Music as a vocation

I remember when I was at Ball State studying music there was a fantastic jazz trumpet player. This guy was really smart and really cool. And oddly enough he wasn't a music major. I asked him once why he wasn't going to pursue music as a career and he said something to the effect of "I love music so much I would never want to rely on it as a means to make a living."

I thought he was friggin' crazy. I mean, a lot of people only dream of doing something they love as a career.

Well I must admit I have a clue as to what he's talking about. Before I go into my rant let me preface by saying I am one of the luckiest guys in the world to be making a decent living playing music and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but at the end of the day it is my job.

Most people get vacations from their job. I will never get a vacation from music. Not because my playing obligations slave me to taking every single gig that comes my way, but because music is so ingrained into the fabric of who I am that I would never want to escape it.

But the sideman work, the endless driving, the phone calls, the networking, the constant self-promotion ... that I could use a break from sometime.

Thing is I'm not talking about taking a couple of weeks off and heading to the Bahamas or something (although that would be nice, I played there a couple of years ago with John Stephens and it was fantastic). I'm talking about having some time to do nothing but listen to music, write music, and play the bass. But even that stuff is can turn into work for me (I can never fall asleep listening to music you know, I just lay there and analyze everything I hear).

I don't know what I'm trying to say other than I don't have a gig until Sunday and after that not until Thursday. It's nice. Yesterday I played with a friend of mine (not a gig or anything, just jamming) then went to see the fantastic guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkle at the Jazz Bakery. I need more days like that, playing for fun and appreciating the music of others.

I know, I know ... pity the poor artist. I'll quite my gripe now.

p.s.
The NBA Finals start tonight, I like the Heat in 6.