New Year's Eve Gig

[cenkbass]

Where are you located I’m an experienced bassist in Turkish and Greek styles

 

[LBS-bass]

This. I would contact the band leader and be totally honest about where you stand. For all you know the drummer has misrepresented the situation to the band leader (the drummer himself might not even be aware of what he’s gotten himself into repertoire/style-wise). Once the band leader has all the information let him decide, but I’d also make it clear that you have no intention of spending the night in a state of panic and that you need a song list and charts for you to do your job properly. If odd time signatures are, indeed, the order of the day then that would be my primary concern (having to count all night wouldn’t be a whole lot of fun). But, again, I would discuss the situation with the band leader. Good luck!

Another thing to consider is that right now they have time to find another band. If the drummer and the OP are both actually not familiar with the genre, this can only be awful. The BL right now has time to bow out with the explanation that his best players aren't able to be there. He can make up an excuse about them being sick, or whatever, but he is at least in a position now to not leave them high and dry. But trying to pull off an odd-time gig with a drummer who can't play it is probably not going to go well. We don't know if that's the case, but the fact that they don't really know the drummer, and the drummer asked a bassist who also doesn't know the music, seems very sketchy to me.

I think a frank conversation between the OP and the BL needs to happen ASAP.

 

[Leigh Semmens]

You've spoken with the BL, so find out from him what is expected, and what you are going to get out of it! If he can't answer that then run!!!

 

[mcnach]

About 2 weeks ago a (particularly bad) drummer I have gigged with once called me and asked whether I was available to do a gig on New Year's eve. Having never played in the required genre before (basically some Greek/Turkish folk music), and not being too keen on studying a whole new setlist within a limited amount of time I clearly told the guy that I was inexperienced with the genre, I did not know any of the songs, I did not know whether I can spare time to work on it but I could possibly read chords (if they would be made available to me) and thus try to serve the song as best as I could. In addition, I have asked for the highest payment I could fathom, basically asking them not to hire me and go look for someone else. To my surprise, the drummer replied that they have agreed with the conditions.

They were supposed to share the setlist a week ago, having only 10 days left I started to freak out gradually. I have called the BL yesterday to ask for the setlist (he's still to share it) and I learned that they have never worked with the drummer also. I don't even know how well the drummer has communicated my inexperience with the genre, or if he told them I am only semi-pro, while the other people in the band are trying to make their living from this. This thing suddenly started to feel like a very bad idea. On the other hand, I know that I will never gain the experience with the particularly genre (which usually pays good in such organizations) if I don't take the job. How would you navigate something like this? Any thought would be appreciated.

Not sure what's the best way to 'navigate' this, at this stage. I just wanted to point something that may be obvious but so any people seem to ignore:

If you want to say no, say no.
Otherwise... here we are.

Life is simpler when people say what they mean rather than hope others make the decisions they want for them.

 

[Relsom]

I’m soiling myself from fear just reading the thread….

Is that you?

 

[JonathanPDX]

Wow, I'm surprised how many people would bail on a very good paying gig just because the drummer might suck. How the heck do you pay your rent as a musician without ever working with someone in the band who isn't as good as you? How are you making a career out of music only playing with top-tier drummers?!

First, if you're a pro, you do the best you can with what you have to work with and you get paid. You don't owe anything more than that. If they hamstring you with lack of info or details, and you were up front about your needs, that's on them, not you. If their mistakes reduce your ability to turn in a stellar performance that's on them, not you. You owe them what you said, you didn't promise something you couldn't deliver, and you made it clear what you are and are not as a musician. That leaves it up to them to hire you or someone else, and if they pick you then you show up and do what you promised.

I've played very similar gigs before. I had a NYE show once that was an almost unfathomable train wreck: a professional tribute act singer plus an amateur guitarist, a drummer who had literally never heard a single song of the source material, and me, a hired gun bass player, at a fancy resort on NYE with one thrown-together rehearsal the day before the gig. It was a disaster, we were terrible, and I took my pay and went home. Life went on. I paid my rent on time. If the club never booked that act again and they looked stupid it sure wasn't my fault.

The best thing about being a sideman is that you don't even have to worry about all that stuff. You show up, play your bass, take your money, and let it go when you walk out the door. Whether or not the band leader overpromised, under delivered, hired the wrong guys, or mismanaged his gig into the ground is none of your concern.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

Question for those of you who have played in this genre to some extent. Which mode(s) should the OP be very fluent with? Please don't reply "all of them"

Phyrgian scale comes up often.

 

[Papageno]

"Charts" (assuming you get them...) can be almost essentially anything, ranging from legit lead-sheets with music notation, lyrics, and chords (best case scenario) to poor quality sheets with just lyrics and a bunch of chords without any useful information rhythm and form (worst case scenario), or anything in between.

