February, 2011 Tour All Booked Up!

After nearly 5 months of careful planning and more phone calls than I can count, I have (as of 12/9/10) completed the booking phase for my February, 2011 Lecture/Performance Tour.

I'll be visiting a total of 5 states (South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi) and stopping at a total of 25 locations residing in 21 cities. Here are the final confirmed stops:

* January 31, 2011 - Columbia, SC
* February 1, 2011 - Columbia, SC
* February 2, 2011 - Beufort, SC
* February 2, 2011 - Summerville, SC
* February 3, 2011 - Savannah, GA (afternoon)
* February 3, 2011 - Savannah, GA (evening)
* February 4, 2011 - Jacksonville, FL
* February 5, 2011 - Pembroke Pines, FL
* February 6, 2011 - Delray Beach, FL
* February 7, 2011 - Fort Lauderdale, FL
* February 7, 2011 - Coral Springs, FL
* February 8, 2011 - Coconut Creek, FL
* February 8, 2011 - Tamarac, FL
* February 9, 2011 - Tampa, FL (afternoon)
* February 9, 2011 - Tampa, FL (evening)
* February 10, 2011 - Brandon, FL
* February 10, 2011 - Valrico, FL
* February 11, 2011 - Tavares, FL
* February 13, 2011 - Mobile, AL
* February 14, 2011 - Flowood, MS
* February 16, 2011 - Hinesville, GA
* February 16, 2011 - Savannah, GA
* February 17, 2011 - Lyman, SC
* February 17, 2011 - Woodruff, SC
* February 18, 2011 - Spartanburg, SC



Check the events listing on the following websites for more information:
http://www.shenolelatimer.com
http://shenole.fanbridge.com/tourdates/

And now, it's time to tie up the bookings for my April, 2011 tour...stay tuned for more information regarding that one!

By Shenole Latimer

Announcing My New Video Blog!

Back in April, 2010, while I was on tour up and down the east coast, my cell phone received a software update that enabled it to record video and upload it onto YouTube or Facebook. I suddenly found myself with a way to chronicle my experiences as a musician, and as a regular guy with a wife and a daughter, so that I could share some behind the scenes stuff with my fans.

I began recording short video blogs, or vlogs as they are often referred to, and posting them onto my YouTube channel. Though my friends at YouTube, and the fans on my email mailing list, knew about the video posts fairly quickly, I didn't realize until just a few days ago that I have never made an official announcement that I now have a video blog...so now I am.

Ladies and gentlemen, fans and friends, I now have a video blog!!!! You can visit my video blog by clicking the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/ricimusic#g/c/A09CC7C3DEF974CC




by Shenole Latimer

Winter Tour Planned for February, 2011

If you live on the east coast, you surely remember the monster snow storms we had during the winter of 2010.

Originally, I had a really good number of bookings for the winter...unusual for that time of year, but a welcome sight on my calendar none the less! However, what ended up happening is that almost half of my appearances were canceled due to severe weather. Not a good scenario!

This coming year I have decided to do something to help fight off any further cancellations during the winter months...go on tour down in the south, where snow is not a concern.

Really, the decision to tour in February comes from two different contributing factors. The first one I already stated in regards to avoiding cancellations due to severe winter weather in the northeast. But, the second factor has to do with the success I encountered with my lecture tour this past April, 2010. That tour showed me that I don't have to rely on a booking agent to book tours for me. Also, even with loosing my wallet, my business debit card and $400 or so in cash, plus missing out on two of my bookings because of the time I lost looking for my wallet and filing a police report, I still managed to come home in a profitable enough fashion to have made the trip worth while.

With all of that said, here are the confirmed dates and locations that I'll be stopping at so far during my February, 2011 tour:

• January 31, 2011 - Columbia, SC
• February 1, 2011 - Columbia, SC
• February 2, 2011 - Summerville, SC
• February 3, 2011 - Hinesville, GA
• February 3, 2011 - Savannah, GA
• February 4, 2011 - Jacksonville, FL
• February 5, 2011 - Pembroke Pines, FL
• February 6, 2011 - Delray Beach, FL
• February 7, 2011 - Coral Springs, FL
• February 8, 2011 - Coconut Creek, FL
• February 8, 2011 - Tamarac, FL
• February 11, 2011 - Tavares, FL
• February 13, 2011 - Mobile, AL
• February 14, 2011 - Flowood, MS
• February 16, 2011 - Savannah, GA
• February 17, 2011 - Lyman, SC
• February 17, 2011 - Woodruff, SC
• February 18, 2011 - Spartanburg, SC

There are several more locations that I'm waiting to have confirmation for. When it's all said and done, I may be looking at as many as an additional 6 bookings. Not bad for someone who doesn't have a booking agent!

Then there is the tour I have already begun to book for myself for April, 2011, which will have me traveling to some of the locations I visited this past April, along with visiting some new ones. But, we'll save that for another blog post! : )





by Shenole Latimer

A Couple of Artist Friends I Look Up To!

I just received a phone call from a good friend of mine in Ohio. She's a spoken word artist who's stage name is "NeoSouljah".


I first met Neo in 2008 during an event held for an internet radio program out of Philadelphia known as Spotlight on Jazz and Poetry. Neo and I were among several other artists that the host of the show, Clayton "Big Trigger" Corley, chose to showcase. We became friends and kept in touch, with the desire to do some work on each others' future albums at some point.


Long story short, Neo beat me to the punch and had me featured on one of the tracks of her newest album that has just been released.


This is where the phone call comes in...


