Federico (aka euskir)

As you know, my own blog has recently been concentrating on ways that jazz musicians can build careers and achieve their goals in music. One of my main contentions is that it’s not enough today to try and build a career by relying on scratch gigs playing standards in the usual way.

These kind gigs were bread-and-butter for previous generations of jazzers, but there’s not enough of that work to make a living from it and more.

This means it’s no longer enough to worry only about making music. If you’re going to be successful, you’ve got to think about marketing, promotion, building a following, selling yourself to venues, writing press-releases and a million other things that the Old Guard never had to do.

The JPQ tour is the perfect example of the amount of hard work and hustle that has to be a part of a modern musician’s working life. If we’re not prepared to recognise that change and accept it then we’re going to struggle, it’s that simple.

This is where the blogosphere comes in. Most of us know that the game is changing – but changing to what. Discussions, for example, about the importance of cultural relevance in music can help musicians get their head around what they need to be doing to sell their music.

I’m not implying that anybody’s music should be dictated by what they think will sell (we’re not Madonna after all!) but these kind of discussions help us to figure out how and who to try and promote our music towards.

I’m not interested in a discussion about the future of the music for its own sake, but I am into hearing and sharing ideas about how to play and promote jazz in an ever-changing world.

I’m definitely a musician first and a blogger second (well about a hundredth actually as I don’t make a penny from it!) but I blog because I am well aware that we can focus entirely on music as much as want, but if we can’t persuade people of that music’s ‘relevance and worthiness’ (to borrow your terms) we’re never going to get a gig or make a dime from it.

When people share their ideas on topics like this in the blogosphere, it serves us all and is a powerful and useful tool to help us when figuring out a way to live and make music that doesn’t involve selling our soul to a ‘proper job’ or living like a peasant for the rest of our lives!

I actually really enjoy reading musicians’ thoughts on all kinds of subjects. Makes me feel closer to them in some way. So I’m sure I’ll keep writing too. As mentioned by a couple of you, I think it’s all about finding the right balance.

Now, off to NYC to soak up some Springtime, great food, music and family!

I just read this while sitting on a couch listening to somebody mix my album.

The big question we’re trying to answer in this mix session is “Do you like how this sounds?” to which my first thought is, “How does the sound compare to [insert similar guitarist/organ trio here]?” But then I remember, WHO CARES whether or not this sounds like another jazz guitarist, the point it to make it sound like myself. The only real precedent we can follow is that there is no precedent.

That’s the problem with musicians in general, and especially jazz musicians who tend to be especially passionate about their specific niche. We’re informed by jazz, and the history of jazz, and the current state of jazz, in everything we do. Therefore we tend to obsess over ones sound or time feel or significance as if there were a measuring stick. In truth, I think we all know the only thing that matters is whether the music speaks to people. What does it communicate?

Our challenge as jazz musicians is to learn how to emulate the greats, and then at some point adopt their mentality to not emulate anybody and just be ourselves.

First we have to be aware of what we actually know, and of what others actually know. Sounds like you’ve done a lot of growing in this area thanks to the blog. Keep it up, I enjoy reading and listening.

- Cameron

Anyway, the beauty of the blog medium is that it’s your own personal space to talk about anything you want. And as far as it relates to jazz and cultural relevance, I’d love to get your two cents about Dr. Teeth over at Lubricity: http://wp.me/pwbPQ-bv

Linking back to my own blog is not simply an exercise in self-indulgence, though: I hope that you can see in that post in particular how a non-polemical and playful approach to the topic can yield worthwhile results. I’ve really learned a lot from the comments, tweets and e-mails that I’ve received since posting that last week.

Talking about music is important. That professional, semi-professional and non-musicians can all participate in the same conversation now, less bound by the awkward power dynamics inherent in the musician-critic-promoter relationships (an example of which you gave above with Mulligan) is an unequivocal step in the right direction.

Just please don’t blame the amorphous “Jazz Blogosphere” for YOUR choices of content focus at this blog! I will keep coming back here for your great insight and opinions about the realities facing the contemporary professional musician, so if you don’t feel like weighing in on the debates … well, don’t! Of course, if you do, I’ll keep reading, as you usually have interesting things to say.