A better approach would have been to say: give me the charts by date X, give me 24h to have a look at them, and I'll tell you whether I can make it for the gig. Then you would know what you're commiting to.

 

[bass12]

Wow, I'm surprised how many people would bail on a very good paying gig just because the drummer might suck. How the heck do you pay your rent as a musician without ever working with someone in the band who isn't as good as you? How are you making a career out of music only playing with top-tier drummers?!

First, if you're a pro, you do the best you can with what you have to work with and you get paid. You don't owe anything more than that. If they hamstring you with lack of info or details, and you were up front about your needs, that's on them, not you. If their mistakes reduce your ability to turn in a stellar performance that's on them, not you. You owe them what you said, you didn't promise something you couldn't deliver, and you made it clear what you are and are not as a musician. That leaves it up to them to hire you or someone else, and if they pick you then you show up and do what you promised.

I've played very similar gigs before. I had a NYE show once that was an almost unfathomable train wreck: a professional tribute act singer plus an amateur guitarist, a drummer who had literally never heard a single song of the source material, and me, a hired gun bass player, at a fancy resort on NYE with one thrown-together rehearsal the day before the gig. It was a disaster, we were terrible, and I took my pay and went home. Life went on. I paid my rent on time. If the club never booked that act again and they looked stupid it sure wasn't my fault.

The best thing about being a sideman is that you don't even have to worry about all that stuff. You show up, play your bass, take your money, and let it go when you walk out the door. Whether or not the band leader overpromised, under delivered, hired the wrong guys, or mismanaged his gig into the ground is none of your concern.

It doesn't seem to me that the drummer sucking is the main issue here. Rather it's the fact that the OP might be way over his head where the music is concerned. The professional thing to do here, in my opinion, is to talk directly to the band leader. How many bebop band leaders would be happy finding out that the bassist who is booked on the gig has never played jazz before?

 

[buldog5151bass]

OP has spoken with BL without getting the charts.

Roots, follow lead hand of lead player. Keep it simple.

 

[Jason Hollar]

A quick Spotify search of traditional Greek music just turned up hundreds of “standards” I’ve never heard before … the only one I’ve ever played is Zorba at a wedding a long time ago. (We rocked it).

I’ve done a lot of weddings where we’ll play an obligatory tarantella or hora or polka and it’s an amazing experience with an appreciative crowd.

But wow it would take me some serious prep time to pull off a whole night of an ethnic style I’m completely unfamiliar with.

I hope the OP at least has a set list by now - because this thread is making me panic a little - lol -

Good luck! Keep us posted!

 

[Lowandfat]

I will say again, if you are completely unversed in the complex rhythms involved in this music, do not take this gig. "Following the roots", or a rudimentary chart, do not help you play competently in 7/8 or 9/8, and as mentioned, they don't even count those meters the way a Western-trained musician normally would.

 

[LBS-bass]

Wow, I'm surprised how many people would bail on a very good paying gig just because the drummer might suck. How the heck do you pay your rent as a musician without ever working with someone in the band who isn't as good as you? How are you making a career out of music only playing with top-tier drummers?!

I don't make my living as a musician anymore.

I choose my battles based on other factors. I assume if the OP needs the money badly enough, he's not here asking us this question. If he's asking the question, he wants real advice, not derision because he isn't mercenary enough.

So yes, I came up through the ranks as a working musician and I've played with crappy drummers, great drummers, and everything in between. I get to choose now. That's not a horrible thing. I did my job for years and never blinked twice. Now I get to make decisions based on other things. Everyone's different.

And yes, it's very much my concern when I get up on a stage with people who embarrass me with their incompetence. That's not the way I've managed my post-retirement career, and worrying about such things is a big part of the reason I've been able to get better and better jobs. People don't watch a crappy band and think "wow, they suck, but I'd really love to hire that bassist."

 

[LBS-bass]

It doesn't seem to me that the drummer sucking is the main issue here. Rather it's the fact that the OP might be way over his head where the music is concerned. The professional thing to do here, in my opinion, is to talk directly to the band leader. How many bebop band leaders would be happy finding out that the bassist who is booked on the gig has never played jazz before?

It's a bit surprising to me the number of people who have apparently never heard middle eastern music. This isn't your Mustang Sally or Real Book sort of gig. I feel bad for someone who is that needy for cash that they'd take a job knowing that they'll not do it well, and I feel worse for the people who hired them.

 

[gln1955]

Wow, I'm surprised how many people would bail on a very good paying gig just because the drummer might suck. How the heck do you pay your rent as a musician without ever working with someone in the band who isn't as good as you? How are you making a career out of music only playing with top-tier drummers?!