NeoSouljah wanted to let me know that a major music software company called Propellerhead, that endorses the producer of her new album (her producer's name is Mike Loyd and he is credited with mixing many of the albums that came from the Death Row Records label), has decided to feature the track that I recorded on for her on their website!


But that wasn't all.


Neo conferenced in Mike Loyd and proceeded to tell us that the Fox network has a heavy interest in using that same track that I recorded on as the theme song for a new TV series that they will be airing soon.


After hearing all of that, if I would have smiled any bigger, my head would have exploded!


And then there is the text message I got a couple of days ago from another friend of mine. Her name is Jill Washington Burrus and she lives in North Carolina. Jill and I met and dated together between 1991 and 1992. Jill is an artist and has shown herself to be a very talented painter, with a very recognizable style that she can call her own.


In any case, Jill was texting me to let me know that she had just secured a building that will become her very own art gallery!


Both the news from Neo's phone call and Jill's text message were truly exciting to me. But, you may be asking yourself, "what does that have anything to do with the title of this blog. And, why should I care?"


Well, lets put it this way...these women are getting it DONE!


It's so inspiring to see other artists, especially ones that I know well, work their way through some really rough times, only to finally gain an important triumph. All of us artists gain strength from such stories, because it provides us with the hope we must always keep in our back pocket that the incredible trouble we go through to live the life that we do, and produce the art that we do, is worth it all at the end.


In a broader sense, the reason that you should care is because these women should serve as a reminder that we ALL need to find a source of inspiration and hope during the challenging times that most of us are finding ourselves in these days. And, we all need to remember that, no matter how difficult things may get at times, there is always a way to triumph as long as we are willing to work hard enough and find new ways to be resourceful.


I'm so proud to have these two incredible artists as friends and I marvel at how good they are at their respective mediums. I would encourage anyone who reads this blog entry to at least check out their work, even if you don't end up purchasing anything. Here's where you can find them:


NeoSouljah - New CD release is located at Amazon.com and iTunes (just put her name into the search engine of either website).

Jill Washington Burrus - her website is at www.thecreativelounge.org and the address to her new brick and mortar art gallery is 300 S. Main Street, Winston-Salem, NC





Written by Shenole Latimer

In Memoriam: George E. Clark (1937 - 2010)

This past August 6, 2010, I lost my step dad to bone cancer. He put up a valiant 5 year fight and, though he eventually lost his fight, my family and I have taken comfort in knowing that he is in a much better place. The following is the eulogy I wrote for his funeral.

This eulogy could have very easily taken the form that most eulogies take. That is to say, with the life of the dearly departed narrated within the parameters of a chronologically arranged format. However, such an arrangement of words and form seem too ordinary for a man who meant so much to those who knew and loved him.


That having been stated, it would not be fair to save mention of such important life events as his award winning college football career, his first marriage that saw him partner with his childhood sweet heart Barbara Preston, the birth of his daughter Linda Fay Clark, his honorable and courageous service within the ranks of the United States Army during the Korean War, or even his second marriage (several years after the passing of his first wife) to a new life partner Emma Lee Latimer. This last marriage would see George welcoming Emma’s son, Shenole Maurice Latimer, under his wing. These are all immensely important things that cannot, and should not, be forgotten.


But, perhaps what is more important is to remember George Edward Clark for the incredible and rare kind of man that he was. George personified the qualities that many people seek to add to themselves, but are not always able to acquire…qualities such as strength, dependability, and courage.


Perhaps it was his being a product of The Great Depression (George was born on October 13, 1937), or the fact that his early childhood and formative years were spent with World War II as a backdrop, that would provide George with the strength to adapt to changes and challenges that would frustrate or defeat many other men. No matter how formidable a challenge was, George would always find a way on top, while still managing to further enriching both his life and the lives of others.


George was given the name “Edward” as his middle name by his parents George and Margarite Clark. But, for those who knew him best, and for those who were privileged enough to meet his acquaintance, it would seem that “Dependable” would be a better fit. Whether it was the kind of dependability sought by employers, or the special kind of dependability he lovingly exhibited to family and friends, George ALWAYS delivered and NEVER faltered.


Unfortunately, the space limitations within these pages will not allow for a more thorough recital of George Edward Clark’s remarkable character. However, this eulogy would not be complete without venturing forth into at least a brief description of the trait that would ultimately define his character…his incredible courage.


Volumes could be written about the many examples of courage George showcased. One obvious example can be taken from the courage it took to rebuild his life after the tragic loss of his first wife. His courageous commitment to the United States Army, during a time of war, could surely serve as a clear example. One could also point to his involvement in the Huntington branch of the NAACP, and his fight for the rights of others (even if the issue at hand was politically unpopular), as one of his most understated examples of courage.


However, without a doubt, the greatest display of courage that this war veteran would exhibit came from a brutal battle, with an insidious biological foe, that would cost him 9 inches of his physical stature, 50% of his body mass, and eventually his life. That ghastly enemy was cancer. And, although he did lose this final fight, he NEVER lost his pride, NEVER complained, and remained DEFIANT until the end.


George Edward Clark…a rare kind of man indeed.

New Jazz Concert Series!

In the time that has passed by since my last blog entry, I’ve spent the majority of my time trying to help my wife get her accounting firm off of the ground. Fortunately, her company is showing signs of life, but we are still a ways off from her equaling the salary she was making from her previous employment.


