60 small town, great lake ideal getaway Saugeen Shores (the communities of Port Elgin and Southampton) is an historic town surrounded by natural beauty, culture and the arts. Inspire your self on a personal shoreleave of exploration and discovery. Register today, either online or call us toll-free, for your chance to win an exclusive cultural getaway package. www . shoreleaves. corn 1-800-387-3456 merry MEETINGS 11: DAVE YouNG toured with a grant for more than five years. Three years ago he toured with his Mingus quintet, the group that will play at this year's Downtown Jazz Festival, but did not get a grant. He was able to find an ·angel' who donated several thousand dollars so that the tour would not collapse. By the end of the tour the exercise had cost Dave an equal amount of money, so that he was in fact subsidising his own music. Unfortunately, his is not a continued from page 11 unique experience. The old joke of how to make million in jazz - start with million - has a grain of truth in it. David likes festivals and thinks that they are a good thing for the music, but definitely feels that there should be more support available for travelling in this country. Geographically Canada is a very difficult country in which to tour. The United States and Europe have much more concentrated areas of population, whereas we have something like a 'thin red line' of target destinations spread out over 3000 miles, often making travel costs prohibitive. It's also a lot easier to tour as a member of a group than as leader and Dave certainly knows the truth of that from experience. Let's face it, when he tours as Oscar Peterson's bass player, all he has to think about is the music. Somebody else takes care of setting up the tour dates, arranging travel, accommodation and taking care of the finances. But when he tours across Canada with his own quintet, all of those responsibilities fall on his shoulders and sometimes the last thing on your mind is the music. Another important lesson that all of us who spend time on the road have learned: every time you go on to play, no matter how you might be feeling, you have to be 'up' for your audience, because you only have one shot at it and the impression that audience leaves with is one that will stay with them. They don't know or care about any problems you might have. lf that sounds hard, it is reality. In recent years Dave has spent three to four months a year on the road, down from the six months he used to. He remains committed to it. He feels that being on the road helps to give that edge to his playing. Dave Young is one of the best bassists in the world and a completely rounded musician. He comes from the school that believes a musician owes something to his audience and no matter how large or small that audience, you always give your best. He has been treated like a king in, for example, Brussels and a couple of weeks later, might be playing some small town in Saskatchewan, but you focus on your music in exactly the same fashion, no matter where. He offered Oscar Peterson and Oliver Jones, with whom he has often worked, as good examples. Every time they play, it's for keeps. His very sound advice to younger musicians is to get as much experience as possible and not to confine it to jazz. Accept different types of engagements. Be aware of different styles; build a repertoire; play with as many of your peers as possible, as well as experienced players. By the same token, he believes established players should spend time with younger musicians. The learning experience can go both ways. It is also important to try and develop a personal sound. All the greats had it and in any case why would you want to sound like 100 other musicians off a production line? One other thing is perhaps worth mentioning. Don't go into a career in jazz expecting to get rich. My talk with David was, in fact, very timely. On July 1 he is off to Europe for five weeks with Oscar Peterson. This time he won't lose money. WWW. TIHWHOLENOTE.COM • )UNE 1 - ]UL Y 7 2005
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