Sorry Captain but I don't understand your post. Donny is right on, love it or hate it there are new trends in the "live" music biz that we need to accept to keep going. I choose to stick to my keyboard/vocal/DJ thing because I just can't stand there with a mic and sing to tracks, thats just me.
As far as making big dollars like you in the field of composing, yes I get it, but it has no relevance to this forum. Your moving in very different circles from most of us and I believe despite your talents your still very lucky to have hooked up with good clients. I didn't make up the well known phrase "starving composer", it takes talent+ luck and timing. Brain Surgeons make big bucks too but they're not "live" musical preformers. Different field.
As far as your $500 a night B3 gigs, get down on your knees and be thankful every time you play one. You are very fortunate to have a gig, that for the most part doesn't exsist anymore. Jazz guys fight for the few gigs there are in even fewer jazz clubs and are thrilled to walk out with $100 for the night. If you lost that gig where would you go and what would you do to keep playing ??? Oh yea, you could ask Donny !!! HA!

"As far as your $500 a night B3 gigs, get down on your knees and be thankful every time you play one. You are very fortunate to have a gig, that for the most part doesn't exsist anymore. Jazz guys fight for the few gigs there are in even fewer jazz clubs and are thrilled to walk out with $100 for the night."

Bill, I agree. In this part of the world there are NO $500 a night jazz club jobs. On a busy weekend, the few jazz clubs remaining in the Baltimore metropolitan area will shell out $150 to $200 for a trio, while weekdays pay $100, and that's if you can get a job. As for lugging a B3 around, it just doesn't happen here.

Me, I'll stick with the keyboard and vocals. My voice is my saving grace, and I have the ability to find styles that match the songs I sing. My voice is essentially my right hand. My voice has also provided me with a good living outside the world of musical entertainment. I've been a newscaster for a local, large radio station, done voice-overs for TV commercials, and for 25-years I was the announcer for the nation's largest fishing expo.

Unlike Donny, I don't pack an Ipod, I don't DJ and I hate Karaoke. I don't sit in a corner and play background music for restaurants, though I have done that a few times and hated every minute of it. Karaoke is a big deal at the local VFWs and American Legions here, and they hire an occasional DJ - they pay $175 to $225 for a 4-hour weekend job. Yep, it's better than the high-dollar restaurants in Baltimore's Little Italy, but not much better. Most of those guys work a full-time job outside the world of music, truck drivers, construction workers, etc..., but they don't play music for a living. In fact, there are very few people that I know that plays music full time for a living. Granted, there are exceptions, but their numbers are small.

Russ has been fortunate indeed to have a high-paying restaurant job in the same location for many, many years. That's very unusual. Additionally, he has the talent to write script, which I can tell you from first hand experience, is not an easy task. It takes a high degree of creativity and dedication to be a script writer. His ability to create musical scores is, obviously, second to none, which is evidenced by the longevity of his company.

The OP was asking about songs for Decktainment. Having performed many, many deck jobs both in resort areas and private parties, the list varies greatly from one region to another, and of course, with the makeup of the audiences. The Jersey coast, for example, seems to consist of younger audiences from nearby Pennsylvania and Delaware. Ocean City, Maryland audiences consist of younger folks from southern PA and the Baltimore metropolitan area. Consequently, boardwalk entertainers tend to stick with top-40 music, which is not something easily created by an OMB entertainer using an arranger keyboard. Consequently, it a DJ/KJ venue through the 5-month summer.

When winter sets in, the kids leave, they're quickly replaced by the older contingent, folks who enjoy the tranquility of a semi-deserted beach, and will spend big bucks in the high-end restaurants that remain open year round. Those are the folks that enjoy the OMB entertainer with an arranger keyboard, but of course he also has to be a good vocalist as well. Some of these jobs will be out on the restaurant decks (weather permitting), and the music they tend to enjoy is NOT jazz. They'll send requests for anything by Jimmy Buffett, they love older Country, 60s/70s/80s Rock & Roll, and anything someone over 50 can dance to. These are the same individuals that call me for private parties when they get home from the beaches. They're not looking for DJ/KJ guys - they're looking for musician/entertainer, someone that interacts with the audience and performs the music they want to listen to and dance to.

Damned, I just wrote a book, albeit a short novel. Sorry about the rant guys and gals. Think I'll take a break from the internet for a while - it takes too much time away from havin' fun!

Gary

I think you guys are concentrating too hard on the 'B3 gig' and not on the fact that it's a COUNTRY CLUB. Initial joining fees at country clubs can range from $40,000 to to upward of $200,000 with annual fees ranging from $2,000 to upward of $50,000 with membership numbers averaging about 400-600 (google cost of CC membership). Do the math. A $500 gig for 50 weeks would cost the club @ $25k, barely a blip on the budget of the average upscale club. The secret is to have the luck, skill, talent, reputation, and connections to land (and hold onto) such a gig. So I don't think it's so much the fact that it's a 'B3 gig' as it is a 'CC gig'. Also, most of Russ' gigs are long term, stationary gigs which is a lot different than running around trying to hustle up $50 one-nighters (and praying you'll get paid at the end of the night - we've all been there ).