However, though I haven’t had the time to dedicate towards my own bookings, I have actually managed to work on at least one project that I was involved with prior to my switching gears to give my wife a hand. The project is a jazz concert series that will be taking place during the month of September at the Levitas Center for the Arts in Southampton, New York.


Back in March, I was approached by the director of the Southampton Cultural Center and asked to become the director for a jazz concert series that, at the time, was just a concept. It was stated that it would be up to me to initiate the process of booking the acts and looking into the logistics of putting together such an event. Needless to say, I jumped on the opportunity and set about putting together a diverse roster of very strong performers.


First on my list was signing on Gail Storm. Having her brand of vocal jazz was simply a no-brainer for this sort of series. Another no-brainer was having friend and colleague Matt Marshak on the bill. Matt is a great guitarist who performs in the “smooth jazz” style of jazz.


Since I had already given a performance at the Levitas Center with my quartet this past Spring, for this series I wanted to showcase my newest creation… a fusion of classical and jazz styles performed in a duet format, with myself on saxophone and my good friend Al Quinn on piano. I have dubbed this ensemble “2-Improv”.


Rounding out the roster is pianist Sean Fitzpatrick, who will be performing in a modern jazz style with his trio, Al Quinn (the other half of ‘2-Improv”) and his hard-bop quintet, and the funk/soul infused jazz quartet led by Ahmad Ali.


I’m truly excited about this concert series!


I think the thing I’m most excited about is that, from top to bottom, the lineup of ensembles is stacked with incredible musicians that I have either had the chance to perform with, or have heard a lot about. All of us have headlined a number of shows on our own, and now we will be the pioneers for a brand new concert series on Long Island that will feature some serious jazz. And, the Levitas Center for the Arts is such a nice venue to boot!


The design of the center is that of a recital hall. But, adding to the charm and classiness of the hall is the art gallery located in the front of the building before you enter the performance space. The art gallery is well known within the art community for the incredible works of art that are often displayed there.


As I’m writing this blog, all of the ticket info is being finalized, so I hope to be able to provide all of those details within the next few days. It’s just that I’m so excited about this concert series that I couldn’t wait to blab my mouth off about it!


Keep an eye out for further details about the concert series to appear on my website, the Southampton Cultural Center’s website, and of course right here on my blog.


by Shenole Latimer

Life's Curve Balls

It's been some time since my last post. In fact, I haven't posted anything since returning from my tour this past April. I've been absent for a combination of reasons.

The first thing that kept me occupied was all of the preparation I was trying to do in gearing up for my recording project. Besides trying to take care of any last minute logistical challenges, I was also working frantically to finish a couple of songs I had left to complete for the recording session.

But then, something happened...

I stated months ago that my wife had been laid off of her job back in January of 2009. Unfortunately, our mounting bills forced me to utilize the money I had put aside for my share of the recording costs (Tierra Records would have been flipping for part of the bill too), so that we could try and catch up with at least some of our bills. Needless to say that my follow up album has been put on hold.

After realizing that my album was not going to get recorded within the time frame I had originally planned, and seeing my wife struggling with trying to start her fledgling accounting firm, I decided to sacrifice the time I normally dedicate during the day towards finding and contacting new venues to book myself in, to helping my wife build her business and find clients.

To me, the logic for this move was simple. I have nearly 15 years of experience being self employed and marketing myself, were as my wife has no experience in this realm what so ever. She has always worked a "9 to 5" job. However, she has experienced multiple lay-offs and has grown quite weary of working for any other companies where she doesn't have direct control over her position and situation (those of you who know me well probably think that sounds familiar!).

In short, I came to the conclusion that I could be more helpful to her with what she is trying to do with her career than she can be towards me and my career. Almost all of the skills I have acquired up until this point can be utilized in more "conventional" businesses than the music and entertainment industry. Meanwhile, none of the skills that she has acquired over the years working in a cubicle can help me get more gigs or achieve more notoriety for what I do.

So, for the moment I'm putting a freeze on actively pursuing any more performances for the time being, until Renee's accounting firm takes off more. However, that doesn't mean that I will be disappearing from the scene completely. I will still accept performances that I am offered from people contacting me. Also, at this point I have appearances already booked that go into January of 2011.

And there you have it...life has thrown me one if it's curve balls and I had to respond.

With all of that said, if you would like to see some of my handy work for my wife's company, I invite you to visit her website at http://www.rdlaccounting.com/. I designed the website for her, and am also acting as a marketing agent and technical advisor. Feel free to drop me a line or leave me a comment to let me know what you think of her website.

Shenole Latimer

Lessons for the Road

Well, I've been home for almost a week now from my "What's All That Jazz About?" east coast tour and, besides coming back in desperate need of some rest, I have also come back with some lessons from the road. The thing is, what I learned may seem like common sense but it's amazing how even experienced people can take certain things for granted ,or even just get so wrapped up in other things that the obvious becomes not so obvious.


However, before I go into any real details, I would like to first state that the tour was a big success for me. I managed to turn some new people on to me and what I do, I significantly increased my mailing list, I have laid down solid ground work for doing more in the markets I visited, and I've groomed a number of good connections that are willing to become references for me when I begin putting together tours for the north east and also the west coast.


Regarding the lessons I have learned...let me start with a video I took using the camera on my phone. Most of the lessons I learned stem from one particular incident that I mentioned in the video:

So, loosing my wallet was the root for a few of the lessons I learned. Here we go:


Lesson #1) - Do not wear attire that has no pockets!

