"Jazz is America's classical music"-how many times have you heard that one? While people say it with the best of intentions, this statement conjures up images of tightly wound, tuxedo-clad conservatory graduates playing music by dead composers in half-empty recital halls. Forget that! Jazz is way too sweaty and vital, and the best places to hear it are the small, intimate clubs and cafes found in any mid- to large-size American city with a reasonably hip arts community.

Ultimately the jazz tradition of spontaneity and innovation relies on playing the music in a loose, freewheeling atmosphere. If the music is to keep thriving, it's likely to do so in the kind of place where alcohol and tobacco (or coffee and espresso) make up a big part of the scene. That's where the majority of gigs happen-not in stuffy recital halls.

Although you'll find book-length treatises on the subjects of booking and playing commercial gigs, there isn't much published help available for jazz musicians. So here's a down-and-dirty, just-the-facts-ma'am primer on the ABCs of jazz gigging that will help the aspiring jazz bandleader prepare for, book, and play gigs in the small, informal contexts that provide the bulk of jazz performance opportunities. And although this article is aimed primarily at those who are just starting out, perhaps it will also help you seasoned veterans gain a fresh perspective on playing jazz in clubs.

You Gotta Have Tunes It doesn't matter what kind of horn you play or what brand of fancy Italian suit you wear on the bandstand-if you don't have your music together, you're better off staying home and admiring yourself in front of the mirror. That doesn't mean you have to play like John Coltrane before you hit the stage, but if you're going to perform in front of an audience, whether it's at the Village Vanguard or the village pizza place, you'd better have reached a reasonable level of competence.

First and foremost, decide what kind of jazz you want to play. Style will often determine your venue. While there's no law against playing every style of jazz under the sun, you'd better not do it at the same gig; a country club brunch is no place for Albert Ayler covers. Each type of jazz music has its own set of values and requirements for presentation. However, you can basically break jazz into two categories: standard jazz works, and everything else.

The standards approach. Jazz started as-and has remained for the most part-a kind of music based largely on the principles of improvisation. Nobody wrote down early jazz on a piece of manuscript paper-rather, a group of musicians who shared a common vocabulary of tunes conceived and arranged jazz spontaneously.

So it remains to a large extent. A collection of popular tunes from mid-20th century composers like George Gershwin, Richard Rogers, and Cole Porter has long been and will continue to be the basis of many jazz performances. These tunes (known as standards) have also provided a harmonic basis for the untold numbers of original melodies that jazz musicians have written over the years. The number of jazz "heads" based on the chords to Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm," for instance, number in the hundreds, if not the thousands. These tunes are also considered standards.

Everything else. If you're not playing standards, you're playing something else, either original compositions or seldom-covered tunes by other jazz musicians. For this type of jazz, preparation is crucial. Rehearse your butt off, and don't hire mercenaries. The local hotshot who knows every tune in the Real Book and plays like Charlie Parker on a standards gig might be unwilling or unable to commit to the rehearsal time necessary to play a show not composed of standards. Form a band of like-minded players, musicians willing to work together as hard and as long as it takes to get it right. If you're playing originals, it's critically important to have musicians who are devoted to making the whole sound greater than the sum of its parts (see the sidebar "What to Play? Standards Vs. Originals").

Another aspect of the jazz idiom is contemporary free jazz-improv, as exemplified by such master musicians as Cecil Taylor, Evan Parker, and Marilyn Crispell. While this type of music is too complex to define in the limited space of this article (listening explains it best), it is a rewarding style well worth consideration.

A Place to Play So now you've got an act. You've spent time honing your chops and learning a repertoire. You're ready to take the bandstand . . . somewhere. Ah, there's the rub. For most jazz players, the hardest part of their profession has almost nothing to do with music per se. The toughest part is simply getting the gig.

The demo. Few jazz musicians get hired based solely on their good looks. You must be able to play at least a little. More importantly, you must convince booking agents, club managers, cafe owners, and others of their ilk that you can play. You do that by presenting as formidable a demo package as possible. Such a package can consist of many things (see the sidebar "The Down-and-Dirty Jazz Press Kit"), but a representative recording of your music is by far the most important component.

