Advice on looking for other players to work with

[AlChuck]

Hey all, I've finally bit the bullet and advertised in the local Craig's List for other musicians to play with. My first goal is to find a flute or sax player or some such melodic intrument, and I will play comp while they play melodies of jazz standards, show tunes, etc., and then we will go get gigs in some local restuarants, hotels, parties, etc. -- classy, sophisticated wallpaper jazz, in brief. The goal is some $ on the side, not a living...

My second goal is to find some other players to jam jazz tunes with, hopefully in front of an audience. The only way I'm going to get good as an improvisor is to do this. For this goal a little renumeration would be nice but the music, the learning, and the interaction -- and the exposure -- is more important. I have some people I know, but they're all thirty miles away across a bridge, so it's hard to get anything too regular happening.

My third goal is to find some songwriters or composers that might need some guitar fills or rhythm parts or solos on their demos.

So the responses are rolling in, about ten-twelve so far in a couple of days.

My question is -- does anyone have any advice? I haven't done this for twenty years, and I'm a little nervous about it. And I've never tried to market myself to play the kinds of gigs I'm talking about -- I've only played in rock bands and I had little if anything to do with finding the gigs.

I can read and I can pretty much learn stuff fast, though I've never been great at being able to play fifty or a hundred or five hundred songs from memory. My reading is just shy of being able to do it comfortably by sight, and getting better all the time.

Thanks all. It's a scary time but exciting, too...

[Robertt8]

you'll be fine...I'm from San Francisco, and have used Craigslist.com to much success. I found it important to be as specific as possible in your post, and even use examples as to the type of music you're intending to play together, or even (as I did) links to mp3s of my current music and basically told them that if they didn't like it, don't bother replying cuz it ain't going to work. I think that's helped a lot...it weeds out the guys who really are not into what your playing.

It's always a little weird when you meet someone for the first time to play. I really don't have a system, but there are a lot of weird moments where you're staring at each other thinking...um...so...what do you want to play...and the answer is always...um...whatever...(which doesn't help). I had a buddy that, when auditioning guys, would always meet them out at a bar or something to see if they even got along over a beer. If that worked he'd invite them to play with the band. It also doesn't hurt to have a 6 pack sitting around...a little booze always loosens people up...booze is the answer to everything

also, posting on a monday morning or friday morning seemed to get the best hits...it's almost like people saw some great band over the weekend and were inspired to play or want to take advantage of the weekend with some jams....um...not sure if I answered your question or not, but good luck!

[AlChuck]

Thanks, Robert8, some good advice. I think I was pretty precise in my post, and I did point to some MP3s. So far I've had eight responses, a range of instruments from flute and sax to violin to guitar. I'll be getting together with most if not all of them over the next week or so, and we'll see how it goes.

[johneeeveee]

all good advice, and craigslist can be great. here's a tip for ya: even though you have been precise with your listing, you will undoubtedly get lots of responses from very inapropriate musicians. a good way to weed them out is to let them do the talking when you get them on the phone. ask them what they're looking for and what they're into, rather than tell them what you want, only to have them agree, so they can come waste your time, or have you find out later. i'm not saying all people will mislead you, but there are folks out there that will have you believe things that simply aren't true, just to get an audition. i'm not sure why, exactly, but i've experienced it first hand. crazy.
peace - jv

[AlChuck]

Great idea, johneeeveee!

Got my first thing today, this one was actually an ad I answered from a singer looking for a pianist. After listening to a couple of demos of me accompanying another singer in the same bag, she wanted to give me a shot. There'll also be a bassist, drummer, and pianist there today. We'll see how it goes.

[pashop]

Its great that your getting a good response. In certain parts of the country this works better than others. Areas where there is allot of pickup work its tougher to find people that are into your project especially when it comes to writing. Allot of guys just want to show up, read charts and get paid. Its that Casino/ Cruise Ship attitude. As long as your organized, let everyone know exactly what you expect from the start you will be able to weed out players pretty quick. The Jazz community is easier as in many cases its smaller and everyone knows everyone so finding the bad apples comes fast.
Best of luck.....20 yrs is a long time to get the itch

[AlChuck]

The singer thing went... well, let's just say she's got a terrific voice, if only she can learn to count and stay within the same state as the beat... "embellishing the melody" or "taking liberties with the melody" is a lame excuse when you're three or four bars ahead of the rhythm section by the end of the first chorus...

But then another thing happened in the evening, close to home, and it was terrific - great guys, good players all, very friendly and accomodating... there was a wonderful violin player, who actually was another of the people who had contacted me in response to my ad... I found myself playing pretty darn well, and even when I got lost I found my way back pretty readily, and I found myself, more often than not, playing pretty freely and confidently.