Re: [Harp-L] re Death of Live Music/Not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Miguel Weissman <harpburn2@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Harp people! 

Think out of the box!!!

I live in NYC. The band I work with plays in the
NYC/Brooklyn area 5 nights a week. {Myspace/harpburn}
NYC is a tuff city to get a flowing because you have
the best musicians in the world coming to perform here
in our bigger venues and the talent living here is as
daunting. I have been in many bands and in the past
have played in this city for 3 people to thousands. 

I always struggled with how to create a niche here. I
use to mail out hundreds of letter in the eighties and
20 people would come. We have all been though this. 

The Cangelosi Cards now packs every club every night.
How, swing dancers and street performance.  All the
members are talented, that should be a given. Tamar
our singer is a big draw, Soooo talented and yes she
looks like Betty Boop sings like some one from the
Twentys and Looks the part {She?s a star}.  She has a
theater background and can make someone cry and laugh
in the same set.

We are not a swing band in the traditional sense. We
have a vintage sound, though really a fusion. The
dancers like us because we play in many different
tempos and styles but they are tied together by
placing them in the set at the right time and by our
arrangements. Style range from Old standards {Memories
Of You}, Dixieland/ Texas Swing {Bob Wills},
Spirituals, Blues and Gipsy music.

We do not use a drummer! The line up is; two guitars,
some times they just double the rhythm, sometimes one
of them plays alternate cords or fills. The trumpet
player and I are soloist and a horn section; I also
play rhythm usually at the peak of the song to take
the dynamites to a higher level. Our bass player
{Acoustic Bass} and the two guitar players are locked.
It?s amazing!

We have been together for 11 months, the band put in
10 hours a day 6 to 7 days a week. We are all full
time! Playing on the street and subways during the day
gets word out and we get so much work from that as
well. 

The swing community, get hip to it. Lots of work out
there, Blues bands, they love to dance to blues! Last
summer we did out first Swing camp. Good money and the
people are wonderful. This summer we will travel to
six camps playing for 500 to a 1,000 dancers for all
around the world. 

Our leader has some interesting concepts. He is 25
years old and quite smart; we do not have a CD.
Everyone wants to have a CD from us. Someday we will.
I own a recording studio my self and have been
producing music for 25 year. I?m 50 and have seen
stubborn people that work against them self?s. 

Jake is not that person, he put lots of thought in
every thing he does. We allow people to make amateur
recording of us and take photos, and never give them a
definite answer on the CD. 

We get all our gigs by word of mouth and by the press,
the swing community travels all over the world for
these events and now have been coming to NYC to see
us. I would disagree with people that feel that the
music business is in a bad way.  

File sharing on the Internet will made buying music a
thing of the past. That is not a good thing for us
composers, yes, but it seams that the records and film
companies, some good and some bad will be a thing of
the past.  

This means that live performances will come back.
In-order to make it in this ever changing world we
have to learn what is valuable and learn to control
our futures like people do in other professions, and
to be committed to your craft.

Peace all Miguel.

--- Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> 
> On Apr 14, 2007, at 6:52 PM, Garry Hodgson wrote:
> 
> > Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> >> I don't have a lot of sympathy for a fellow
> playing a several MILLION
> >> dollar violin
> >
> > you're not supposed to have sympathy for him. 
> you're supposed to
> > have sympathy for people who have no space for
> beauty in their lives.
> 
> I wonder how this whole fiasco would have gone over
> in Chi, N.Y., S.  
> Fran, Toronto or some other city with a busy
> commuter locale? How  
> about London, Paris, Tokyo ? I mean, I'm not capping
> on the people of  
> D.C. (I have a daughter there) but it's pretty
> intense up there.
> >
> > it was a beautiful article.  poignant.  sad.  i'm
> sorry you didn't  
> > get anything
> > out of it.
> 
> Gee Garry, I love you as a person because I have
> enjoyed your super  
> brain over the years, and I'm so sure you're
> correct, but I thought  
> it sucked. Maybe I was reading it (about 4 times)
> with a railroad tie  
> on my shoulder?
> Joey
> >
> >
> > ----
> > Garry Hodgson, Senior Software Geek, AT&T CSO
> >
> > nobody can do everything, but everybody can do
> something.
> > do something.
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
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> >
> >
> 
> _______________________________________________
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> 


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