yes, i feel very much the same. i play in a free jazz duo and i could care less how many people are in the audience. its just great to get out of the basement and play. but some of the best stuff happens in the basement too. mentioning vandermark reminds me of seeing the brotzmann tentet + 2 playing to about 20-30 people in s.f. and they played like their lives were at stake. thats still the best jazz show ive ever seen. On Wed, 23 Apr 2003, Zach Steiner wrote:
play the best you can no matter what. I remember seeing Ellery's trio in '95 in one of the little rooms at the Knit playing for less people than I have fingers, and it was a lesson in the value of playing big no matter how small the house.
I give Ken Vandermark props for doing just that. Even with his "big commercial" band, The Vandermark 5, he will tear it up to only a handful of people. Being able to play (and maybe making a little money doing it), is its own reward. I saw him here in Indy at a very small (unknown) venue, that I didn't think he would condescend to playing with the 5. I know the promoter; no one even broke even on the night. However, they played their asses off and refined the music that much more (Ken was making corrections/additions to the score mid-piece). They looked like they were having fun just playing; just as the few that were there had fun watching something magical unfold in front of them.
Zach
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