.

He argued: “But $250 is scale!”

I responded: “It’s not my scale.”

You see, at the time I decided that jobbing gigs, which paid less than $100/hour, weren’t worth my while.  That was my scale, my dollar value.  For anything less, I was better off devoting my time and energy to studying and practicing.

But about a year later, I played a nightmare, $400, four-hour long jobbing gig.  I went dark for a week!

I thought I’d be happy with the money; I was very wrong and confused.  How much should I charge?  How much am I worth?  What makes me happy?

Thankfully, I have since figured some things out.  Ever heard of the gig triangle?

I have something better.

They’re not conditions, they’re idealisms that I hold myself to with my current lifestyle.  I trust that all together, they will enable me to do what I want, make a living and stay happy.

1. Music Trumps All

I’m only truly happy when I get to play good music.  If a situation arises where I can play music and feel good about it, I’ll go for it.  This includes free gigs.  As long as – using experience and judgment – I think I’m not being taken advantage of.  Actually, I can say confidently that whenever I’ve decided to play good music for free or for “less than scale,” I have always greatly cherished the return (in whatever form it may come).

Side Note: This isn’t true for everyone.  Why is that?

Personally, where good music is concerned, money is not a consideration.  I play music because I want to; I teach music because I want to.  Not because I want or need money.  Besides, if I wanted money, I’d do something easier and simpler than being an artist.

Of course, I’m not so unpractical that I turn down high paying gigs!  But if there’s no good music, I have a high price tag.  I don’t have a minimum rate; I make case-by-case judgments based on how I feel at the time.  Basically, I don’t do $200 weddings anymore.  But I’d do it for $2000!

Realizing my power to say “no thanks” and turn down low-paying gigs was a career-altering discovery.  It helped in keeping my time and energy abundant so that I could focus on more important things, namely the next two points:

2. Practice, Practice, Practice

I strive to be the best.  If I’m the best, I’ll get more gigs.

I’ll rephrase that: Of course, in music there’s no such thing as “the best.” Who’s better, Oscar Peterson or Bill Evans?  It’s a silly question. Everyone knows they were both great, and their greatness was one of the reasons they performed very frequently throughout their lives.

So what qualities did they possess that caused them to become so great?

The answer is discipline; that’s what I ascribe to greatness.

I apply discipline to many facets of my life, but in order get more and better gigs, discipline is best applied to practicing. I trust that the skills and knowledge I acquire through the most disciplined practice will be in high demand in the concert world.

So I strive to practice my ass off!

I aim to practice for fours hours a day.  I wish I could do more, but then I’d start crossing my physical and psychological thresholds.  However, any less than four hours, I’m displeased.  After four hours, I’ll still spend time with musical activities, like transcribing, analyzing and listening, but they’re away from the piano.

The bottom line is this: If I’m great, I’ll get more gigs.  So I’d better be the best I can be!

3. Perseverance

Playing and practicing are a performer’s lifeblood.  They’re intimately connected with our individuality and are key to exploring, discovering, understanding and enriching ourselves.  For me, success is being able to make a living as a performer.

I realized early on that I have to work hard to find fruitful playing opportunities.  How hard?  Harder than anyone else.  I’ll do whatever it takes.  I’ll use every ethically sound, physical, emotional and creative resource to make this happen.  My success and happiness are at stake!

Because of this, I have researched and studied many non-musical things without hesitation.  I’ve improved and want to continue improving in the following:

I also strive to do everything at the most professional level.  Nothing amateurish.  Do it right or go home!

Here are some more things I may want to do in the near future:

• Fundraising
• Publishing
• Learn a second language
• Be more creative with everything listed above

I’m very fortunate that I get to work with people who help me with publicity, promotion, applications, mail outs, graphic design, record production, record manufacturing, record distribution, licensing and booking.  However, if I didn’t have their help, I’d just do it myself and get a little less sleep!  Whatever it takes…

- – - -

Music, practice and perseverance…that’s it!   If I fail, (and I’m confident that I won’t,) it’s either because I overlooked a vital opportunity and/or because I didn’t work hard enough.

I realize that these points aren’t practical for everyone.  As I said, these are idealisms that I hold myself to with my current lifestyle. I suspect that if you disagree strongly with the above, our lifestyles are probably different.

I respect that.

But if you have a similar lifestyle to me, hopefully this information will be valuable to you!

See you out there!

(Chris’ posts appear every other day at www.chrisdonnellymusic.com. If you enjoyed this post, please share using the buttons below! Sign up for free email updates or RSS updates.  Thanks!)