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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 __________________________________ Start your day with Yahoo! - Make it your home page! http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs