Thursday, June 23, 2011
Pricing - Hiring a Jazz Trio Or Quartet
So, what are your rates people tend to ask? Well, for now let’s just say that its $50 per hour per musician, and there’s a two hour minimum. There are many things to factor in when giving you an answer to that question yet that’s a good start. Let me ad that when I'm helping you that I ad a fee for having the responsibility of managing the trio or quartet and thus bringing the music to you. Doing so with everyone being on time and there being no confusion as to what's needed and when. That is to say that your paying for my promise that there are no strange strangers in the band, everyone is a known quantity.
Let’s give you a specific example. Let’s say that you requested our trio for 4 hours at your event. Well, that would mean $200 per musician, as I said $50 per hour for each of us, with the two hour minimum, and then an additional $200 for me. Some people charge three anda half times what their fello band members get.
I'd like to give you a form to copy and paste so that you can get an exact quote from us if desired. And you can read more about this below the form if you wish.
Please tell us the following
Type of event:
Day of the week and date:
Start and finish time of day:
Location, city town state:
So then that would be, a total of $800 for our trio, and that assumes that this is an hour maybe more drive for each of us, give or take. and again, we'd be there for 4 hours with our equipment set up playing or ready to play, lets say that it would be $500 for the trio for half that, a two hour event need us for another half hour? Just let us know I'm sure that's fine we'll work with you...
Can we do it for less? Probably ,but, that just depends on your needs and exactly when you need us. Be prepared to expect less variety from that group though as reducing our rate means that we just have access to a smaller variety of people. Let me tell you something that, though not world changing, it's something that's good to know. Generally speaking, you can choose between a good trio for the first price mentioned, and a decent quartet for the second price mention. And no, that’s not a misprint as the lower level players just usually can’t really pull off giving you a musically satisfying experience unless there’s a 4th person in the band. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but that’s just how it usually is. This is usually true but not always. Something else that's nice to know is that, you can usually obtain a very good trio with a guitarist as the star instead of a pianist; this may be a good option if you’re on a budget. Then again, part of what your paying for is the freedom should you wish that, the freedom not to worry about the details. After all, that's my job.
Remember I spoke of many things to factor in when giving you a rate or a price? Well, here are at least two things. Firstly, is the time of the week, Friday through Sunday is prime time for us in terms of the week. Secondly, what time of the year is it? As you might expect, November until the first of the year is a much more difficult time to give you a lower price.
Most of the more advanced players will be busy when you want them, but many won't be or, half of the ones who are available just won't be known to you or easily found and that's why you need someone like me in your corner. Or maybe you could just try all of this on your own. After all, you might save a few bucks that way... True, you might. You might also get left hanging, or with someone who is less honest or more interested in himself than you. And frankly, if that happens, I can't just start getting one of my trio's together for you with two days notice.
I’ve been obsessing about all of this for a good fifteen twenty years now, to say nothing of playing with and getting to know anyone and everyone in our region who can play this music and so that’s why I have confidence in what I say.
Here's something to ask you. Do you need the best? My guess is, sometimes you do and sometimes you don't. We can help with both. I’ve eaten catered food that was the best, and then again I’ve eaten some that was not; and to tell the truth, maybe I would not have enjoyed the best if that was all that I had ever had. In other words, the food that was not amazing was fine. Sometimes not amazing is actually better in a way as it really just depends on your needs. Sometimes something that's amazing is just distracting. Even so, if you want a real mix of awesome and chill, then the more expensive options are where you'll need to go. Bottom line? The more you spend the more you'll have the best of both worlds. There's a good chance that we can help you for less when needed, always ask, never be afraid to ask.
We look forward to serving you a good helping of our flavor of cool classic jazz as soon as you can manage to swing it, pun intended.
