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Double Bass When did musicians become respectable?

#4
I don't know... I guess it depends on a lot of factors. What era, what kind of musicians etc. etc.
My guess though, is that musicians generally are people that are not under the radar. You might be a pretty simple person living in a one bedroom apartment downtown, or even sharing an apartment with a roommate, and you play a few gigs around town, in some bars etc. and then you happened to know someone, or play in a band, and then you get this gig playing for the President, or any other super high profile gig, and you get treated like a King, you get to stay in very cool hotel, the hotel is super busy, they run out of rooms so they have to give you this incredible suite that cost $1200 a night, and you get paid a lot of money, etc. etc. and then the next day you are playing at the local bar in your home town for $50 on a monday or tuesday night! LOL
I think unless you are really famous, most musicians on an average basis to they share of low profile gigs and high profile gigs, maybe one more than the other, and/or somewhere in between. And as far as the life style, i think that amongst the guys that are professional musicians but yet unknown, that can be all over the place. Some people might be considerably more successful than others financially and yet be completely obscure to most people. And I have a feeling that it's been like that forever. Sometimes, we get to hang out with some real wealthy people, very intellectual people, famous people, but also with the average Joe, drunks, and everything in between, you name it. I don't think we can be put in any category. All kinds of people, from all kinds of walk in life take a look at us, and they go like: "Yeah, this guys is OK! ;-)
 
#7
No, I am genuinely curious. And have been registered for more than two years, this isnt a fake account.

I'm just curious if there was a big movement that brought musicians into a position of interest, or even envy. I'm pretty sure you wouldnt be looked down upon if you told someone you play in an orchestra.

I've always heard of classical composers living pretty high lives, were they viewed differently than the musicians that played their music?
 
#9
i think if you go way back you'll find that folks like haydn, jean baptiste lully, beethoven, mozart, etc. were doing quite well for themselves. these guys were not just composers, they were also musicians. virtuoso players known to be great improvisers, etc. they were celebrities with fantastic reputations in their day and lived very comfortably compared to the average lay person, thanks to the patronage of some of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals of their time. i suppose i don't understand how this is a new phenomenon. a few highly talented and extraordinarily lucky individuals enjoy the finest luxuries while the rest of us live pretty average lives. seems like the way it's been.
 
#14
nimbleswitch said:
It depends upon whether they want to listen to you play, or you want to marry their daughter.
Click to expand...

My wife's mother actually asked her what she was thinking even dating me once she found out I was a musician. :eek: :hiding:


We had been together six to nine months, and all we ever told her was that I worked on the weekends, and once mom found out it was a steady paying gig, she was ok with it.:hyper::help:
 
#15
I'm not a musician, I just have a lot of musician friends. One of the saddest things for me is to see them have to work at something else to pay the rent.

Just an example: Before I knew him, one of these guys in particular, a double bassist, got a huge standing O as the up-front featured soloist for an entire hour-long set at the annual Jazz in the Pines Festival in Idyllwild, California, four years back. As I was leaving that performance, I said to the man walking next to me (whom I didn't know from Adam) "Have you ever heard articulation and intonation like that on a bass before?" He replied, "Well, . . . Ah'm from N'Awlins, . . . so, yes, Ah hev. . . . But not outside N'Awlins."

The very next day Katrina hit, but that has nothing to do with it. The point is that this fine bassist must work at another occupation that has nothing to do with music. How he got to be that good on bass while not being able to devote full time to it, I'll never understand. Natural talent, I guess. But, oh, would I love for him to be able to work full time as a musician. He's still a young man, and I know he wants that, too.

But in these days when audiences will pay $150-$200 a ticket to "hear" someone who can't sing without a sound engineer to drown them under a cacophony, . . . and these same audiences think jazz is "old time" music. That's really, really sad to me.
 

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