You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - 5 Ways to Get Called More

Episode Date: March 10, 2020

Is your phone gathering dust? Find out how to get it ringing off the hook with Peter and Adam's advice.5 Ways to Get Called MoreBe on the sceneLearn the musicDon't be needy (and don't be greedy)Do your own thing, tooDon't be a jerkComing soon - a new course from Open Studio! It's the long-awaited sequel to our Rhythm Section Fundamentals course, where you'll learn how to get the piano, bass, and drums to play as one well-oiled jazz machine. Stay tuned for more details, and check out the original Rhythm Section Fundamentals to prepare for part two.Interested in more music advice? Go here to browse our catalog of jazz lessons and courses available for purchase. And be sure to check out our All Access Pass - every course from Open Studio on every instrument.Let us know what you think by leaving a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review, or head over to our YouTube channel.Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hey, Adam, more. That's the first way to get called more. Oh, I get it. Yeah. I'm Adam Maness. And I'm Peter Martin. And you're listening to the You'll Hearer podcast. Daily music and life advice, right?

Today is a little bit of life advice. A little life lesson. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is a little bit of, you know, your mama, your daddy, your grandma, your grandpa, your uncle, your auntie, set you down and said, you know what? I'm going to give you little skills. Consider us your kind uncle Adam and Uncle Peter. That's right. We're here to help smooth some things out.

I'm glad you mentioned your mom because this isn't about getting called more if you're a mother of three and you want your children to call you more. No, no. Well, I mean, maybe some of this stuff. Some of these might be. Actually, yeah, this might just be a people-advised episode. That's right. Interpersonal skills. That's right.

This is a little bit of an interpersonal skills episode. Five ways to get called for more gigs is what we really mean by this. Yeah. You know, we just thought we get asked a lot about like, you know, I'm in a scene and or I'm not getting the gigs I want to get or whatever. So there's some things you can do for sure to up your chances of getting called. Like there's people that have good gigs that are not as good of musicians as their gigs. You know what I'm saying?

Right. People with like advanced interpersonal skills. Exactly. You know what I'm saying? And we're going to name those at the end of today's episode. We're going to do a descending list. There's always that one guy in the band who's just there because he's great in the van. I know.

But you know what? When you got a great personality, it's kind of like, you know, I mean, you know, if, I mean, you know, if you look a certain way in this world, it shouldn't matter, but it does. If you're the only, if you're the only player not on the record, that could be you. That's right. I mean, John Ham's a great actor, but what a good looking guy. Come on, man, even if he wasn't. Yeah, yeah.

But anyway, so, right. So to that point, we are, what we're not going to be talking about, which you may have expected and would be more of a logical thing. But we're, you know, we're changing it up today. Would be five ways to get called more. It would be like, practice, listen, be a great player. Yes. assuming you're taking care of that bidness already. Yep.

Because ultimately that's the number one way is to be great at what you're doing. In fact, the thing about that, though, is, and maybe we'll touch a little bit on the balance as we go through these five, depending on how, like, if you're at the top level, you know, let's say that you're going, like, straight, you know, we're always talking about really old musicians. Let's go with somebody more contemporary. Okay. Let's say you're straight Joshua Redmond. Okay.

Oh, he's getting kind of old, too. I was going to say. But normally we're like Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock. So we're trying to get more contemporary. So some of them are like Granford Marcellus. Right. Just an aging Gen X or not a. But that's the thing though.

Who could we actually say like a millennial that's? I mean, well, okay. Actually, no, I'm going to do it. Sullivan Fortner. Straight millennial. Great example. Okay, young guy. I mean, still not in his 20s maybe, but barely into his 30s.

One of my favorite of the young pianist and somebody I really admire and I've known since he was young. So we'll use him. If you're not Sullivan Fortner, if you are Sullivan Fortner, you can kind of skip over all these. Yeah, because you're Sullivan Fortin. You sound great. You sound great, you know, but if you're not at that level, you're going to want to pay attention as the folks there. That's right. And you know what else? You better recognize. You better recognize. You better recognize. But here's why you might want to get called more. Because if you're not Sullivan Fortner, like one of the reasons why Sullivan Fortner is Sullivan Fortner is because he was playing with so many great musicians from a young age, Roy Hargrove, you know, so many awesome people.

you want to get in those pipelines or you want to play with at least the best players that you can play with in your given area or the given scene so this is a way to kind of hopefully help you

develop some of those skills so okay what's first oh no no no we said we weren't going to do that that's right number one be on the scene well yeah if you want to be on the scene

wait if you want to be seen you got to be on the scene oh I like that did your mama teach you that I don't think so I think mama monk taught me that but this is true I think

no one is going to hire you if you, if they don't know about you, like. Well, if they're desperate, maybe. Maybe, but like, that's a situation where, like, they, they call the hire the person they want to hire, and that person's like, I can't do it. And they call the person that they didn't really want to hire, and that person's like, I can't do it, but I know this person. And you don't want to be that person.

