Max Roach: High Taxes Killed the Big Bands

Posted on September 2, 2017 by Scott K Fish

roach_max_1987

SKF NOTE: The 1940s federal government entertainment tax (or cabaret tax) and the Musicians Union’s bans on recording music are two incredibly shortsighted policies that devastated the Swing Era. Coming across these incidents for the first time, many years ago while studying music history, I felt so sad for all the music lost, all the music careers damaged.

National Public Radio’s Terry Gross just reposted her 1983 Fresh Air audio interview with Max Roach. Here’s a portion of Ms. Gross’s interview where Max talks about the affect of the entertainment tax.

GROSS: You were one of the first drummers to play bebop, and…one of the first people to figure out how to drum in the…fiery sessions…being played. What were some of the challenges that…presented to you?

ROACH: …Instrumental virtuosity prevailed because during the War…. [During] the Second World War we had an extra 20 percent cabaret tax…. [A musician]  entrepreneur…had to pay…a city tax.., a state tax, and a federal tax. On top of that he had to pay a 20 percent government tax called entertainment tax. [T]his really heralded the demise of big bands during that time. This tax was just awful….

So the people who really got the jobs were the virtuoso instrumentalists. And everybody went home and practiced, practiced, practiced. And then that was the beginning of bebop….. Everybody began to sit and listen to the music rather than…dance to it. That was the beginning of it.

Full interview

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Bill Bruford Releases Definitive Box Set

Posted on August 31, 2017 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: Bill Bruford’s IQ must be way up there. When I interviewed him by phone during a King Crimson tour, I felt as if I was driving fast at night down a winding, mountain road. One slip and it’s all over! 

Bill’s a great drummer. If you missed these Bruford albums when they were first released — here’s a great opportunity to grab them now.

Thank you, Blabbermouth.net, for bringing this news to my attention.

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blabbermouth.net

Drum Legend And ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME Inductee BILL BRUFORD Releases Definitive Box Set
August 28, 2017

BRUFORD: “I wanted to play drums in a certain way and if you want to hear them played in that way you’ve got to write the song. You’ve got to control the audio environment in which your drums are going to be heard and once you’re doing that you’re into a solo career.

“Looking back, the band despatched these tricky little compositions with a smile on its face; with brio, vigor and only a handful of wrong notes. The band was over-caffeinated — short on subtlety but long on the sort of majestic stately themes with antecedents in progressive rock that set it apart from contemporaneous American outfits. We were a rock group with a jazz sensibility, rather than a jazz group with rock leanings.”

Read more

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Becoming a Pro Musician: Risk, Failure, Lessons Learned

Posted on August 28, 2017 by Scott K Fish

SKF NOTE: Maybe other musicians grow by reaching one skill level, staying at that level for awhile until something takes the musician to the next skill level. That something, in my experience, is usually a combination of listening, developing chops, and playing with other musicians.

Sometimes rising to the next level is scary, and sometimes it means taking a chance in public and failing. This audio clip is me circa 1974 describing one such incident playing drums at a jam session in front of hundreds of people, with a band I really admired.

I wrote about this incident in a December 20, 2014 blog post, My Drum Lession with Max Collie & the Rhythm Aces. I had no idea this audio clip existed until last week. But it includes me describing My Drum Lesson to another musician friend, within days of the incident.

Also, I listened to this audio clip to the day, or within one day, of when I recorded about 43 years ago. What I hear on this clip is a young drummer, about 23 years old, very willing to take risks, to fail, to learn from failure what went wrong and what went right, and to press on to the goal of becoming a better professional drummer.

Also, my New York accent on this tape is long gone, but you can tell, having grown up on Long Island, NY, I had been in Iowa a very, very short time.

Thank you, Cris Worley, for keeping this tape safe and for sending it my way.

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Don Lamond: Gretsch Ad (1968)

Posted on August 26, 2017 by Scott K Fish

lamond_don_gretsch_ad_682202

SKF NOTE: A Gretsch Don Lamond ad from February 22, 1968.

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Wynton Marsalis: Thinking and Playing Are Different Skills

Posted on August 25, 2017 by Scott K Fish
marsalis_wynton_book

SKF NOTE: This tale of Wynton Marsalis‘s life on the road has been on my bookshelf for a few years, waiting for the right moment to read. That moment started a week ago. Here’s a good thought from Wynton I underlined on page 32 of this book. The advice applies to all musicians, including drummers.

“Thinking and playing are two totally different skills. Hearing and playing are also two different skills.

“The thought might not be in what you play because no one knows where his sound comes from. It’s just your sound. You can work on it and make your sound more like you.

“But a lot of musicians would rather play scales and patterns and live in the glow of somebody else’s sound.

“To be heard, you have to develop your own sound. You might as well, because who you are will forever be in your voice.”

Source: Jazz in the Bittersweet Blues of Life, by Wynton Marsalis & Carl Vigeland 

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