For the first couple of days I stayed at the home of some older cousins I have in Virginia. Their son is the only male cousin in my entire family that is close to my age. On day two, he stopped by to take me out to lunch. In my excitement to hang out with him, I threw on a pair of shorts that didn't have any pockets because they were they closest thing to me. I figured I'd just hold the wallet. From there you can figure out the rest.

Dumb? Yep! Have I done it previously? Yep! Will I ever do it again? Nope!


Lesson #2) - Keep your cash in more than one place when traveling.

Now, this is something that I actually tend to do. But, for whatever reason, this particular time every cent I had on me was in my wallet...a little over $300 in cash. This was really for tolls and an emergency, because all of my fuel, food, and hotel expenses were coming out of my business debit card so I could keep track of everything in an easy fashion for income tax purposes.

In any case, had I had some of the money in a compartment in my rented car, some of it on my person (in a pocket!), and some of it in my wallet, I would not have lost the entire amount.


Lesson #3) - If you are a traveling musician, and especially if you're traveling alone, be sure to have some kind of support structure back home in case of an emergency.

For me, this is easy. My wife and my mother are the two people that I rely on most when I'm traveling by myself. They both always receive my itinerary so that they know where I'll be and when, they both keep copies of things link my social security card, photo copies of my driver's license, etc. Also, I have my wife's name on my business checking account. That way, should I ever loose my debit card or any credit cards while on the road, she can withdraw money for me from my music business account and wire it to me via credit union or Walmart moneygram. Walmart moneygrams arrive much faster than credit union.

So, when I came to the conclusion that I wasn't going to find my wallet, I had my mother fax me a photo copy of my driver's license, my wife sent me a Walmart moneygram, and I immediately filed a police report so that, if I were to get pulled over for any reason, they could identify me by the case report number. In this way, I at least had some kind of means of proving my identity and I also had the cash I would need to get fuel, food, hotel rooms, and so on.


Lesson #4) - It doesn't matter how quickly you think you can make it somewhere, leave EXTRA early!

This is another thing that I normally do. It's a good thing too, because on the leg of the tour where I had to travel from Greenville, South Carolina, to Maryville, Tennessee, I encountered a road closing on interstate 40 because of a huge rock slide that had covered the highway. There were two detours offered. Both would eventually get me to the Knoxville region (Maryville is a suburb of Knoxville) so I choose the one that I figured was the shortest. After a little more than a half hour of driving, I came up to another road closing. They crew there told me that they had just closed the road an hour previous because of another rock slide! They told me that from there I would have no easy route to get to Knoxville, so I would have to turn around. I turned around and went back to the spot of the original rockslide that I had to detour at.

This time, instead of following the second detour sign, I let my temper get the better of me and I decided to use my GPS to find myself a faster route around the rock slide and to my destination. The only problem was that after following the GPS for about 30 minutes I ended up on a dirt road that was obviously going to take me straight to the front door of somebody's ranch! Once again I turned around.

Finally, I decided to follow the second detour that was listed at the original rock slide. It did indeed take me to my destination, but it did so by bringing me an hour and 45 minutes out of my way, where as if I could have stayed on interstate 40 I could have been there in only about 30 minutes or so! All said and done, I had added nearly 4 hours to my trip! However, because I left super early that day, I actually arrived at the venue with about 30 minutes to spare. I was somehow able to get set up very quickly (and this particular venue required that I used every piece of equipment I had brought with me from home) and I started the program only 5 minutes late!


So anyway, those are the 4 most valuable lessons that I learned while on this particular tour and I hope some other musicians, and maybe even some regular folks out there, may be able to benefit from them. In closing, here are the two other videos that I shot during the tour:

The Concept

I've sat, and I've thought, and I've pondered, and I've mused...what could be the concept behind my next album? And, how would that concept help me come up with a name for the album? After much deliberation, I decided to look back at my last album, "Front and Center", for some ideas.

Back in 2006, while I was recording "Front and Center", the whole idea was to basically introduce myself to the listeners. Additionally, I wanted to show my versatility as a musician, which is why there were such a variety of subgenres of jazz that was present. This time around, though it seems versatility may still play a role judging by the tunes I have composed so far, I decided that there are a few things that I want.

First, I want all of the tunes to be original compositions...no standards this time. Second, I don't want to have to resort to using 2 different guys for each position in the rhythm section. Last time around, schedules were so scattered for the guys in my quartet that I could only use one of them (drummer Kyle Struve), and that was for only two or three of the nine tunes on the album. For this project, I really want to use the guys that I play with on a regular basis from my quartet. Especially considering that, by the time we record, we would have performed the tunes in live situations a few times. And third, I want the album to be centered around a concept that everyone can relate to. It's because of this last reason that I have decided to name the album "A Day in the Life of...". I leave a space after the word "of", because I want the listener to fill in the blank with the name of someone they know that the style, personality, and titles of the tunes remind them of.

Each song title on the album will have something to do with everyday life that we all experience, whether it's running around and trying to get everything done, or just the relief you may feel when you realize it's time for lunch. For example, the three tunes that I have composed so far are called "12:00 Strut", "Runnin'", and "Quiet". "Quiet" is interesting because it sounds more like a classical music piece than anything from the jazz idiom. I even had to compose a full score for it, rather than a lead sheet, which is how I usually write the charts for my tunes.