First, if you're a pro, you do the best you can with what you have to work with and you get paid. You don't owe anything more than that. If they hamstring you with lack of info or details, and you were up front about your needs, that's on them, not you. If their mistakes reduce your ability to turn in a stellar performance that's on them, not you. You owe them what you said, you didn't promise something you couldn't deliver, and you made it clear what you are and are not as a musician. That leaves it up to them to hire you or someone else, and if they pick you then you show up and do what you promised.

I've played very similar gigs before. I had a NYE show once that was an almost unfathomable train wreck: a professional tribute act singer plus an amateur guitarist, a drummer who had literally never heard a single song of the source material, and me, a hired gun bass player, at a fancy resort on NYE with one thrown-together rehearsal the day before the gig. It was a disaster, we were terrible, and I took my pay and went home. Life went on. I paid my rent on time. If the club never booked that act again and they looked stupid it sure wasn't my fault.

The best thing about being a sideman is that you don't even have to worry about all that stuff. You show up, play your bass, take your money, and let it go when you walk out the door. Whether or not the band leader overpromised, under delivered, hired the wrong guys, or mismanaged his gig into the ground is none of your concern.

OP wants to break into this kind of work. Sucking on your first gig is not the way to do it, no matter who's fault it is.

 

[bass12]

It's a bit surprising to me the number of people who have apparently never heard middle eastern music. This isn't your Mustang Sally or Real Book sort of gig. I feel bad for someone who is that needy for cash that they'd take a job knowing that they'll not do it well, and I feel worse for the people who hired them.

I also find it weird that some people think the "professional" thing to do is go ahead with the gig without even having a thorough discussion with the band leader regarding options. Most of my gigging time is as a sideman but I occasionally lead a band and hire musicians. If someone I'd hired was feeling as apprehensive about a gig as the OP seems to feel I would absolutely want that person to come to me with their concerns. At the very least I could then tailor the set to avoid as many train wrecks as possible.

 

[duruk]

Thank you all for your input. I have managed to get the other people in the band to meet for a rehearsal, alas not earlier than the 26th.Still, I guess it will give us an opportunity to see how much of a trainwreck we're headed for. By the way it appears that the band will consist an acoustic guitar, clarinet, bass and percussion, talk about feeling exposed out in the open. Will try to update after the rehearsal.

 

[KenD]

Thank you all for your input. I have managed to get the other people in the band to meet for a rehearsal, alas not earlier than the 26th.Still, I guess it will give us an opportunity to see how much of a trainwreck we're headed for. By the way it appears that the band will consist an acoustic guitar, clarinet, bass and percussion, talk about feeling exposed out in the open. Will try to update after the rehearsal.

You have done all you can to make this work, short of changing your surname to Bassopolous With all the concern and effort you have put in, I have a feeling it's going to work out fine, probably better than you expect. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[KenD]

@duruk Bumping this thread. Not to be nosey (well, too nosey) I'm very curious how this gig eventually played out. Care to share?

 

[duruk]

It was a trainwreck alright, one of the worst I have ever seen. Yet I did not feel too bad/guilty about it because there were so many problems before it came to my experience with the genre or even the competency of the drummer. For starters the 'stage' was too small, there were no monitors whatsoever, and I could not hear myself at all, so had to solely depend on the chords that were open between me and the BL (guitarist/vocalist). On top, the saxophone player (who admittedly had the most practical experience) suggested to the BL to use some rhythm-based backing track right before we started the second set, and also told us all to follow his lead. So there we were, not able to hear the backing track properly gradually starting to lag behind it, the saxophone player switching from one song to another (in a medley mode/without stopping) just telling us the main chord of the song, then leaving us to figure out the chord progression (again, without being able to hear myself). So I mostly tried to use safe chords, sometimes stayed at the main chord as a pedal note, tried to concentrate on the rhythm and tried to look like everything was under control. At some point, the BL could not take any more of it, and announced that "we will be back after a short break". Right after this announcement, the drummer ran out of the restaurant for a smoke, but before we could put down our instruments the owner of the restaurant reminded us there were only 15 minutes until midnight and that we shouldn't take a break at that moment. So we played 15 minutes more (maybe the longest 15 minutes I have experienced), without a drummer. Anyway, after the celebration, things were a little bit better, we switched to calmer songs, I had to sing a requested song no one ever in the band knew the lyrics of, etc.

I know there were people recommending me not to go on through with this gig (and I respect their opinion) but I'm still glad I did try it because I told them that I would, I had gained some valuable experience, I got paid full (and I am surprised by it) which I honestly needed a lot, made some connections that may lead to other gigs (turns out that the sax player occasionally plays for some pretty big names), and maybe most important at all, I felt good that I don't go at such restaurants and spend such amounts for new year celebrations because honestly, I felt bad for the customers.

Also, thanks everyone for their interest/replies. Wishing all you guys a Happy New Year.