We've spent the last couple of nights at St. Pete Beach, Florida at the Don Cesar Hotel, it's a beautiful hotel on the Gulf. There's plenty of entertainment daily including a jazz quartet(piano, bass, drums and sax) Thursday thru Saturday evenings. The pianist gets to play the 7 foot Yamaha grand in house. Outdoors this afternoon at poolside and the beach bar there was an acoustic guitarist/vocalist singing and playing.

Some comments, there were about 5 of us in the lounge last night listening to the quartet. The remaining 25 or 30 people were at the bar watching baseball and/or football.applause for the quartet was practically non-existent. Earlier in the evening I spotted the drummer unloading his drum set from a circa 1997 Ford Aerostar van. Put new meaning to the following that has been posted here in the past

Musician is someone who loads $5000 worth of gear in a $500 car/van 100 miles to a $50 gig.

As far as the acoustic musician he played 4 hours on the pool deck all the songs sounded similar. He got more applause than the jazzers did.

Well I guess that proves it; all legit musicians should throw away their (legit) instruments, nail the 7ft Grand shut, and buy an arranger; that will surely make the (music) world a better place. And while we're at it, let's kill off all the 'jazzers'. After all, who likes that garbage anyway, with all those fancy chords and stuff; hell, they probably even read music.

BTW, you didn't mention anything about the QUALITY of the performers; ie. I'd rather hear a good guitarist/vocalist than a bad jazz quartet. Also, sometimes an audience's response to a performance says more about the audience than about the performer. JMO.

chas

Steve sounds like the Jazzers although a good act were in the wrong venue?...you really have to pick & choose your audience target these days, Unless you don't care and just need to make some money playing anywhere for anything. It's getting rougher in the trenches day by day for live acts, vs what's out there and the stiff competition, especially the "CLUB" musician,........suddenly sitting home and enjoy yourself playing, recording, etc, is becoming a personal solitary bliss these days.

Chas has a good point about applause and audiences. It brings to mind a gig I did last Wednesday, although different circumstances. The point is audiences may very well enjoy your music, but don't necessarily show it.

I was playing a variety of genre's for about two hundred patrons, and getting a smattering of applause, but there they were eating and talking. After my show, the MC got up and asked how the food was,small applaus. He then thanked me for playing, and the whole room stood up and applauded. Needless to say, I am playing there every week now.

People may not immediately react, but that doesn't mean they don't enjoy what you are presenting.

The guitarist/vocalist every tune he played sounded the same IMO he was just so-so it was a pleasure when he took breaks and they piped in music to the pool area.

The jazzers were tight and played very well.

I think Donny might be on to something. One thing I noticed when we lived in Hawaii, for instance, was that EVERY SINGLE SUPER-EXCLUSIVE CLUB on the island featured JAZZ and Jazz alone. The rest (especially the tourist traps) featured local entertainers playing traditional Hawaiian music, karaoke, or (in the northern part of the island (cowboy country), Country/Western.

I think, as Donny pointed out, venue is important. I guess I probably do bristle a little when people imply or hint at the fact that jazz, which some consider more challenging to play and requires more from the listener, needs to be ridiculed and is somehow less acceptable than other (simpler) musical forms and feel a need to trot out examples to prove it. Sometimes we need to be reminded that it IS considered to be America's only true original art form. Like Classical music, Opera, Ballet, and other art forms that require a level of sophistication from the audience, it will never command the popularity enjoyed by pop music, but for those lucky enough to appreciate what goes into a great jazz performance, thank goodness it does seem to survive the generations. JMO.

chas

I agree Steve its like going out to eat at a Buffet that only has ONE THING TO EAT!

... sorry - had to reply, but my very passionate response belongs in the bar ... or maybe nowhere.

To me it's no mystery. The guitarist, as mediocre as he was probably played familiar songs and SANG ! The jazzers played unfamiliar tunes ( for a non jazz oriented audience ) and didn't sing .
Jazz only works for very specific venues or as light background music In a restaurant or elevator . Just kidding I'm a big jazz fan and play it incredibly mediocre compared to my favorite artists.