Re: wake up and smell the coffee (was Re: fake book)

Date: 22 Jul 2003 07:11:56 -0700
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz
Size: 2,345 bytes

"Geordie F.O. Kelly" <email-address-deleted> wrote in message news:<4G%Sa.34119$AD3.481@lakeread04>...
> It is so difficult to make it in music that some folks end up playing music
> in the military. I never thought I would do it, but it is a good living.
> AND, THAT'S ALL I DO. The Navy musicians (that's my branch) do not learn to
> fire guns, go into combat, etc.; the Army and Marine musicians do, and music
> is secondary for them. Navy and Air Force is music only. I teach jazz
> improv, jazz combo, jazz ensemble, and jazz guitar classes at the largest
> military music school in the world. Guest artists come by often in a master
> class setting (last month we had alto saxophonist Richie Cole). I have
> traveled the entire planet playing JAZZ. I have always been in an area
> where I work 2-6 times a week on the outside (Chicago/Milwaukee, Naples,
> Italy, and Va Beach area); could be more, but the morning muster is too
> early. I feel extremely lucky and I love my job. You have to be willing to
> put up with some things (wearing a uniform, stringent rules, etc.), but I
> get free strings, FX units, unlimited access to the best gear $ can buy, and
> I can take my kids to the dentist and doctor anytime I like, and I have
> upward mobility. I can look at a chart and see when my next pay raise will
> occur; it's guaranteed to happen. Not to mention the fact that I have taken
> them to London, Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome, Fussen, Naples, Sicily, and
> Milan (while I played gigs there). I feel like I found a way to make up for
> what I lack in bussiness sense. And all I do is play guitar, honest. It
> might be worth considering.
> --
> Geordie F.O. Kelly
> Guitarist/Jazz Improvisation Instructor
> Armed Forces School of Music
> http://heritageguitar.com/artists/
Hi Geordie,
Thanks for the great post. My mentor and buddy Curt Warren played in
the Navy big band for several years. It's good to see SOME of my tax
dollars going to a good cause! Of course, I can't help but think it's
ironic that having jazz music careers financed through the military is
seen as viable, and conservatives are working so hard to cut any and
all government arts funding everywhere else.
Clay Moore
1648 Concord Street South
South St Paul, MN 55075
651-450-1144
651-214-8836 cell
email-address-deleted
http://www.claymoore.com/