🎟🎬Watch my other Award-Winning Jazz Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! "I LOVE JAZZ" Hats, Mugs and Tees! www.benmakinen.com/merch 🎯 JAZZTOWN - Award-Winning Film: What Is Jazz? JAZZTOWN (now on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play, Vimeo) AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 ❤️If you enjoyed this video consider leaving a tip! Your support helps me keep making content like this. LEAVE A TIP HERE!❤www.paypal.me/benmakinen🎯 JAZZTOWN Official Trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 🥁Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 🌞I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. 🚨We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc Who Killed Jazz ruclips.net/video/XMC442DYlC4/видео.html
"A jazz musician is someone that puts a $5,000 horn in a $500 car and drives 50 miles for $5 gig" as the saying goes. How sad it is to see the great Ron Miles who passed away in 2022 at the beginning of this superb documentary uttering something to that effect with complete candor. It's nigh on impossible to make it to the jazz world especially today and despite the blood, sweat and tears any aspiring jazz musician must shed many indomitable souls that could make it more easily in other more commercial idioms still persist; this is the jazz musician's predicament. There's a strong stoic and tragic element involved in jazz, and its musicians are the messengers and flame keepers and In spite of all the adversity, jazz is a triumphant music that mirrors life. This short reminded me on places of The Jazz Loft, another great jazz doc that every jazz lover should check out. Congrats again, great job.
Thank you @diment0857 - much appreciated - you are clearly one of the Warriors of Truth and Beauty ... It is only criminal, I believe, for music universities (high band directors actually) to not acknowledge, address, and prepare their students for the economic realities outside the safety net of academia. It is almost as simple as just not shaming the other genres (not encouraging the jazz snob ethic) ... that way a "jazz" musician may be more likely and willing to seek out the blues, country, pop, funk, show, cruise ship etc gigs needed to pay the bills and gain necessary experiences once out in the "real" world. The Jazz Loft is an amazing film! Since your into this, have you seen the brilliant 1962 B&W drama All Night Long ? with appearances by Charles Mingus and Dave Brubeck! www.imdb.com/title/tt0054614/ Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
@@BmakinFilm thanks! I couldn't agree more with your remarks on academia and the jazz snob ethic (as an aside, John Zorn's Naked City have recorded a piece "Jazz Snob Eat Sh@t"), after all it's just music, and, lest we forget, many of the greats worked as session players to pay the bills, nothing wrong with that (e.g. Barney Kessel, Toots Thielemans, Howard Roberts and a ton of others). Thanks for the links, I haven't seen All Night Long (but sure will), before I read this reply I had already discovered JazzTown on Vimeo (which I bought) and will watch eagerly. Both the women in jazz and the role of native American influences are great topics, your approach and choice of material shows great knowledge and sensitivity, waiting for these films to be released.
il y a un titre que j'ailu dans un article et qui en dit tellement à savoir : le jazz n'est plus supporté que par la classe intellectuelle ,et ce titre se terminait par une interrogation ..Pour ce qui me concerne ,le jazz aurait pu et le peut encore envahir le monde entier si on lui donne tout les moyens .Cest une forme de mondialisation culturelle qui aurait pu reussir pour les USA .et c'est toujour possible et d'actualité ..
I’m watching this documentary, you ain’t never lied, Ben. It’s not just the jazz community that’s affected by all of this, it’s the whole music community and I play blues and other styles of music, I’m a fellow musician also and a bassist. We’re all going through the same things
Thank you brother! Yes, we are all in this together. I was hoping people would see this as a metaphore for all live musicians. My first feature length doc is a bit more upbeat: JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025. I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Can you do it for the love of the music and not money? I learned to separate those things a long time ago, because I had to in order to not set myself up for failure. I played covers for money and originals for fun, because I understood that people don't pay up front for art. The fact of the matter is, in my area, most people don't have much money to give, so asking for more will get you nowhere. The money isn't available. The issue with conflating music with money is that they don't go together if you want to express yourself, unless you're just like everyone else. That's why pop music is popular. It's about stroking the audience's ego, not the artist's. Making art transactional was never a good idea. The money and the music both suffer. Think of all the times bands got signed to new labels and had to change their music, fashion, and attitudes to keep getting paid. That's not art. That's just money. The music suffers. I think the best musicians are the ones who will do it without someone paying them to. If you need someone to tell you when to play, you're not playing for you. You're playing for money. How much does it ACTUALLY cost to be a musician? Almost nothing. So what are you expecting people to pay for? Your costs are already covered. The audience spends a lot more on gas money to get to a show than the band. I don't hang out with people who expect to be paid for doing what they love. I do what I can to get paid another way so I don't rely on my hobbies to pay the bills. I noticed those Jazz musicians are wearing clothes that cost more than I've spent in a year. I'm not buying the struggle. They're lazy, entitled drunks. Drinking will make you think you deserve more than you do, and it won't make you earn it. As for me, I don't put any of my music online because I have that strong a preference for doing things in person. It's limited things, but it's ruled out a lot of phonies who need a week to get one take of a play through right. If people can't demonstrate their musical skill in person when I'm looking, it doesn't count. Most can't. Maybe I'll try making money with music online, but not art, because I'm not a pop-up ad. ... As for gigging, get a contract. That's what you do any time there's money involved. A wad of cash is not what you accept when you run a business. If you're not filing taxes for the band, you're full of it when you say it's a "business." These fools are already famous and won't get booking agents? Why not? (Sorry if this sounds personal. When I say "you." I mean whoever.) Thoughts?
Jazz will never die. I started listening to to jazz in 2019 as a coincidence, I was so stress out, with no patient and suddenly I heard miles…the music relaxed myself, then in 2021 I started to play the trumpet. I am 46 now and I not planning to put my trumpet down because it relaxes me and I can express myself.
You will enjoy the trumpet players Delbert Anderson and Ingrid Jensen and Tanya Darby whonare features in my films: Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Take care of your chops and you will play forever! Thanks for watching! Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Thanks for watching Who Killed Jazz - I hope you'll enjoy my other films: Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
The abundance of recorded jazz nowadays is mindblowing! You'll need 2 lifetimes to listen to all the excellent stuff already out there. 3 lifetimes if you wanna include average good jazz
Good point. I heard a story about Charlie Haden years ago. Some person called him up and asked if he would write liner notes for a Sonny Rollins (I think) release for $2 a word. So he said, "what does Sonny get?". They replied, "well, he got his $100 when they recorded it". Charlie said, "so you want to pay me more than Sonny got and you've been making money off this for years? Ok, fuck you and you owe me $4". I wonder how much his tracks, for instance, have generated in revenue for others.
This needed to be said! I can't keep up with all the great new jazz that is being released on a constant basis from all over the world, in many styles. Mary Halvorson, Tim Berne, Steve Coleman, Exploding Star Orchestra, Darcy James Argue, Aurora Clara, Ingrid Laubrock, Craig Taborn, Alex Machacek, Michael Formenak... I could go on for pages. Might it be that jazz musicians and jazz record labels may be partly to blame? We don't need endless releases of contemporary musicians playing "standards"! We don't need modern jazz that sounds as if it could have been from 1959!
@@pandstarExcellent points! And thank you for naming names - I will listen to these groups. I really appreciate your comment. I hope you enjoyed watching this film - I have made other films (and muakc) and have more in lost production: I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331 Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤️Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤️ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
@@pandstaryes: jazz musicians playing repertory music (1959 classics) is a tragedy when the expectation is that they will be accepted and booked as something fresh... the universities and teachers are in large part to blame for this
Jazz is a spirit. It can’t be killed. Energy never dies it just changes form. Jazz has grandchildren, Hip-Hop, Funk, GO-GO. it’s still very much a foundation of Black American Music.
Jazz unquestionably comes from a multi-cultural blend unique to America in the late 1800s. (Creole, Black Indian, African American, Native American, Italian, Jew, Mexican, Caribbean...) Have you actually watched this film yet? If you have commented here without watching you must buy an I Love Jazz Hat 🥳Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
You are welcome! More free stuff at bottom of this: ❤Tips Are Appreciated!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen 🏆Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! T-SHIRTS MUGS HATS www.benmakinen.com/merch I have completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition. Official Trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production Trailer: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: “Tenderly” music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen: “Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug” (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331 Ben Makinen: “Lost Lullaby” music.apple.com/us/album/lost-lullaby/65203708 (The Jazz Dreams of Nascent Lap Tops) Tom Ball w Ben Makinen: “Fishleather Jacket” (Latin Jazz) music.apple.com/us/album/fishleather-jacket/64644385 AREA 15 LIVE music.apple.com/us/album/live/65453875 (Industrial Jazz Trio w JazzTown Star Mitch Chmara on Guitar and JazzTown Director Ben Makinen on Drums!) Who Killed Jazz ruclips.net/video/XMC442DYlC4/видео.html OWN JAZZTOWN! JAZZTOWN  AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1  Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 My feature length film JazzTown is now available to watch free here on YT ruclips.net/video/IqkF5TGB68E/видео.html
At 18, in 1960, I earned $100 a week in the Tommy Dorsey Band........and I was thrilled! The night that I was hired, I didn't even ask what the gig paid!
Wow! An honor to met you Rich - was Warren Covington leading the band then? Must've been with some of the great original players - what amazing history! How long did you play with the band? what did you do afterwards? You saw things change first hand with the British invasion of rock n roll a bit later on... What were audiences like for the Dorsey Band in 1960? My great uncles (WW2 vets) were HUGE Dorsey fans - we would always listen to those records during family reunions on old record players with the carbon needles. Thank you for watching. Just diggin into your bio - my best friend is a euphonium/bone player named Tom Ball - we made a jazz record titled Fishleather Jacket (itunes) you may enjoy You may enjoy my full length JazzTown now on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play... I have completed a new doc looking at the influence of Native American music on the birth of jazz - here are the links Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
You're welcome! You can watch my feature length film JazzTown - Free links in the following: ❤Tips Are Appreciated!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen 🏆Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! T-SHIRTS MUGS HATS www.benmakinen.com/merch I have completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition. Official Trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production Trailer: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: “Tenderly” music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen: “Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug” (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331 Ben Makinen: “Lost Lullaby” music.apple.com/us/album/lost-lullaby/65203708 (The Jazz Dreams of Nascent Lap Tops) Tom Ball w Ben Makinen: “Fishleather Jacket” (Latin Jazz) music.apple.com/us/album/fishleather-jacket/64644385 AREA 15 LIVE music.apple.com/us/album/live/65453875 (Industrial Jazz Trio w JazzTown Star Mitch Chmara on Guitar and JazzTown Director Ben Makinen on Drums!) Who Killed Jazz ruclips.net/video/XMC442DYlC4/видео.html OWN JAZZTOWN! JAZZTOWN  AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1  Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 My feature length film JazzTown is now available to watch free here on YT ruclips.net/video/IqkF5TGB68E/видео.html
My friend and mentor sent this to me this morning. This was like hanging with old friends as it was filmed in my hometown, Denver, Colorado. Sad that nothing has changed in the music business in 2024, but... we still do it because it's a gift to make and share music. Great job, Ben.
Thank you @SherylRenee I hope you are well. We expose our souls to a full on blast doing what we do. By a stroke of Divine intervention it turns out we have been chosen for this because we can take it, we are built for it even if we feel the pain more... we have blissful moments of joys, especially making music with friends. Did you ever see my feature length doc JazzTown? 90 minutes of our Denver peeps talkin and playin jazz on stages across town! JazzTown is now on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu, Vimeo... you'll recognize them all!
@@davidbaise5137 I appreciate that very much. I hope you discover more on my chan of interest. My feature length doc is JazzTown (AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Vudo...) and here is a trailer for a film i have submitted to film festivals: ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html
I love music and I am a 43 year old musician and composer. Not a Jazz player but of course I appreciate all kinds of music. Soul music like Jazz has an immense healing purpose, like other kinds of genre specially the instrumental music too. You play and heal, and help others to heal too. We are living through the end of chaos and unfortunately things, seasons, old believes, need to die. All that comes through our senses will perish one day, giving a way to THE NEW. I hope I can be a witness of this NEW WORLD and the NEW MUSIC. Get ready! 💥
Music is healing - an "immense healing purpose" as you say. I hope we see the day when these healers are compensated in a similar way as the traditional healers we call doctors and dentists and therapists😇 Watch my other Healing & Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
@@mansize6622 It's ALREADY been shown that Swift MIMES. ruclips.net/video/k8rMNMURShM/видео.html Swifty fans are deluded, even when Swifts fakery is proven and called out. It's also debatable whether in fact Taylor Swift (initials TS) is in fact, a skinny DUDE in a wig, a dress and fake t1t5 to complete the inverted illusion
Yes. The 70s brought the disco so live musicians weren’t needed anymore. Just one guy with a record player and a big sound system. That, and jazz isn’t accessible for a lot of people. You can’t dance to a lot of it thanks to odd time signatures. Franky, it became pretentious. It was about the musician, not the music, and certainly not the audience. Jazz lives on in heavy metal…where todays best musicians now play.
Jazz died when it stopped evolving and when these conservatorium/school trained musicians who can't swing started mimicking what once was jazz. Of course the great jazz recordings of the past will life forever.
Indeed the recordings live forever! I am developing another film that probes the institutionalization of jazz ... Professor Paul Gilroy, chair of Afro-American studies at Yale, and a former DJ in Britain, is critical of Marsalis's role in "turning jazz into a classical music. The idea that culture progresses from a folk to a classical form comes from Goethe and Hegel," he says. "The effect is a disciplinary force policing creativity." Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Some good points and interesting quotes from people interviewed. The thesis of jazz being dead wasn't proved or even discussed. Instead, the documentary assumed this thesis and proceeded to show short clips of interviewees talking about it. I'm not sure the interviewees knew the documentary's thesis completely. That said, I feel like the thesis views change as death.
ooph ... I feel ya... His was a tough loss for all who knew him. A saint and a genius - a very kind man loved by his students, family, fans and musical peers .. Ron is featured more in my film JazzTown now on Apple TV and Amazon Prime -I hope you'll Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Great work Ben! Touches on all the frustrations of trying to provide sound for live bands as well. It took nearly a ton of PA system to do a club or hotel gig back in the day. Hard for any band to come up with the extra $100-150 for a sound guy. As noted at the end of the film, so often, the music is a secondary concern of the people in the audience. Those gigs were hard to get through. Little wonder younger audiences see no value in live performance. The music in their lives has cost them little. They did not need to hunt it down in a record store. It came to them through the web, as a file. Even a CD was tactile, giving the music on it substance. Hard to imagine what music of today will stand the test of time.
Thank you Larry! You have added excellent context: The Soundman! You must've been lugging more gear than the B-3 Hammond player and drummer combined! Your point regarding the free and easy delivery of music (and FILM) to the younger generation explains a lot! There is a blasé attitude toward the creators and their work... or at least there is a separation of value, as you have written. Value, money, has become so invisible through the digitization ... at least when it comes to art , and even to tipping a band ... seems people arre more willing to tip for a cup of coffee or for a beer than for a song ... We would spend hours driving to a record store and then thumbing through bins reading liner notes ... having something tactile ... great thoughts Larry - thanks for spreading the word on my films and music ... Here are links to some music of mine that was never well promoted when released, and my films updates (screeners for upcoming) I have an eclectic mix of "jazz" records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: "Tenderly" (straight ahead jazz w vocals) music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen: "Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug" (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331 Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JAZZTOWN  AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1  Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 JAZZTOWN AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Ron Miles hit the nail on the head. Club owners know that musicians love to play and that they will often settle for low wages just to be able to play. There are folks who still think that $50 is an acceptable amount to offer someone to play regardless of the time, an hour or two or more is required. Things have changed somewhat in the recent past, thankfully. But the desire to express oneself is powerful and for me, music nurtures my soul so I still love playing for an appreciative audience.
Thanks Jim for your comment - Ron was a humble and wise man ... What things in your experience have changed in the recent past; and what geographic area do you refer to? I am just curious ... the issue of frozen wages appears to be much the same in the US (I have spoken to musicians in Tokyo (while shooting for my upcoming films, info below) how confirm pay there is not good: similar to US, sometimes worse ... stay in touch! Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Charlie is Tops! He has much more to say and play in my feature length film JazzTown: JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
Great little film. Jazz will never die. Jazz is music for musicians not the crowd, that's pop music. It's challenging to play Jazz and it can be a challenge to listen too. Jazz by itself has never appealed to a wide audience. However, if you combine it with other styles. Like rock, pop, fusion, etc, it can become a goldmine for Jazz.
Has never appealed to a wide audience??? Louis Armstrong...U.S. State Department Cultural Ambassador to the World Benny Goodman Count Basie Duke Ellington George Benson Weather Report I could go on. From the 1930's through the mid 40's Jazz was the popular music of the U.S. and much of the rest of the world.
Thanks! I've got a lot more jazz in these films too Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I have also made a few records containing a mix of styles from straight ahead to electronica - check em out! Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybig music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Like in any other business, the jazz musician must understand how to negotiate a salary. If you are playing to play rather than working to work, you will accept any kind of payment.
Excellent suggestion: jazz musicians have been coming out of universities for the last 40 years: their music professors should equip them with those skills needed to survive in the music biz: Salary Negotiation and Financial Literacy. These are things that the distant past could sometimes be learned by apprenticing in big bands and other smaller touring bands... Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JAZZTOWN  AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1  Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 JAZZTOWN AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331 Tom Ball w Ben Makinen: Fishleather Jacket (Latin Jazz) music.apple.com/us/album/fishleather-jacket/64644385 AREA 15 LIVE music.apple.com/us/album/live/65453875 (Industrial Jazz Trio w JazzTown Star Mitch Chmara)
I appreciate this Joe - thank you. My first film JazzTown is more upbeat in tone and goes into the definition of jazz and the joy of making the music. JazzTown is on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Vudu. I know other people have watched JazzTown from Australia - let me know what you think!
Ron was amazing - I am happy you knew of him. He is featured in my first doc as well: JazzTown, which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
Damn. Yeah, that's about the size of it. Excellent work, and too depressing. What a world. BTW, I once sat in with some of those Denver jazz guys when I was in college, and they gave me a hard time. They let me know I needed more time in the woodshed. It was a good lesson.
Bill - WOLF! thank you very much for watching and for your comments. It means a lot coming from you - you've had some fairly grand accomplishments in this business! Do you remember the people you sat in with in Denver? I got chewed out by a few as well, some were more understated ... but they cared enough to challenge us to improve - as you said we needed it. None of this, "Yeah man, sounds great!" BS And they wouldn't suffer fools, and they wouldn't let you drag the quality of their gig down. But when you got it together they kept you up on stage to play! Those guys were the last generation to have come up from the streets, IOW no university schooling - there were no schools teaching jazz - they learned it in the heat of battle. There is a deep sadness to all of this ... many people start with a dream and continue to work hard and harder with the notion that things must get better the more one improves ... Sometimes it does for a few, especially those who are quick to adapt and change with the times ...I hope to see you around more here on the Net - Cheers and thanks again: your words help keep the positive vibes afloat.
@@BmakinFilm This was in the early 70's. I was going to UW in Laramie, WY, and I drove down to Denver to sit in at this jazz club (don't remember the name of it). The guys were all seasoned middle-aged black guys twice my age. When I asked if I could sit in, they were skeptical. I asked to play 'Night in Tunisia." They set that thing off at the wildest, fastest bebop tempo, and I got lost in the form when I went to solo, and went to the bridge too soon. The tempo was too much for me, and I could barely struggle through two choruses. No one threw a cymbal at my feet, or chewed me out. They didn't need to. It was one tune, and I slunk off the bandstand with none of them even looked at me. Nothing was said, or needed to be said. It was a great non-verbal lesson. On the long drive back to Laramie, I realized that I had a whole lot of work to do on my chops.
Thank you very much. You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP
I'm 60 playing in cover bands on the weekend. Making a living playing my drums has passed me by but it's better money than making fries at Mc D's on weekends. I'll get back to you how it's going when I'm 70.
thanks - I am not far behind you! As long as you keep having fun making music. You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP
Ben, thank you so much for this important work. Such a tragedy. I live in Nashville, so things might be a little better here for live music, and ironically a bit better for jazz (IMHO). When I was in high school, the AV department encouraged some of us to sign up for lunchtime time radio deejay slots. They encouraged us to play whatever we wanted as long as lyrics were not explicit. It was the late 70s, and most of the music was Van Halen, Metallica or Earth, Wind and Fire and The Commodores. Pure jazz was already waning then, at least in my circles. But my jazz band teacher had introduced me to Miles, Coltrane, Monk and Brubeck and that is (along with Weather Report and Chick Corea) what became my deejay set list. Most of my friends thought I was weird (guilty) and didn't get it. I spent a lot time (mostly in vain) trying to explain it to them. But liked it mainly because of the virtuosity, and I thought (perhaps snobbishly) the 12-note inspired chord changes were the coolest thing ever. Unfortunately, virtuosity has itself has garnered a diminishing appreciation over the years (again IMHO). With passionate jazz educators Jazz will never completely die. But culturally, video electronics (among other things, as cited in your doc) have changed the idea of entertainment and has been brutal on the geniuses who are gifted enough to play this style of music. Thank God most of them don't do it for the money, because if that were the case, it certainly would be gone. At least I managed to pass along a love for jazz to my kids.
It would seem that ironic that Country Music Nashville would pay jazz musicians better (can you find out what a jazz musician makes on a typical Friday night gig? Do you think tips are better in Nashville? Or just that there are more steady gigs? Great story about spinning Miles and Monk and Weather Report! Yes - today we have much virtuosity with much less authentic story telling ... hopefully the youngsters will stay in the game long enough to find their voice... I'm glad your kids love it now too! Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Tremendous work, thank you very much! Really moving ending How could anyone even think in removing blues from jazz curriculums? 7:03 It's removing the bones from the body. Those very prestigious schools are totally crazy!
Thanks Pablo for watching to the end... these were my friends and peers... I learned a lot from them... sad they are gone, happy for the ones still with us. - You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP
Amen! "If you can't play the blues... you might as well hang it up." . . . - Dexter Gordon "Blues is to jazz what yeast is to bread-without it, it's flat." -Carmen McCrae
This is a weird documentary. It seems like a bunch of disconnected clips of people giving anecdotes which don't coalesce into a larger point. It doesn't use any data to show that live music, or jazz, is dead or dying. It even starts out by comparing a jazz musician to a doctor, which makes absolutely zero sense. The reality is that LOTS of musician make a living, and many make a great living. They do it by providing a service, like teaching, or playing music that they are asked to play. The fact that it's hard to make a living while playing exclusively creative music is nothing new, it's always been that way. Claiming that jazz is dead because you can't make a living playing it anymore is extremely sad to me. Jazz is alive and well if you just look around and realize how many people are actually playing it and learning it in 2024. One of the worst things you can do for the future of jazz is dissuade young people from pursuing it because it won't eventually pay their bills. Yikes.
@@Poodleoop Yup! This documentary is "Exhibit A" for what has happened to jazz. I teach a social history of jazz course at the college where I'm on faculty (sociology faculty not music). One of my students - a non-music major - said out loud in class, "I'm not smart enough to listen to any jazz after the swing era!"
@@skipb119The recording industry is responsible for the direct and deliberate dumbing down of the "musical maturity" of the public. Promoting mediocrity makes their assembly line production machine better able to push their "product". It's about making music the McDonald's way. Sell millions and then crow about how that proves that it's great food (or music). It's easier to market storytelling, poetry, social commentary, & philosophy (literature) accompanied by simplistic harmony and grandiose production (lipstick on a pig) What is being promoted is a linguistic experience because it requires less experience and effort on the part of both the producers and listeners. When was the last time that there was an instrumental hit on the air?
Well stated. I may not make a living but when I let the primal scream out of my axe all is good, or better, as Art Blakey says, jazz wipes off the daily dust off….
Great doc Ben! I have to agree with some of John Michaels comments that it's an industry wide problem for live art as related to the economy. Fair point! As a live sound mix person for over 40 years I can remember we could work weeks, or split weeks, playing clubs for as much of the year as we chose and make a "reasonable" living. Not anymore. Jazz is not dead but will always find a way to improvise with the times.
No doubt an industry-wide challenge. But related to economy? Not really. Name one other industry in the world where people are being paid the exact same amount (not even adjusted for inflation) they were being paid 60 years ago. Jazz musicians were being paid $100 in (some!) nightclubs in the 1960s. Now they are sometimes even being less: $75. (I believe the now infamous, and shuttered El Chapultepec in Denver (recently inducted into Colorado Music Hall of Fame) may have climbed from the $75 a night in 1980, to $80 a night by 2020). The economy has changed up and down many times since the 60s with ZERO effect on what clubs are paying... The pay was the same but it was the QUANTITY of gigs (like playing 5-7 gigs a week) combined with then-good pay that allowed musicians to buy homes (if they were smart with their money!) up through the 70s. There are no 5 night a week gigs these days and even if there were, $100 a night is still not enough to survive in the US. JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I watched an interview with Roy Eldridge from years ago. He stated "I am a working musician. I play mainly for a live audience. That is my main income. You asked me what I think of bebop. Bebop closed more venues and clubs than it opened ones. When we played swing the place was packed and the people were dancing. In a typical bebop club there are often almost as many musicians on the stage as in the audience and nobody is dancing. So Bebop eliminated the income of working musicians."
I've always said that jazz killed itself by becoming too avant-garde and esoteric. But there's also the fact that popular tastes inevitably change with the march of time. The next generation almost never devotes themselves to the music of their parents. Add to that the modern technological age where every kind of entertainment is at your fingertips at all times.
One the other hand, if an art form does not evolve, it stagnates. That could also kill it. The jazz musicians who are artists have often looked at those musicians who try to appeal to popular tastes with a bit of disdain. I would hope that in this world there is room both for music that serves functions and easier listening tastes as well as music that evolves and pushes boundaries. I think that throughout history, most artists have struggled financially, unless they have patrons that they must compromise for. One could have a day job to support their artistic tic endeavours, but that would mean that their art might never achieve its full potential. Such is life. As I age, some of the best musician that I know cannot afford dentists, etc. Sometimes the cost of their dedication is poor health. I’m not convinced that society owes them anything financially, but I appreciate their dedication and their work. Sometimes I also wish that I could do what they do as well as they do it, but I was not willing to suffer the cost. And, though I hold these artists in high esteem, my neighbours are not even aware of their existence.
I have not played a bebop gig in so long i cant even remember and tbh i only really learned to play it as a means to have the freedom to get around the instrument in order to play WHAT I WANTED TO PLAY FIRST regardless of genre or peoples taste which is usually not very good imo.
@@yolandabush3879 I appreciate this Yolanda... yes much sadness... but there is hope as the spirit is eternal. ❤️Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤️ www.paypal.me/benmakinen I have an eclectic mix of "jazz" records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: "Tenderly" (straight ahead jazz w vocals) music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen: "Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug" (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331 Ben Makinen: Lost Lullaby music.apple.com/us/album/lost-lullaby/65203708 (The Jazz Dreams of Nascent Lap Tops) AREA 15 LIVE music.apple.com/us/album/live/65453875 (Industrial Jazz Power Trio w JazzTown Star Mitch Chmara) Tom Ball w/ Ben Makinen: Fishleather Jacket (Award-Winning Latin Jazz with Euphonium) music.apple.com/us/album/fishleather-jacket/64644385 Ben Makinen: Lost Lullaby music.apple.com/us/album/lost-lullaby/65203708 (The Jazz Dreams of Nascent Lap Tops) OWN my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! T-SHIRTS MUGS HATS www.benmakinen.com/merch JAZZTOWN AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 JAZZTOWN AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 My feature length film JazzTown is now available to watch free here on YT ruclips.net/video/IqkF5TGB68E/видео.htmlsi=7cVUlVrb4YjDvuND
Thanks iga. Justice is served when people like you support us little indie filmmakers - watch and listen to more of my films and music - leave a tip if you like! ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen 🏆Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! T-SHIRTS MUGS HATS www.benmakinen.com/merch I have completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition Official Trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production Trailer: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: “Tenderly” music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen: “Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug” (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331 Ben Makinen: “Lost Lullaby” music.apple.com/us/album/lost-lullaby/65203708 (The Jazz Dreams of Nascent Lap Tops) Tom Ball w Ben Makinen: “Fishleather Jacket” (Latin Jazz) music.apple.com/us/album/fishleather-jacket/64644385 AREA 15 LIVE music.apple.com/us/album/live/65453875 (Industrial Jazz Trio w JazzTown Star Mitch Chmara on Guitar and JazzTown Director Ben Makinen on Drums!) Who Killed Jazz ruclips.net/video/XMC442DYlC4/видео.html OWN JAZZTOWN! JAZZTOWN  AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1  Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
Not sleeping can be a great thing when going to JazzTown: watch my award winning feature doc JazzTown!Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
With Much respect please watch to the very end of this incredible video you will be shocked this is live man Good luck to all you musicians who are on this planet to ease the heavy load life has on mortal man. An excellent video
@@zu0832 Whoa! Mark Klagstadt... I miss that guy. Always optimistic, despite the pain he carried within. Check out this video/slideshow from one of my gigs w Mark. You can hear Mark soloing and groovin along w Scott Grove on kys and myself on drums ruclips.net/video/3TfM_BeJaoc/видео.htmlsi=GJJKPFwZQ9P70CcH its from a jazz jam I hosted at the Bear Creek Distillery in Denver about 5 years ago.
Hello Korea @Many141 ! I love your country! What part of the country do you live ? I was in Seoul for 3 weeks in March of 1997 playing drums for Annie - the broadway musical out of NYC. We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel - I had so many very magical adventures and loved the people I met there. I am really very thankful I got to meet the people of South Korea ... Since then I have only been back to the airport. I hope I can visit the city and your countryside again... I am sorry for the pain of this brutal life in the arts ... May the force be with you as well! Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I believe you will enjoy my first feature length film on jazz - JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP
Woah! This IS exceptional to watch. Anyone know if there is a video of that live Latin jazz guy on congas playing and the pianist???? That is keeping jazz fresh and we need to educate the youth of tomorrow that all forms of jazz exist ✌🏽
Thank you Rich! YES, MORE BELOW Subscribe for more of this music and footage! More of them in the AWARD-WINNING "JAZZTOWN"! itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 The conguero is Francisco Mejias and the Band is Ritmo Jazz Latino. Some more of this concert, and of the pianist Justin Adams, can be seen and heard in JazzTown, my ward-winning doc: Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc MORE RITMO JAZZ LATINO As to this concert footage - I do have more! ruclips.net/video/aqd8kcdbSpA/видео.html ruclips.net/video/12iA-x1lXbg/видео.html
My wife and I made our livings as working musicians in LA for 45-50 years. She’s a violinist and I’m a trombonist. We did very well. Did everything from sessions, record dates and jingles, to weddings and parties, to Latin bands and church gigs, to Disneyland and jazz clubs, to orchestras and big bands and pop/rock bands. We raised 4 kids and bought a house and sold it 3 years ago and bought a nice piece of land with a couple of houses cash in another state. Being a musician means being versatile. If you just play one type of music, like jazz, you’re limiting your income. Why Denver? LA or NY or even Chicago or New Orleans or Nashville. There are guys in LA making their livings just playing casuals.
Your point about limiting one's genre is an excellent one. I don't know when the idea that "I will be a jazz musician" came into being - but I have a peer of a former student (about 25 yrs old) struggling to work - fill the cal - as a "jazz" musician. Our musical ancestors from New Orleans etc worked as you and your wife: Vaudville, Silent film ,circus, parade bands, weddings, political speeches etc... I have however read no accounts of those musicians being able to buy homes - they all had day gigs in the trades. Your circumstances are tied to a healthy local economy (huge community with a lot of gigs) and I am guessing Union... perhaps all put in place, kick started initially by mafia. You have to be a great reader in LA as well. Race plays a part in every scene as well - there was a time in LA when studio gigs (certainly orchestras) were not open to black men... I wonder if your wife ever knew Ginger Smock? Black violinist made some big records there in the 50s. I think she was a concert master in Vegas in the 70s. Congrats on your success! My guess is that fewer trombonists are workin in LA now than there were 40 years ago? From what I hear a lot of bands don't have budget for horns. In Louis Armstrong's early NO days it was the banjo that got cut first on lower paying gigs. Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
They were a couple of generations older than me but I worked when I was young with some pretty great black horn players on sessions and in bands and on shows. Jackie Kelso,Snooky Young, Bill Green, Buddy Colette, George Bohannon, Oscar Brashear, Plas Johnson, Ricky Woodard, Tommy Johnson, Terry Harrington to name a few. I don’t believe my wife knew that violinist, but there are quite a few black and Asian and Armenian and Latin string players she’s worked with through the years. My era was 1980’s through 2018 and I think the gigs I did were pretty well integrated. When I was a kid I was often the only gringo in a salsa band and the casuals I did were always well mixed racially. My good friend and fellow trombonist Art Velasco is coming to visit next week. He made an excellent living in LA as did Ramon Flores and Harry Kim.
@@franklee1550 You were in great company Frank - those are monster players! I wonder if your wife knows of cellist Akua Dixon (former wife of Steve Turre)? Akua (more East Coast based) will be in my upcoming film We Are Here:Women In Jazz.
@@franklee1550great story. How'd you get so good. I believe the killer to playing well is reading notes and timing and juggling while trying to play. My tone sucks. I bought a new trumpet. It's the equipment right not me lol.
Sometimes when I watch youtube videos of these incredible ensembles of the young musicians at Berklee I wonder if they realize that this kind of stuff is only possible at Berklee and once they graduatefor most of them it's Cruise Ships, Teaching gigs or Casuals and Corporate gigs ( which are rapidly drying up too).
That is something I wish more music professors would make their students aware of. The smart ones (musicians out of school) are applying for grants (jazz with a cause) that essentially subsidize their ability to gig for 50 year old frozen wages.
It’s hard to understand why anyone would think they would make $ in any music genre. Be grateful to even play. Punk Rock bands did it all themselves. If there’s an audience, you can find a venue.
@@75YBA People make millions in music: the Grammys, film scoring, major touring. Musicians who spend close to a quarter million dollars on their university eduction (in addition to the private lesson they have paid for since they were 9) leads them to believe that they can make money with music. from Google search: WEALTHY PUNK ROCKERS: Dexter Holland is the wealthiest punk rocker, with a net worth of $65 million. Other wealthy punk rockers include: Billie Joe Armstrong: Has a net worth of $55 million Ian Mackaye: Has a net worth of $25 million Davey Havok: Has a net worth of $20 million Lars Frederiksen: Has a net worth of $10 million Marky Ramone: Has a net worth of $2 million 10 Punks Who Are Richer Than You Think - Dying Scene Jun 13, 2024 - 10 Punks Who Are Richer Than You Think * Marky Ramone - $2 Million. * Lars Frederiksen - $10 Million. * Davey Havok -... Dying Scene AND dyingscene.com/archive/10-punks-who-are-richer-than-you-think/
agreed! Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
@@bobbachelor5930 Thank you for sharing that... it is for me as well on many levels... I count my blessings that this music brought us together, that we shared time together as friends before they died. the struggle with the economics of making music is a different kind of heart break that has taken me years to understand is not the fault of the Music at all...
THANKS so much this movie so honest and intelligent on what Jazz has become today...! The whole society has changed so much and so quickly after the 90's that it's obvious the Jazz scene has nearly disappeared, I mean in the way it existed before...Still, il will always live as long as real musicians will keep on believing in its fabulous free language! AMEN❤!
You are most welcome @castellidenis5257 Thank you for your support! I have more films on Jazz! Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Thank you. I spent a leisurely 90 minutes with my first film JazzTown. JazzTown is now available on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play... many of the same musicians have the space to stretch out a bit more and explore the meaning of jazz.ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
Absolutely wonderful and sublime. Also a bit painful and sad. Still, what am I doing next? Going upstairs to play, inspired and funky and a bit off-center.
@DavidBiddle Thank you very much - yes, keep playing! My feature length JazzTown is a delightful tribute to many of these great musicians and the town they made famous! Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Thank you for watching till the end @polanve You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
I'm a jazz musician in UK and same exploitation exists here..... The pure love of this amazing art form allows this to happen...it takes a few years to be a dentist....but much more to be a pro level jazz person....say £100k pa dentist ...£10k jazz musician, probably less...but better for our well being mentally and physically ....
jazz died as a scene around 40 years ago when it was turned into science and became a product for the college industry... jazz isn't a genre, is an idea... so philosophicaly it will never die... if it's invoked that way.
thanks for watching this film @dustin72 Which musician in Who Killed Jazz spoke to you most? AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Great film. I couldn't help but think about my fellow bicycle mechanics who are in such a similar predicament in the bicycle industry. Tune ups were $69.99 in 1989 and it's the exact same today only with absolutely no benefits or health insurance. Why do we do it? Because it's in our soul, it is our very being and we are called to do it. That's why.
This suggests a tune up goes from $40-$250 for a premium tune up: icancycling.com/blogs/articles/average-cost-of-a-bike-tune-up-and-what-is-included?srsltid=AfmBOopmY0PgaP9auwyJoD7yFiUWMFcv2-x-5xd77RHnUKGOagtadOQ3obviously depending on location... I have ben seeking for an example of any other industry that works for a 50 year old frozen wage like nightclubs pay jazzers ... your calim would've come close but I am not seeing anything that supports it. Do you have any references for the claim of $69.99...? Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Corporate greed ensured that the music industry remained unregulated in order to hoard the money, ensuring and taking advantage of passionate musicians. The only way it will change is if musicians recognize their power and take control of their industry, the same way Doctors, lawyers, plumbers, electricians all have done.
