What do jazz players do

[azureblue]

about people who talk loudly through your set? Those dunces in the audiences who sit at their table, probably half drunk, and try to talk over the music, and ruin the set not only for the musicians, but for those who came to listen?

I say this, because I just had a band I was playing in, suffer through a table of loud talkers - about halfway into the second set, the band leader stopped the band mid tune, and ask the yappers to share with the audience what they think is so important? The rest of the audience applauded......

I'm not saying people in the audience should be totally silent while the music is going on, but they should be aware of how loud they are talking.

[Ubersheist]

It depends on the situation. If it's a band that's hired as background music during a dinner... they don't do a thing, nor should they. It's not their job, not what they're there for. If it's a situation like at a club where people came to see the band, then I think your bandleader did the appropriate thing.

[robwren]

YouTube - "You're Talking Too Loud" by Dave Tull

[Chris K]

Originally Posted by robwren

YouTube - "You're Talking Too Loud" by Dave Tull

Yeah, a flügel will shut'm up allright

[RustyAxe]

Originally Posted by azureblue

I say this, because I just had a band I was playing in, suffer through a table of loud talkers - about halfway into the second set, the band leader stopped the band mid tune, and ask the yappers to share with the audience what they think is so important? The rest of the audience applauded......

Really? Seriously? Said that to paying patrons? I'm surprised the owner didn't throw you all out the door. A concert is one thing ... but even then the emcee or the people nearby will handle the problem. But if there are table and booze being sold, the band does nothing ... it's just part of playing in such places.

[azureblue]

you know, where people actually come to actually listen to the jazz group, not just some aggregate reading out the real book. As stated in the post quote, "came to listen". Check you comprehension- if the rest of the audience applauded, then the "owner" sure won't throw out a band he has already paid for & PO the listening audience. You must play a lot of those wallpaper jazz gigs....

[Rebop]

As a jazzer, I would have to say we suck it up. Our job is more background music than anything else a lot of the time, which does stink. If I was to tell any patron in a gig situation to shush we would probably get fired. We play gigs, not shows.

[gnjpowell]

Would be GREAT or what - if the front-man jumped down with the wireless mic, apologized for the music and asked them to repeat the conversation into the mic so everyone could hear about what was sooooo important!

[gscroggin]

Like a few people said, it depends on the gig. I've seen bandleaders like yours that tell people to STFU, owners/promoters do the same thing, and even other audience goers. That said, you go a wedding or corporate event, it's the band that has to STFU

For me, it depends on whether or not the (majority) people came to see/hear music, or they are there for something else entirely.

[Popps]

This just came up at pratice the other night. My drummer does a lot of jazz gigs and with one trio, the leader wants them to play softer if the room is loud. It seems when they have tried it, it has forced the crown to quiet down to hear the band. Once they get the crown with them, they then bring up the energy level. It works for them...

[Neon Scribe]

One of my favorite recordings of all time is Sunday at the Village Vanguard with the Bill Evans Trio from 1961. I discovered it in the mid-70's when it was 15 years old; now it's 50 years old! Incredible playing that every bass player should hear (triplet arpeggios in thumb position) by Scott LaFaro who died tragically two weeks later. I always hated the bar sounds in that recording: the clinking glasses and conversation. How could anyone be in that club at that moment and not sit in rapt silent attention? Then I read an interview with Paul Motian, the drummer in the trio, about 10 years ago.

New York Journal: That Sunday : The New Yorker

"You know what I like best on that record?" Motian asked. "The sounds of all those people, glasses and chatter- I mean, I know you’re supposed to be very offended and all, but I like it. They’re just there and all."

That changed my perspective. It was a gig in a bar. Some people were there to listen, some were just there for the atmosphere, but they all supported the musicians with their dollars and their presence.

[HaVIC5]

Charles Mingus was notorious for hating any sound in the audience, and was of the opinion (that I tend to share) that jazz was not wallpaper music and deserved the exact same respect that a classical chamber concert demanded. He would often simply refuse to play until the audience shut up, sometimes setting up a chess board and playing chess with Jacki Byard until people noticed that the musicians on stage weren't playing. His relationship with the audience was often so antagonistic that he recorded a fake live album called Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus where he recorded fake between song banter, audience noise and applause just so he didn't have to deal with recording an actual live album at a club.

[totallyfrozen]

While I understand the frustration, and I thoroughly love jazz, I have to say "get over yourself". As far as entertainment goes, jazz isn't any better or different than other genres. Country bands probably don't want people talking over them either, right? The point is that you're there as hired entertainment; you're not the focal point of these people's lives. When I was a radio DJ, I had to resign myself to the fact that 90% of the time, I was just background noise for people's lives. That's just life as an entertainer. If you want undivided attention, be an actor. Sure, it doesn't feel all that great to study and practice your butt off so that you can play out and have drunks talk over you, but we're not the center of their lives. You get paid to be there and they are paying to be there--they get to do what they want and you just have to suck it up. If there's trouble, the club manager is there to handle it.

