The Marlowsphere (#6)
Last week, I attempted to deal with the emotional issue many an artist deals with, namely: the fear of dealing with money matters because of unfamiliarity with the business side of the fine and performing arts.
In this blog I’m going to touch on other aspects for potential success in the world of the fine and performing arts: tenacity and diversity. In fact, these aspects are true for success in any profession.
This past Friday (April 13, 2012) The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music (New York City) held a panel discussion on the life of a jazz musician led by NEA JazzMaster trumpeter/arranger/educator Jimmy Owens. Also on the panel were vocalist Amy London, tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, and pianist Armen Donelian. They all told stories about how they got their education, their breaks, and how they have sustained themselves. Two themes formed the thread among all the musicians: tenacity and diversity.
All the musicians told stories about how they just kept at it professionally until they met someone or who knew someone who knew someone else with whom they could make a professional connection that ultimately turned into a career. This is tenacity.
Owens and London, in particular, talked about ways in which they diversified themselves. London started out as a classically (a.k.a. opera) trained singer, but she loved jazz and, as she put it, “looked under every rock” to find a jazz gig while a student at Syracuse University. In large part because she was a very good reader, together with her “tenaciousness” she became the singer with the Syracuse Jazz Band for three years. She learned scoring and arranging which, as any good musician will tell you, earns you respect if you do it right. One thing led to another and she ultimately landed gigs on Broadway, recording sessions, club dates, and ultimately teaching.
Donelian and Owens had similar messages. Donelian, also with a classical background, earned a gig playing for three years on the Columbia University campus. He landed gigs with Mongo Santamaria and Sonny Rollins, among other notables, and later formed his own group. Owens has made a point of diversifying his talents. He has worked at it, not only as a musician, but also as an educator, adjudicator, and advocate. His stature is hard-earned.
The late Dr. Billy Taylor, who, as some of you know, was my “jazz father,” once mentioned to me that one of the keys to success was to perform wherever you could. In other words, look for every opportunity to play, regardless of location or situation. Needless to say, Billy was one of the most successful musicians of the 20th century. With grace and articulateness, he embodied tenacity and diversity. He was not only a great pianist, he was also a composer, arranger, bandleader, radio host, performance innovator (he founded JazzMobile), broadcast journalist, author, educator, and statesman. My friendship with him dated from 1981. He has been my role model of the complete artist.
To reiterate, tenacity and especially diversity is not just the province of the successful jazz artist. It applies to all other aspects of the fine and performing arts and it relates to the issue of artists usually not paying attention to the business side of things.
March 24-28, 2012 the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) held its annual conference at the Hilton Hotel in New York City. One of the many sessions was entitled “Financial Success: Taking Control of the Present and the Future,” led by music teachers Lee Galloway and Beth Gigante Klingenstein. Why present this kind of session? The answer came in the form of another question posed at the session: “Why are we [as teachers] underpaid?”
Certainly, most people feel they are underpaid, but in this instance the session leaders articulated 11 reasons, among them “we are unaware of how our rates match other professions in our area,” and “we undervalue our services or have the wrong image of our profession.” The presenters had developed 19 ways for setting acceptable rates, 26 “extra services” music teachers offer, often without pay, and 53 “ideas” for enhancing one’s career.
Among the 53 ideas for career enhancement were the following “diversification” possibilities:
1. Agent/Concert Promoter
2. Arranger
3. Booking Agent
4. Chart Writer
5. CD Producer
6. College or University Professor
7. Home Recording Studio
8. Lyricist
9. Music Business Consultant
10. Music Therapist
11. Street Musician
12. Voiceovers
Some of these diversification possibilities may be out of reach for some in terms of innate talent and lack of skill. Or perhaps there’s no market for these services. The point is the days of doing just one thing without regard to the collectivity of activities, functions, or roles in the fine and performing arts do not exist any more.
Let me put it bluntly: it’s what you’re not aware of that will bite you in the butt. You may not have all the skills required to be successful in the fine and performing arts, but at the very least you need to be aware of what is required. Yes, it takes tremendous effort to become skilled at one’s “art,” what ever that may be. But today, awareness of the business side of this world, including such drivers as tenacity and professional diversity, are requisite for success.
In part, this is an educational issue. Not too many educational institutions deal with these matters. The Manhattan School of Music (NYC) does. At Baruch College (where I teach) the Department of Fine and Performing Arts offers a major dealing with the “Management of Musical Enterprises.” And as Martin Mueller, Executive Director of the New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, mentioned to me just before the Jimmy Owens led panel discussion “The issue of the business side of the jazz is becoming more of a discussion in the academy.”
The reality of dealing with business and money matters as an aspect of one’s artistic professional life is not an issue coming down the pike. It has been a reality for some time. Today, individual patrons of individual artists are a rarity if they exist at all. Hundreds of years ago this is how many artists of different stripes survived. No more. In the United States and now increasingly in Europe –a consequence of the world-wide recession– governments are reducing their financial support of the arts. Grants and commissions have become increasingly competitive. CDs sales continue to fall as digital distribution and streaming increase. Live performance has become increasingly requisite.
The world belongs to the tenacious. Question is: How far and for how long will you go to get what you want or need? Professional diversification is a necessity for survival. In a way, this is an imitation of nature. This is how species survive. Evolution is the way of the universe. You either grow or die. Nothing stays the same forever. Artists and educational institutions alike must deal with this reality.
Eugene Marlow
April 14, 2012
© Eugene Marlow 2012