A crucial point - thanks @bryanthill4155 I had made that case to my friends (musicians) when the pandemic lockdowns first kicked in: organize w a plan before clubs reopen with the same offer ... its basically a form of unionizing (like you suggest: creating standards that all play by) - but there is not enough money in the clubs to interest the unions (which are now weak in the US anyway) and there are always thousands of "weekend warriors" willing to go play for free. I have seen some musicians having success writing grants as a means to subsidize the low paying gigs or to create bigger cause related community events. You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
Here in Toronto Canada, it's the exact same thing for rock musicians. We're lucky if we get a gig to play for the door. Usually the bar owner wants to pay $100 for the nigh for a 4 or 5 piece band.
Thanks for sharing - that's bad news. Musicians have to stick together and say no to bad pay. I toured through Toronto in a blues band from New Orleans back in 1992 - I loved the city. Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Loius Armstrong was succesful because the average person coukd hear the melody and harmony, with some jazz sweets on top. Jazz is so extreme and overblown in many instances that the average person is not going to go home with a melody in their ear. As one guy there said the jszz is killing itself trying to be the mostest. Similarly, the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham said "why do no orchestras play music from the 20thC? A lack of melody".
Here here! Most exquisite delights are found in my other movies Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤️Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤️ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Thank you very much - I have completed two more jazz docs (and have two additional in post production) Please check them out: I am sure you will enjoy! JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
This is sadly true of most - obviously some do become millionaires! There are some caveats to pursuing what one loves. JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
@@nap871he owned a club (a very successful one) and rental properties. If you wisely invest an advance, a royalty check, or a nice payday, you can insure yourself against gigs drying up. It’s really hard to do if you’re supporting a family, or if you feel the investment has to go into a tour which may or may not be profitable. Pete was able to grow his businesses by staying close to home, and not hitting the road again until nostalgia tours allowed him to do so profitably. I get what you’re saying, but it’s maybe a little unfair to compare most musicians to PF, who was obviously a very talented entrepreneur.
That is perceptive and wonderfully complimentary - thank you! Here is more art I have made (you may find the Goliath Beetle and the Ladybug CD to be anarchic as well... same w In the Moon of The Black Calf off of my Tenderly Cd - deets below: Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: "Tenderly" (straight ahead jazz w vocals) music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen: "Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug" (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331 Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JAZZTOWN AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 JAZZTOWN AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 ❤️Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤️ www.paypal.me/benmakinen I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
To me, once it became an academic discipline the life was squeezed out of it. The technique outpaced the aesthetics after the schools got their talons on it. It just became so chatty. Too many notes, too much 'look at how brilliant I am'.
I agree that is a huge component, yet one filled with great irony. The institutionalization of jazz has kept it alive as repertory (classical) music but has squashed the soul and spirit of innovation (rebellion) out of it. The schools cannot teach and grade soul and spirit (and will not tolerate rebellion for obvious reasons) so they avoid them and design curriculum that addresses only technique and a propagandized history of jazz. There is a potential backlash: just as children often rebel against their parents I have met and interviewed musicians, Veronica Swift being one of them (from U of Miami music program), who played the game to get the degree and then found themselves fighting against all that was expected of them to rediscover their own voice (modernizing/being contemporary)... thus coming back to a fierce spirit of innovation to be free of oppression. Granted, these are the exception... but they stand to bring whole new audiences into improv based music.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 Yep. I understand that some artists need to push the envelope and all that but it seems that almost all of the art has been taken up with overly technical or outside stuff. And then the players complain about their audiences.
He's soulful! Charlie is featured much more in my 90 min film JazzTown (Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu, Vimeo): Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Agreed! He speaks and plays more in my feature length doc JazzTown (now on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu and Vimeo) ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=SATbCxcUNrewUWYl I hope you watch it - let me know what you think (Mitch Chmara does some serious shredding too on gtr)
Great work @Ben Makinen, watched in Australia! (hello from down under)... everything you bring up is not just a jazz thing... it's indicative of the entire music industry to a certain extent. Live music is definitely going through a watershed moment/era... dealing with birth, and teenage years of the internet's affect on live music, also the entertainment culture of society and their engagement with it is changing, and it will be interesting to see how music and musician's fair from the information age into the A.I. age... In Melbourne Australia where I live (probably the biggest music city in Australia) the same things are echoed from in your documentary... there are SO many musicians, but the gigs (and venues) are getting less, or harder to get. I know less and less musicians who can actually make a living and live completely off playing their music (live)... and most now are part-time musicians, or work a job and play more as a hobby. It's a hard reality here too. I love blues (but also jazz as I am a swing dancer as well)... and a while back travelled all over the USA (New Orleans, Austin, Clarkesdale, Memphis, Nashville, St Louis, Chicago, Detroit, (Toronto, Montreal), Boston and NYC... after years of playing in Australia, and many bands (and styles) and touring the East Coast here, I went to find some more history and the grit of where the musics I love come from, and also to play with the musicians playing in it now. I watched, and jammed, and swapped stories with musicians in all of those places, and everything everyone told me mirrors pretty much exactly what is explained in your doco... it was sad to see the state of things for even Americans. But like most of the musos say in the doco, once you play music it's hard to give it up, and it just becomes part of who you are and what you do. People forget in today's society to have adventure in their lives, or to explore more of what is out there (than hide in their local patch)... life is meant to be lived, not watched from afar on a screen, the difference between those two things is immense, and unless you travel and adventure you never know that difference (I've struggled, but still travelled to 20 Countries) And music was such an amazing bridge to have, I've jammed amazing blues with musos in France (and other places) without even being able to speak the same language. It's why America is in so much trouble lately politically... as people are far too accepting to be TOLD their truth, rather than actually MAKING one for themselves.
Hello down there! I am actually now a stone's throw to the north of you in Bali! You make strong points in regards to the modern tech influence on jazz ... there are big benefits ... however I feel that deep, emotive storytelling is lacking in a lot of even exciting music being made today my the "young lions". They got technique, and their hearts are on it - but they haven't lived much (not much outside of the academic institution) and because of the internet/cell phones there is not much time spent in solitude, reflecting, processing - on the contrary it all creates more anxiety ... oddly it could be that AI begins to serve as personal therapists who start encouraging (prescribing) meditative techiniques to encourage calm and introspection (where deep connections are made)... Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
@@BmakinFilm I am totally in agreeance with you!... as a musician who has played all his life, and toured all over Aus and played in other countries, what you say is TOTALLY correct... in white, middle class society (not just jazz) music has been taken over by academics, scale hogs, musos who have become FAR too concerned with the technique of playing their instrument, and learning the intricacies of music theory... OR they go the gear route, and become multiple guitar owners/collectors and must have every pedal or every amp, or every vintage... blah blah blah to get the perfect sound... But concentrating on all that takes time away from being able to actually write a song that connects with another human... I found it so hard to relate to the gearheads especially... That idea that they don't spend time on adventure, or meeting other humans to inform their music writing etc, or relating their personal experiences to life... and creating a music to reflect that.? I've had the odd heated debate with some musos at jams about that very subject... and always go, "well if you have another $2500 for a new guitar, instead of buying another guitar (which they usually have 10 already)... why don't you spend that money of a plane ticket to New Orleans, or Chicago?"... or anywhere really... or use it to subsidise a tour, so you can play your music to new people... sometimes that sort of talk stumps people, they either contemplate it, or they arc up and want to have a verbal fight about it... ha ha... I agree with you, musicians for a long time have spent FAR too long getting into the "head" of their music, instead of the "heart" of their music... and that is also indicative of the class war you hint at on who can afford to play music now... etc
@@Timbotao Thansk Timbotao - I am just seeing this reply ... Gear heads ... I always fall silent when talk turns to gear - I could barely remember the sizes of my drums - I just found stuff that sounded and felt great and took off - I could clean and fix my gear, but always had to look things up to order replacement parts etc ... then one year I felt a bit embarrassed by how little I knew about the gear I had been playing for 30 years, so I started reading the histories of the drum and cymbal makers ... you make a great point about traveling or touring with that gear money - instead of another guitar or drum set ... I always go back to indigenous/roots music (or just walk in nature) to reconnect with the heart and sound ... silence, space and tone, breath and dynamics ... Peace!
So much to unpack. The economy can’t be ignored. Inflation has left working musicians behind. Jazz is abstraction and ALL forms of creative abstraction have suffered with the general decline in intelligence and emotional investment in the arts. Younger generations are most interested in video games. Now THAT would be the combination to change things. Jazz and video games actually have a lot in common.
Funny you mentioned jazz and video games. There is a thriving scene that’s been going on for years with young jazz musicians playing innovative renditions of video game music. Check out artists like the 8-bit Orchestra or Patrick Bartley. The creative stuff is out here, you need only look.
Thanks! I know good stuff is out there and there are some dynamite young people. JD Beck and Domi come to mind. Matteo Mancuso too. Big fan of Robert Glasper and neo soul stuff. Haven’t been aware of a video theme variant. Thanks! :)
@@williemakeit2346 8 Bit is very creative - thanks for naming names: these are very creative groups! Keifer plays w a Bob James-like inspiration. I love the vibe and excitement JD Beck & Domi have brought. Mancuso has a lot of clean and exciting chops - will be fun to listen as he grows and develops more harmonic depth (ala Ted Green and Mitch Chmara).
Thank you @RoyPerez-drumnote Check out the editing in my new movie Echoes of Tradition: official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. And my first film JazzTown (editing a bit more "relaxed" and leisurely). I edited Who Killed Jazz more like an action flick! Be well! Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
People don't go out for live music anymore because it's too darn expensive. ugh. I used to pay $10 to see a show and back in the 80's and 90's I made $50 to $100 on a gig. Blows me away their still making that same wage. It's bs.
Conditions are ripe for some kind of comeback. But if jazz is a reflection of society we'll get a hand full of billionaires and the rest making peanuts.
(FWIW I used to play in restaurants - I had a non-music day gig). I don't buy that because apparently people go to see XYZ at some stadium, pay hundreds of dollars for a ticket, and sit in traffic for hours to get there and get home, and have to watch XYZ on a jumbotron. I'd much rather be in a club.
This resonates with me so much. I live near Southampton which had a vibrant jazz scene up until about 2000. I have not heard of pubs putting on jazz for aged yet I woukd sometimes go out a couple of times to listen. When I went to hear my piano teacher play with his trio, all sorts of other musicians would congregate . I used to go to the jazz festival in Vienne in France for nearly 20 years. It was interesting to see how the scene changed around 2010. People no longer value live music and I think tech has democraticised music and you no longer need to be a musician to make music. It is easy to see why jazz has been squeezed out as innovation is not a valued criteria in music these days. This film does make me angry as these issues are as relevant in Southampton,Uk as in Denver. Unlike the 80 and 90s, the jazz industry failed to promote new musicians who were creating genuinely original music. Too much cosmetic stuff was praised. The industry shot itself in the foot promoting jazz that was too modish with no long term strategy. It is just nostalgia now with performances of Broadway standards that were exhausted after Jarrett and Paul Motian. I rarely listen to much contemporary stuff these days. The only innovation comes from jazz composition and the avant garde but no one is listening as jazz no longer marches the criteria of most of the public. Alot of it us just a facsimile of jazz and it is small wonder with Djs that some venues are now expecting musicians to pay to perform there. I used to think jazz was forever but now think the music is on its last legs. These days I listen to more classical. Great film, though.
Fabulous insights @ianthumwood3013 and thank you for drawing a parallel to what's going on in your neck of the woods: Southampton... "Tech has democratized music" (excellent) and perhaps even devalued it ... certainly has fostered a flood of sound that has numbed audiences (overwhelmed)... That innovation is not valued (another grand point you make) is a direct result of the institutionalization of a national jazz curriculum funded by the US govt to export jazz as a tool of propaganda ( I am soon making new movie about this). Innovation does not fit neatly into the mainstream narrative designed to efficiently export this product. Thus the neoclassicists have turned jazz into a repertory music (safe and predictable) made to please wealthy patrons of the arts. At the same time it drifts farther and farther away from having contemporary community relevance. To be fair, there are musicians who are products of this indoctrination (Veronica Swift, Melanie Charles, Jazzmeia Horn, and others outside of the US) who are breaking away and forging fire of innovation. Some of their music is unlikely to be identified as "jazz" until at least 6 years after the fact, as has been the historic precedent. (Actually the ones I named are still operating under the "jazz" banner ... Swift is pulling quickly away with an infusion of stadium rock.) Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
@zangsax Who did you play with at the Pec? Glad you watched this film! Do you know Tom Ball? He repairs horns in Denver as well. His original music is heard in my feature film (also w The Pec players) JazzTown Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I worked and lived in New Orleans for 7 years and watched my friends and co-workers struggle. It's not uncommon to have 2-3 gigs a day. (If you're good) To those who don't know, that's 8-12 hours a day on a bandstand. The pay rate at the clubs is either 25 percent of the bar plus tips or 35 per man per set plus tips. You end up with 90-130 per gig on average. $390.00 for 12 hours, Yes, you can earn a living playing jazz where it all began, but it's an effing grind, and it's no country for old men. After Covid, all bets were off. That's when I left and retired. It ain't worth it. I have some advise for young musicians, Stay in school and train for a real, stable job.
Brutal realities @Buasop Thanks for the insights to the NO scene. Are the music professors teaching any of this to the starry eyed kids entering freshman year at the conservatories? (Al Rose wrote a great book about the NO scene in the 30s 40s and 60s... called I Remember Jazz ... he knew, and booked, all the musicians from those decades.) You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
You are welcome @DanielJohnMartin I have more jazz on film! Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Note there is no question mark in the title. Aside from... there are masters of music in this filmnwho claim that certain KINDS are dead: they will never again be played w authenticity. I hope you will give this a chance and watch.
thank you! you may enjoy some of my other jazz films as well: Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
So many good reasons for the decline - not demise - of jazz popularity over the past 40-60 years. Having come up in the late 60’s, I think that budget cuts for music programs writ large really cut deeply into jazz and other great music reaching the ears and hearts of young people in the late 70’s and into the 80’s. Reaganomics not only destroyed a more equitable economy. It also put cultural emphasis on business and finance. That percolated down into the popular mind-set. Parents wanted kids doing business, not arts.
I came up at the same time you did and I completely disagree with your take. Reaganomics shrank income disparity, primarily by bringing up the bottom end. Disposable income grew at its greatest rate ever and middle class people with more to spend on entertainment should have been a boon to live music. Unfortunately, the entertainment options grew even more. Technology presented many more choices for people. Going out became less and less the first choice, and even then, going out options started looking more like Dave and Buster’s and not Birdland. Like the guy in the movie said, give the folks some tv’s, potted plants and brass railings and they’re happy.
Yes... I graduated high school in 1985. We saw Reaganomics destroy the art and music programs in the schools, which led to a lack of appreciation for musch of live music unless it was FM radio rock. @gaylanbishop1641 comment below is interesting in that it pits advanced tech entertainment options against live music - and even gaylan's point about income disparity is correct - those with disposable incomes did not gain an appreciation of art music from the public school ... this started to change in te 90s after legislation was passed making jazz a national treasure.... millions of dollars then began pouring into education to institutionalize jazz. in essence locking jazz into being a repertory music like classical ...
@@BmakinFilm"We saw Reaganomics destroy the art and music programs in the schools, which led to a lack of appreciation for musch of live music unless it was FM radio rock." Oh stop. That's so silly. I'm not Right or Left, Democrat or Republican, but I've got to say that there is not an ounce of truth in your statement. In the first place, music has never depended on politics for its survival, but on culture. And for a reason devoid of any complexity. Things are primarily cultural, not political. If the culture values art it will thrive. After the 60's the arts and music programs went out of their way to destroy themselves, in part because they were often poorly taught and filled with political moralizers with an axe to grind, and nothing will destroy a student's interest in the arts faster than that.
Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤️Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤️ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Thank you Eagle! My feature length film JazzTown is now available here too: OWN my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch MUGS T-SHIRTS HATS JAZZTOWN  AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1  Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 JAZZTOWN AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen I have completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition Official Trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production Trailer: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: “Tenderly” music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen: “Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug” (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331 Ben Makinen: “Lost Lullaby” music.apple.com/us/album/lost-lullaby/65203708 (The Jazz Dreams of Nascent Lap Tops) Tom Ball w Ben Makinen: “Fishleather Jacket” (Latin Jazz) music.apple.com/us/album/fishleather-jacket/64644385 AREA 15 LIVE music.apple.com/us/album/live/65453875 (Industrial Jazz Trio w JazzTown Star Mitch Chmara on Guitar and JazzTown Director Ben Makinen on Drums!)
Playing music on acoustic instruments is an element of the human experience that transcends mere casual activity. So very many different elements need to be pulled together. The physical task of working an instrument... The concepts of time in pitch and harmony.… But when one engages in this process, the reward is the building of the neural pathways between the two hemispheres of the brain. Things that didn’t make sense begin to make sense. you find yourself able to look at a problem from multiple sides. And if you’re lucky enough to grasp a decent portion of that with which makes decent jazz… You get to engage in one of the most trancendesent 😮experience as a human can have. The act of spontaneously creating music.. In the air. In real time. For real. And if you just happen to be sitting in the audience… You get to witness the act of creation, immediate, and fleeting… And then it’s gone. Until you visit again. And that’s why it is so very very special. But it requires Both patience and participation by both the player and the listenear. I can only pray that our civilization rediscovers the wonder of pure music. As opposed to… Product.
@ajn465 Thats a wonderful meditation - thanks! You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
I appreciate that James - please check out some of my other work: (and Subscribe!) Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
It's been a running joke with my band mates how much we make on gigs these days. Sad. For me, for the most part, it has been the same since the 90's. Tip jar helps! Everyone I know has to teach a lot to make it or married someone with a normal job. And those guys are at least getting by. I know other players that just really struggle and are just poor and still they keep at it. Driving old cars, or have to get a ride to the gig, so one of us has to pick him up, or in one case, even keeping the house temp too low in the winter! That's not good. But this is what they do, and it takes a toll. How much of the joy in making music, on a pretty high level too, and barely being compensated is stripped away. Who was it that said, "you have to go to Jazz, it won't come to you". The players know this of course, but the audience that also knows this is just not enough. I hate being the wallpaper on a gig, but if even one person is listening, I'm good. You really hit the reality of this kind of work on the head! So true!
Thanks for sharing @PaulTownsenddrummer Its a brutal path made tolerable with much laughter! Teressa Carroll is the singer who speaks about jazz calling you ... she was an amazing singer: from the Osage Nation in Oklahoma (got her chops in NYC w Philly Joe Jones etc...) - her grandmother was one of the Natives murdered for oil rights as covered in the recent movie Killers of the Flower Moon. Teressa had wanted to audition for any kind of participation in that film but died of cancer before they completed it... You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
Your story echo's my experience and thoughts closely, even though I play rock in Australia!... It's always been difficult to make a living playing music but post-covid the cost of living has increased dramatically. Getting by with so little earnings is just not possible any more.
