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RE: PRO vs. AM was Re: Defining "pro"
IŽd say there are artist musicians and there are
prostitute musicians,professional or amateur...
Luis
> "A professional does for money what an amateur does
> for the love of it."
>
>
> This falls into the same category as the wisdom that
> says
>
> "Those who can't do, teach"
>
> It is ignorant and mean spirited.
>
>
> I've been an artist all of my life. In every
> situation I've ever been in,
> I have always created the space to have a completely
> original project, dedicated to pure artistry: pure
> expression in whatever
> medium I was involved in...............from rock and
> roll
> to funk to jazz to new wave to world music to
> electronica to found sound to
> live looping.
>
> I have also not had a conventional 'day job' for the
> last 25 years, having
> made all of my living as a musician in one form or
> another
> (studio recording, touring, local gigging, teaching,
> music production, live
> sound engineering, music business consulting, et.
> al.)
>
> I am a pro and I'm proud of it. I worked my ass
> off to survive and it has
> been very difficult to do so at times. I ate
> burritos and quesadillas and
> other cheap food for the better part of ten years so
> that I could keep my
> eye on the prize: music.
>
> I am not cynical or calculating in being a
> professional. I pride myself on
>
> trying to have a service orientation in my work (I'm
> a drummer for god's
> sake so it goes with the territory..........lol).
>
> I also do not look down or put down musicians who do
> not make their living
> as professionals. I'd never put on a looping
> festival if I had this
> attitude.
>
> Some of the very best musicians I know are not
> 'pros' in the strict
> definition of the word. I could care less. They
> are wonderful and
> innovative musicians.
>
> Some of the very best musicians I know are also
> consumate professionals,
> both in spirit and in the letter of the term. You
> want to tell me that
> Debhashish Battycharya, Bob Brozman, Martin Simpson,
> Deepak Ram and
> Babatunde Olatunji are cynical hacks because they
> are so good that they make
>
> all of their living being musicians. Be real,
> please.
>
>
> Distinctions between pro and amateur are spurious in
> terms of artistry, I
> believe.
>
> My definition of a true artist is someone who does
> art every day, whether or
>
> not they make their living from it.
> I know great artists who have day jobs, terrible
> hacks who are pros.
> I also know terrible hacks who are proverbial
> 'weekend warriors', a term
> bandied about by professional musicians who are also
> equally ignorant and mean spirited. I've known
> great artists who are
> professionals.
>
> *********
>
> In this discussion, folks, let's be
> honest.........................everyone
> on earth wishes they could do what they most love
> for a living.
> It's simple............if you love something, you
> want to devote as much
> time to it as you can and making a living doing it
> merely affords you the
> ability to put more energy into your
> art...........................sometimes. Having
> to play three to five
> gigs a week to pay the bills can also be exhausting
> and can definitely keep
> your eye off the 'prize' of artistry.
>
> There is no need to put people down in this
> discussion. Every truly great
> master artist I've ever known has never had this
> kind of 'US' and 'THEM'
> mentality. Period. Point. Dot.
>
>
>
>
www.luis-angulo.com
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