$7800 Web Hosting Bill!

Let me tell you,there is never a dull moment in the internet world.  The other day I woke up, went to check my email and found an invoice for over $7800 for one month of web hosting for pdfjazzmusic.com!  My webhost claims I used (you guys used) 7.7 TB ( I believe that is terabytes?) or 7700 megs of bandwidth for the month of March.  Granted, pdfjazzmusic.com is getting more and more traffic every day, roughly 300-400 visitors per day, but 7700 MB??!!  I almost passed out when I saw that bill.  Then I get a call from my bank saying there might be some suspicious activity on my account and that I need to call them right away.  Since I don’t routinely have 8 grand laying around in my checking account, the transaction obviously couldn’t go through. 

It turns out there was a glitch in the system and my web hosting company admitted the mistake and credited me the money on my account. Whew!  Speaking of traffic though, my traffic has been way out of line lately, so I did let my host know about it. After investigating, they determined that someone has been “hotlinking” to the mp3 files on the site.  I’m still looking into who and what, but as usual, one bad apple can screw it up for the rest.  So for awhile anyway, I have password protected the audio folder and mp3s will not be available to listen to.  I put them there as a convenience, but I’m thinking I will take them all down and just have everyone use the audio player only to listen to the charts.  If you do purchase a chart, I will be glad to supply you with the mp3 of the chart.  Sorry about that, but it had to be done. 

In the meantime, I have signed on with another hosting company and I will be able to host other sites as well. If you are looking for a really inexpensive hosting solution for your website or sites, email me and I will give you more details.

Nice "Day Job" in Chicago

Since I fixed the Jazz Jobs page, I find myself returning there often to see what kinds of gigs there are in the music field, and jazz area.  I recently saw an interesting one that I would definitely apply for if I didn’t already have a day job.  Its in Chicago, my old stomping ground.  The gig fits my qualifications perfectly I think.  If you are an arranger, have some finale background, can conduct a band, are pretty organized and like working with musicians – this might be a gig for you.  It is at Columbia College in Chicago.  This might get a little boring depending on how much “administrative work” you would have to do.  It would be a good excuse to write a lot of charts too. I know some guys in the Chicago Jazz Ensemble and there are some great players in there.  Here is the job description:

 

Job Requirements:
The ideal candidate for this position will possess the ability to procure music; edit, organize, and prepare parts and scores for rehearsals and performances; maintain the library database and archives; liaise with composers and arrangers; assist with rehearsals and productions; perform administrative and clerical tasks as assigned; and contribute to the development and maintenance of the ensemble's internet site. A mastery of Finale and Microsoft Office software is essential, as is proficiency with audio software for basic editing and creation of audio files. A Bachelor's degree is preferred.

Another nice thing is that when you weren’t doing this gig, you could be playing around Chicago or teaching.  Depending on what this pays, it could be a nice gig for someone with the above qualifications.

Click here for more information on this gig>>>

A Classic Gig Story

I subscribe to Steve Hashimoto’s News From The Trenches newsletter, and occasionally he posts something that cracks me up and I can totally relate.  (and I’m sure some of you guys can too!) We all have classic gig stories to tell, and this is a great one.   Read the story below and just picture the scene and I’m sure you will either laugh out loud or at least smile a little bit. I asked Steve permission if I could post here and he agreed. As you read, try to imagine the heavy accents of the cast of characters.  Here you go:

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Excerpt from Steve Hashimoto’s News From the Trenches Newsletter:

It’s been a while since I had any new gig stories, but you knew that couldn’t last long. This happened at Andie’s last week. First, let me introduce the cast of characters, to help make the scene more vivid for you. We have two managers there; Elias, an excitable Tunisian (during Bears’ season when Grossman would screw up he’d slam the bar with his hand and fill the air with profanity, in many languages, but mostly in delightfully graphic English) and Al, a very dapper Lebanese. The woman in question was a formidably-figured young Russian. So try to picture the following in the appropriately accented dialectic approximate English.

         

There was a 50th birthday in the back of the room, and the young Russian woman approached us in a way that my radar just knew was going to be trouble of some sort. At least she waited till we were done with the tune we were playing to announce (not ask) that a very famous Russian opera singer was coming to the party and we would be accompanying her. As I say, she had a formidable figure, and it distracted me a bit; I sort of blinked and said

       “What?”

          “You will accompany famous opera singer. She will be here shortly.”

          “What will we accompany her on?”

          “She will sing Ave Maria.”

          “We do not know Ave Maria.”

          “Very will, she will also have her own accompanist.”

          “What will the accompanist accompany on?” (My band at Andie’s is always sax, guitar and bass.)

          “She is piano player.”

          “We do not have piano,” I said, gesturing at the obvious lack of a piano.

          “Oh? You do not have piano?”

          “No, we do not have piano.”

          “Why not?”

          “Because we never have piano.”

          “We will find piano.” And off she marched to find a piano.

At this point Al came up to us and apologized. “I don’t know what her problem is. She is very crazy. I am sorry. You do not have to do anything you do not want to.”

          “It’s okay, she wants a piano and we don’t have one.”

          At this point Elias came up and said “So, are you going to play for her?”

          “No, she wants a piano and we don’t have one.”

          “Good, I am happy.” Which just cracked me up; I pointed out to Dan Hesler and John Beard that this was the kind of management that every joint needs.

          At this point the woman came back, with the opera singer in tow. I must point out that the opera singer was VERY beautiful, and spoke not a word of English. The instigator of this whole thing said “We can not find piano. You do not know Ave Maria?”

          “We do not know Ave Maria. We are a jazz band. In America jazz bands do not know Ave Maria.”

          “Alright, then she will perform a capella.”

          “Wonderful, just tell me when.”

So of course she did not; the opera singer just flung herself into Ave Maria (I think we were in the middle of “The Way You Look Tonight”, or something). I might also point out that she had a very beautiful voice; we were nice, we actually stopped playing (I could have done the passive-aggressive thing, you know) and we all applauded her performance. Being the canny leader that I am, I told the guys to hang on just a second, I got a feeling that the other shoe’s going to drop momentarily here, and I was right, she let loose with another aria. I might point out that we could have been off the stand at this point, eating kifteh kabobs, but you never know, you know? So she finishes her number, we wait a minute or so (“Is it safe?””I think it’s safe.”), start a tune, at which point of course she launches into her third number. And, anticlimactically, that was that. Not a word of thanks from anyone over there, of course, for gangstering our gig, but what the hell, we’re just some schmucks playing decadent jazz music.

         

And for you people out there saying to yourself “There he goes with the chick singers again”, I might point out (and Typhanie will back me up, I hope) that a young woman named Kelly sat in with us at the Mill Friday night, and I was very nice to her. Of course it helped that she was very polite to us mugs on the stand, and she could sing, too. All I ask is a little respect, you dig?

 

[End]

 

I’m not sure if Steve has a website for this newsletter,but if you would like to subscribe, try emailing him at hashimoto@trenchnews.com