In the new issue of The Village Voice, Michael J. Agovino wraps three years of observing the bassist Linda Oh into a 4,000-word article about what it takes these days for a leading musician to practice the profession in the world’s jazz capital. Here’s an excerpt:
Exposure is great, and Oh’s has only increased, but is this any way to make a living?
‘It depends on what people define as a living,’ she says. In her experience, a sideman can make $100–$200 a night for a regular gig, depending. (Others told me $50 a night is not uncommon.) But if you’re the leader, you have to see to it that your musicians are paid, even if you get nothing — even if you lose money on the deal. ‘What I define as a living is not what other people, who earn six figures, do. I have health insurance, but it’s the lowest tier you can get, and I’m still reluctant to even have it.’ She laughs. ‘I don’t have enough money to buy anything. If I choose to have kids, I don’t know how much money I’d have for college. It’s enough to live and be happy and get by…but it’s something I’m really going to have to think about. So much money I save gets invested back in the work.’
Agovino investigates all aspects of Ms. Oh’s professional life—club dates, recording, teaching, everything it takes to survive with dignity.
She’s serious, warm, and gracious. She’s a musician, but she’s not going to do a song-and-dance for you. She doesn’t do shtick.
Agovino’s long piece is full of insight and worth your time. To read all of it, go here.
For a Rifftides review of Linda Oh’s debut recording, go here.
Linda’s current tour with Pat Metheny should help her pocketbook substantially. Quite a talent, deserving a break from the dues-paying rigors in NYC. I look forward to seeing her & Pat at Monterey JF in September!
In Chicago, where there are fewer high or mid level performance opportunities and being picked up by national/international touring stars seems less likely, several of the top notch creative musicians are typically involved with secondary careers to support reasonable lifestyles. i don’t mean “day gigs” or even institutional teaching positions ( though some have that) so much as work demanding serious, different skills and long term commitments. Yes, there is a surge of interest now in jazz ( cf Ted Gioia’s recent article) but where’s the money? The opposite of trickle down: soaked and dammed up by mega entertainment forces for the very biggest acts.
The scene in many ways sounds the same bread-wise as when I was in NYC starting in the late 60’s and early ’70’s. Most jazz club/bar gigs were $75-$100 and that went a lot further back then than it does now, for sure. But one could still make decent money in the recording studios, doing demo dates, or playing club dates which in those days meant playing swing standards and “Rock Around the Clock.” You’d run into some pretty high profile cats playing in the hotel bands.
The rise of home studios, digital technology, etc. really changed the scene. Where once it was a mark of having “made it” to record on one’s own album or as a sideman, today anyone can make a recording. There’s a glut of musicians and a paucity of venues. And the bread is actually less than in those earlier days.
Mr. Soph has played drums in the big bands of Woody Herman, Clark Terry and Bill Watrous and the small groups of Bill Evans, Joe Henderson, Bill Mays, Cedar Walton and Marvin Stamm, among others. He is a professor in the College Of Music at the University of North Texas.
I had Linda briefly as a student a few years ago at Manhattan School of Music. She was in an ensemble coached by saxophonist Steve Slagle, and I subbed for Steve for a few classes. As will be evident to anyone reading the VV piece, Linda is a gifted musician well on her way to becoming a major voice.
The difficulties that she and her peers face are much different than those encountered by my generation 30-40 years ago. As Ed Soph mentions above, many of the journeyman ways of making a living as a musician have dried up. I advise my students to develop every talent they have, musical and otherwise, in order to make a living. Part of becoming a jazz improviser involves learning how to improvise a career.