As May 26th (D-Day for the recording) gets ever closer, I'm getting more an more excited. And, for that matter, so are the cats involved! In fact ,the recording engineer for the project (John Zych) and I visited the recital hall of the Staller Center on the campus of Stony Brook University in New York to figure out some of the logistics regarding how we will be setting things up. During that visit, John said that he has been looking forward to this session for months and can't wait to do it. That sure felt good to hear!

by Shenole Latimer

Musicians Shouldn't Get Paid

There's a phrase I hear a lot of. And, I've been hearing it long before the economy tanked. It goes something like this: "I love how you guys sound! I'm an organizer for (just fill in the blank here) and I would like to hire you to give a performance there. We don't have much money though."

Bingo! There it is! The "we don't have much money" statement.

Now, that is all well and good. People are always going to try and get your services for free or next to nothing. Also, there are certainly times when that statement may be legit. However, I recently heard this statement when I was a sideman for an artist, who I will not name. A woman came up saying that she was the event coordinator for a yacht club, that I will also not name, and she said the very same words that are in the first paragraph of this post.

OK, here's the thing. First of all, I grew up near this yacht club and have seen a number of the events that they have. They are pretty lavish. Secondly, I knew people, during different periods of time, that have worked there. Every last one of them, including someone who has worked there within the last 4 months, have each told me how much money flies around there...and not just from the clients. With all of that, and the fact that it is a YACHT club, I'm I expected to think that I (or I should say the artist that I was the sideman for) can't ask for at least my normal performance fee?

Yeah...I could swallow that one, just like I could a 10 pound horse pill!

Look...non-musicians...people who would hire a musician or a band for their services...do you expect to have a plumber, who charges say $300 for a job, come to your house and do the job, but accept that you will only pay them $50 because you like how they clear up your plumbing but you don't want to pay their rate? How about taking your car to the shop. A lot of shops charge about $90 per hour for labor. Do you realistically think that you're going to bring your car to a shop...any shop...and have them agree to only charge you $15 because you tell them that your car isn't running correctly, you like how they fix cars, but you don't have much money. What would happen is that shop would send you on your way and ask you not to come back.

Musicians...you cats that play instruments or sing for a living...WAKE UP! Has it ever occurred to you that people don't take yourself seriously because you don't take you seriously? Before you bristle your feathers over that, what I mean is that you don't present yourself in a business-like fashion. The truth of the matter is, one of the problems for us is that too many of us have too casual a manner about ourselves when we are conducting business. Some of us forget that the person on stage is the entertainer and the person that steps off that stage is a business person. We have to wear different hats and be able to switch them, at times, instantaneously.

If you're not going to get serious when you conduct your business, at least come up with a pricing plan to cover different situations, so that you're not stuck looking like a deer in headlights when someone asks you what you charge. All of the serious musicians I know, including myself, have a pricing "menu" for all sorts of different performance situations and configurations. Every now and then someone will come up to me and ask me what I charge for a situation I have not thought of. You know what I tell them? I say that I'll have to call them back because it is a situation I haven't done before and I need to sit down and consider a fair way to do it.

One more thing, musician type people. If someone offers you a price that is well below your normal asking price, or even ask that you perform for free, there is a magical word that you can use that will stop you from playing a 2 - 4 hour gig that you end up regreting, hauling all of your gear, and listening to unhappy bandmates who are underpaid. This incredible word is "No". You have to remember that the people hiring you have absolutely no clue that you've spent thousands and thousands of dollars on your gear, many hundreds or even thousands of hours practicing and honing your skill, sacrificed valuable time with family and friends, etc. But, YOU know and that is my point!

With all of that said, by no means does that mean I don't work with people regarding rates. But, I won't be giving the farm away. I have done this long enough now (I've been playing music in a public fashion for about 15 years and full-time for over 10 years now) that I know the minute someone says that it doesn't pay but it's good exposure, or that they don't have much money, that the gig will most likely not be worth my time. In my 15 total years of doing this thing called music, what I have learned is that those kinds of gigs almost always end up being much more stressful than most of the gigs I have that pay better. Every once in a while there are some "exposure gigs" that are good, but you have to really weigh those and give them a lot of consideration before you do them.

Well, I guess I've said what's on my mind. I'll tell you one thing, though. If a band is just playing terribly and stinking up the place, and they are not conducting themselves in a professional manner, those are the times that musicians shouldn't get paid!

written by Shenole Latimer

Look...DON'T TOUCH (The Musician's Universal Plea)

A couple of weeks ago, I had an experience that has put me on a personal crusade to educate people about musicians and their equipment.

Now first of all, if you are a fan of mine, I hope that you will not take offense to this statement, but people simply don't have a single clue as to how expensive our equipment is and why nobody, other than the musician who owns it, should ever bother trying to touch ANY OF IT! So, with that said, here's what happened a couple of weeks ago.

I was in the auditorium of a library and was setting my gear up because I had one of my educational presentations that I do. It was still at least 30 minutes before the program was suppose to start, and I was pretty much finished setting up, when two ladies walked in. We then struck up a conversation. Eventually, the conversation went more towards just one of the ladies, while the other walked away. Something told me to look in the direction of the woman who had walked away. And, it's a good thing that I did! I was horrified to see the second woman proceed to grab my alto saxophone by the neck in order to pick it up off of the sax stand that I had it placed on. I immediately started yelling, "no, no, no!"

I arrived just in time to grab my sax from her before she could fully lift it up. By the time I reached my sax, I was actually fuming mad because I had just spent $500 getting extensive and much needed work done on it. At the same time, I was trying to stay polite and in control of my overall reaction. The lady then told me that she only wanted to look at it and that she knew what she was doing because her father had been a musician. Her comment almost made me loose it because, if she had indeed grown up around a PROFESSIONAL musician, surely one of the first things she should have learned was DON'T TOUCH. Besides, he may have dabbled with music, but was he a FULL-TIME, PROFESSIONAL musician like me? As I always say, "just because you can screw in a light bulb, it doesn't make you an electrician. "

More to the point of things, it was MY equipment that she was handling and I simply DO NOT LIKE people touching my stuff without my permission.