Thanks. I have tried in a few more places: You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
If you leave a bad joke, as you have, you must watch my feature length film JazzTown or buy an I Love Jazz hat from my website! Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Spotify and cell phone killed record sales. CDs were great for jazz, because the songs are about 10 minutes a song and we liistened to them over and over again.
It is such a scam that optical scanners (cd players) were removed from laptops and desk top computers. Spotify ... they must've bribed some US regulatory agency - its just such monopoly - the users, great fans of music, have no idea how screwed the musicians are ... Can you imagine a dentist making a penny every time they cleaned your teeth? Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
My main issue with this documentary is there’s no mention of the economy as the main problem. When Jazz was in its heyday, the economy was robust and also the educational system had more music programs and instruments so young people, especially in cities, had the ability to get closer to the music. You could make the exact same documentary talking to people who have been involved in community theater or opera, and they would say the exact same thing more or less. What is really a flawed premiss is thinking is that it’s club owners who are the enemy. Margins in running restaurants have gotten thinner and thinner so it’s really ridiculous on the whole to think the club owners are screwing jazz musicians. I think there are parts of this documentary‘s that are good, especially about how universities have sidestepped the emphasis on young students learning how to swing and play the blues. Any working Jazz musician today will have to play in funk, R&B, and wedding bands to survive. Understanding how to play the blues is a huge asset to become a know instrumentalist in any community
Ironically, cheap interest rates put the final nail int the coffin of live music in most places. Real estate sold to investors whose primary objective over time is to make the most money possible. If club owners have to either purchase or rent at an inflated price, less $ are available for musicians, food, etc. Housing of course has suffered the same fate.
@@tbonealex I wonder about that given prohibition (1920-33) overlapped the depression (1929-39) and people even in speakeasys needed money to buy drinks where the music was played.
Audiences that love jazz love jazz. There are millions of people who love jazz - their money is not finding its way into the musician's pocket: In general they do not put it in the tip jar - not as much as they put into the club's till: they buy tickets, booze and food and tip the bartenders... musicians are experimenting w QR codes ...
@ I agree with you - i just mean it being less popular makes it even harder to negotiate your value to club owners who already don’t value it. If every time your band played the place was capacity you would get paid. If when the song ends 5 people clap your leverage is much less - but yes I do agree with you I love Jazz myself. I just notice most of the folks I know who are not musicians don’t get it. Sad stuff all around. Great doc tho
@@scottpickel1282 Your point here is spot on. Quite right - the musicians would have a case to negotiate a larger cut if they were packing the joint ... and your point about audiences not liking it: much of today's jazz does not reflect contemporary culture - it doesnt speak to any but those who enjoy the music of the past. Thanks Scott! Please check out my first feature length film JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
Too many people want to play it while too few want to hear it, but it’s not dead, just wheezing along. I thought for a moment jazz was moving back toward a pop synthesis. Check out the future jazz coming out of the UK, Comets are Coming, etc.
Man, this hits close to home! @1:53 "The only people who can afford to play jazz are wealthy people." And that's coming from certified badass Charlie Hunter! It's a dark thing. I went to jazz school (lol really hard to write that) from 2011 - 2015. I was one of those stupid kids. It starts with jamming with your friends, you learn to play in a key on a groove and you start to improvise. You might hear musicians from the Jam and Funk scene play with jazz "vocabulary" and then you want to learn this for yourself. A few years later you are whole hog into antiquated genre of music that has no palpable connection to most people in society. Note - not every musicians goes this route but I, and many I knew around me, did. I feel like even since I was in school, Jazz and vocational music playing have changed a lot for the worse and I can only imagine musicians 10 years my senior feeling the same way if not more so. Social media and smart-phones have obviously done traditional musical instrument playing no justice in this regard. I gotta say though (and this might come off as jaded) let Jazz end. People will always have the records and love & appreciate them. It's like someone really trying to keep the customs of the Victorian era alive. You will still have musicians like Thundercat & Snarky Puppy who come to the limelight to play jazz inspired music.
I really appreciate your honesty sharing your story: thousands of musicians have had similar experiences. One of the big probs is that the high school and universiry professors don't emphasize the 1) economic hardship reality of attempting to play jazz (hard bop etc that is taught as the standard) and 2) the notion that jazz theory and technique are tools one can use to find their own voice and to bring into any style of music they choose to pursue or create. Graduates often come out of school with false expectations, and an elitist attitude of disdain towards other styles ... The acadamies def keep the love and appreciation of this now grand repartory music alive. It may be more honest to call their jazz programs American Classical music... of course there are pockets of progressive who offer digital/synth/electronica courses. Again, thank you Aaron for your contribution to this dialogue and remember that the music is always inside of you , "No no, they can't take that away from me!" Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
BTW Check out Andromeda Turre's new album From The Earth. she has done some very creative composition (and i love her voice!) she has contributed this music for me to use in my uocoming films listed above... She went to Berklee w Esperanza Spaulding (2000ish) and the. dropped out - she is finding her own style quite distinct from the university jazz curriculum... let me know what you think!
I'm thinking that you can't have the convenience and value of online entertainment (for almost free!) and then expect to walk down the street on any night and see some great unkown live band at the local bar for $10. Life has moved on... changed... BEFORE the music business of the post-world war II era, most people played music at social get togethers, parties or for the plain fun of it. Music has historically (thousands and thousands of years) been played mostly for dance/fun/enjoyment or lament. The value of playing music (live and recorded) in the last 70 years for pay seem to be disappearing fast. But I love that music!
Your point is underscored by my former music professor Walter Barr in this film! Thanks for chiming in - Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Right… 70 years is just a blip in the timeline of human history, but everyone is wailing about what you “used to” be able to do, as if had been that way since time immemorial. The record business started in the 1890’s, and it was decades (and TWO world wars!) before anyone made any money with it. Then there was a golden era for maybe forty years (during which many musicians were still screwed over), and then technology and corporatization irreparably damaged what was left.
Thanks much @dogsterooni - we have that in common: as a drummer I played a lot of jazz, blues, rock, latin, pop, broadway shows, even percussion with the opera and symphony - but i used to dream of being a big band drummer from 30s and 40s ... I have made other jazz films and cds - please check them out and let me know what you think: Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
the music does not require acceptance from a mass audience. Those of us that love Jazz music (creative music that relates to our lives) are the audience that cares about the music and the people who make it. Yes, as a musician , i am used to being under paid and treated like a restaurant employee. I dont care if you dont appreciate it, I love music and you cant take that joy away from me. No amount of disrespect will stop me reaching the people who listen to my music and love it. This is not about me personally so i dont take your indifference personally.
Thanks for sharing the love of the music! Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
It has always been. ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen 🏆Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! T-SHIRTS MUGS HATS www.benmakinen.com/merch I have completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition Official Trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production Trailer: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: “Tenderly” music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen: “Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug” (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331 Ben Makinen: “Lost Lullaby” music.apple.com/us/album/lost-lullaby/65203708 (The Jazz Dreams of Nascent Lap Tops) Tom Ball w Ben Makinen: “Fishleather Jacket” (Latin Jazz) music.apple.com/us/album/fishleather-jacket/64644385 AREA 15 LIVE music.apple.com/us/album/live/65453875 (Industrial Jazz Trio w JazzTown Star Mitch Chmara on Guitar and JazzTown Director Ben Makinen on Drums!) Who Killed Jazz ruclips.net/video/XMC442DYlC4/видео.html OWN JAZZTOWN! JAZZTOWN  AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1  Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
He spoke out about the mistreatment of a young girl going to school in Arkansas, 1957 - but many of his critics thought he had waited too long speak up... Louis was one of the greatest and as you say he did pave the way. Major respect for Louis Armstrong - such a powerful soul.
Add no smoking in clubs and no drunk driving to the list, methamphetamines went away and were replaced by marijuana smokers, not a money maker for the nightclub, ascap and bmi shutting down clubs (happened to me twice), old people were listening to it, making it anathema to the young. Also jazz fell into the classical trap. And I am sure much more, but, if you can get them dancing again, we stand a chance.
Good points - there's still a lot of coke out there (cut with a lot of meth) - depending were you are in the US ... El Chapultepec was the great jazz dive in Denver (now out of business - inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame last week!) : young and old and all races mixed freely ... but the old stopped drinking as much and went home earlier - the youth ( and owners) wanted more blues and rock in the mix... jazz went to two off nights a week ... this club also paid the same it did per musician as it did in 1980: $75 JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
The truth is if the business moguls who control radio, TV and the machine that makes things popular didn't want jazz to be on the bottom it wouldn't be on the bottom. There are some style of music that are not interesting enough to sustain an audience for a long time that have been pumped up because some powerful element in the industry decided that they wanted that music to be pumped up. Mostly because they were going to make a lot of money. Songs that are fun and stupid like the Macarena or I'm Too Sexy get played until there's no more juice left because the powerful mogul forces it. But that's fades quickly. Jazz is a universally love music but because it was dominated by certain people it was pushed down and ignored by the entertainment industry. In today's time, R&B that is full of innovation and talent has been ignored by the industry controllers. Same with jazz almost 70 years ago. They only allow insulting, embarrassing, destructive music to be promoted into popularity. We are looking at social engineering using music. It makes people think the way they think when they're young. They grow up to be children. not adults. The entertainment business powers primarily use children in entertainment because they can manipulate other children with the product. Jazz is full of adults. The industry can't control adults as well as they can control children. Again, this is social engineering. Its not by accident
Your second point (social engineering) is most interesting. Your first point is perhaps true but only beginning in the 1980s - from at least 1927 when the movie The Jazz Singer came out (actually the "first jazz record" came out in 1917 and sold at least a quarter million copies. some claim a million but the record company manufacturing records only show about 250,000 pressed) ...(i don't think the decline of jazz's popularity was engineered... but i would consider more evidence if you will provide it!) Jazz has been used to drive sales of records, movies (lots of jazz in movie soundtracks and films about jazz in the 1940s and 1950s especially) and lots of jazz in TV of the 70s (many of the studio composers and players were jazz musicians)... Jazz obviously lost its place as the popular music of the masses by the end of the 1930s, but the moguls, as you say, used it for the marketing power it had well into the 70s. Look at what the great Quincy Jones accomplished (his training in jazz allowed him to "sneak" a lot of it into all of the major tv, record, and film work he oversaw through at least the 90s, from Basie and Sinatra to Michael Jackson ...) There are fascinating arguments to be made about the social engineering of music that I have only recently come across claiming for example that some of the 60s and 70s rock bands (the beatles, the doors,) came from wealth and military was able to manipulate them and the music (as counterculture) to actually introduce more drugs (lsd) and get kids distracted with social causes to distract them from the activities of globalists working to undermine democracy, or maintain the facade - basically to distract and weaken any attempt to interfere with the military industrial complex. ... So you have an intersting point with that: the popular music (since at least the 1980s) has become infantilized and look whats gone done and come to light w arrest of Puffy Sean Combs ...
@@BmakinFilm I think jazz is in everything, even today. HipHops best moments included jazz. Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, Brand Nubians etc. But just as "Neo-Soul" was killed in the early 2000s jazz was killed in a similar way. When jazz is written and played it is often a musician who has a higher intellect. Because the nature of jazz, the musician's and the listeners generally have a higher intellect. The machine that thinks its their place to force people to get vaccines or get rid of free speech or anything else that violates human rights and freedom, doesn't want an intellectual public. Its hard to control smart, healthy and informed people. This is why neo-soul was killed. Just like the poetry/spoken word movement was dropped from their agenda to promote. they thought spoken word would turn into the trash the rap turned into, but it didn't. Spoken word became a new branch of the conscience hip hop movement. So they let it die out. No more plays on Broadway. No more Tony awards or TV shows showcasing spoken word. These people want children to entertain everyone. Because they want people to grow up to become children. Immature and dysfunctional. I have more but I'm getting too long winded. The independent music industry has to develop some kind of organized structure without the element that controlled the music industry as well as the club and touring industry. That element is poison. Its greedy and subversive. History shows this. Just look at the "artists" being promoted over the last 15 years. far too many have no class, very little talent and are horrible influences on a young unprotected mind.
@@machinelearng These are wonderful insights - thank you! I agree with spoken word [ I wrote In The Moon of the Black Calf a spoken word track and lyric w Leslie Brown delivering the lyric music.apple.com/us/album/in-the-moon-of-the-black-calf/564259433?i=564259479] : it had power and relevance - could use any genre of music as the bed upon which they delivered social commentary - very powerful, very jazz. Your comments about the infantilization of the massses (keeping them childlike and dependent) id very apropos especially with recent news of celebrities and politicians doing very very bad things to children ... the topic is deep. Thanks for your input: never long winded! Here are links to some other films I have and and am working on Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Right on! Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well: Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433 Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica) music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
A hero! Truth and authenticity - its all in your sound . Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Thanks Joe, please spread the word. and, You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
@@BmakinFilm, this film should be required viewing for anyone who wishes to make a living playing creative music. Thank you for making it. Yes, it is a bit dark, but it speaks the truth. It is tough out there and it takes a special kind of endurance and commitment. However, if it is the wish to become a real player, it is the only way.
My theory: Whenever a music genre is presented in a music major, that genre promptly dies due to dissection (more accurately, vivisection). Both Classical and Jazz bear witness to the idea.
@@philbeau The institutionalization of art will always squash innovation ... (I am writing a new movie that follows some of the more sinister motivations behind that...) I did recently interview saxophonist Erena Terakubo in Tokyo at her gig at Body and Soul (this is for my upcoming We Are Here: Women In Jazz doc). Although it appears to me that Japan holds jazz in much higher esteem, speaking with her band mates I can confirm that they face the same challenge with low paying gigs as in the US. I live in Bali Indonesia now and there is a jazz scene - pay is still terribly low, however, cost of living in Bali is considerably lower than any city in the West ... You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP
You are welcome - I hope you'll watch my other films: Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! www.benmakinen.com/merch JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤ www.paypal.me/benmakinen AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20 I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025. We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
100% . you have to be commited to whatever your mission is and be able to stand by that and be at peace with the conséquences of your decisions . i am . i simply no longer really care about what people think anymore.
@Centigonos I understand that, having raised a family, just depends what kind of cosmos we're talking about. ☮️ I had to put my creative energy into that for many years. Now I'm retired and wishing I still had it. Such is life. No regrets...🧙♂️
@@Centigonos i like money as much as the next guy but its NOT my prime motivator for picking up my horn every day and im at peace with the outcome of that viewpoint.
🎟🎬Watch my other Award-Winning Jazz Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! "I LOVE JAZZ" Hats, Mugs and Tees!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
🎯 JAZZTOWN - Award-Winning Film: What Is Jazz? JAZZTOWN (now on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play, Vimeo) AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
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JAZZTOWN Official Trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
🥁Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
🌞I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
🚨We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Who Killed Jazz
ruclips.net/video/XMC442DYlC4/видео.html
"A jazz musician is someone that puts a $5,000 horn in a $500 car and drives 50 miles for $5 gig" as the saying goes. How sad it is to see the great Ron Miles who passed away in 2022 at the beginning of this superb documentary uttering something to that effect with complete candor. It's nigh on impossible to make it to the jazz world especially today and despite the blood, sweat and tears any aspiring jazz musician must shed many indomitable souls that could make it more easily in other more commercial idioms still persist; this is the jazz musician's predicament. There's a strong stoic and tragic element involved in jazz, and its musicians are the messengers and flame keepers and In spite of all the adversity, jazz is a triumphant music that mirrors life. This short reminded me on places of The Jazz Loft, another great jazz doc that every jazz lover should check out. Congrats again, great job.
Thank you @diment0857 - much appreciated - you are clearly one of the Warriors of Truth and Beauty ... It is only criminal, I believe, for music universities (high band directors actually) to not acknowledge, address, and prepare their students for the economic realities outside the safety net of academia. It is almost as simple as just not shaming the other genres (not encouraging the jazz snob ethic) ... that way a "jazz" musician may be more likely and willing to seek out the blues, country, pop, funk, show, cruise ship etc gigs needed to pay the bills and gain necessary experiences once out in the "real" world.
The Jazz Loft is an amazing film! Since your into this, have you seen the brilliant 1962 B&W drama All Night Long ? with appearances by Charles Mingus and Dave Brubeck! www.imdb.com/title/tt0054614/
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
'The Jazz Loft' is a masterpiece.
@@BmakinFilm thanks! I couldn't agree more with your remarks on academia and the jazz snob ethic (as an aside, John Zorn's Naked City have recorded a piece "Jazz Snob Eat Sh@t"), after all it's just music, and, lest we forget, many of the greats worked as session players to pay the bills, nothing wrong with that (e.g. Barney Kessel, Toots Thielemans, Howard Roberts and a ton of others). Thanks for the links, I haven't seen All Night Long (but sure will), before I read this reply I had already discovered JazzTown on Vimeo (which I bought) and will watch eagerly. Both the women in jazz and the role of native American influences are great topics, your approach and choice of material shows great knowledge and sensitivity, waiting for these films to be released.
il y a un titre que j'ailu dans un article et qui en dit tellement à savoir : le jazz n'est plus supporté que par la classe intellectuelle ,et ce titre se terminait par une interrogation ..Pour ce qui me concerne ,le jazz aurait pu et le peut encore envahir le monde entier si on lui donne tout les moyens .Cest une forme de mondialisation culturelle qui aurait pu reussir pour les USA .et c'est toujour possible et d'actualité ..
I’m watching this documentary, you ain’t never lied, Ben. It’s not just the jazz community that’s affected by all of this, it’s the whole music community and I play blues and other styles of music, I’m a fellow musician also and a bassist. We’re all going through the same things
Thank you brother! Yes, we are all in this together. I was hoping people would see this as a metaphore for all live musicians.
