Jazz Office Hours with Cory Weeds

Fear. It shows up throughout our musical lives as we book gigs and work to bring people out. But too often the attention drifts to numbers like, 'What's your draw?' while the meaning rests in the music's impact.

Maybe promoters aren't as cynical as you think. And it's not all about results from one show; you can always get the promoter excited for next time, too.

• First question: Fear of playing badly, and of not drawing enough people to your gig (2:24),
• Will breaks down how much easier it is to tour in this era than it was decades ago, but also how much harder it's gotten in the past few years (19:43),
• Playing too many local gigs in a short period of time (29:31),
• Best-of-2022 highlight: Comparing venues (31:23),
• Next question: Presenting workshops for students but getting low turnout (43:44),
• Getting past attendance numbers to focus on impact (54:06).

It's summer! We're on vacation, so please enjoy this top highlight clip from episode one.

In this answer, Will & Cory discuss the secret to connecting with local music venues and booking agents: know what you want to do!

It breaks down into three steps:

1. Clearly define what you think your band is.
2. Look at venues and figure out which ones you could potentially fit into.
3. Make your best demo, and make a statement of how you feel you should be treated by the venues.

After that, you can shift your focus to getting known for what you do, which is as simple as spending time at the venues you want in your musical life.

This clip originally appeared in episode 1: Making Albums, Expectations, Demo Recordings, Distribution.

Making a jazz album, from demo to distribution to performance, is a game of expectations. Whether artistic, financial, or personal, expectations keep you on track and help you remember why you're in the game.

Topics:

• First question: How to release a jazz album (01:17),
• What are realistic financial expectations for making an album? Taking entrepreneurial risk, investing up-front in production, and building a music career over time (11:44),
• Cory takes an honest look at the growth of Rhythm Changes and of his radio show, Condition Blue (17:41),
• Best-of-2022 highlight: establishing a level of care (24:44),
• Next question: How to get gigs by sending demo recordings to booking agents (25:54),
• Choosing the right live music venues for your band (29:45),
• Making a personal connection with venue booking agents (36:16),
• Storytime: the early-2000s distribution deals that established Cellar Music (39:47),
• New Cellar Music releases by Sheila Jordan & Brian Charette on July 15, 2022 (48:06).

Links:

• YouTube - All Things Must Pass (Tower Records documentary) - Cory said he enjoyed this movie about the famous record store business so much, he watched it three times.
• Bloomberg - CD sales in Japan (2020) - CD sales have still been a huge part (over 70%) of the recorded music market in Japan, even as recently as 2020.

Here we go! Stay tuned for Jazz Office Hours.

Wayne Escoffery picked some great music and gave such in depth and insightful thoughts on all his picks! We snuck a track in from his latest Smoke Sessions Records release The Humble Warrior which currently sits at #1 on the JazzWeek charts.

During the past two decades, Jeremy Pelt has established himself as a resourceful trumpeter, bandleader and composer with an expansive repertoire that embraces everything from post-bop to fusion.

Hailed by All About Jazz as "wise beyond his years", saxophonist Sam Taylor lives and performs in New York City. A Philadelphia native, Taylor has released two recordings on Cellar Live, with his second, Along The Way, featuring Philadelphia saxophone legend, Larry McKenna, In support of the release, Taylor performed two nights at the 2018 Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Past performance higlights include a concert with trumpeter Jon Faddis, jazz legened James Moody's 80th Birthday Celebration; touring Europe as a guest soloist with The Noord-Nederlands Conservatorium Symphonic Jazz Orchestra.

Join me for an hour (and a bit) with New York-based trumpeter John Sneider. He talks about his new record on Cellar Music and talk about growing up in Brockton and how he made his way to NYC! He’s originally from the New England area and he has a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and a Master's degree in Jazz. Over the years, he has performed with Max Roach, Larry Goldings, Curtis Fuller, The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, The Mingus Big Band, Chris Potter, Joe Locke, The Blues Brothers and The Saturday Night Live Band. He’s got a great story.

Jason Tiemann is a New York City-based jazz drummer, where he maintains a busy schedule as a freelance performer and educator. Admittedly drawing influence from the great(s) Philly Joe Jones, Tony Williams, Elvin Jones and Billy Higgins, Tiemann is quickly forging his musical voice on the New York scene by fusing his depth of historical foundation with crisp technique and propulsive, intuitive swing. His debut release as a leader, "T-Man" has received critical acclaim making it to #2 on the JazzWeek charts!

Since his arrival on the New York scene in 2005, Ken Fowser has continued to steer traditional harmony in uncharted directions. His lyrical approach to line construction and depth of harmonic sensibility allow him to record and play all over the world with such master players and burgeoning stars as David Hazeltine, Ugonna Okegwo, Donald Vega, Willie Jones III, Rick Germanson, Quincy Davis, David Wong, Jason Brown, Dezon Douglas and Rodney Green.