In NYC Last Night

HEY HEY HEY!
I didn't imply LA sucked. Let's get some FACTS together. I love LA, which is why I moved here from NY. Also, LA barely has a live scene. You can't make a living playing gigs in clubs 6 nights a week like you can in NYC. You can't play on jingles several times a week in L.A. Gigs in LA pay terribly. The average wedding drummer in NYC makes $350 bux a gig. Because of these FACTS, there's WAY more music happening in NYC. Every night of the week. Not once a month at LaVeLee or The Baked Potato. The musicians who are TOP notch that live here are always on the road, and live there because it's gorgeous. Believe me, I love the players out here. But you can't compare a handfull of players to 80% of who's who in drumming.Steve Gadd, Bill Stewart, Brian Blade, Jack Dejohnette, Jeff Watts, Jeff Ballard, Antonio Sanchez, Horacio "El Negro", Steve Jordan, Rodney Holmes, Cliff Almond(just moved), Steve Hass, Keith C, Anton, Dom Fam, Jim Chapin, Amir Thompson, Shawn Pelton, Omar, you know I can go on and on and on. AND it doesn't cost you $25 and more. The other night in NYC I paid 5bux for that show with Marotta, Carlock and Fig.
Again, it's not a competition. I love LA as well. But let's face it, you give up some of the arts for the nice weather and the better quality of life. You'd never find some of the cutting edge jazz and groove music here that you'd find in NYC.
We do have some things going on if you feel like driving on the freeway for 20mins those few times a month and paying some cash with a drink minimum. But come on. No city in the world has the kind of nightly blowing that NYC offers. I live in LA and I can admit that.
Take Care
B

[Ost, see my last post on the "Diana Krall with Erskoman on drums" topic [img]wink.gif[/img] ]

You surely are... as you know.

You're right about the cover and drink minimum. I gladly pay it to see Vinnie. Several years back,I lived right down the street from Luna Park and I would go to see Novak play with a band called Prophecy. SICK!!!! I usually would meet him there and help carry his drums into the venue(alleviating the cover charge). One of the most memorable nights was when Bob Berg(RIP) was in town mixing Another Standard. I ended up walking with Bob to his rental car and sitting there with Bob,Gary and his girlfriend(now wife) listening to the mixes. I remember Bob asking me what I thought! UnF'ngbelievable!
Anyway,LA has some cool shit,you just end up paying a lot for it! Good times!

There is a great gig to see everynight in N.Y. Nothing fazes a New York audience. They are really spoiled. I can go see Jeff Tain Watts for $5 on most Monday nights.
The problem is getting my own stuff done if I go out every night. To make a living in N.Y. you have to hook up with studio work/ weddings and parties or play with singer songwriters who have day jobs and can pay for rehearsing and gigs. Jazz gigs aren't going to pay the bills unless you're in Europe every few mos or playing every night in any room.
It's very intense and can ruin your hearing if you keep that lifestyle up too long.
Everyone is different, so I can only speak for myself.

For you L.A. guys- One of my favorite gigs was hearing Vinnie with Chick Corea. Now, that's like a comet that comes near earth every 100 years.

Hey Blakemeister -

Quote:

---

1. - It's very intense and can ruin your hearing if you keep that lifestyle up too long.
2. - For you L.A. guys- One of my favorite gigs was hearing Vinnie with Chick Corea. Now, that's like a comet that comes near earth every 100 years.

---

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">1. - That's why I carry those little foam earplugs in the little individual packages with me to any club or concert.
I went to see the [famous rock band] Boston last yr for the sake of retro/memories...they were great [their 'new' drummer had strong meter & played the parts pretty much EXACTLY like those albums], but it was in an indoor sports arena / hockey dome & it was too da** loud [I'm not 17 any more [img]wink.gif[/img] ]...i had forgotten the plugs [doh!], so i went to one of the mens rooms & stuffed some TP in there [NTB confused with "shtuff coming outta your ears!" [img]wink.gif[/img] ].

2. - That's why i went up there last summer to see Chick w Vinnie AND Weckl [& Brecker/Marienthal, Gomez/Pope, Burton, Gambale], because as you said, THAT'S like "a comet that comes near earth every 100 years"...[plus, i gots the added benefit of meeting you & Tombo...missed out on Bryan V & P Track, who've not posted in here for a while now...

When i was doing a 3 wk Meadowlands gig up there in June '97 [the fair], I really wanted to go into the city to see Kev Eubanks & band, but my last showtimes interfered with his sets [doh, again] [img]frown.gif[/img] ...but i DID get to go & see a killer latin/brazilian/jazz band [4got the "basement club's" name] w Paolo Braga on kit, & Hiram B sat in. [img]smile.gif[/img] But then I know that's a "regular" type of occurrence around there. ;c)

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ October 13, 2004 01:59 PM: Message edited by: FuseU1 ]</font>