[kesslari]

Originally Posted by Neon Scribe

"You know what I like best on that record?" Motian asked. "The sounds of all those people, glasses and chatter- I mean, I know you’re supposed to be very offended and all, but I like it. They’re just there and all."

That changed my perspective. It was a gig in a bar. Some people were there to listen, some were just there for the atmosphere, but they all supported the musicians with their dollars and their presence.

That's very cool. Nice shift in perspective.

Reminds me of when I used to play Arab music here in the US (lots of cabaret gigs for bellydancers but also some large concerts).
I saw at a concert, Arabs get up, walk around, talk to friends, etc. I was pretty weirded out at first, until I learned from the other musicians that in that culture, music is an accompaniment for life - if the people were just sitting there it would be a sign that they were bored or being polite.

At the other end, I understand that early on, American rock performers in Japan would get weirded out that the Japanese didn't "get into it" like Americans - much more polite audience. That has probably changed as culture has shifted.

Anyway, I appreciate Motian's comment.

[AuntieBeeb]

Back when my jazz band was gigging fairly regularly, we were playing venues and events where we were used to a bit of background hum from the crowd. Then one night we were invited to do a closing set for an open mic night where they normally insisted that the crowd remain silent while the musicians were performing - ironically we found the silence strangely oppressive. After the first song we told the crowd we'd be happy if they wanted to talk quietly amongst themselves while we were playing.

I guess that's the not the same as having loud audience members though - I think there's a volume level below which background chatter gives the room a bit of life, and above which it begins to disrupt the music.

[Freddels]

I've seen them Shush the audience (offending members); I've seen them ask them to please stop talking; and, I've seen them ask the offending parties to leave.

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by azureblue

about people who talk loudly through your set? Those dunces in the audiences who sit at their table, probably half drunk, and try to talk over the music, and ruin the set not only for the musicians, but for those who came to listen?

I say this, because I just had a band I was playing in, suffer through a table of loud talkers - about halfway into the second set, the band leader stopped the band mid tune, and ask the yappers to share with the audience what they think is so important? The rest of the audience applauded......

I'm not saying people in the audience should be totally silent while the music is going on, but they should be aware of how loud they are talking.

unfortunately,it's the world we live in.....i attended a singer songwriter type show and the moron in front of me just kept going whoo,loudly through the whole thing.....at 10 bucks a head i was mighty po'd....and that's at the so called hip venue.....unfortunately those same hipsters still think "cool" is to blaze through folsom prison blues at 160 bpm,in an endless jam..........but thats just modern audiences...they know all the cool sounding jargon,but really have no concept of music as something to listen to......music is no longer important enough to most to pay any mind to.....just like a table full of kids sitting in a cafe,all texting people who are not there,while basically ignoring the ones across the table.....

even in the eighties i can recall shows in concert hall style venues @ forty dollar ticket prices where i had to tell drunks to shut up.....it used to be one or two that always had to loudly yell something that said "look at me ma".....if you've heard rock and roll animal,you'll see what i mean ....... now everybody wants to announce that they are there......concerts/shows are where you go to be seen,yell,scream and yak,and music is something you shuffle thru your i pood on the bus,in 20 second blurbs,before you shift to the next track.....

even classical shows sound like the cancer ward here with all the nervous coughing and rustling,which i believe is a subconscious "look at me ma" .....i saw a concert at the barbican once,and i could not believe how quiet and polite the audience was...i try to imagine how they used to sit through 4 hour operas,and symphonic works a century or two ago...

big rock shows started audiences on the path to ruin and i poods will finish the job.....even bands that gauge their success on whether or not people dance share the blame.....it strikes me as ironic that the girls who will wiggle their butts on a dance floor to almost anything that has a beat have become the final arbiters of what constitutes a good band.....

[AuntieBeeb]

Originally Posted by Jim Campbell

.....it used to be one or two that always had to loudly yell something that said "look at me ma".....if you've heard rock and roll animal,you'll see what i mean ....... now everybody wants to announce that they are there......concerts/shows are where you go to be seen,yell,scream and yak,and music is something you shuffle thru your i pood on the bus,in 20 second blurbs,before you shift to the next track.....

I blame Twitter.

[MyMusic]

Miles Davis was very intolerant of anyone not listening when he was playing. I heard of one instance when he simply stopped playing and left the stage.

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by AuntieBeeb

I blame Twitter.

nah....i've been seeing it since before most people had pc's at home