Still trying to keep my composure, I went on to explain that my sax was not a cheap beginner's model and that I depended on it for my livelihood. I then politely clued her in that she didn't actually know as much as she thought she did, because she was about to pick the sax up in the worse manner that you could possibly pick a saxophone up by. The neck is a separate piece from the body of the sax and can be very easily separated, even after applying the screw for the clamp that holds it in place. In other words, she would have picked the sax up by the neck, the body of the sax would have detached and fallen on the ground, and I would have been looking at anywhere between $500 - $1,500 worth of damage. Experience has taught me that, once an instrument falls to the ground, it NEVER plays quite the same ever again, no matter how much money you dump into getting it repaired.

The end result is that I managed to get her to understand the situation.

As for the public at large, people simply have no idea the worth of musician's instruments. Between the 5 saxophones that I own ( 2 altos, 2 sopranos, and a rare C melody sax), I'm looking at around $23,000. And that's just my saxophones! If you add up all of the equipment that I own for the purposes of making my living in music, the grand total is just under $41,000. Believe it or not, that isn't even on the more expensive end of things regarding what some professional musicians have spent on their gear. Todd Coolman, the esteemed bassist who was my first jazz instructor at Stony Brook University and is currently the head of the SUNY (State University of New York) at Purchase Jazz Program once confided in me that his prized bass, which is the one he uses on important gigs and recording sessions, is worth about $85,000. He uses a different bass that is worth (I think I remember him saying) about $12,000 for most of his other gigs.

Anyway, the point of all of this isn't to just give you a tally of how much we spend on our instruments and gear. The simple fact is that you should NEVER handle a musician's gear, period. It isn't even your stuff to handle in the first place! Look...DON'T TOUCH!

written by Shenole Latimer

2010 Album Project - Getting in Shape!

Earlier today, I gave a lecture about jazz history. There was something that I said during the hour long presentation that really stuck with me. My statement went something like this:

"Jazz suffers today because it is so difficult to maintain a set line up for a band. The result is that you end up with a bunch pick-up bands that are put together for a specific gig based on who may be available because they don't have a better paying gig. This means that songs, within many jazz groups, rarely have the chance to grow and develop, as is the case when you have a line up that has played together for an extended length of time, and so have developed a familiarity with each other and also a heightened ability to interact with each other during improvisations."

Now that's some mouthful!

Anyway, I feel fortunate to have maintained the same line up within my quartet for the past few years, with the exception being my good friend and pianist Kenny MacKenzie, who moved to Florida towards the latter part of 2009. I now have been utilizing the considerable services of Art Hirahara at the piano end of things. This was a logical move for me because Art has played a lot with Kyle Struve (drums) and Thomson Kneeland (bass), who are both part of my regular line up, which means that the rhythm section will remain tight, even as I continue to grow a familiarity with Art's playing style. And, every jazz musician knows that it all starts with a strong rhythm section!

But, more to the point of my statement about feeling fortunate to have maintained the same line up, I think this will aid me in my desire to bring up the level of interaction within the new selections being composed for my upcoming album. There's something to be said about the music of a band that has had time to work together and create a "sound" for themselves.

I'm not knocking my first album "Front and Center". It's just that it was hard to create a "sound" for that album when I was dealing with 2 different bassists, 2 different piano players, 2 different drummers, and all of them performing in different line up combinations based on their availability. How was anybody suppose to interact! And then, on top of all of that, all of those guys were actually sight reading the charts during the recording sessions. This is because it proved impossible to schedule rehearsals, due to conflicting schedules. It's nothing short of a testament to the skill level of the musicians that I was working with that the end product sounded as incredible as it did!

That said, I think with this next album things will be quite different. First of all, as I've mentioned before, I'm going to have the actual line up of my quartet on this one, including the amazing Kenny MacKenzie. Also, in order to gain a familiarity with my new compositions, and to get in shape for the recording, we will be performing the new tunes during concerts that we have and also during small, one hour "pick-up" gigs that we have at a few libraries. The live performance of these tunes in front of an audience will give us the opportunity to air things out and get the tunes sounding their best BEFORE we ever hit the studio to record them.

Our first big opportunity to debut some of the new material will come on February 26, 2010, when we give a concert performance at the Levitas Center for the Arts in Southampton, New York. In case you read this blog post in time and would like to check us out, you can find out more online and obtain tickets for the show by clicking HERE. You can also call (631) 287-4377.

So, short of going into "lock-down" with my quartet a week or two before the recording of the new album, I can't think of any better way to get in shape with the new tunes. If you have a chance to attend my quartet's February 26th performance, or any of the other ones we have before the recording date on May 23rd, I'd love to hear any feedback you have regarding the new tunes!

Written by Shenole Latimer

Jam Sessions

Over the past few days, I've been pondering the importance of jam sessions and how they serve a variety of functions. I think what brought this on was a college musician who invited me down to their weekly Wednesday night jam session. I tried to explain that I didn't have a lot of free time these days and certainly not the time to play without getting paid. His facial expressions made me realize that he took it the wrong way. I believe he thought I said that because I felt like I was too good to be hanging with him and the cats he plays with.

