I remember playing at a "retirement home" once. Most depressing thing
ever - the pensioners were all down on heavy drugs and one foot away
from the grave... or one push of the wheelchair away, more accurately.
After that, playing at the veterans hospital was a truly joyful
experience. You do the gigs you can, specially when they are payed.
One of my friends, a jazz player with a golden album, used to play in
local bars and got minimal audiences with minimal attention spans for
music. Jazz is still popular in Europe, but all but dead here. Part of
it I think are the venues: streets, metro stations and restaurants in
Europe lend themselves to music, particularly in the summer.
Any brave soul tried to play at a McDonald's or a Starbucks?? I am
wondering how many seconds it would take to see them ejected by
"management".
Also, watching The Blues Brothers does not encourage acts of musical
bravery in local bars deep inland...
On 01/04/2018 01:57 PM, John Mardinly wrote:
I played my lute at a hospice once. Went over like a lead balloon.
Classical guitar was better received.
A. John Mardinly, Ph.D., P.E.
The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters
Francisco Goya
On Jan 4, 2018, at 2:38 PM, Tristan von Neumann
<[1][email protected]> wrote:
My proposition would be the following:
Assemble a team: three lutists minimum!
If possible, add recorders, Renaissance guitar, cittern etc., a dulcian
and a trombone, and for the sake of beats some Renaissance percussion.
If you have a portable organ, get it on stage.
Go to your local jazz club and pitch "Early Music Jazz Jam Session".
When playing, have the musicians occupy the functions of respective
jazz musicians.
Jam the hell out of Passamezzi, Romanescas, Bergamascas etc., throw in
some song standards like Vestiva I Colli or Can She Excuse, do virtuoso
solos. I bet the audience will have fun.
Get that stick out of your spine and rock the venue.
Am 04.01.2018 um 20:52 schrieb
[2][email protected]:
Having friends in psychology, economics, and
marketing/advertising, we
have had this discussion over beer. And the general conclusion
was that
most artists (including early music artists) ought not be
lamenting
about why people don't show up to appreciate their art, but
rather they
should be discussing how best to draw in an audience. Think about
it,
if a graphic artist wants to put on an exhibit, they will
bringing
alcohol, maybe food, hire a musician, and create an inviting
atmosphere
for socializing. Moreover, symphony orchestras also have this
problem
and their partial (yet successful) solution are the multimedia
programs; live performance of film music over film clips of Harry
Potter, Star Wars, etc.
The fact (sad or not) is that audiences have MANY distractions
pulling
their attention nowadays. Music alone, no matter how pure or
inspirational, won't draw an audience as much as music PLUS
something
else - drama or a story, visuals, alcohol, dance, etc. I think it
would
behoove early music artists to start thinking about this and
corroborating and creating more engaging programs. And there are
successful examples of this out there, but there needs to be
more.
One more thing, I am also reminded of a program done years ago by
Steven Wade (?) called 'Banjo Dancing' (?). He performed as one
man
with a banjo. He played, told stories, sang, and had a truly
engaging
performance. And it drew audiences. There is absolutely no reason
why
something similar couldn't be done by a lutenist given some
talent and
hard work in creating such a stage performance. And as a
disclaimer, I
am not a professional musician, so these are merely my opinions,
looking in from the outside.
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