My first feature length doc is a bit more upbeat:
JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
@ I’ll be sure to check those out
Can you do it for the love of the music and not money? I learned to separate those things a long time ago, because I had to in order to not set myself up for failure. I played covers for money and originals for fun, because I understood that people don't pay up front for art. The fact of the matter is, in my area, most people don't have much money to give, so asking for more will get you nowhere. The money isn't available. The issue with conflating music with money is that they don't go together if you want to express yourself, unless you're just like everyone else. That's why pop music is popular. It's about stroking the audience's ego, not the artist's. Making art transactional was never a good idea. The money and the music both suffer. Think of all the times bands got signed to new labels and had to change their music, fashion, and attitudes to keep getting paid. That's not art. That's just money. The music suffers. I think the best musicians are the ones who will do it without someone paying them to. If you need someone to tell you when to play, you're not playing for you. You're playing for money. How much does it ACTUALLY cost to be a musician? Almost nothing. So what are you expecting people to pay for? Your costs are already covered. The audience spends a lot more on gas money to get to a show than the band. I don't hang out with people who expect to be paid for doing what they love. I do what I can to get paid another way so I don't rely on my hobbies to pay the bills. I noticed those Jazz musicians are wearing clothes that cost more than I've spent in a year. I'm not buying the struggle. They're lazy, entitled drunks. Drinking will make you think you deserve more than you do, and it won't make you earn it. As for me, I don't put any of my music online because I have that strong a preference for doing things in person. It's limited things, but it's ruled out a lot of phonies who need a week to get one take of a play through right. If people can't demonstrate their musical skill in person when I'm looking, it doesn't count. Most can't. Maybe I'll try making money with music online, but not art, because I'm not a pop-up ad. ... As for gigging, get a contract. That's what you do any time there's money involved. A wad of cash is not what you accept when you run a business. If you're not filing taxes for the band, you're full of it when you say it's a "business." These fools are already famous and won't get booking agents? Why not? (Sorry if this sounds personal. When I say "you." I mean whoever.) Thoughts?
@ You’re saying a lot but I don’t know what you’re saying
Jazz will never die. I started listening to to jazz in 2019 as a coincidence, I was so stress out, with no patient and suddenly I heard miles…the music relaxed myself, then in 2021 I started to play the trumpet. I am 46 now and I not planning to put my trumpet down because it relaxes me and I can express myself.
You will enjoy the trumpet players Delbert Anderson and Ingrid Jensen and Tanya Darby whonare features in my films:
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Take care of your chops and you will play forever! Thanks for watching!
Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Yeah ! But what do you DO for a living ??!!
Nothing has been more devalued in recent years than the work of musicians.
Thanks for watching Who Killed Jazz - I hope you'll enjoy my other films:
Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
You’ve obviously never met my ex-wife😂
@@atombombtom8615
The abundance of recorded jazz nowadays is mindblowing! You'll need 2 lifetimes to listen to all the excellent stuff already out there.
3 lifetimes if you wanna include average good jazz
Good point. I heard a story about Charlie Haden years ago. Some person called him up and asked if he would write liner notes for a Sonny Rollins (I think) release for $2 a word. So he said, "what does Sonny get?". They replied, "well, he got his $100 when they recorded it". Charlie said, "so you want to pay me more than Sonny got and you've been making money off this for years? Ok, fuck you and you owe me $4". I wonder how much his tracks, for instance, have generated in revenue for others.
Yes but it's not reaching much of the public. Jazz used to make the pop charts !
This needed to be said!
I can't keep up with all the great new jazz that is being released on a constant basis from all over the world, in many styles.
Mary Halvorson, Tim Berne, Steve Coleman, Exploding Star Orchestra, Darcy James Argue, Aurora Clara, Ingrid Laubrock, Craig Taborn, Alex Machacek, Michael Formenak...
I could go on for pages.
Might it be that jazz musicians and jazz record labels may be partly to blame?
We don't need endless releases of contemporary musicians playing "standards"! We don't need modern jazz that sounds as if it could have been from 1959!
@@pandstarExcellent points! And thank you for naming names - I will listen to these groups. I really appreciate your comment. I hope you enjoyed watching this film - I have made other films (and muakc) and have more in lost production:
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤️Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤️
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
@@pandstaryes: jazz musicians playing repertory music (1959 classics) is a tragedy when the expectation is that they will be accepted and booked as something fresh... the universities and teachers are in large part to blame for this
Jazz is alive and will vibrate even higher in the age of Aquarius... I enjoyed the documentary and their perspective
Jazz is a spirit. It can’t be killed. Energy never dies it just changes form. Jazz has grandchildren, Hip-Hop, Funk, GO-GO. it’s still very much a foundation of Black American Music.
Jazz unquestionably comes from a multi-cultural blend unique to America in the late 1800s. (Creole, Black Indian, African American, Native American, Italian, Jew, Mexican, Caribbean...) Have you actually watched this film yet? If you have commented here without watching you must buy an I Love Jazz Hat 🥳Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Fascinating, thanks.
You are welcome! More free stuff at bottom of this: ❤Tips Are Appreciated!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
🏆Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! T-SHIRTS MUGS HATS
www.benmakinen.com/merch
I have completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition. Official Trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html
Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production Trailer: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: “Tenderly”
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen: “Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug” (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Ben Makinen: “Lost Lullaby” music.apple.com/us/album/lost-lullaby/65203708 (The Jazz Dreams of Nascent Lap Tops)
Tom Ball w Ben Makinen: “Fishleather Jacket” (Latin Jazz)
music.apple.com/us/album/fishleather-jacket/64644385
AREA 15 LIVE music.apple.com/us/album/live/65453875 (Industrial Jazz Trio w JazzTown Star Mitch Chmara on Guitar and JazzTown Director Ben Makinen on Drums!)
Who Killed Jazz
ruclips.net/video/XMC442DYlC4/видео.html
OWN JAZZTOWN!
JAZZTOWN

AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1

Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
My feature length film JazzTown is now available to watch free here on YT ruclips.net/video/IqkF5TGB68E/видео.html
At 18, in 1960, I earned $100 a week in the Tommy Dorsey Band........and I was thrilled! The night that I was hired, I didn't even ask what the gig paid!
Wow! An honor to met you Rich - was Warren Covington leading the band then? Must've been with some of the great original players - what amazing history! How long did you play with the band? what did you do afterwards? You saw things change first hand with the British invasion of rock n roll a bit later on... What were audiences like for the Dorsey Band in 1960? My great uncles (WW2 vets) were HUGE Dorsey fans - we would always listen to those records during family reunions on old record players with the carbon needles. Thank you for watching. Just diggin into your bio - my best friend is a euphonium/bone player named Tom Ball - we made a jazz record titled Fishleather Jacket (itunes) you may enjoy
You may enjoy my full length JazzTown now on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play... I have completed a new doc looking at the influence of Native American music on the birth of jazz - here are the links
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
That's $1100 per week in 2024.
Now you’re lucky to get $50 for a night.
Well done, thank you.
You're welcome! You can watch my feature length film JazzTown - Free links in the following:
❤Tips Are Appreciated!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
🏆Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! T-SHIRTS MUGS HATS
www.benmakinen.com/merch
I have completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition. Official Trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html
Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production Trailer: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: “Tenderly”
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen: “Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug” (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Ben Makinen: “Lost Lullaby” music.apple.com/us/album/lost-lullaby/65203708 (The Jazz Dreams of Nascent Lap Tops)
Tom Ball w Ben Makinen: “Fishleather Jacket” (Latin Jazz)
music.apple.com/us/album/fishleather-jacket/64644385
AREA 15 LIVE music.apple.com/us/album/live/65453875 (Industrial Jazz Trio w JazzTown Star Mitch Chmara on Guitar and JazzTown Director Ben Makinen on Drums!)
Who Killed Jazz
ruclips.net/video/XMC442DYlC4/видео.html
OWN JAZZTOWN!
JAZZTOWN

AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1

Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
My feature length film JazzTown is now available to watch free here on YT ruclips.net/video/IqkF5TGB68E/видео.html
My friend and mentor sent this to me this morning. This was like hanging with old friends as it was filmed in my hometown, Denver, Colorado. Sad that nothing has changed in the music business in 2024, but... we still do it because it's a gift to make and share music. Great job, Ben.
Thank you @SherylRenee I hope you are well. We expose our souls to a full on blast doing what we do. By a stroke of Divine intervention it turns out we have been chosen for this because we can take it, we are built for it even if we feel the pain more... we have blissful moments of joys, especially making music with friends.
Did you ever see my feature length doc JazzTown? 90 minutes of our Denver peeps talkin and playin jazz on stages across town! JazzTown is now on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu, Vimeo... you'll recognize them all!
Thanks for your music and all the work you put into this film.
@@davidbaise5137 I appreciate that very much. I hope you discover more on my chan of interest. My feature length doc is JazzTown (AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Vudo...) and here is a trailer for a film i have submitted to film festivals: ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html
I love music and I am a 43 year old musician and composer. Not a Jazz player but of course I appreciate all kinds of music.
Soul music like Jazz has an immense healing purpose, like other kinds of genre specially the instrumental music too.
You play and heal, and help others to heal too.
We are living through the end of chaos and unfortunately things, seasons, old believes, need to die.
All that comes through our senses will perish one day, giving a way to THE NEW.
I hope I can be a witness of this NEW WORLD and the NEW MUSIC.
Get ready! 💥
Music is healing - an "immense healing purpose" as you say. I hope we see the day when these healers are compensated in a similar way as the traditional healers we call doctors and dentists and therapists😇
Watch my other Healing & Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
it's not just jazz, it's live music in general.
@@md-ps2hx swiffties don't think so
@@mansize6622 It's ALREADY been shown that Swift MIMES. ruclips.net/video/k8rMNMURShM/видео.html Swifty fans are deluded, even when Swifts fakery is proven and called out. It's also debatable whether in fact Taylor Swift (initials TS) is in fact, a skinny DUDE in a wig, a dress and fake t1t5 to complete the inverted illusion
@@mansize6622 Government regulations are about to bring the high price of concert tickets back to the 80's
Yeah sure, but particularly jazz
Yes. The 70s brought the disco so live musicians weren’t needed anymore. Just one guy with a record player and a big sound system. That, and jazz isn’t accessible for a lot of people. You can’t dance to a lot of it thanks to odd time signatures. Franky, it became pretentious. It was about the musician, not the music, and certainly not the audience. Jazz lives on in heavy metal…where todays best musicians now play.
Jazz died when it stopped evolving and when these conservatorium/school trained musicians who can't swing started mimicking what once was jazz. Of course the great jazz recordings of the past will life forever.
Indeed the recordings live forever! I am developing another film that probes the institutionalization of jazz ... Professor Paul Gilroy, chair of Afro-American studies at Yale, and a former DJ in Britain, is critical of Marsalis's role in "turning jazz into a classical music. The idea that culture progresses from a folk to a classical form comes from Goethe and Hegel," he says. "The effect is a disciplinary force policing creativity."
Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Some good points and interesting quotes from people interviewed. The thesis of jazz being dead wasn't proved or even discussed. Instead, the documentary assumed this thesis and proceeded to show short clips of interviewees talking about it. I'm not sure the interviewees knew the documentary's thesis completely. That said, I feel like the thesis views change as death.
Zappa famously (or maybe not) said "Jazz is not dead...it just smells funny". And this was in 1973
2 minutes and 12 seconds into this, i'm grieving ron miles-instantly likeable guy.
ooph ... I feel ya... His was a tough loss for all who knew him. A saint and a genius - a very kind man loved by his students, family, fans and musical peers .. Ron is featured more in my film JazzTown now on Apple TV and Amazon Prime -I hope you'll
Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Great work Ben! Touches on all the frustrations of trying to provide sound for live bands as well. It took nearly a ton of PA system to do a club or hotel gig back in the day. Hard for any band to come up with the extra $100-150 for a sound guy. As noted at the end of the film, so often, the music is a secondary concern of the people in the audience. Those gigs were hard to get through. Little wonder younger audiences see no value in live performance. The music in their lives has cost them little. They did not need to hunt it down in a record store. It came to them through the web, as a file. Even a CD was tactile, giving the music on it substance. Hard to imagine what music of today will stand the test of time.
Thank you Larry! You have added excellent context: The Soundman! You must've been lugging more gear than the B-3 Hammond player and drummer combined! Your point regarding the free and easy delivery of music (and FILM) to the younger generation explains a lot! There is a blasé attitude toward the creators and their work... or at least there is a separation of value, as you have written. Value, money, has become so invisible through the digitization ... at least when it comes to art , and even to tipping a band ... seems people arre more willing to tip for a cup of coffee or for a beer than for a song ... We would spend hours driving to a record store and then thumbing through bins reading liner notes ... having something tactile ... great thoughts Larry - thanks for spreading the word on my films and music ... Here are links to some music of mine that was never well promoted when released, and my films updates (screeners for upcoming)
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz" records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: "Tenderly" (straight ahead jazz w vocals)
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen: "Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug" (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JAZZTOWN

AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1

Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
JAZZTOWN
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Ron Miles hit the nail on the head. Club owners know that musicians love to play and that they will often settle for low wages just to be able to play. There are folks who still think that $50 is an acceptable amount to offer someone to play regardless of the time, an hour or two or more is required. Things have changed somewhat in the recent past, thankfully. But the desire to express oneself is powerful and for me, music nurtures my soul so I still love playing for an appreciative audience.
Thanks Jim for your comment - Ron was a humble and wise man ... What things in your experience have changed in the recent past; and what geographic area do you refer to? I am just curious ... the issue of frozen wages appears to be much the same in the US (I have spoken to musicians in Tokyo (while shooting for my upcoming films, info below) how confirm pay there is not good: similar to US, sometimes worse ... stay in touch!
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Charlie Hunter fan here. Love his work. Thanks for giving him some screen time.
Charlie is Tops! He has much more to say and play in my feature length film JazzTown: JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
Great little film. Jazz will never die. Jazz is music for musicians not the crowd, that's pop music. It's challenging to play Jazz and it can be a challenge to listen too. Jazz by itself has never appealed to a wide audience. However, if you combine it with other styles. Like rock, pop, fusion, etc, it can become a goldmine for Jazz.
Has never appealed to a wide audience???
Louis Armstrong...U.S. State Department Cultural Ambassador to the World
Benny Goodman
Count Basie
Duke Ellington
George Benson
Weather Report
I could go on. From the 1930's through the mid 40's Jazz was the popular music of the U.S. and much of the rest of the world.
@ThomasGilmore-fi6gb My point exactly. Swing, Big bands, orchestras, pop, fusion. Combine them with jazz and commercial success is possible.
Thanks! I've got a lot more jazz in these films too Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
@@ThomasGilmore-fi6gbfrom the 20s, you mean. And before amongst black populations.
I have also made a few records containing a mix of styles from straight ahead to electronica - check em out!
Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybig
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Like in any other business, the jazz musician must understand how to negotiate a salary. If you are playing to play rather than working to work, you will accept any kind of payment.
Excellent suggestion: jazz musicians have been coming out of universities for the last 40 years: their music professors should equip them with those skills needed to survive in the music biz: Salary Negotiation and Financial Literacy. These are things that the distant past could sometimes be learned by apprenticing in big bands and other smaller touring bands...
Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JAZZTOWN

AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1

Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
JAZZTOWN
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Tom Ball w Ben Makinen: Fishleather Jacket (Latin Jazz)
music.apple.com/us/album/fishleather-jacket/64644385
AREA 15 LIVE music.apple.com/us/album/live/65453875 (Industrial Jazz Trio w JazzTown Star Mitch Chmara)
Very enjoyable, but it hurts the way the live scene has gone, also here in Australia. Great little movie! ❤
I appreciate this Joe - thank you. My first film JazzTown is more upbeat in tone and goes into the definition of jazz and the joy of making the music. JazzTown is on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Vudu. I know other people have watched JazzTown from Australia - let me know what you think!
Ron Miles!!!!! RIP awesome man AND trumpet player! It's not fair he left...
Ron was amazing - I am happy you knew of him. He is featured in my first doc as well: JazzTown, which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
Damn. Yeah, that's about the size of it. Excellent work, and too depressing. What a world. BTW, I once sat in with some of those Denver jazz guys when I was in college, and they gave me a hard time. They let me know I needed more time in the woodshed. It was a good lesson.
Bill - WOLF! thank you very much for watching and for your comments. It means a lot coming from you - you've had some fairly grand accomplishments in this business! Do you remember the people you sat in with in Denver? I got chewed out by a few as well, some were more understated ... but they cared enough to challenge us to improve - as you said we needed it. None of this, "Yeah man, sounds great!" BS And they wouldn't suffer fools, and they wouldn't let you drag the quality of their gig down. But when you got it together they kept you up on stage to play! Those guys were the last generation to have come up from the streets, IOW no university schooling - there were no schools teaching jazz - they learned it in the heat of battle. There is a deep sadness to all of this ... many people start with a dream and continue to work hard and harder with the notion that things must get better the more one improves ... Sometimes it does for a few, especially those who are quick to adapt and change with the times ...I hope to see you around more here on the Net - Cheers and thanks again: your words help keep the positive vibes afloat.
@@BmakinFilm This was in the early 70's. I was going to UW in Laramie, WY, and I drove down to Denver to sit in at this jazz club (don't remember the name of it). The guys were all seasoned middle-aged black guys twice my age. When I asked if I could sit in, they were skeptical. I asked to play 'Night in Tunisia." They set that thing off at the wildest, fastest bebop tempo, and I got lost in the form when I went to solo, and went to the bridge too soon. The tempo was too much for me, and I could barely struggle through two choruses. No one threw a cymbal at my feet, or chewed me out. They didn't need to. It was one tune, and I slunk off the bandstand with none of them even looked at me. Nothing was said, or needed to be said. It was a great non-verbal lesson. On the long drive back to Laramie, I realized that I had a whole lot of work to do on my chops.
Ben, I love how you put this all together. Great work.
Thank you very much. You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP
I'm 60 playing in cover bands on the weekend. Making a living playing my drums has passed me by but it's better money than making fries at Mc D's on weekends. I'll get back to you how it's going when I'm 70.
thanks - I am not far behind you! As long as you keep having fun making music. You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP
MORE AND BETTER EDUCATION!!!!!
Ben, thank you so much for this important work. Such a tragedy. I live in Nashville, so things might be a little better here for live music, and ironically a bit better for jazz (IMHO).
When I was in high school, the AV department encouraged some of us to sign up for lunchtime time radio deejay slots. They encouraged us to play whatever we wanted as long as lyrics were not explicit. It was the late 70s, and most of the music was Van Halen, Metallica or Earth, Wind and Fire and The Commodores. Pure jazz was already waning then, at least in my circles. But my jazz band teacher had introduced me to Miles, Coltrane, Monk and Brubeck and that is (along with Weather Report and Chick Corea) what became my deejay set list. Most of my friends thought I was weird (guilty) and didn't get it. I spent a lot time (mostly in vain) trying to explain it to them. But liked it mainly because of the virtuosity, and I thought (perhaps snobbishly) the 12-note inspired chord changes were the coolest thing ever. Unfortunately, virtuosity has itself has garnered a diminishing appreciation over the years (again IMHO).
With passionate jazz educators Jazz will never completely die. But culturally, video electronics (among other things, as cited in your doc) have changed the idea of entertainment and has been brutal on the geniuses who are gifted enough to play this style of music. Thank God most of them don't do it for the money, because if that were the case, it certainly would be gone. At least I managed to pass along a love for jazz to my kids.
It would seem that ironic that Country Music Nashville would pay jazz musicians better (can you find out what a jazz musician makes on a typical Friday night gig? Do you think tips are better in Nashville? Or just that there are more steady gigs? Great story about spinning Miles and Monk and Weather Report!