Like, just make your face known to your community. Like, you've got to hang. Unless you're ugly. Then make it more of an, make your voice heard, maybe. We've already mentioned Roy Hargrove. but notoriously was like a hangar, was a jam session, you know, attendee.

As I think a lot of great players, when they want to to make a dent in whatever scene they're in, they show up to those events. And in terms of be on the scene, another angle to look at this from is do not use the excuse or the negativity of like, well, that scene is not good enough.

I'm in such and such. I'm in Fort Lauderdale and I'm above this. It's not New York. I know some people like that. I do know some people here. Because this is the thing. If you're all that and a bag of chips, you make your own scene.

When you show up, the scene is there. Yeah, what are you doing then? You know what I'm saying? How come you're not working? When John Ham walks in the room, bam, Don Draper. Yeah. John's on my mind.

Yeah, you're really thinking a lot about John Hamm today. I got a text of me. Shout out to St. Louis, John Burrow School, John Hamm. No, but this is the thing. Yeah, you become the scene. And I just thought of that because of Roy Hart. I mean, I've seen like Roy was not on the scene to get a gig. Right.

He was on the scene because he loved the scene and because he wanted to give back. He was more giving back to the scene most of the times when he was around than taking. My point is like if it's good enough for Roy Hargrove, if he's hanging, certainly you can hang a little bit. But if you are not getting the kind of gigs that you want to get or you're not getting any gigs, think about how much you actually go to other people's gigs or how much you hit the sessions. Like you have to put your face out there and let people know that you play. And I'm going to give another little angle to these. I'm going to call it audible. Is that okay?

We're not in football season, but I'm going to call an audible. So that is like, we're going to apply this to a little social media too. Okay. Five ways to up your social media game because these all apply. Be on the scene. So that means give back, be around, be present, but don't just be the one. Hey, hey, hey, hey, it's me. Come and contribute something.

So like social media, everybody, musicians always want to post their gigs. And look, I do it, you do it. We know we do it because people do want to hear about it. This Thursday at Thurman's. Yeah. But how about posting? How about sharing somebody else's gig? That's part of the scene.

That's very sweet. Yeah, that's good. A little virtual share. That's right. Virtuous virtual shit. Or yeah, you could certainly do that when you're at someone else's gig, like you're actually on the scene

and you're checking out other musicians. You know, take a little pick, put it on Instagram and be like, yo, these guys sound killing or whatever. That's good stuff. That's good stuff. All right, number two, this is crucial, and that's learn the music.

Whatever gig you want. Learn the music of the band that's playing before you get the gig. So I heard a great interview with Benny from our friend Christian McBride, friend of the shows, was interviewing Benny. and Benny talked about his experience

getting in the Art Blakey band. Yeah. And he basically knew all that music from listening to the records. Yeah. Like, and when he got the opportunity to sit in at Sweet Basil, I think it was.

Yep. He said, you know, there was a string of young piano players that Blakey got up that night and some of them knew some of the songs and some of them didn't know any of the Blakey book. Right.

And Benny knew everything. Yep. Everything that was called. And guess who got the gig. That's right. Benny Green. I mean, of course, he's Benny Green.

He can play, whatever. but again if it's good enough for Benny it's gonna be good enough for you whatever and don't again it's not like I'm in Fort Lauderdale this is in New York like you gotta start somewhere Big shout out to FLL

we hate it on the FLL twice today I like it Don't be in a small scene and be a snob about the small scene you're don't be that guy yeah you're not stuck in traffic you are traffic That's right whoa yeah no that's a that's a cyclist term right But it's true like you are you are part of whatever scene you happen to be living in So don't be snobbish about it. If you're in high school and you're looking to get out, I understand that feeling.

