The thread Andreas started about moving to LA from Sweden got me wondering...what's up on the global music/drumming scene in 2005? We've heard some about Copenhagen's clubs from our Danish friends. We've heard that Europe is an easier place to get an audience for jazz and actually make a living. [img]cool.gif[/img] Depending on who is talking, both LA and NYC are either sizzling or dried up for various kinds of music. Paris, Tokyo, Chicago, Seattle, Berlin, Austin, Rome, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Sydney...so much potential flavor.
What's "possible" in your scene right now? What are the best cities for fusion, jazz, rock, funk, various other kinds of music? What works where you live...clubs, studios, informal venues? What about making a living, meeting compatible musicians, etc.?
Opinions, please--I'm really curious what people's experiences are about what is vibrant vs. what is simply folklore at this point. Thanks.
I was just in New York, and nothing's dry there.
European cities such as Paris provide great audiences for American jazz musicians. Don't expect the same for the local jazz musician who's not American. Even if they are an American import living in Paris, the mere fact that they live there makes them undesirable by the jazz audience. Therefor, the clubs are empty.
New York has some good places to play/check out...but the scene is still WAY overrated...
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">That is a strange [AWA putrid & pathetic] phenomenon if indeed the case...Originally posted by Paraflam:
...Don't expect the same for the local jazz musician who's not American. Even if they are an American import living in Paris, the mere fact that they live there makes them undesirable by the jazz audience. Therefor, the clubs are empty.
...[& here i thought that the Fr couldn't stand the Am's]... [img]wink.gif[/img] [img]tongue.gif[/img] J/K
I'm not going to artificially float this conversation if there's not much interest...I'm just curious about people's experiences in different places right now. New York gets talked about a lot, and it's clear there are some hot things going on there. I'd love to hear more. But also, what's up in Seattle right now? What's the scene like in London? Etc.
Here in No. California, it does seem like there are some cats afoot, but people aren't generally drawn here for the music scene but rather for other lifestyle considerations, the tech business, or other local industries (i.e., wine etc.). My local celeb drummer here near Sebastopol is Mickey Hart, though there are a lot of retired/in hiding players around too. Pete Magadini teaches and lives around the North Bay. Met one of Vince Guaraldi's drummers up here and see him at the local drum shop. Of course, in the Bay Area, Garabaldi is not far out, and Tony Williams used to teach in SF while he was alive as well.
The music scene in the Bay Area has some bands--some artsy, some metal, some funk, some punk, etc. but doesn't seem to have super depth of talent in any particular area. When I lived in SF, it was so crowded and expensive that it was hard to make music happen or find places to rehearse, especially when I was in grad school during the dot.com era, and had to make crazy rent...not fun. There are some rock clubs, some great studios, and a few major tour destinations, so we get a lot of good stuff. Yoshi's in Oakland has amazing jazz players about every day of the week. And of course, the Bay Area has been a huge destination for electronic music for a while now though this has died down since 2001.
Sonoma and Marin counties (north of SF) have some surprisingly high-profile people who just pop up from time to time--Metallica, MeShell, Traci Chapman and some other folks who have lived here or had summer places here in wine country. But there's a lot I don't even know about the Bay Area/No.Cal. so would be glad to hear others experiences.
Thanks to those who have contributed already, and best wishes to all.
Well in Copenhagen, every young person wants to be a rockstar, so the whole city is filled to its limits with Indie Bands, Rock Bands etc, some of them good, but they're so desperate in getting gigs, that they're ruining the business playing free, or even pay to play.
The Progressive Jazz scene is having a great time here too, it's in the acoustic spectrum of the overall sound ( If you recon the jazz-style "Nordic Jazz" this is what i'm talking about ). Free improvisation is having a rennaisance here, some of it is quite enjoyable, but most of it is horrible listening to if you ask me. We have quite a few good drummers here in Copenhagen. Ed Thigpen is living here, and Alex Riel is one of the most musical drummers i've ever witnessed.
Great bassplayer Lars Danielsson lives north of Copenhagen, but rarely plays in Copenhagen. Mainly touring Europe with drum-soul-mate Per Lindvall. They're however frequently doing some Drum and Bass clinics here, which are very informative.
The closing of Montmatre in the early 90's was however a major strike-down for Fusion and Jazz in Copenhagen, but seems to fight its way back into the audience.
The drum-shops here in Copenhagen keeps every drummer in the city up to date with alot clinics etc. they're doing a great work here.
Heavy-Metal is also experiencing a revival here too, "The Rock" just opened a year ago and really set up a great live place for this kind of music.
Session work is dead here, especially for free-lancing, the studio's are booked into the next year with Bands, but very few solo-projects etc. many are recording home at their computer, just like anywhere else.
There's also a great jam-session thing in Copenhagen. every night Somewhere, there's a jam-session going on.
Hong Kong is crap.
The scene is dominated by a mainly 3 drummers. Ant the only scene that is, is the canto-pop scene (cantonese pop). My teacher has dwelled in it and not liked it at all. Most of the guys only do it for show and have very limited abilities on their suposed instruments.
there is a very small indie rock underground scene but the bands are mainly amateur and play only in organised events.
Club gigging is impossible as Hong Kong is full of Philipino immigrants that form bands and are on contracts with clubs to play there. Very few have jam nights.
You see, in Hong Kong there is a mentality, as i suppose there is everywhere in the world, but even more so here where fashion is the dominant force. Everyone wants to look skinny fast, and without putting any effort and this transforms into wanting to do many other activities quickly and with no effort. There for, most musicians and specially drummers here, just try and play the hard licks straight away, they are not interested in the roots, the basics, the good players...they only care about Travis Barker and other mtv sorts!
anyway there's Hong Kong for you....
I had a dream of once moving to L.A..but it seems that it may be very hard considering what people have said...maybe i'll settle down in Barcelona and enjoy europe...we'll see
Spaceotter:
Do you know of a drummer named Paul Van Wageningen?
I'm a huge fan and I can't find any info about him on the internet. I'd like to check him out sometime but I'm on the East Coast. I think he's based in San Francisco area? Awesome relatively unknown drummer...
BLake said
<<That's the scene. So few places to play and so many darn good musicians. I really love it though...>>
Blake my friend, that's YOUR scene. New York City and it's boroughs have more live music venues than anywhere else in the world. Many friends of mine play 4-6 nights per week.
NY is great for creative gigs. I played Friday night with some great players and got paid $60 from 9:30-1:00 a.m. We could really stretch and let loose. The audience was really responsive.
I got a $115.00 ticket while unloading my drums into the club that night. Doesn't make any financial sense, but sometimes you just have to go out and hit and be heard.
The next night I played at the Marriot in New Jersey and nobody cared. I got paid a lot more.
That's the scene. So few places to play and so many darn good musicians. I really love it though...
You have to travel to make money or you play everynight at any little dive you can.
This is more of the jazz type scene. The singer songwriter scene is different in that you play one 45 minute set with 5 other bands. The leader usually pays you out of pocket.
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