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Working in Denver

2K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  gary 
#1 ·
What does a typical week look like for a Denver reed player?

Is there show work, corporate party bands, orchestra pops?

Is the union strong?

Thanks!
 
#2 ·
Isn't that going to depend on the player?

Can you play classical? Do you have experience playing rock/jazz?

What is your teaching experience? Can you pull together a studio of students?

I just had this conversation with a pro woodwind player a couple weeks ago who was thinking through what it would take to relocate. If you think you are just going to drive to a new city and get the principal chair(s), you are either really good or thinking much too simply.
 
#3 ·
Where are you now and what do you do for work? There are lots of good saxophone players in the Denver/Boulder area ..... do you have any music contacts there? All the things you mentioned exist there, but getting that work is a different story.
 
#4 ·
Where are you now and what do you do for work? There are lots of good saxophone players in the _______________ area ..... do you have any music contacts there? All the things you mentioned exist there, but getting that work is a different story.
Yeah, fill in the blank for most any metropolitan area. It's one of the things that is prominent in my mind when I consider relocating to the left coast and giving up my network of the last 20 years. :shock:
 
#5 ·
Trust me, I'm not that naive. Perhaps, I should have posed the question, what's it like for some/various Denver reed players? I freelanced for 20 years, primarily in the southeast doing all of the above and maintaining a private studio and adjunct teaching.

I am looking to relocate, but with a different career. I'm still gigging regularly, but not relying on it. I'll miss my musical brethren here. They're my closest friends. No one gets/understands a musician like another musician. I'd love to keep playing with the caliber of musicians that I'm playing with here. With previous moves, I know it can take several years to get worked into a scene and make the right connections for the type of player one is.

I was really just trying to get a feel for the city. Catching a group at Dazzle doesn't give me any idea of what a working musician does in Denver. No offense intended and I'm not trying to steal anyone's gig.
 
#6 ·
Well I'm more of a weekend warrior not a pro player however this is my observation. From my view point I would say the Denver music scene is generally healthy but I don't think there are many (any?) sax players that are making a living purely playing music. All of the top name guys and gals I know of have something going on the side- mostly teaching gigs or at least several students taking private lessons. Josh Quinlan (CU), Peter Sommer (CSU), Keith Oxman (East High School), Mark Harris and Fred Hess (Metro State Univ.), Lynn Baker (DU), Pete Lewis & Clair Church (?? not sure), Rich Charluce (private lessons), Max Wagner (works in a music store and runs events for Estes Park), etc.. There are many many more I'm sure and that's not counting the dozens of weekend-warrior types like me playing in all sorts of groups. The only sax player that comes to mind who may be making a living in the Colorado Front Range (Denver/Boulder area) purely playing is Nelson Rangell and while I believe he still lives here he travels a lot outside of Colorado.

The economy is pretty strong here with unemployment very low in general. I don't know that it would take too long for you to make some connections and start playing though you won't being getting paid a lot to do it. The biggest issue for you is likely to be finding a place to live. Rents are way up with occupancy rates close to 100% and buying anything that sells for under $500k is no bargain either. I've spoken to a few of my neighbors who have put their places (town homes) up for sale over the last few months and they have almost all sparked bidding wars and sold for above listing price within days of being listed.
 
#8 ·
Your welcome - sorry I got off on a bit of a tangent and didn't really answer your questions directly.

The other guy who plays sax in the funk band with me has a week that looks like this; Monday night rehearses with CJW big band, Tuesday night rehearses with Citizen Dan a Steely Dan tribute band, Wednesday night rehearses with Mass Hipsteria our funk band, used to rehearse with a blues band on Thursday nights, Friday & Saturday nights reserved for gigs, Sunday rehearses with our jazz combo and sometimes a marimba band. So there are lots of opportunities to play but not so many to actually get paid.

Show work - not much and you'd need to be a fair to good doubler. Again the smaller school productions won't pay a whole lot and the few big ones that come through the arts center on tour from NYC are very hard gigs to get unless you are really tapped in.

Corporate party bands - yes. The better paying gigs in this space are typically controlled by a handful of booking agencies. These gigs and wedding are the types of gigs we've been trying to get with Mass Hipsteria and it has proven very difficult to break into this space without having an agent who has connections with the folks who book the better rooms.

Orchestra pops - few, and you are unlikely to see these as there are guys who've lived in Denver for years who have a lock on this stuff.

Union - virtually non-existent from what I can tell though I may not be running in the right circles to be bumping into guys who are in the union. It's certainly not "strong-arming" the venues to hire only union musicians as I've never been asked for a card in 15+ years playing semi-professionally all over Colorado.

I moved to Colorado from NJ in the late '90s and it has been a nice place to live but more and more is suffering from the types of issues I left in NJ - housing is getting very expensive, taxes are going up, traffic congestion, etc.. IMO it's still one of the better places in the country to live but I feel it was an easier place to move to in the late '90s than I suspect it is today.
 
#10 ·
I didn't know he had moved to town though it looks like he occasionally plays some of the better jazz clubs like Dazzle and Nocturne. I don't get a chance to go to these places very often since I live in Longmont about 30 miles north of Denver and when I'm not rehearsing, teaching, or gigging myself I have to give some time to my girlfriend which limits the amount of live jazz I get to see.
 
#11 ·
It might not be the "right" place to join in, since I'm not a working professional musician. But... here goes anyway. I'm relocating in the very near future (move-in date is July 10th in Castle Rock) and am looking for opportunities to play with other musicians. I've contacted a couple of community organizations and things look promising.

Any advice for someone new to the scene with less lofty goals?
 
#12 ·
Going to piggie back off this thread, because I think (hope) this is a relevant question...

Are there non-venues (restaurants, cafes, etc) that pay small groups to play in Denver? I know that exists in some somecities, but it's rare in Nashville...

Thinking of moving to Denver in the next few years. This has been really insightful, thanks everyone!
 
#13 ·
Going to piggie back off this thread, because I think (hope) this is a relevant question...

Are there non-venues (restaurants, cafes, etc) that pay small groups to play in Denver? I know that exists in some somecities, but it's rare in Nashville...

Thinking of moving to Denver in the next few years. This has been really insightful, thanks everyone!
Yes, but these places are sort of "hit-and-miss". Many of them pay very little so you often need to go in as duet or trio to make enough for it to be worthwhile.
 
#14 ·
https://www.coloradojazz.org/musicians/ kicks butt. I know the leader. Good guy. If you contact him, he might (or might not, LOL) set you in the right direction.

(The LOL is not to mean he won't be helpful. It's just that I don't want to speak for him.)
 
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