Yes - today we have much virtuosity with much less authentic story telling ... hopefully the youngsters will stay in the game long enough to find their voice... I'm glad your kids love it now too!
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Tremendous work, thank you very much! Really moving ending
How could anyone even think in removing blues from jazz curriculums? 7:03 It's removing the bones from the body. Those very prestigious schools are totally crazy!
Thanks Pablo for watching to the end... these were my friends and peers... I learned a lot from them... sad they are gone, happy for the ones still with us. - You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP
Amen! "If you can't play the blues... you might as well hang it up." . . . - Dexter Gordon
"Blues is to jazz what yeast is to bread-without it, it's flat." -Carmen McCrae
This is a weird documentary. It seems like a bunch of disconnected clips of people giving anecdotes which don't coalesce into a larger point. It doesn't use any data to show that live music, or jazz, is dead or dying. It even starts out by comparing a jazz musician to a doctor, which makes absolutely zero sense. The reality is that LOTS of musician make a living, and many make a great living. They do it by providing a service, like teaching, or playing music that they are asked to play. The fact that it's hard to make a living while playing exclusively creative music is nothing new, it's always been that way. Claiming that jazz is dead because you can't make a living playing it anymore is extremely sad to me. Jazz is alive and well if you just look around and realize how many people are actually playing it and learning it in 2024. One of the worst things you can do for the future of jazz is dissuade young people from pursuing it because it won't eventually pay their bills. Yikes.
Great comment 👍
@@Poodleoop Yup! This documentary is "Exhibit A" for what has happened to jazz. I teach a social history of jazz course at the college where I'm on faculty (sociology faculty not music). One of my students - a non-music major - said out loud in class, "I'm not smart enough to listen to any jazz after the swing era!"
@@skipb119The recording industry is responsible for the direct and deliberate dumbing down of the "musical maturity" of the public. Promoting mediocrity makes their assembly line production machine better able to push their "product". It's about making music the McDonald's way. Sell millions and then crow about how that proves that it's great food (or music). It's easier to market storytelling, poetry, social commentary, & philosophy (literature) accompanied by simplistic harmony and grandiose production (lipstick on a pig) What is being promoted is a linguistic experience because it requires less experience and effort on the part of both the producers and listeners. When was the last time that there was an instrumental hit on the air?
Well stated. I may not make a living but when I let the primal scream out of my axe all is good, or better, as Art Blakey says, jazz wipes off the daily dust off….
Agreed, got 8mns in and it's fairly incoherent.
Great doc Ben!
I have to agree with some of John Michaels comments that it's an industry wide problem for live art as related to the economy. Fair point!
As a live sound mix person for over 40 years I can remember we could work weeks, or split weeks, playing clubs for as much of the year as we chose and make a "reasonable" living. Not anymore. Jazz is not dead but will always find a way to improvise with the times.
No doubt an industry-wide challenge. But related to economy? Not really. Name one other industry in the world where people are being paid the exact same amount (not even adjusted for inflation) they were being paid 60 years ago. Jazz musicians were being paid $100 in (some!) nightclubs in the 1960s. Now they are sometimes even being less: $75. (I believe the now infamous, and shuttered El Chapultepec in Denver (recently inducted into Colorado Music Hall of Fame) may have climbed from the $75 a night in 1980, to $80 a night by 2020).
The economy has changed up and down many times since the 60s with ZERO effect on what clubs are paying... The pay was the same but it was the QUANTITY of gigs (like playing 5-7 gigs a week) combined with then-good pay that allowed musicians to buy homes (if they were smart with their money!) up through the 70s. There are no 5 night a week gigs these days and even if there were, $100 a night is still not enough to survive in the US.
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I watched an interview with Roy Eldridge from years ago. He stated "I am a working musician. I play mainly for a live audience. That is my main income. You asked me what I think of bebop. Bebop closed more venues and clubs than it opened ones. When we played swing the place was packed and the people were dancing. In a typical bebop club there are often almost as many musicians on the stage as in the audience and nobody is dancing. So Bebop eliminated the income of working musicians."
Very true . Sums things up.
I've always said that jazz killed itself by becoming too avant-garde and esoteric. But there's also the fact that popular tastes inevitably change with the march of time. The next generation almost never devotes themselves to the music of their parents. Add to that the modern technological age where every kind of entertainment is at your fingertips at all times.
One the other hand, if an art form does not evolve, it stagnates. That could also kill it. The jazz musicians who are artists have often looked at those musicians who try to appeal to popular tastes with a bit of disdain. I would hope that in this world there is room both for music that serves functions and easier listening tastes as well as music that evolves and pushes boundaries. I think that throughout history, most artists have struggled financially, unless they have patrons that they must compromise for. One could have a day job to support their artistic tic endeavours, but that would mean that their art might never achieve its full potential. Such is life.
As I age, some of the best musician that I know cannot afford dentists, etc. Sometimes the cost of their dedication is poor health. I’m not convinced that society owes them anything financially, but I appreciate their dedication and their work. Sometimes I also wish that I could do what they do as well as they do it, but I was not willing to suffer the cost. And, though I hold these artists in high esteem, my neighbours are not even aware of their existence.
@@piktormusic2538 you speak nothing but wisdom and truth. thanks for your thoughtful response.
I have not played a bebop gig in so long i cant even remember and tbh i only really learned to play it as a means to have the freedom to get around the instrument in order to play WHAT I WANTED TO PLAY FIRST regardless of genre or peoples taste which is usually not very good imo.
Well done, Ben! Sad but true.
@@yolandabush3879 I appreciate this Yolanda... yes much sadness... but there is hope as the spirit is eternal.
❤️Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤️
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I have an eclectic mix of "jazz" records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: "Tenderly" (straight ahead jazz w vocals)
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen: "Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug" (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Ben Makinen: Lost Lullaby music.apple.com/us/album/lost-lullaby/65203708 (The Jazz Dreams of Nascent Lap Tops)
AREA 15 LIVE music.apple.com/us/album/live/65453875 (Industrial Jazz Power Trio w JazzTown Star Mitch Chmara)
Tom Ball w/ Ben Makinen: Fishleather Jacket (Award-Winning Latin Jazz with Euphonium)
music.apple.com/us/album/fishleather-jacket/64644385
Ben Makinen: Lost Lullaby music.apple.com/us/album/lost-lullaby/65203708 (The Jazz Dreams of Nascent Lap Tops)
OWN my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! T-SHIRTS MUGS HATS
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JAZZTOWN
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
JAZZTOWN
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
My feature length film JazzTown is now available to watch free here on YT ruclips.net/video/IqkF5TGB68E/видео.htmlsi=7cVUlVrb4YjDvuND
It's truly tragic. And a nobody like taylor swift is a billionaire ..... it feels like justice is missing in many places these days.
Thanks iga. Justice is served when people like you support us little indie filmmakers - watch and listen to more of my films and music - leave a tip if you like!
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
🏆Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! T-SHIRTS MUGS HATS
www.benmakinen.com/merch
I have completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition Official Trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html
Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production Trailer: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: “Tenderly”
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen: “Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug” (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Ben Makinen: “Lost Lullaby” music.apple.com/us/album/lost-lullaby/65203708 (The Jazz Dreams of Nascent Lap Tops)
Tom Ball w Ben Makinen: “Fishleather Jacket” (Latin Jazz)
music.apple.com/us/album/fishleather-jacket/64644385
AREA 15 LIVE music.apple.com/us/album/live/65453875 (Industrial Jazz Trio w JazzTown Star Mitch Chmara on Guitar and JazzTown Director Ben Makinen on Drums!)
Who Killed Jazz
ruclips.net/video/XMC442DYlC4/видео.html
OWN JAZZTOWN!
JAZZTOWN

AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1

Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
Oh dang. You left an unresolved chord at 20:26. The cat was just about to play it. Now I can't sleep.
Not sleeping can be a great thing when going to JazzTown: watch my award winning feature doc JazzTown!Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I can hear the next cord in my head. It's bugging me.
With Much respect please watch to the very end of this incredible video you will be shocked this is live man
Good luck to all you musicians who are on this planet to ease the heavy load life has on mortal man.
An excellent video
RIP Mark Klagstad Denver jazz guitarist
@@zu0832 Whoa! Mark Klagstadt... I miss that guy. Always optimistic, despite the pain he carried within. Check out this video/slideshow from one of my gigs w Mark. You can hear Mark soloing and groovin along w Scott Grove on kys and myself on drums ruclips.net/video/3TfM_BeJaoc/видео.htmlsi=GJJKPFwZQ9P70CcH its from a jazz jam I hosted at the Bear Creek Distillery in Denver about 5 years ago.
It hurts, same here Korea too. But hope always be. May the force be with every jazz musicians
Hello Korea @Many141 ! I love your country! What part of the country do you live ?
I was in Seoul for 3 weeks in March of 1997 playing drums for Annie - the broadway musical out of NYC. We stayed at the Renaissance Hotel - I had so many very magical adventures and loved the people I met there. I am really very thankful I got to meet the people of South Korea ... Since then I have only been back to the airport. I hope I can visit the city and your countryside again... I am sorry for the pain of this brutal life in the arts ... May the force be with you as well!
Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
As far as a being a listener, Jazz will never die for me. There's just too much to listen to.But if I were a jazz musician, that would be different.
I believe you will enjoy my first feature length film on jazz - JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP
I made a jazz album covering some recent pop tunes! Check it out and let me know what you think: music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Woah! This IS exceptional to watch.
Anyone know if there is a video of that live Latin jazz guy on congas playing and the pianist????
That is keeping jazz fresh and we need to educate the youth of tomorrow that all forms of jazz exist
✌🏽
Thank you Rich! YES, MORE BELOW Subscribe for more of this music and footage! More of them in the AWARD-WINNING "JAZZTOWN"!
itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1 The conguero is Francisco Mejias and the Band is Ritmo Jazz Latino. Some more of this concert, and of the pianist Justin Adams, can be seen and heard in JazzTown, my ward-winning doc:
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
MORE RITMO JAZZ LATINO As to this concert footage - I do have more! ruclips.net/video/aqd8kcdbSpA/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/12iA-x1lXbg/видео.html
My wife and I made our livings as working musicians in LA for 45-50 years. She’s a violinist and I’m a trombonist. We did very well. Did everything from sessions, record dates and jingles, to weddings and parties, to Latin bands and church gigs, to Disneyland and jazz clubs, to orchestras and big bands and pop/rock bands. We raised 4 kids and bought a house and sold it 3 years ago and bought a nice piece of land with a couple of houses cash in another state. Being a musician means being versatile. If you just play one type of music, like jazz, you’re limiting your income. Why Denver? LA or NY or even Chicago or New Orleans or Nashville. There are guys in LA making their livings just playing casuals.
Your point about limiting one's genre is an excellent one. I don't know when the idea that "I will be a jazz musician" came into being - but I have a peer of a former student (about 25 yrs old) struggling to work - fill the cal - as a "jazz" musician. Our musical ancestors from New Orleans etc worked as you and your wife: Vaudville, Silent film ,circus, parade bands, weddings, political speeches etc... I have however read no accounts of those musicians being able to buy homes - they all had day gigs in the trades. Your circumstances are tied to a healthy local economy (huge community with a lot of gigs) and I am guessing Union... perhaps all put in place, kick started initially by mafia. You have to be a great reader in LA as well. Race plays a part in every scene as well - there was a time in LA when studio gigs (certainly orchestras) were not open to black men... I wonder if your wife ever knew Ginger Smock? Black violinist made some big records there in the 50s. I think she was a concert master in Vegas in the 70s. Congrats on your success! My guess is that fewer trombonists are workin in LA now than there were 40 years ago? From what I hear a lot of bands don't have budget for horns. In Louis Armstrong's early NO days it was the banjo that got cut first on lower paying gigs.
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
They were a couple of generations older than me but I worked when I was young with some pretty great black horn players on sessions and in bands and on shows. Jackie Kelso,Snooky Young, Bill Green, Buddy Colette, George Bohannon, Oscar Brashear, Plas Johnson, Ricky Woodard, Tommy Johnson, Terry Harrington to name a few. I don’t believe my wife knew that violinist, but there are quite a few black and Asian and Armenian and Latin string players she’s worked with through the years. My era was 1980’s through 2018 and I think the gigs I did were pretty well integrated. When I was a kid I was often the only gringo in a salsa band and the casuals I did were always well mixed racially. My good friend and fellow trombonist Art Velasco is coming to visit next week. He made an excellent living in LA as did Ramon Flores and Harry Kim.
@@franklee1550DIDYA know Jimmy & Jeannie Cheatham ? Saw em @ The Northsea 87. Check their Concords (pun int) 🇫🇮
@@franklee1550 You were in great company Frank - those are monster players! I wonder if your wife knows of cellist Akua Dixon (former wife of Steve Turre)? Akua (more East Coast based) will be in my upcoming film We Are Here:Women In Jazz.
@@franklee1550great story. How'd you get so good. I believe the killer to playing well is reading notes and timing and juggling while trying to play. My tone sucks. I bought a new trumpet. It's the equipment right not me lol.
Sometimes when I watch youtube videos of these incredible ensembles of the young musicians at Berklee I wonder if they realize that this kind of stuff is only possible at Berklee and once they graduatefor most of them it's Cruise Ships, Teaching gigs or Casuals and Corporate gigs ( which are rapidly drying up too).
That is something I wish more music professors would make their students aware of. The smart ones (musicians out of school) are applying for grants (jazz with a cause) that essentially subsidize their ability to gig for 50 year old frozen wages.
It’s hard to understand why anyone would think they would make $ in any music genre. Be grateful to even play. Punk Rock bands did it all themselves. If there’s an audience, you can find a venue.
@@75YBA People make millions in music: the Grammys, film scoring, major touring. Musicians who spend close to a quarter million dollars on their university eduction (in addition to the private lesson they have paid for since they were 9) leads them to believe that they can make money with music.
from Google search:
WEALTHY PUNK ROCKERS:
Dexter Holland is the wealthiest punk rocker, with a net worth of $65 million. Other wealthy punk rockers include:
Billie Joe Armstrong: Has a net worth of $55 million
Ian Mackaye: Has a net worth of $25 million
Davey Havok: Has a net worth of $20 million
Lars Frederiksen: Has a net worth of $10 million
Marky Ramone: Has a net worth of $2 million
10 Punks Who Are Richer Than You Think - Dying Scene
Jun 13, 2024 - 10 Punks Who Are Richer Than You Think * Marky Ramone - $2 Million. * Lars Frederiksen - $10 Million. * Davey Havok -...
Dying Scene
AND dyingscene.com/archive/10-punks-who-are-richer-than-you-think/
I don't care what anyone says I love jazz and these men and women should be making a hell of a lot more money
agreed! Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
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AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
This was heartbreaking. 😢
@@bobbachelor5930 Thank you for sharing that... it is for me as well on many levels... I count my blessings that this music brought us together, that we shared time together as friends before they died. the struggle with the economics of making music is a different kind of heart break that has taken me years to understand is not the fault of the Music at all...
@@bobbachelor5930 why ?
@@mansize6622 Why what? Please clarify.
@@BmakinFilmhe’s asking the op why he feels that this is heartbreaking.
@@obsoletecd-rom understood - thanks🙂
THANKS so much this movie so honest and intelligent on what Jazz has become today...! The whole society has changed so much and so quickly after the 90's that it's obvious the Jazz scene has nearly disappeared, I mean in the way it existed before...Still, il will always live as long as real musicians will keep on believing in its fabulous free language! AMEN❤!
You are most welcome @castellidenis5257 Thank you for your support! I have more films on Jazz!
Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
This was real... and Beautiful... Wish it had been a bit longer or the director had time on his side...
Thank you. I spent a leisurely 90 minutes with my first film JazzTown. JazzTown is now available on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Vudu, Google Play... many of the same musicians have the space to stretch out a bit more and explore the meaning of jazz.ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
Absolutely wonderful and sublime. Also a bit painful and sad. Still, what am I doing next? Going upstairs to play, inspired and funky and a bit off-center.
@DavidBiddle Thank you very much - yes, keep playing! My feature length JazzTown is a delightful tribute to many of these great musicians and the town they made famous!
Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Oh, the end is spectacular!
Thank you for watching till the end @polanve You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
I'm a jazz musician in UK and same exploitation exists here.....
The pure love of this amazing art form allows this to happen...it takes a few years to be a dentist....but much more to be a pro level jazz person....say £100k pa dentist ...£10k jazz musician, probably less...but better for our well being mentally and physically ....
jazz died as a scene around 40 years ago when it was turned into science and became a product for the college industry... jazz isn't a genre, is an idea... so philosophicaly it will never die... if it's invoked that way.
thanks for watching this film @dustin72 Which musician in Who Killed Jazz spoke to you most? AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Great film. I couldn't help but think about my fellow bicycle mechanics who are in such a similar predicament in the bicycle industry. Tune ups were $69.99 in 1989 and it's the exact same today only with absolutely no benefits or health insurance. Why do we do it? Because it's in our soul, it is our very being and we are called to do it. That's why.
This suggests a tune up goes from $40-$250 for a premium tune up: icancycling.com/blogs/articles/average-cost-of-a-bike-tune-up-and-what-is-included?srsltid=AfmBOopmY0PgaP9auwyJoD7yFiUWMFcv2-x-5xd77RHnUKGOagtadOQ3obviously depending on location... I have ben seeking for an example of any other industry that works for a 50 year old frozen wage like nightclubs pay jazzers ... your calim would've come close but I am not seeing anything that supports it. Do you have any references for the claim of $69.99...?
Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Corporate greed ensured that the music industry remained unregulated in order to hoard the money, ensuring and taking advantage of passionate musicians. The only way it will change is if musicians recognize their power and take control of their industry, the same way Doctors, lawyers, plumbers, electricians all have done.
A crucial point - thanks @bryanthill4155 I had made that case to my friends (musicians) when the pandemic lockdowns first kicked in: organize w a plan before clubs reopen with the same offer ... its basically a form of unionizing (like you suggest: creating standards that all play by) - but there is not enough money in the clubs to interest the unions (which are now weak in the US anyway) and there are always thousands of "weekend warriors" willing to go play for free. I have seen some musicians having success writing grants as a means to subsidize the low paying gigs or to create bigger cause related community events. You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
Corporations don't create music.
Lawyers don't control their industry. You have no idea what a bunch of lemmings they are
Here in Toronto Canada, it's the exact same thing for rock musicians. We're lucky if we get a gig to play for the door. Usually the bar owner wants to pay $100 for the nigh for a 4 or 5 piece band.
Thanks for sharing - that's bad news. Musicians have to stick together and say no to bad pay. I toured through Toronto in a blues band from New Orleans back in 1992 - I loved the city.
Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Loius Armstrong was succesful because the average person coukd hear the melody and harmony, with some jazz sweets on top. Jazz is so extreme and overblown in many instances that the average person is not going to go home with a melody in their ear. As one guy there said the jszz is killing itself trying to be the mostest. Similarly, the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham said "why do no orchestras play music from the 20thC? A lack of melody".
Here here! Most exquisite delights are found in my other movies Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤️Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤️
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Excellent work. Much future success. Cheers!
Thank you very much - I have completed two more jazz docs (and have two additional in post production) Please check them out: I am sure you will enjoy!
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
When I was young a friend of mine said to my dad; "He'll never get rich as a musician. He'll play for nothing." How true he was.
This is sadly true of most - obviously some do become millionaires! There are some caveats to pursuing what one loves.
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Pete Fountain made plenty on dough. He plays a kind of jazz people want to listen to
@@nap871he owned a club (a very successful one) and rental properties. If you wisely invest an advance, a royalty check, or a nice payday, you can insure yourself against gigs drying up. It’s really hard to do if you’re supporting a family, or if you feel the investment has to go into a tour which may or may not be profitable. Pete was able to grow his businesses by staying close to home, and not hitting the road again until nostalgia tours allowed him to do so profitably. I get what you’re saying, but it’s maybe a little unfair to compare most musicians to PF, who was obviously a very talented entrepreneur.
Wonderfully anarchic!
That is perceptive and wonderfully complimentary - thank you!
Here is more art I have made (you may find the Goliath Beetle and the Ladybug CD to be anarchic as well... same w In the Moon of The Black Calf off of my Tenderly Cd - deets below: Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: "Tenderly" (straight ahead jazz w vocals)
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen: "Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug" (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JAZZTOWN
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
JAZZTOWN
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
❤️Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤️
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
To me, once it became an academic discipline the life was squeezed out of it. The technique outpaced the aesthetics after the schools got their talons on it. It just became so chatty. Too many notes, too much 'look at how brilliant I am'.
I agree that is a huge component, yet one filled with great irony. The institutionalization of jazz has kept it alive as repertory (classical) music but has squashed the soul and spirit of innovation (rebellion) out of it. The schools cannot teach and grade soul and spirit (and will not tolerate rebellion for obvious reasons) so they avoid them and design curriculum that addresses only technique and a propagandized history of jazz. There is a potential backlash: just as children often rebel against their parents I have met and interviewed musicians, Veronica Swift being one of them (from U of Miami music program), who played the game to get the degree and then found themselves fighting against all that was expected of them to rediscover their own voice (modernizing/being contemporary)... thus coming back to a fierce spirit of innovation to be free of oppression. Granted, these are the exception... but they stand to bring whole new audiences into improv based music.
@@BmakinFilm Thanks for that feedback.
Yes! Jazz becoming too avant-garde and esoteric is definitely one of the causes.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 Yep. I understand that some artists need to push the envelope and all that but it seems that almost all of the art has been taken up with overly technical or outside stuff. And then the players complain about their audiences.
We all know that as soon as people stop dancing to the music, its popularity takes a nose-dive.
I have a couple of Charlie Hunter CD's. Awesome player.
He's soulful! Charlie is featured much more in my 90 min film JazzTown (Apple TV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu, Vimeo):
Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
7:14 Charlie Hunter NAILED IT!
Agreed! He speaks and plays more in my feature length doc JazzTown (now on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu and Vimeo)
ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=SATbCxcUNrewUWYl
I hope you watch it - let me know what you think (Mitch Chmara does some
serious shredding too on gtr)
Great work @Ben Makinen, watched in Australia! (hello from down under)... everything you bring up is not just a jazz thing... it's indicative of the entire music industry to a certain extent. Live music is definitely going through a watershed moment/era... dealing with birth, and teenage years of the internet's affect on live music, also the entertainment culture of society and their engagement with it is changing, and it will be interesting to see how music and musician's fair from the information age into the A.I. age...
In Melbourne Australia where I live (probably the biggest music city in Australia) the same things are echoed from in your documentary... there are SO many musicians, but the gigs (and venues) are getting less, or harder to get. I know less and less musicians who can actually make a living and live completely off playing their music (live)... and most now are part-time musicians, or work a job and play more as a hobby. It's a hard reality here too.
I love blues (but also jazz as I am a swing dancer as well)... and a while back travelled all over the USA (New Orleans, Austin, Clarkesdale, Memphis, Nashville, St Louis, Chicago, Detroit, (Toronto, Montreal), Boston and NYC... after years of playing in Australia, and many bands (and styles) and touring the East Coast here, I went to find some more history and the grit of where the musics I love come from, and also to play with the musicians playing in it now. I watched, and jammed, and swapped stories with musicians in all of those places, and everything everyone told me mirrors pretty much exactly what is explained in your doco... it was sad to see the state of things for even Americans.
But like most of the musos say in the doco, once you play music it's hard to give it up, and it just becomes part of who you are and what you do. People forget in today's society to have adventure in their lives, or to explore more of what is out there (than hide in their local patch)... life is meant to be lived, not watched from afar on a screen, the difference between those two things is immense, and unless you travel and adventure you never know that difference (I've struggled, but still travelled to 20 Countries) And music was such an amazing bridge to have, I've jammed amazing blues with musos in France (and other places) without even being able to speak the same language. It's why America is in so much trouble lately politically... as people are far too accepting to be TOLD their truth, rather than actually MAKING one for themselves.
Hello down there! I am actually now a stone's throw to the north of you in Bali! You make strong points in regards to the modern tech influence on jazz ... there are big benefits ... however I feel that deep, emotive storytelling is lacking in a lot of even exciting music being made today my the "young lions". They got technique, and their hearts are on it - but they haven't lived much (not much outside of the academic institution) and because of the internet/cell phones there is not much time spent in solitude, reflecting, processing - on the contrary it all creates more anxiety ... oddly it could be that AI begins to serve as personal therapists who start encouraging (prescribing) meditative techiniques to encourage calm and introspection (where deep connections are made)...
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
@@BmakinFilm I am totally in agreeance with you!... as a musician who has played all his life, and toured all over Aus and played in other countries, what you say is TOTALLY correct... in white, middle class society (not just jazz) music has been taken over by academics, scale hogs, musos who have become FAR too concerned with the technique of playing their instrument, and learning the intricacies of music theory... OR they go the gear route, and become multiple guitar owners/collectors and must have every pedal or every amp, or every vintage... blah blah blah to get the perfect sound...
But concentrating on all that takes time away from being able to actually write a song that connects with another human... I found it so hard to relate to the gearheads especially... That idea that they don't spend time on adventure, or meeting other humans to inform their music writing etc, or relating their personal experiences to life... and creating a music to reflect that.?
I've had the odd heated debate with some musos at jams about that very subject... and always go, "well if you have another $2500 for a new guitar, instead of buying another guitar (which they usually have 10 already)... why don't you spend that money of a plane ticket to New Orleans, or Chicago?"... or anywhere really... or use it to subsidise a tour, so you can play your music to new people... sometimes that sort of talk stumps people, they either contemplate it, or they arc up and want to have a verbal fight about it... ha ha...
I agree with you, musicians for a long time have spent FAR too long getting into the "head" of their music, instead of the "heart" of their music... and that is also indicative of the class war you hint at on who can afford to play music now... etc
@@Timbotao Thansk Timbotao - I am just seeing this reply ... Gear heads ... I always fall silent when talk turns to gear - I could barely remember the sizes of my drums - I just found stuff that sounded and felt great and took off - I could clean and fix my gear, but always had to look things up to order replacement parts etc ... then one year I felt a bit embarrassed by how little I knew about the gear I had been playing for 30 years, so I started reading the histories of the drum and cymbal makers ... you make a great point about traveling or touring with that gear money - instead of another guitar or drum set ... I always go back to indigenous/roots music (or just walk in nature) to reconnect with the heart and sound ... silence, space and tone, breath and dynamics ... Peace!
So much to unpack. The economy can’t be ignored. Inflation has left working musicians behind. Jazz is abstraction and ALL forms of creative abstraction have suffered with the general decline in intelligence and emotional investment in the arts. Younger generations are most interested in video games. Now THAT would be the combination to change things. Jazz and video games actually have a lot in common.
Funny you mentioned jazz and video games. There is a thriving scene that’s been going on for years with young jazz musicians playing innovative renditions of video game music. Check out artists like the 8-bit Orchestra or Patrick Bartley.
The creative stuff is out here, you need only look.
Thanks! I know good stuff is out there and there are some dynamite young people. JD Beck and Domi come to mind. Matteo Mancuso too. Big fan of Robert Glasper and neo soul stuff. Haven’t been aware of a video theme variant. Thanks! :)
@ most welcome man. Big JD Beck & Domi fan myself!! Keifer is badass too!
Domi’s writing has a Zappa quality I’m a sucker for. Hopeful for another generation of that.
@@williemakeit2346 8 Bit is very creative - thanks for naming names: these are very creative groups! Keifer plays w a Bob James-like inspiration. I love the vibe and excitement JD Beck & Domi have brought. Mancuso has a lot of clean and exciting chops - will be fun to listen as he grows and develops more harmonic depth (ala Ted Green and Mitch Chmara).
Brilliant editing! Respect
Thank you @RoyPerez-drumnote Check out the editing in my new movie Echoes of Tradition: official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
And my first film JazzTown (editing a bit more "relaxed" and leisurely). I edited Who Killed Jazz more like an action flick! Be well!
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
People don't go out for live music anymore because it's too darn expensive. ugh. I used to pay $10 to see a show and back in the 80's and 90's I made $50 to $100 on a gig. Blows me away their still making that same wage. It's bs.
My friends in cover bands report the same thing.
Conditions are ripe for some kind of comeback. But if jazz is a reflection of society we'll get a hand full of billionaires and the rest making peanuts.
Do you know what they’ve always said about jazz?.. if you wanna make $1 million in jazz, you have to invest 2 million
(FWIW I used to play in restaurants - I had a non-music day gig). I don't buy that because apparently people go to see XYZ at some stadium, pay hundreds of dollars for a ticket, and sit in traffic for hours to get there and get home, and have to watch XYZ on a jumbotron. I'd much rather be in a club.
Imagine how long it takes to gain back the money spent on jazz education
This resonates with me so much. I live near Southampton which had a vibrant jazz scene up until about 2000. I have not heard of pubs putting on jazz for aged yet I woukd sometimes go out a couple of times to listen. When I went to hear my piano teacher play with his trio, all sorts of other musicians would congregate .
I used to go to the jazz festival in Vienne in France for nearly 20 years. It was interesting to see how the scene changed around 2010. People no longer value live music and I think tech has democraticised music and you no longer need to be a musician to make music. It is easy to see why jazz has been squeezed out as innovation is not a valued criteria in music these days.
This film does make me angry as these issues are as relevant in Southampton,Uk as in Denver. Unlike the 80 and 90s, the jazz industry failed to promote new musicians who were creating genuinely original music. Too much cosmetic stuff was praised. The industry shot itself in the foot promoting jazz that was too modish with no long term strategy. It is just nostalgia now with performances of Broadway standards that were exhausted after Jarrett and Paul Motian.
I rarely listen to much contemporary stuff these days. The only innovation comes from jazz composition and the avant garde but no one is listening as jazz no longer marches the criteria of most of the public. Alot of it us just a facsimile of jazz and it is small wonder with Djs that some venues are now expecting musicians to pay to perform there.
I used to think jazz was forever but now think the music is on its last legs. These days I listen to more classical.
Great film, though.
Fabulous insights @ianthumwood3013 and thank you for drawing a parallel to what's going on in your neck of the woods: Southampton... "Tech has democratized music" (excellent) and perhaps even devalued it ... certainly has fostered a flood of sound that has numbed audiences (overwhelmed)... That innovation is not valued (another grand point you make) is a direct result of the institutionalization of a national jazz curriculum funded by the US govt to export jazz as a tool of propaganda ( I am soon making new movie about this). Innovation does not fit neatly into the mainstream narrative designed to efficiently export this product. Thus the neoclassicists have turned jazz into a repertory music (safe and predictable) made to please wealthy patrons of the arts. At the same time it drifts farther and farther away from having contemporary community relevance. To be fair, there are musicians who are products of this indoctrination (Veronica Swift, Melanie Charles, Jazzmeia Horn, and others outside of the US) who are breaking away and forging fire of innovation. Some of their music is unlikely to be identified as "jazz" until at least 6 years after the fact, as has been the historic precedent. (Actually the ones I named are still operating under the "jazz" banner ... Swift is pulling quickly away with an infusion of stadium rock.)
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Nice to see El Chapultapec where I played 5 nights a week for a yr. Denver has a lot of fine players.
@zangsax Who did you play with at the Pec? Glad you watched this film! Do you know Tom Ball? He repairs horns in Denver as well. His original music is heard in my feature film (also w The Pec players) JazzTown
Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
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AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I worked and lived in New Orleans for 7 years and watched my friends and co-workers struggle. It's not uncommon to have 2-3 gigs a day. (If you're good) To those who don't know, that's 8-12 hours a day on a bandstand. The pay rate at the clubs is either 25 percent of the bar plus tips or 35 per man per set plus tips. You end up with 90-130 per gig on average. $390.00 for 12 hours, Yes, you can earn a living playing jazz where it all began, but it's an effing grind, and it's no country for old men. After Covid, all bets were off. That's when I left and retired. It ain't worth it. I have some advise for young musicians, Stay in school and train for a real, stable job.
Brutal realities @Buasop Thanks for the insights to the NO scene. Are the music professors teaching any of this to the starry eyed kids entering freshman year at the conservatories? (Al Rose wrote a great book about the NO scene in the 30s 40s and 60s... called I Remember Jazz ... he knew, and booked, all the musicians from those decades.)
You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
Try practicing law. In a year you'll grab your horn and run back to new orleans.
Thank you for this!
You are welcome @DanielJohnMartin I have more jazz on film!
Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
jazz isn't dead? stop shoving this recommendation in my face youtube
Note there is no question mark in the title.
Aside from... there are masters of music in this filmnwho claim that certain KINDS are dead: they will never again be played w authenticity.
I hope you will give this a chance and watch.
Just like Jazz, don't ask me to explain why I LOVE this movie. It's as organic and healthy as Jazz❤
thank you! you may enjoy some of my other jazz films as well: Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
So many good reasons for the decline - not demise - of jazz popularity over the past 40-60 years.
Having come up in the late 60’s, I think that budget cuts for music programs writ large really cut deeply into jazz and other great music reaching the ears and hearts of young people in the late 70’s and into the 80’s. Reaganomics not only destroyed a more equitable economy. It also put cultural emphasis on business and finance. That percolated down into the popular mind-set. Parents wanted kids doing business, not arts.
Oh yeah right: it wasn't bebop, that undanceable, cerebral style. It wasn't the beatles. It wasn't changing tastes. It was Reagan!!
I came up at the same time you did and I completely disagree with your take. Reaganomics shrank income disparity, primarily by bringing up the bottom end. Disposable income grew at its greatest rate ever and middle class people with more to spend on entertainment should have been a boon to live music. Unfortunately, the entertainment options grew even more. Technology presented many more choices for people. Going out became less and less the first choice, and even then, going out options started looking more like Dave and Buster’s and not Birdland. Like the guy in the movie said, give the folks some tv’s, potted plants and brass railings and they’re happy.
Yes... I graduated high school in 1985. We saw Reaganomics destroy the art and music programs in the schools, which led to a lack of appreciation for musch of live music unless it was FM radio rock. @gaylanbishop1641 comment below is interesting in that it pits advanced tech entertainment options against live music - and even gaylan's point about income disparity is correct - those with disposable incomes did not gain an appreciation of art music from the public school ... this started to change in te 90s after legislation was passed making jazz a national treasure.... millions of dollars then began pouring into education to institutionalize jazz. in essence locking jazz into being a repertory music like classical ...
"Reaganomics not only destroyed a more equitable economy." Cringe.
@@BmakinFilm"We saw Reaganomics destroy the art and music programs in the schools, which led to a lack of appreciation for musch of live music unless it was FM radio rock." Oh stop. That's so silly. I'm not Right or Left, Democrat or Republican, but I've got to say that there is not an ounce of truth in your statement.
In the first place, music has never depended on politics for its survival, but on culture. And for a reason devoid of any complexity. Things are primarily cultural, not political. If the culture values art it will thrive. After the 60's the arts and music programs went out of their way to destroy themselves, in part because they were often poorly taught and filled with political moralizers with an axe to grind, and nothing will destroy a student's interest in the arts faster than that.
We’re left to play for the enjoyment of playing. So we must do that completely ❤
Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤️Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤️
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AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
6:45. Great Congo solo
That's Denver's own Francisco Mejias!
cool film. thanks
Thank you Eagle! My feature length film JazzTown is now available here too:
OWN my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch MUGS T-SHIRTS HATS
JAZZTOWN

AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1

Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
JAZZTOWN
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
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I have completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition Official Trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html
Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production Trailer: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: “Tenderly”
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen: “Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug” (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Ben Makinen: “Lost Lullaby” music.apple.com/us/album/lost-lullaby/65203708 (The Jazz Dreams of Nascent Lap Tops)
Tom Ball w Ben Makinen: “Fishleather Jacket” (Latin Jazz)
music.apple.com/us/album/fishleather-jacket/64644385
AREA 15 LIVE music.apple.com/us/album/live/65453875 (Industrial Jazz Trio w JazzTown Star Mitch Chmara on Guitar and JazzTown Director Ben Makinen on Drums!)
Playing music on acoustic instruments is an element of the human experience that transcends mere casual activity. So very many different elements need to be pulled together. The physical task of working an instrument... The concepts of time in pitch and harmony.… But when one engages in this process, the reward is the building of the neural pathways between the two hemispheres of the brain. Things that didn’t make sense begin to make sense. you find yourself able to look at a problem from multiple sides. And if you’re lucky enough to grasp a decent portion of that with which makes decent jazz… You get to engage in one of the most trancendesent 😮experience as a human can have. The act of spontaneously creating music.. In the air. In real time. For real. And if you just happen to be sitting in the audience… You get to witness the act of creation, immediate, and fleeting… And then it’s gone. Until you visit again. And that’s why it is so very very special. But it requires Both patience and participation by both the player and the listenear. I can only pray that our civilization rediscovers the wonder of pure music. As opposed to… Product.
@ajn465 Thats a wonderful meditation - thanks! You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
100% (lifelong musician and evangelist for attention and musical experience, just wanting to echo your sentiments)
This is a great documentary.
I appreciate that James - please check out some of my other work: (and Subscribe!)