In every town I've lived in, there are always one or two guys that seem to have a certain niche of the market 'locked up'. I think guys like Russ and DonM and a few other true professionals here, fit that mold. More power to them, I say. It didn't just fall into their laps, they obviously earned it through years of plying their trade in a responsible, business-like way. Now they're reaping the rewards.

chas

Chas, I agree with much of the above. However, the country club jobs in this part of the nation pay about the same rate as the upscale nite clubs. I used to play at Hillendale Country Club , piano-bar kinda' job, but used the arranger keyboard instead. Lots of very rich, boring people who rarely tipped anyone, including the bar tenders and waitstaff. They all told me how much they loved the music and my vocals, I played there for about a year, and one night I said to myself "I gotta' get out of this place!" and did. The guy that took my place, a good friend, stayed there for about three years, played a great piano, and one night in the dead of winter decided he had enough as well. He moved to the Florida Keys, ran a fishing charter boat during the day, and played Tiki Bars at night until he died.

Captain Russ, on the other hand, is very fortunate in that he resides in a part of the nation that has loads of country clubs, many of which cater to the Horse Racing/Owner industry. They tend to spend a lot of money, and apparently, tend to pay a lot for the Captain's type of entertainment.

DonM is a great entertainer, a wonderful people person, he interacts with everyone that comes into the lounge and provides an outstanding show that is geared to his clientele. His talents go far beyond playing the keyboard and singing, and having seen him perform in person and keeping in touch with him over many years, I can say, without hesitation, he is at the top of the list of great OMB entertainers. He IS the best of the best and I am very proud to know him both as a fellow entertainer and friend.

As I have often stated, this is a business and must be treated like any other business. It requires years of dedicated, hard work in order to make it successful. Very few individuals are willing to do what it takes to fit into that mold. Russ and DonM are two classic examples of individuals that did what it takes to be successful in this industry.

Gary

I tell ya Yes Gary making full time living playing music over 40+ years is easy.....but what do I know?...

Donny,

You appear to be feeling sorry for yourself, hope none of the LEDS have gone on your KORG.

Tony

quote from Cap'n Russ :"but the monthly jazz/B-3 night I do at a country club pays $500.00 for a trio, and I probably couldn't book more than 4 a month in this area if I tried."

Perhaps some of you missed the for a trio, which is about the going rate even here in RI ... also, Russ acknowledged that he "couldn't book more than 4 a month"

The local -and ONLY statewide - newspaper here in RI lists the musical entertainment for the weekend (Thursday - Sunday)... all you have to do is send it in and they will print it ... fortunately, there are several clubs that feature jazz at least one night on a weekend, and there are some pretty darn good players up here too ...

Sorry Donny, I forgot to mention you in that group of individuals that does this for a full-time living - My Mistake, and I apologize for leaving you out in the OP. By the time I got back to it, which was a couple hours later, I couldn't edit the post. Yep, you're definitely in that league as well.

I really cannot put myself in that category because for the past 8 years I've been drawing Social Security, and more recently had to begin minimal withdrawals from my retirement program I created 25 years ago. Consequently, I have three sources of income, music, Social Security and my retirement program. Music, however, still provides the majority of my income, and I hope it does for at least another 5 years. If, however, some additional body parts fail, then I'll just kick back and maybe sail around the globe.

Gary

No, Tony, our Donny, your old shipmate, just felt a little left out, I think.

Donny is an old road warrior...a veteran of the music trenches.

Come to think of it, I've been performing professionally almost 50 years, with a little time off for bad behavior...ha ha.

Sheee! Has it been that long? No wonder I tire so easily.

Thank goodness for lighter gear!

Ian

Ian, we have a lot in common, including background (I'm married to a Cajun!), taste in music and love of music and arrangers. I was blessed to have a happy childhood though. Still do!

Gary, your check is in the mail. You said just what I told you to say.
I have to have Social Security AND music income to survive. My retirement is that I have a young wife with a good job.

BTW, I actually played on a deck last night. A friend got married and I played for the ceremony and the reception in his back yard. There were young folks, older folks and old folks there. I used MP3s for Here Comes the Bride and There Goes the Wife. Then played good stuff, mostly Country and Rock n Roll, for an hour or so. Then the kids wanted "dance" music. I told the hostess that when I started playing it the older folks would leave, but she insisted.
I fired up the laptop with Electric Slide, and Chicken' Dance. Went pretty well. Then they wanted The Wobble, some T-Pain, etc. The kids all lined up and laughed at each other and the old folks started leaving.
Hostess came up and said "you were right, play something for us now". Sorta pleased everybody by the end of the night I guess, but I really dislike playing wedding receptions because of this very thing.
DonM