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Chapter 13: Lovin’ It Live: A Jazz Concert Survival Guide
In the following sections, I give you helpful tips for discovering which musicians
are coming to your area, finding the facts on different tours, and determining
which shows are the ones you definitely want to see.
Using local resources to find out who’s coming to town
First thing’s first: Make a list of concerts you may want to see. Then use a few
local resources like those in the following list to discover which shows are on
the local horizon:
� The best source is often your city’s independent weekly paper — most
larger cities have them — or daily newspaper. (Magazines aren’t as good
as newspapers because long lead times prevent them from getting
detailed concert information.)
� Clubs and other concert venues have Web sites that include more extensive
calendars than your local papers.
� Your city probably has either a local public radio station or a college
radio station that announces jazz concerts.
With these sources, you may find out interesting information like the following:
� Whether the performer is playing multiple concerts in your town: Be
aware that opening nights sometimes are hampered by technical
glitches, or that the musicians may be tired (and uninspired) after a long
day or night of traveling.
� Whether the tour has a theme: Singers, for instance, sometimes pay
tribute to a favorite composer such as Cole Porter. Saxophonists or
trumpeters may honor greats like Charlie Parker or Miles Davis — this
can be great if you like that music, or disappointing if they don’t do it
justice.
Checking out a musician’s Web site for tour details
These days, most musicians have Web sites under their own names: herbie
hancock.com, wyntonmarsalis.com, jasonmoran.com. These sites are
usually well maintained and include information on concerts and CDs, as well
as news, photos, reviews, and even personal diaries. Here’s a sampling of
information you can find on musician Web sites:
� The tour schedule: It’s usually current, but if the schedule lists a concert
months in advance, the date(s) may change or be cancelled in the
event of illness.
� A sense of the artist’s latest creative efforts: Has he or she written and
recorded a bunch of new music? Collaborated with other talented musicians
or composers? Or is there a new CD compilation of old recordings?
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