But you're still at that moment part of that community and it will always be a part of your experience growing up. So, you know, like you haven't fled the St. Louis scene even though you're, you know, I did several times. But I got pulled back like a fungus to a virus. No, but it's not like you have like resentment for the smallest scene here, even though you're like a world-round pianist. You know what I'm saying? Like it's a lot of love for that. And the same thing. Like I try never to feel too big for my britches for.

whatever local scene that I'm around because, you know, we're all doing it. And the other side to this is like, do not carry a sense of entitlement with this learning the music. And it's funny you say Benny Green. So I heard Benny Green play when he was with Arr Blakey at Sweet Basil. And then I heard, that's when I went up to New York when I was in high school. Yeah. And then when I first got to New York, like one of the first nights I was in New York when I went to Juilliard, young Peter, short Peter, before I was tall and grandiose as I am now. I went to Sweet Basil, heard Ar Blakey with Jim.

Jeff Kieser in the band. And I was like, I always wanted to play with our Blanky. So I had learned the whole book by this point. And I was like, because actually I didn't know this. I wasn't sophisticated enough. But like this is the way to. Well, you didn't have the earlier podcast. I didn't have that, you know what I'm saying?

This was another 10 day and age. But I learned the whole book because I love that music. And I used to go over with Steve Kirby and play in the Webster combo. And we did a lot of Blakey stuff. So I knew that. I just been listening to it. And so like I really wanted that gig. Never got the gig.

And maybe I didn't follow some of these other things. But I definitely followed the learn. music but I never was like I was entitled to it I was just another young pianist that like he's or he got the gig and it was all good like I learned so much from being I almost feel connected with that band in fact sometimes people like did you ever get a chance to play play play I'm almost like yeah well on the records and I learned the music and I saw him live and I got to meet him that was good enough yeah what's the worst that you happen you learn a bunch of hip stuff exactly yeah so learn the music number three is to don't be nini and don't be group that's right

If I call you for a gig and you say, yeah, I can do the gig. Now, I'm going to be 35 minutes late. And I'm going to need you to bring an amp for me. Right. And I need a ride. And can I get paid up front? Right. Oh, and the gigs in Germany, I'm going to need a business class ticket to get there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's okay. That's an our writer. No, but you know what I'm saying? Like, make it easy on the person who's hiring you. Right. And I would just say what goes along with this is, you know, the reason we had a that don't be greedy, don't be needy, don't be greedy.

It's okay to ask for stuff, but make sure it's not from a needy standpoint. So, like, ask for things, first of all, know your place and know your level, know what you're dealing with. Like, don't ask for stuff that's just, there's no way they could afford it or the gig would justify it. But anything that'll make the gig better. Oh, yeah. That you can't take care of yourself.

Like, don't be like, yeah, send me over the music if you can, if there's another way that you could learn it or whatever. Right, right. But I mean, like, as long as you come from an attitude of, let's make the gig good, That's a great point. This is a great caveat. It is not needy for you to say to someone who hired you for the gig, like, hey, is there any music I can check out? Yeah.

Or, like, is there anything I should be listening to leading up to this? What kind of vibe are you going for? I would love to make this the best possible thing. Yeah. You know, is there a rehearsal? Like, any of these questions, I think, are totally cool. But don't be so pushy either, though. Talkative.

You're kind of overdoing it. Okay, sorry. Yeah. No, I'll give you good example. Yeah. We're going to use you, Adam. So you've done some gigs. one of your regular gigs, they didn't have a piano, I believe, and you almost, you might have

arranged to get a piano there. I did. And so that might, some people might have seen that as a stick in the mud thing, but you had a vision of creating something there. And then you proactively, you weren't like, oh, I got to have a piano set up and has to be tuned every time. You even learn to tune and would do that, you know, all, because it's all in the service of the gig.

Right. So some people might be like, oh, why can you just bring a keyboard? I got to, like, have a piano in here, and it's going to be a pain. But that's not being needy. that's being proactive. Well, no. I mean, you are needing something, but you're doing what you can

to make it happen. It's fairly needy, but I had a vision for the gig that you're talking about, and I approached the venue owner, and I said, listen, I can get you a piano in here if you can maintain it.

And I kind of like, you know, pitched him my vision. Yeah. And so he went for it, and it worked out great. Yep. And now there's a, you know, cute little piano in there

that I can play and don't have to bring a keyboard. That's right. And then, yeah, and I've worked with some vocalists before that in situations, I mean, look, we all want to have a finely tuned piano and we try to get the best, you know, available. But that can be costly at times.

But the way I'll put it and take it away from me being needy, a lot of times I'm like, and they make sure that it's a good piano and that it's, you know, hopefully some specifications, but definitely that it's tuned right before the gig. And they're like, oh, I don't know if they, and I'll say, well, look, I'll play on whatever if I have to, but this is more for the vocalist

so that as I accompany him or her, that makes their life easier. So you kind of make, And it's true. It's really like, I mean, no one wants to play out of tune piano, but you definitely don't want to sing with this. This is to make them sound good. It has to be tuned.

