Kansas City New Music | Black House Improvisors' Collective

There and Back Again-A Hobbyist's Tale

A couple of months ago I was speaking with someone about Black House. Before I could really explain how we create and promote new music and work to build relationships between musicians and in the art community at large he told me that I was “just a hobbyist.” This individual obviously meant this as negative condition. I was about to say something in my defense like “No I’m not!” or “Kiss my balls!” but I realized that he was right. I am a hobbyist. I make very little money playing music. In fact I’ve never made enough money playing music to claim on my taxes. In defining a professional as someone who makes their living from playing music, I come woefully short.
 
I admit that I do aspire to one day be able make my living as a musician. So this interaction got me thinking about what it means to be a "pro." There are a lot positive things that come to mind when thinking about what makes a professional. Punctuality, reliability, competency and getting paid. I love all those things. But lately I’ve found myself thinking of traits that I don’t love. I’ve observed some undesirable character traits in professional musicians as well.
 
Professionals don’t like rehearsals.
 
Pros are always looking for the smallest amount of time commitment per paying gig. This makes perfect economic sense. Unfortunately this isn't how good music gets made. Good music requires preparation. A lot of it. If someone is looking to just show up at the gig, play some standards they already know, and promptly leave with their money, odds are that show deserves no better than to be talked over while people eat dinner.
 
Professionals don’t bring anyone to the show.
 
Pros play a lot of gigs. This is a good thing and makes perfect economic sense. Unfortunately, that generally dilutes their name value. Be wary of playing with people who don't have a least a couple friends come out to see them. This indicates that this is just a gig for them and they really don't give a shit. Which leads me to my next ...
 
Professionals aren’t emotionally invested.
 
Pros are working. They're generally content to display their competency for ego's sake. But the music doesn't really mean anything to them. They risk nothing if the music sucks. It’s not their gig. Again, this is not how good music gets made. People in the audience pick up on this. 
 
Professionals are too comfortable.
 
Pros know exactly how good they need to be to get work. Once they've achieved this level, many stay there for years. Again, this makes perfect economic sense. Doing the dificult work to continue to take yourself to the next level brings no guaranteed increased earning power. Unfortunately this puts many pros in the position of trying to preserve the status quo, despite what many of them may say. 
 

With clubs closing in town, it’s pretty obvious that whatever was the status quo wasn’t sustainable. We younger musicians need to accept that we will need to work harder than the older musicians did to make a living. This requires a deeper level of commitment and risk taking. But then again, I'm just a hobbyist. Kiss my balls.

just saying...

It's the big week of the Blue Label premiere at Take Five Coffee+Bar! I have to say that it's been extremely gratifying to be able to expand the world of Black House. We're going on our third year of the collective and it's time to start reaching out. Right now BHIC lives on the good graces of the Charlotte Street Foundation but this band is hopefully a step in a self-sustaining future. Anyways the show this Friday is free and I'll have sweet new Blue Label t-shirts for sale for the fashionable among you:

Last month at a Christmas party somone asked me what I think should be done about 18th and Vine to make it more successful. Normally this is a subject that I would avoid. But being under the influence I blurted out "I'd set up musician housing down there. Make it so that rent is $200 a month for musicians and they'll all live down there and it'll be cool." Don't they do something like this in New York?

 

It's pretty implausible but it'd work.

Moving on...

The weeks following a Black House workshop are usually an opportunity to take it down a notch and recharge. This has not been the case in the weeks after our performance last December. The Blue Label band has our first performance next week and it has been exciting and work-intensive to get all the music ready. I can’t praise my band members enough for their focus and willingness to put in the time to make this music work. With any new band, it takes time to gain a rapport amongst the musicians, but in this case things have been clicking early on. I’m really looking forward to presenting this band and this music.

Over the past couple of months there has been a lot of drama in the Kansas City jazz scene. The closing and reopening of clubs and internet controversies about race and labels have given us all a lot of to talk about. I don't have much to add on either of these fronts. I rarely went Jardine's because it was too expensive and I never made it out to 1911 Main at all, probably because I just wait for the bands I want to see to play at the RecordBar. Nicholas Payton's musings on "jazz" as a label are just boring. Jazz musicians complaining about being pigeonholed as jazz musicians appears to be a time-honored tradition. Can't we all agree that we use the term when it behooves us and and stay away from it when it doesn't? The word has the strange ability to help you attract press that you otherwise don't deserve, but it also has an incredibly negative affect on attracting audience members. No wonder we're so conflicted about it.