A question for the older folks

[Lah Ca]

As some of you know, I am a college student. And after 6 long years, I am walking across the stage this coming Friday with a bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and Jazz/Studio performance. I am still figuring out what I want to do in life. Part of me has always wanted to move into NYC to pursue Jazz as a career. Now I am fully aware that this path if not really the most lucrative. But it has always been a dream and I know it would be really hard...but it's my dream. And I don't want to just give up my dream for the sake of making money and having a career. Ideally, I want to find a way to do engineering and jazz at the same time.

Among professionals (scientists, engineers, doctors, lawyers, etc), there are the dull plodders and then there are the interesting eccentrics. I have met an Oceanographer who is also a killer sax player, in a Paul Desmond meets Cannonball Adderley sort of style, an expert in maritime law who was a killer Flamenco guitarist, a cardiologist/heart surgeon who was a highly skilled visual artist .... No reason you can't be a Jazz-playing Mechanical Engineer. Be one of the cool ones!

Most musicians, especially now with the blood sucking financial vampire of streaming, have day jobs. And it has almost always been so. Cannonball Adderley and his brother Nat were school teachers, I think, until there was a scene that would support them. When the Rolling Stones first met Howling Wolf in person, he was working a painter in Chess studios, despite already being a long standing NAME in his genre. John McLaughlin, taught, repaired instruments, delivered milk, did studio work, etc. We could go on and on and on.

[outune]

Hi David-- When you get settled in the DC area, get in touch. I'm in a Virginia suburb of DC.. I'd love to meet you in person and show you what's left of my phono collection.. (I've sold most of it over the past 6 to 8 years) And you'll get a free dinner to boot
Good luck with your new position-- Keep us updated.

Brad Abell

[dzavracky]

Jerry - I sure hope I can bring at least one with me. Rent prices are ridiculous for a studio.... so I will just have to see how much extra space I'll have. And then the issue is which one to bring!

Brad - I will definitely get in touch! I'd really enjoy seeing your collection. I am bummed I haven't really gotten to show off my place to anyone... but one day when I have a home!

Lah Ca - That is the goal . I could care less about spending time on my phone or watching sports/tv. So to spend my time off work hittin the shed is fun for me. I plan on living a full life!

Thanks everyone!

Cheers,

David

[drh]

Hi everyone,

I really appreciated all the feedback on this thread. Since starting this thread, I have accepted a job and will be moving to Washington DC in September. I will be working the job by day and finding ways to keep playing jazz at night. My collection is not coming with me, however, and will be stored at my folks place. My dad and I have worked out a good solution that helps both of us.

I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed living in my 1 bedroom apartment with all my stuff, but it is kind of a headache. The process to safely move all this stuff is going to be such a drag . For instance, all the 78's have to come down off the bookcase and we all know how heavy that will be. The bookcase doesn't even fit out the door, so I have to take it apart. And all the heavy phonographs have to be carried out down to the U-Haul. I am sure it will be fine... but I move out by the end of July. So lots to do in the interim.

Thanks again for all the replies on this thread. I am pretty excited about the move!

Cheers,

David

Hey, soon-to-be neighbor! Silver Spring, where I live, is just outside DC. Let me know when you get settled, and I can return the favor of the collection tour you kindly gave me when I visited Knoxville a few years back. Looking forward to seeing you again!

[edit] A thought about "which machine to bring"--think in terms of what *records* you can bring to feed it. In a small apartment, record storage may be a bigger issue than finding space for the machine itself. From that point of view, an upright with built-in storage may be your best bet, even though in itself it's larger than a tabletop machine.

[dzavracky]

Just thought I would post an update:

I moved the whole apartment into the U-Haul by myself and it's a miracle nothing was damaged. Everything made it safely to where I am storing it for now. I will be taking 2 boxes of 78's, 2-55 portable, and my Columbia BY with me. The rest of it will be stay in storage until I have a more permanent location to put it.

For posterity's sake, here is the two pictures of my living room I took before I began packing.

Cheers,

David

[Inigo]

What a nice lion's den!!
We wish you'll be able soon to reinstall all your toys in a new comfortable place like that!

[Dischoard]

Good luck David! While both are musicians, both of my kids are attending college to be engineers as well with my daughter's final year coming right up here. At first she said she wanted to be a music teacher like I am but doing that kind of work is probably 20% knowledge and 80% personality and I'm not so sure she would be able to appreciate all of the students that she would inevitably get.

I got into teaching music because I felt like it would be a great way to still be able to play in a band but also play other music opportunities that pop up. It certainly has. My current band has been playing for 25 years and I also get involved in the pit orchestra for my colleague's musical productions, filling in in the occasional big band gig, etc, etc. Back when you made as much money selling CDs as you would gig money (and sometimes more) playing in a band was great! But now that streaming has become the norm we hardly make a thing. I remember a year we played the Big E in Mass. The venue paid $1,000 and we made $3,000 selling T-shirts and CDs. Those days are now long gone. It's a tough time to be making money in the music biz. Luckily I'm of the age where I take the gigs I like and play for the fun of it and that's great. But I have a couple of band members who solely make their main living playing music, and each of them that do have also found that they have to supplement their income with teaching in one form or another. One teaches lessons out of his house, the other teaches lessons out of his house as well but also has a studio at the University. Before that he delivered papers every Wednesday in his car to make ends meet even though he is THE local go-to-guy for his instrument.

I think you'll have a great time as an engineer AND you'll really look forward to playing music after work and blowing off some steam. You're also way more likely as an engineer to quickly replicate that apartment but perhaps bigger and better than before

[dzavracky]

Thanks Dischoard and Inigo,

I am kind of sad to not be there anymore... but on to something new! It was a blast living there, because my neighbors ALL liked hearing me practice and didn't mind the music from the phonographs. Nothing like putting some hot 20's records on the Cortez and swinging those doors wide open Anyways, I am going up to DC next week to look for a place. I will probably post an update once I am moved in.

Cheers,

David

[BillH_NJ]

Good luck with everything! It sounds like a great opportunity. While music has always been a love of mine and I studied at the High School of Music and Art in NYC, I knew early on that it wasn’t a good career path for me. As a statistics major I was able to eventually go to grad school for an MBA and PhD and turn that into an academic career teaching marketing and later as a methodologist in a marketing research firm. I have always kept my piano and harpsichord and still play, even if only for my own pleasure or to play chamber music with friends. I did have a couple of opportunities as a church musician, but now music is strictly a hobby (as are the phonographs). I have friends who did make a career in music, but I wanted the security of something else and the lifestyle of a college professor gave me the freedom to fit music into my schedule.

You will get your collection back in the future but at least you have the chance to enjoy some of it in your new surroundings. There are a number of us in the NY metropolitan area in NJ—reach out if you find yourself in the area.

Bill

[dzavracky]

Hello everyone!

I am happy to report that I am completely moved into my new apartment! The last thing I have to do is hang up some of the picture records I have. But for now, here is a picture of my apartment.

It certainly different only having 2 of my phonographs and a small selection of 78's compared to what I had before. But in a weird way it feels really nice to only have 2 . I think the BY looks really nice in here; it's just very loud! It does have the volume control, but the little rubber bit on it needs to be replaced.

Cheers,

David

(click on the photo to enlarge it)