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
It's been a running joke with my band mates how much we make on gigs these days. Sad. For me, for the most part, it has been the same since the 90's. Tip jar helps! Everyone I know has to teach a lot to make it or married someone with a normal job. And those guys are at least getting by. I know other players that just really struggle and are just poor and still they keep at it. Driving old cars, or have to get a ride to the gig, so one of us has to pick him up, or in one case, even keeping the house temp too low in the winter! That's not good. But this is what they do, and it takes a toll. How much of the joy in making music, on a pretty high level too, and barely being compensated is stripped away. Who was it that said, "you have to go to Jazz, it won't come to you". The players know this of course, but the audience that also knows this is just not enough. I hate being the wallpaper on a gig, but if even one person is listening, I'm good. You really hit the reality of this kind of work on the head! So true!
Thanks for sharing @PaulTownsenddrummer Its a brutal path made tolerable with much laughter! Teressa Carroll is the singer who speaks about jazz calling you ... she was an amazing singer: from the Osage Nation in Oklahoma (got her chops in NYC w Philly Joe Jones etc...) - her grandmother was one of the Natives murdered for oil rights as covered in the recent movie Killers of the Flower Moon. Teressa had wanted to audition for any kind of participation in that film but died of cancer before they completed it...
You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
Your story echo's my experience and thoughts closely, even though I play rock in Australia!... It's always been difficult to make a living playing music but post-covid the cost of living has increased dramatically. Getting by with so little earnings is just not possible any more.
I guess this little doc was worth being made. Can't blame a guy for tryin'.
Thanks. I have tried in a few more places: You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
The great American art form that should be highly celebrated and paid for the ppl that can really do it. Sad truth
Jazz is highly celebrated outside of the US (for example in Asia). I am not sure if the economics are any better.
you would be pleasantly surprised to see some young Japanese women absolutely killing it, look for Harumo Imai
The society is too much related to visual content. Auditive abilities and the skill of listening are decreasing today.
Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
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AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
How do you make a small fortune? Start with a large one and then become a Jazz musician. Sorry for the bad and dark joke.
If you leave a bad joke, as you have, you must watch my feature length film JazzTown or buy an I Love Jazz hat from my website!
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
You mean how to make a living 🎯
Spotify and cell phone killed record sales.
CDs were great for jazz, because the songs are about 10 minutes a song and we liistened to them over and over again.
It is such a scam that optical scanners (cd players) were removed from laptops and desk top computers. Spotify ... they must've bribed some US regulatory agency - its just such monopoly - the users, great fans of music, have no idea how screwed the musicians are ... Can you imagine a dentist making a penny every time they cleaned your teeth?
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
My main issue with this documentary is there’s no mention of the economy as the main problem. When Jazz was in its heyday, the economy was robust and also the educational system had more music programs and instruments so young people, especially in cities, had the ability to get closer to the music. You could make the exact same documentary talking to people who have been involved in community theater or opera, and they would say the exact same thing more or less. What is really a flawed premiss is thinking is that it’s club owners who are the enemy. Margins in running restaurants have gotten thinner and thinner so it’s really ridiculous on the whole to think the club owners are screwing jazz musicians. I think there are parts of this documentary‘s that are good, especially about how universities have sidestepped the emphasis on young students learning how to swing and play the blues. Any working Jazz musician today will have to play in funk, R&B, and wedding bands to survive. Understanding how to play the blues is a huge asset to become a know instrumentalist in any community
Ironically, cheap interest rates put the final nail int the coffin of live music in most places. Real estate sold to investors whose primary objective over time is to make the most money possible. If club owners have to either purchase or rent at an inflated price, less $ are available for musicians, food, etc. Housing of course has suffered the same fate.
Jazz’s peak of popularity probably came in the midst of the Great Depression.
@@tbonealex I wonder about that given prohibition (1920-33) overlapped the depression (1929-39) and people even in speakeasys needed money to buy drinks where the music was played.
@@johnmichaels4564The mafia played a great role in keeping the music alive and musicians well paid
Audiences killed jazz. They don’t like it. Simple but sad. It’s less than 1% requested streams and about 5% of vinyl sales.
Audiences that love jazz love jazz. There are millions of people who love jazz - their money is not finding its way into the musician's pocket: In general they do not put it in the tip jar - not as much as they put into the club's till: they buy tickets, booze and food and tip the bartenders... musicians are experimenting w QR codes ...
@ I agree with you - i just mean it being less popular makes it even harder to negotiate your value to club owners who already don’t value it. If every time your band played the place was capacity you would get paid. If when the song ends 5 people clap your leverage is much less - but yes I do agree with you I love Jazz myself. I just notice most of the folks I know who are not musicians don’t get it. Sad stuff all around. Great doc tho
@@scottpickel1282 Your point here is spot on. Quite right - the musicians would have a case to negotiate a larger cut if they were packing the joint ... and your point about audiences not liking it: much of today's jazz does not reflect contemporary culture - it doesnt speak to any but those who enjoy the music of the past. Thanks Scott! Please check out my first feature length film JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
Too many people want to play it while too few want to hear it, but it’s not dead, just wheezing along. I thought for a moment jazz was moving back toward a pop synthesis. Check out the future jazz coming out of the UK, Comets are Coming, etc.
Man, this hits close to home! @1:53 "The only people who can afford to play jazz are wealthy people." And that's coming from certified badass Charlie Hunter! It's a dark thing. I went to jazz school (lol really hard to write that) from 2011 - 2015. I was one of those stupid kids. It starts with jamming with your friends, you learn to play in a key on a groove and you start to improvise. You might hear musicians from the Jam and Funk scene play with jazz "vocabulary" and then you want to learn this for yourself. A few years later you are whole hog into antiquated genre of music that has no palpable connection to most people in society. Note - not every musicians goes this route but I, and many I knew around me, did.
I feel like even since I was in school, Jazz and vocational music playing have changed a lot for the worse and I can only imagine musicians 10 years my senior feeling the same way if not more so. Social media and smart-phones have obviously done traditional musical instrument playing no justice in this regard. I gotta say though (and this might come off as jaded) let Jazz end. People will always have the records and love & appreciate them. It's like someone really trying to keep the customs of the Victorian era alive. You will still have musicians like Thundercat & Snarky Puppy who come to the limelight to play jazz inspired music.
I really appreciate your honesty sharing your story: thousands of musicians have had similar experiences. One of the big probs is that the high school and universiry professors don't emphasize the 1) economic
hardship reality of attempting to play jazz (hard bop etc that is taught as the standard) and 2) the notion that jazz theory and technique are tools one can use to find their own voice and to bring into any style of music they choose to pursue or create. Graduates often come out of school with false expectations, and an elitist attitude of disdain towards other styles ... The acadamies def keep the love and appreciation of this now grand repartory music alive. It may be more honest to call their jazz programs American Classical music... of course there are pockets of progressive who offer digital/synth/electronica courses. Again, thank you Aaron for your contribution to this dialogue and remember that the music is always inside of you , "No no, they can't take that away from me!"
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
BTW Check out Andromeda Turre's new album From The Earth. she has done some very creative composition (and i love her voice!) she has contributed this music for me to use in my uocoming films listed above... She went to Berklee w Esperanza Spaulding (2000ish) and the. dropped out - she is finding her own style quite distinct from the university jazz curriculum... let me know what you think!
I'm thinking that you can't have the convenience and value of online entertainment (for almost free!) and then expect to walk down the street on any night and see some great unkown live band at the local bar for $10. Life has moved on... changed...
BEFORE the music business of the post-world war II era, most people played music at social get togethers, parties or for the plain fun of it. Music has historically (thousands and thousands of years) been played mostly for dance/fun/enjoyment or lament. The value of playing music (live and recorded) in the last 70 years for pay seem to be disappearing fast.
But I love that music!
Music is Also for religious purposes.
my father played in a dance band in the 30's/40's but there was no TV then.
Your point is underscored by my former music professor Walter Barr in this film! Thanks for chiming in -
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Right… 70 years is just a blip in the timeline of human history, but everyone is wailing about what you “used to” be able to do, as if had been that way since time immemorial. The record business started in the 1890’s, and it was decades (and TWO world wars!) before anyone made any money with it. Then there was a golden era for maybe forty years (during which many musicians were still screwed over), and then technology and corporatization irreparably damaged what was left.
great film and sad too I am a jazz musician and play other music to get work
Thanks much @dogsterooni - we have that in common: as a drummer I played a lot of jazz, blues, rock, latin, pop, broadway shows, even percussion with the opera and symphony - but i used to dream of being a big band drummer from 30s and 40s ... I have made other jazz films and cds - please check them out and let me know what you think:
Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
the music does not require acceptance from a mass audience. Those of us that love Jazz music (creative music that relates to our lives) are the audience that cares about the music and the people who make it. Yes, as a musician , i am used to being under paid and treated like a restaurant employee. I dont care if you dont appreciate it, I love music and you cant take that joy away from me. No amount of disrespect will stop me reaching the people who listen to my music and love it. This is not about me personally so i dont take your indifference personally.
Thanks for sharing the love of the music!
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Jazz will live forever.
It has always been. ❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
🏆Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too! T-SHIRTS MUGS HATS
www.benmakinen.com/merch
I have completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition Official Trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html
Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production Trailer: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen: “Tenderly”
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen: “Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug” (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
Ben Makinen: “Lost Lullaby” music.apple.com/us/album/lost-lullaby/65203708 (The Jazz Dreams of Nascent Lap Tops)
Tom Ball w Ben Makinen: “Fishleather Jacket” (Latin Jazz)
music.apple.com/us/album/fishleather-jacket/64644385
AREA 15 LIVE music.apple.com/us/album/live/65453875 (Industrial Jazz Trio w JazzTown Star Mitch Chmara on Guitar and JazzTown Director Ben Makinen on Drums!)
Who Killed Jazz
ruclips.net/video/XMC442DYlC4/видео.html
OWN JAZZTOWN!
JAZZTOWN

AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1

Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
Loved this film
Thank you Mr Zen!
In regards to Louis Armstrong, he was also outspoken about civil rights. Also. His presence paved the way for others to succeed
He spoke out about the mistreatment of a young girl going to school in Arkansas, 1957 - but many of his critics thought he had waited too long speak up... Louis was one of the greatest and as you say he did pave the way. Major respect for Louis Armstrong - such a powerful soul.
Add no smoking in clubs and no drunk driving to the list, methamphetamines went away and were replaced by marijuana smokers, not a money maker for the nightclub, ascap and bmi shutting down clubs (happened to me twice), old people were listening to it, making it anathema to the young. Also jazz fell into the classical trap. And I am sure much more, but, if you can get them dancing again, we stand a chance.
Good points - there's still a lot of coke out there (cut with a lot of meth) - depending were you are in the US ... El Chapultepec was the great jazz dive in Denver (now out of business - inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame last week!) : young and old and all races mixed freely ... but the old stopped drinking as much and went home earlier - the youth ( and owners) wanted more blues and rock in the mix... jazz went to two off nights a week ... this club also paid the same it did per musician as it did in 1980: $75
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Thanks!
Right on David - thank you very much!
The truth is if the business moguls who control radio, TV and the machine that makes things popular didn't want jazz to be on the bottom it wouldn't be on the bottom. There are some style of music that are not interesting enough to sustain an audience for a long time that have been pumped up because some powerful element in the industry decided that they wanted that music to be pumped up. Mostly because they were going to make a lot of money. Songs that are fun and stupid like the Macarena or I'm Too Sexy get played until there's no more juice left because the powerful mogul forces it. But that's fades quickly. Jazz is a universally love music but because it was dominated by certain people it was pushed down and ignored by the entertainment industry. In today's time, R&B that is full of innovation and talent has been ignored by the industry controllers. Same with jazz almost 70 years ago. They only allow insulting, embarrassing, destructive music to be promoted into popularity. We are looking at social engineering using music. It makes people think the way they think when they're young. They grow up to be children. not adults. The entertainment business powers primarily use children in entertainment because they can manipulate other children with the product. Jazz is full of adults. The industry can't control adults as well as they can control children. Again, this is social engineering. Its not by accident
Your second point (social engineering) is most interesting. Your first point is perhaps true but only beginning in the 1980s - from at least 1927 when the movie The Jazz Singer came out (actually the "first jazz record" came out in 1917 and sold at least a quarter million copies. some claim a million but the record company manufacturing records only show about 250,000 pressed) ...(i don't think the decline of jazz's popularity was engineered... but i would consider more evidence if you will provide it!)
Jazz has been used to drive sales of records, movies (lots of jazz in movie soundtracks and films about jazz in the 1940s and 1950s especially) and lots of jazz in TV of the 70s (many of the studio composers and players were jazz musicians)... Jazz obviously lost its place as the popular music of the masses by the end of the 1930s, but the moguls, as you say, used it for the marketing power it had well into the 70s. Look at what the great Quincy Jones accomplished (his training in jazz allowed him to "sneak" a lot of it into all of the major tv, record, and film work he oversaw through at least the 90s, from Basie and Sinatra to Michael Jackson ...)
There are fascinating arguments to be made about the social engineering of music that I have only recently come across claiming for example that some of the 60s and 70s rock bands (the beatles, the doors,) came from wealth and military was able to manipulate them and the music (as counterculture) to actually introduce more drugs (lsd) and get kids distracted with social causes to distract them from the activities of globalists working to undermine democracy, or maintain the facade - basically to distract and weaken any attempt to interfere with the military industrial complex. ... So you have an intersting point with that: the popular music (since at least the 1980s) has become infantilized and look whats gone done and come to light w arrest of Puffy Sean Combs ...
@@BmakinFilm I think jazz is in everything, even today. HipHops best moments included jazz. Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, Brand Nubians etc. But just as "Neo-Soul" was killed in the early 2000s jazz was killed in a similar way.
When jazz is written and played it is often a musician who has a higher intellect. Because the nature of jazz, the musician's and the listeners generally have a higher intellect. The machine that thinks its their place to force people to get vaccines or get rid of free speech or anything else that violates human rights and freedom, doesn't want an intellectual public. Its hard to control smart, healthy and informed people. This is why neo-soul was killed. Just like the poetry/spoken word movement was dropped from their agenda to promote. they thought spoken word would turn into the trash the rap turned into, but it didn't.
Spoken word became a new branch of the conscience hip hop movement. So they let it die out. No more plays on Broadway. No more Tony awards or TV shows showcasing spoken word. These people want children to entertain everyone. Because they want people to grow up to become children. Immature and dysfunctional. I have more but I'm getting too long winded.
The independent music industry has to develop some kind of organized structure without the element that controlled the music industry as well as the club and touring industry. That element is poison. Its greedy and subversive. History shows this. Just look at the "artists" being promoted over the last 15 years. far too many have no class, very little talent and are horrible influences on a young unprotected mind.
@@machinelearng These are wonderful insights - thank you! I agree with spoken word [ I wrote In The Moon of the Black Calf a spoken word track and lyric w Leslie Brown delivering the lyric music.apple.com/us/album/in-the-moon-of-the-black-calf/564259433?i=564259479] : it had power and relevance - could use any genre of music as the bed upon which they delivered social commentary - very powerful, very jazz. Your comments about the infantilization of the massses (keeping them childlike and dependent) id very apropos especially with recent news of celebrities and politicians doing very very bad things to children ... the topic is deep. Thanks for your input: never long winded! Here are links to some other films I have and and am working on Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Thank you.
Right on! Watch my other Award-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
I have an eclectic mix of "jazz"records I have produced, composed and performed as well:
Fresh Jazz by Ben Makinen
Leslie Brown & Ben Makinen
music.apple.com/us/album/tenderly/564259433
Ben Makinen Goliath Beetle & The Ladybug (Jazz/Electronica)
music.apple.com/us/album/the-goliath-beetle-the-ladybug/576962331
" You blows who you is": Louis Armstrong
A hero! Truth and authenticity - its all in your sound .
Watch my other Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
Spot on. Excellent.
Thanks Joe, please spread the word. and, You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP Echoes will release in 2025.
@@BmakinFilm, this film should be required viewing for anyone who wishes to make a living playing creative music. Thank you for making it. Yes, it is a bit dark, but it speaks the truth. It is tough out there and it takes a special kind of endurance and commitment. However, if it is the wish to become a real player, it is the only way.
My theory: Whenever a music genre is presented in a music major, that genre promptly dies due to dissection (more accurately, vivisection). Both Classical and Jazz bear witness to the idea.
This, of course, only applies to the USA. Jazz is reportedly held in high regard in Europe, parts of Asia and Brazil.
@@philbeau The institutionalization of art will always squash innovation ... (I am writing a new movie that follows some of the more sinister motivations behind that...) I did recently interview saxophonist Erena Terakubo in Tokyo at her gig at Body and Soul (this is for my upcoming We Are Here: Women In Jazz doc). Although it appears to me that Japan holds jazz in much higher esteem, speaking with her band mates I can confirm that they face the same challenge with low paying gigs as in the US. I live in Bali Indonesia now and there is a jazz scene - pay is still terribly low, however, cost of living in Bali is considerably lower than any city in the West ...
You may enjoy my feature length film JazzTown which is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.htmlsi=n050rKVOfwOVrbCt I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.htmlsi=zUjWx5ViGO7WZ8lP
Amazing thank you
You are welcome - I hope you'll watch my other films:
Watch my otherAward-Winning Films & Become a Super Fan! Cool Jazz Merch on my website too!
www.benmakinen.com/merch
JazzTown (90 min award-winning film) is a bit more upbeat on the state of jazz! JazzTown (now on AppleTV Amazon Prime Vudu, Google Play ... even RMPBS) official trailer: ruclips.net/video/EBc7-5gASi0/видео.html
❤Enjoy my films? Leave a Tip here!❤
www.paypal.me/benmakinen
AppleTV itunes.apple.com/us/movie/jazztown/id1655900812?ls=1
Amazon www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0TZDA1DBGQBP0BI22DDA2AF9R9/ref=atv_dl_rdr?tag=justus1ktp-20
I have also completed a film on the Native American influences at the birth of jazz titled Echoes of Tradition official trailer ruclips.net/video/J1p-IPVtDko/видео.html Echoes will release in 2025.
We Are Here: Women In Jazz (obstacles women face in a male dominated industry) is in post production: ruclips.net/video/5Dstfj-38ac/видео.htmlsi=obYI8IpE6R_iikRc
The nature of it is Solitude of self and cosmic awareness....it's beyond commercial value.
100% . you have to be commited to whatever your mission is and be able to stand by that and be at peace with the conséquences of your decisions . i am . i simply no longer really care about what people think anymore.
Cosmic awareness won't neither pay your rent nor fill you fridge with food...
@Centigonos I understand that, having raised a family, just depends what kind of cosmos we're talking about. ☮️ I had to put my creative energy into that for many years. Now I'm retired and wishing I still had it. Such is life. No regrets...🧙♂️
@@Centigonos maybe so , but its ME who has to look at myself in the mirror and ask myself if i left ANYTHING behind worth listening to more than once.
@@Centigonos i like money as much as the next guy but its NOT my prime motivator for picking up my horn every day and im at peace with the outcome of that viewpoint.