Jam sessions are indeed important to any music scene and all genres. They are a barometer of the health of a region's music scene and serve as a sort of "convention" for musicians to network with other musicians, which in turn means possibly getting future gigs. The only problem is that, unless you are with the house band, you are not getting paid for the night...and even some house bands don't get paid! This aside, I can certainly see the logic that not getting paid for one gig (jam session) could lead to several paid gigs with other musicians and bands. But, this still doesn't solve the problem I have with lack of free time.

Yes, I am a musician. But, I am also a father, a husband, and a homeowner. This places a very high importance that any excursion outside of my home, musically speaking, must result in me bringing home money...period. What gets lost by some younger artists is that, as an artist, you are self employed. And, the older you get, the more financial responsibilities you have. Thus, time is very valuable. My wife can testify to the fact that when I'm home I'm still at work. Even the very blogs that I post are actually work. How, you ask? Well, one of the primary goals for any artist is to increase their presence...especially their web presence now-a-days, as people are not going out as much as they used to for the performing arts. Posting blogs is a very efficient way of increasing your web presence, because they are a priority target for search engines.

Then there is the marketing aspect. Anyone who has studied modern marketing knows that today's western society has gone into a much more "personal"mode of thinking. In other words, people are looking more and more for very specific things that cater to their needs or wants. This is all thanks to the internet, which makes it incredibly easy for people to find things within their particular interests. Also, people have a greater interest in what is going on with the lives of others, including any artist that they may want to invest both time and treasure in. They want to have a greater (if not personal) connection with an artist and get to know about that artist's personality. Blogging is an incredibly efficient way of doing all of this. Not just because of the search engines, but because of the fact that blogs can be syndicated into feeds, which can turn the blog into a form of viral marketing.

That was a whole lot of words just for me to say that I can reach a whole lot more people just through my blog alone, than I can by playing in some venue every week in a situation where: A) most people coming down aren't fans anyway, but are other musicians, B) most listeners, who aren't musicians, are more interested in what's happening on the television screen above the bar, and C) I'm in a situation where I have to spend money on gas to get there, most likely buy a couple of drinks or pay a cover (or both), possibly pay for parking (particularly if it's in New York City), while not getting paid. All of this in turn means that, not only would I not be coming home with very, very badly needed cash, but I wouldn't even be breaking even! I would be coming home in the negatives...and how many gigs am I GUARANTEED from making it to a jam session? How many gigs would I get in a "timely" fashion to compensate for the money spent? Not at all a situation to find yourself in when you have a mortgage, an out of work wife to try and support, and a toddler who needs food and diapers.

Of course, I realize that I can't effectively do everything that must be done to grow my career from my computer desk. I think it's much like trying to conduct a war by exclusively utilizing air power...at some point you will need boots on the ground!

So, what is my final verdict on the importance of jam sessions? Like I said earlier, they ARE important and help to ensure the health of a music scene. However, I think that once a musician reaches a certain phase in their life, they have to really choose when it is a good time to go to a jam session and would it be a fruitful outing in terms of new phone numbers obtained, new ideas and information exchanged, potential gigs, etc.

For me, I already know or have access to so many musicians (be it from cats I met at jam sessions when I was younger with far fewer responsibilities, or the musicians that they themselves know and play with), that I have no need to go to a jam session for phone numbers. I don't have any problems finding gigs or creating them for myself, so there isn't too much of a need to go to a jam session to try and land a gig with someone else (unless there is someone in particular that I would like to play with, who doesn't know who I am). This just leaves the exchange of information and new ideas. I get a lot of information from my daily research sessions on the internet, though I'll be the first to admit that it isn't quite the same as receiving information first hand and in person from the person who has it to give.

So, you want to hit a jam session? By all means do it! It's an important part of every musician's growth. Just make sure to get plenty of jam sessions in before you get married, own a house, and find yourself being a parent!

Written by Shenole Latimer

2010 Album Project - Inspired!

I don't know what it's been...the financial hardship my wife and I have been facing for the past year, some new genres of music I have been exposed to that I didn't used to listen to, a special alignment taking place within the universe, or all of the above, but I'm finding myself with no shortage of ideas for songs to write. In fact, I've been feeling so inspired that I actually have a different kind of problem: Are these songs lacking a "homogeneous" sound that will keep them from making sense together on the playlist of a CD?

What do I mean by a homogeneous sound? Well, when you purchase the album of your favorite band, you pretty much have some idea of what the overall sound of that album will be, even though you may not have heard the songs yet. You know that "X" band has a guitar player that plays a certain way, a vocalist that has a particular sounding voice, and songs that have a certain style to their compositions. The problem with the tunes that I have been in the process of committing to paper (there are currently four), is that, although the musicians will all be the same and they all have a playing style and sound familiar to most of my fans, the compositions are all very different in style.

For example, on one tune I'm hearing a light hearted blues structure, with a slight funk twang to the swing feel, over a more modern and hip sounding set of chord changes. Meanwhile, on another tune, I'm hearing a more "epic" sort of sound with orchestral backgrounds, an electric guitar, and a driving rock beat...sort of like the sound towards the end of "Kashmir" off of Led Zepplin's "Physical Graffiti" album. Yeah, I know...go figure!

Well, now that I've probably scared off anybody who may have had an interest in adding this album to their jazz or music collection, let me temper all that I just said by saying that I am actively trying to pull in the reigns a bit on my creativity! I certainly don't want an album that sounds like some sort of "hodge-podge" of music.

At any rate, I guess the good news is that I'm feeling very creative and inspired!

