There’s an old, bleak, joke among jazz musicians that runs something like this:
How do you make a million pounds playing jazz? Start with two million.
It is, simultaneously, a lament for the almost comical lack of money in the genre (and indeed, most live music) and a proud reminder that whatever we do this stuff for, it isn’t because it makes business sense.
Sure, you might delightedly return home from an evening gig holding £50 (your share of £200 for the four of you) but it barely makes a dent in how much it cost you (travel, practice, instruments, tuition) to be able to do it in the first place. It would be great to live and work in a world where live jazz is valued and musicians are paid enough to make a living.
But we do not.
And nevertheless, we persist.
