Congrats! It sounds like you have worked really hard to make this happen. Good for you!
Thank you! 
I wound up having my first jazz gig this past Saturday!
It was a last-minute thing, and also a private party: a guitar player wanted a band for his wife’s 50th birthday. No rehearsal, and most of us met each other just minutes before our one-hour set started (in other words, it was a real jazz gig ;)). I mingled with some of the guests afterward and no one could believe that we’d never played together before, so I guess we did good!
I grade myself a solid B+. The songs themselves went well, but I really need to practice counting in different tempos: after 3-4 tunes it became obvious that everything was going to be a mid-tempo swing. grin I also need more “emcee” practice, though overall I felt like I did ok with that part. Oh, and there was the one song I sang in the wrong key until the bridge. :smack:
I did a lot of things right, though – like remembering to cue the endings, and never screwing up the form/rhythm – and after talking with the drummer and bass player it seems that my problems were minor and that I just need to do more gigs. (As I assured them, that’s my plan!)
Small world story: when the guitar player wrote down everyone’s names for me so I could introduce the band, I realized that the sax player was the same guy I have the holiday party gig with next month! I recognized his name from the emails about that event. He’s a good player, and he seemed to like me; I’m looking forward to working with him again.
Anyway, here’s a picture the drummer’s wife took, if anyone’s interested. I’m the girl. 
P.S. Getting paid that night felt amazing. I’m still using the cash from that gig for lunches, etc., this week, and every time I do I get all happy!
Yay you!
Sounds great, and glad to hear it went so well! Yay you, indeed!
And yeah, there is something very cool and legitimizing about getting paid for playing. You have had to demonstrate that you can take your craft up a notch and own all the variables associated with pulling off a gig - and the cash is the merit badge that proves it.
Trying to actually make a go of it as a profession, where you have to find a way to deliver the goods day in, day out, regardless of how yucky the situation is - that’s a whole 'nother level of merit badge…
Sincere congratulations! I hope this will be the first of many successes for you, fellow musician!:):):)
Q
Thanks, twicks and Quasi!
For sure – and it’s not a merit badge I’m trying to earn any time soon! I’ve said all along that I’m not out to quit my day job: I’m not exactly sure how musically ambitious I am, though, so I’ll just see what happens. I’d love to have “too many gigs” as a problem. 