Written by Shenole Latimer

April, 2010 Tour Plans Almost Complete

After four months of constant phone calls, carefully making travel and hotel arrangements, and all that other fun stuff, my east coast tour is almost entirely put together. I'm currently just trying to squeeze in three more stops, but here is how the tour is looking so far:

• April 6 - Vienna, VA
• April 7 - Reston, VA
• April 8 @ 12pm - Myrtle Beach, SC
• April 8 @ 6:30pm - Conway, SC
• April 9 - Jacksonville, FL
• April 11 - Day Off for Rest
• April 12 - Maryville, TN
• April 14 & 15 - Norfolk, VA
• April 16 - Day Off for Rest
• April 17 - Cape May, NJ
• April 18 - Montclair, NJ
• April 19 @ 2pm - Ocean Pines, MD
• April 19 @ 6:30pm - Snow Hill, MD
• April 20 - Princess Anne, MD
• April 21 @ 4pm & 7pm Dumont, NJ

The three locations that may be added within the next couple of weeks are:

• April 5 - Washington, DC
• April 10 - Atlanta, GA
• April 13 - Durham, NC

With all the driving that I'm going to be doing, and with the relatively packed schedule, I felt it was important to include at least a couple of days where I could get some rest and also do some of the things that people don't generally associate with touring. Things like laundry, for example!

I'm thinking about making a separate section in my blog just for this particular tour, though I don't know how much free time I will really have to make entries. My past experience with touring and road trips have taught me that, when you reach the end of the day, all you really want to do is go to sleep! Another idea may be to just have a series of Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter status reports...a sort of "Tour Tweet" or "Update from on the Road". One way or another, I do think I should find some kind of way to document the tour so that all of my fans can get an inside look at things, and so that I can reference it later for any lessons learned.

So anyway, now that the tour is only a few months away, I need to start compiling my list of media contacts so that I can be ready to send out press releases and also schedule interviews on radio and in periodicals. Fortunately, I have had some help from a very trusted and hard working student of mine. He's been busy getting together a bunch of media outlets for me to pursue.

All in all, things are really coming together and I think that this tour is going to be quite successful. In fact, I'm already in the process of planning tours for the North East and the West Coast!

Written by Shenole Latimer

2010 Album Project - Preproduction

A few nights ago on Tuesday, January 5, 2010, I met with Henning Stumm of Tierra Records and John Zych of Earth Tone Music Productions to have a preproduction meeting regarding the recording of my next CD project.

It was really an exciting meeting for all parties because it has been quite a bit of time since the release of my debut album "Front and Center", and both Tierra Records and Earth Tone Music Productions (the studio where I recorded my first album) had been anxiously awaiting the announcement of when I would be setting the wheels in motion for the next album project.

The thing is, it was actually in my contract with Tierra Records that I was suppose to record my second album no later than 2008, two years after the release of my first album. But with the birth of my daughter and then some outside issues that came up, I simply didn't have the time to write any new material. Realizing this, Tierra Records generously gave me an extension on the deadline for me to begin my sophomore effort with them. Needless to say, with nearly four years having gone by since the release of my debut, I've been more than anxious to get things going myself!

That now brings us back to the meeting that the three of us had at Earth Tone Music Productions.

Much of the meeting concerned some technical and logistical issues that we will face because of how we plan to record this album. By that I mean, instead of doing the actual tracking (recording) at the Earth Tone Music Productions studio in Brooklyn, we will be moving the studio to a different location all together. Essentially, instead of bringing Moses to the mountain, we will be bringing the mountain to Moses! The reason for this is a bit involved.

My first album was recorded without the benefit of having a real piano at our disposal. Nobody has ever really noticed this because John Zyche and Henning Stumm (who came on board the project during mixdown) did such a wonderful job at disguising the sound of the keyboard we used to make it sound as close to a real acoustic piano as possible. However, this time around things are a lot different. This time I will actually have all of the guys in my quartet available for the recording. That includes the incredible pianist Kenny MacKenzie, who couldn't make the sessions for the first album. Since Kenny is going so far as to fly up all the way from Florida to make this session, I wanted to do the right thing and have a real piano for him to play on. Plus, there just isn't anything like having a real piano. I really want to get a little bit more of an authentic "jazz sound" to this new album, without making it sound too different in character from the first one.

So anyway, back to why we are making the studio mobile.

Because John Zych doesn't have a real acoustic piano at his new location in Brooklyn, and because I don't want to do the project with any other engineer, I need to find a location that has a baby grand piano that we could use. I have come up with at least one place that will more than likely make their facilities available to me, but I don't want to publicly mention it yet until I know for sure that I have it...don't want to jinx the project before it even really gets off the ground!

In short, a whole nest of wires, microphones, computers, and a bunch of other stuff will need to be moved to this location in a very quick and efficient manner, because we will only have a maximum of 12 hours to complete the tracking of the entire album! Setting up the mobile studio in the new location alone could take upwards of 2 or 3 hours, and that's not even considering the 2 hours it will probably take to get the recording levels right. I'm praying that we will have access to the potential location before the actual start time of the recording so that we can at least set the studio up before the guys in my quartet arrive for the session.

That is just a hint of some of the technical challenges that are ahead of us in seeing this project through!

All in all, the meeting was definitely productive and we managed to iron out a lot of things. This includes the actual date for the recording, which will be May 23rd. Until then, and the eventual release of the album, you will be with me every step of the way through the posts I will be continuing to put up on this blog!

Written by Shenole Latimer