Yeah, I agree with that. Number four. Man, you're so needy. Do your own thing, too. So I'm glad you brought up. You watch a while now. I'm glad you brought up that regular gig that I got the piano on because one of the the reasons why I wanted to have this regular gig is because I noticed that some people thought

that I was just a arranger. Or maybe I just played guitar on the 442. You know what I mean? Like, I wanted to show that I was also. a jazz pianist and I could do that on the regular. And so I wanted to kind of make that known in the scene. And so having your own thing going, and especially if you can make it good, if you're trying to make it a good representation of what you can do, you will get other gigs from people being like, oh, they do that. Oh, cool.

Yeah. Yeah, you have to, you know, much in the way we talked earlier about learning music for a situation, that's kind of proactively putting yourself into, it's painting it done, as we would say, right? Love that. You're painting it done. Like you're already in that place. You're dressed for success. Remember the Dress for Success program? I do.

Or as we do around here, dress for failure. You know, we go a little, that's the millennial way to, not the millennial. Yeah. No,

I was wearing suits. Everybody was making fun of me. Well, I mean, it's always funny like, you know, the young lions to whatever. No, but I mean, you know, dressed up. I was wearing big suits.

I was his way. Yeah. Big shout out to Willie Ware. And the Oak Tree, Gallery of Mall. Oh, you know I bought my Z-Cavar Ritchies at the Oak Tree. Come on.

$100 for a suit, shirt, belt, and tie. Not a bad deal. No, but you want to put yourself into the position. Alex, you don't even know it. I'm Googling 90s. You have Richie pants, by the way. I mean, you might have to go back to the 80s for Oak Tree, though. But yeah, let people know what you can do before you start complaining that they're not

calling you to do that. Like, it can't just be something you talk about. Like, oh, I want to get this gig. Oh, I'm really good. How come you all want to call me? I want to get called more. But they let people see you. kind of like, yeah, if you're the top

NFL star, you don't have to go to tryouts. But even some of the top players go, no, I'm going to go let you see my stuff so I get that next big contract. I'm not just going to go on what I did last year. Or you haven't seen me yet, you know. Agreed. All right. So are we going to go to our last or is this a bonus? Bam, two, three, four. Oh, no, this is our last one.

We're going to Saul's bonus. Okay. This one is probably the most important. Oh, it definitely is. This could have been number one. Yeah. Don't be an Ahole. Ooh, you call an audible because I see don't be a jerk, but I hear you, brother. I meant more of an a hole. Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, could words express any better what you shouldn't do in order to get called more or to get called again, right? Yeah, and this even can work against you even if you're good. Yeah, you know what I mean? It really can. Because there's a lot of good players. There's a lot of good players. And not all of them are jerks, you know what I mean? When there are a couple of unnamed, we won't name them NFL top wide receivers that ended up sitting out the season and he thought he would get picked up by somebody, but even at that level, you know?

Yeah, does not get along with others. somebody else to catch the ball. Always somebody else to plump the fingers on the pina, as they say. But it's, this is a good point, actually, because you can practice all the time, and you can be a great player, and you can learn the music and all that, and then if you show up on the gig and you got a bad attitude, or you're not very nice, or your personal hygiene is questionable. Well, that's not being a jerk. Well, that's kind of is. I mean, yeah, I guess so. Yeah. I mean, there's, that, that's totally fixable. A sense of self-awareness. A little self-awareness goes a long way. Yeah, that's good. Well, I'll tell you

Another way you can get called more. Visit a place called open studio jazz.com. Oh, yeah. Because Open Studio Jazz, we won't necessarily, we can't help you not be an interpersonal jerk, but we can help you to relieve you some of some of your jerkiness in your jazz soloing. We can up your confidence level so that when you do get out

and get on the scene and learn the music and stop being so needy, you've got a little bit more to play. You got some more ideas because this is a place you're going to come and learn from the best of the best. But not only are they the best and the best. But wait, there's more. They are some of the hand-picked greatest teachers and also some of the top surgeons as well.

They are, wait, am I taking it too far? No, you got it right. No, but these are really, you know, we put together a wonderful selection of courses that I think can just edify your own experience in taking your plane to the next level, no matter what level you're at. And we built this beautiful community.

That's the best part of it. So come join us. Open StudioJadz.com. That's right. Until tomorrow. We'll hear it.