You don't necessarily need a professional studio to record a good jazz demo, but it sure as heck wouldn't hurt. While your performance on a demo must be as good as possible, the quality of the recording is just as important. Remember this: Never leave anything to the listener's imagination. Don't assume that a listener can perceive the genius lurking in the murky depths of an inferior recording. That goes for the quality of the sound as much as for the performance.

Go for the best sound you can afford. There are studios in the $30 to $50 per hour range all over the country. If time and money are no object, then go for a multitrack recording. For a low-budget performance demo, however, a 2-track direct-to-DAT recording is your best bet. Find a studio that has a track record of recording the kind of music you play. Research which types of equipment produce the best sound. Find a studio with a closet full of decent condenser mics, for instance. It's a good idea to hire an engineer who is also a jazz player-someone who knows not only what jazz is supposed to sound like, but also how it's created. An experienced musician in the sound booth can provide a valuable extra set of ears. This can take a lot of the weight off your shoulders as you try to juggle the various producer, bandleader, and instrumentalist chores.

When you're in the studio, keep in mind that time is money. You're paying full price for setup time in most cases, so be efficient. Make sure everyone shows up on time, and cooperate with the engineer as much as possible. Let him or her worry about the technical end so you can concentrate on the music. Give your sidemen an occasional break once you've started; brass players' chops can get tired, so if you have sax players wailing away out there, take five once in a while. Record enough tunes to fill one side of a 45- or 60-minute cassette, and pick those that demonstrate your range and highlight your strengths. If you're recording direct to DAT, overdubs are impossible, so don't get too hung up on perfection. In jazz, sloppy is usually bad, but loose can be quite good. If the ensembles are a little rough, hey, that's just the way jazz is.

If you've listened to enough jazz that you want to play it professionally, you know what sounds good. Do the best job you can and then go with it. When you're finished, copy a few tapes off the master (or better yet, burn some CDs), label 'em nice and pretty, and you're ready to roll.

Endgame. Approaching clubs is a fairly straight-ahead proposition. Target places that present the type of music you play. Call them and get the contact information of the person who books the music. If possible, take your demo package to the club yourself. Personal contact is vastly preferable to mail. The early evening, before the night's action gets under way, is usually a good time to go in. Hand your package to the booking agent (don't forget to include your contact information) and wait to hear back. After a week or two, give the person a ring if he or she hasn't already called you. Bookers are busy folks, but you're entitled to a response, so don't be afraid to give them a nudge. Aggressiveness (but not obnoxiousness) is a virtue in this business.

And Now, the Gig So you've done all the preparation. Your chops are up, your tunes are down, you've booked the gig, and it's time to play. The gig itself should be a breeze. After all, the music's the bottom line (except for payment, but I'll get to that later). While performing, you should leave everything behind except what's most important-the music.

Looking good (enough). Over the last 20 years it's become almost requisite for jazz musicians to dress up for gigs. Suits and ties are the uniform of the mainstream jazz musician these days. That's fine in some contexts and just plain silly in others. Use your common sense; if the venue is upscale, then upscale dress is required. If the place is casual, dress accordingly. The only hard-and-fast rule is to look clean and professional.

Be on stage on time. While the gig itself is about making art, certain issues of presentation are crucial if you want to make it a success. The most important thing is punctuality. Maybe when you're rich and famous you can afford to be late, but until then start on time. An 8 p.m. set should start no later than 8:15, and that's allowing for a late-arriving audience. If you are playing multiple sets, don't take long, leisurely breaks between them; that's the fastest way to lose a crowd and irritate a club owner. In general, keep breaks to 15 minutes-enough to take a breather and yet maintain creative momentum.

Set lists. Some musicians just wing it when it comes to structuring a set; others plan well in advance. Both methods have their virtues. The spontaneous approach allows for contingencies, such as requests from other players and audience members, or intangibles you can't always foresee. Still, it never hurts to plan ahead. Write out a set list and give it to your band members so they're prepared. It's exceedingly bad form to make the audience wait between tunes while the band searches for sheet music.

Vary your styles from number to number, especially tempos and feels. For instance, don't play two slow blues or bossas in a row. Playing "Donna Lee" at 300 beats per minute is great, but don't follow it up with "Cherokee" at the same tempo. Mix up keys as well. You don't want your audience going home with a B-flat droning in their heads. Start and end with your best stuff; you can make only one first impression, and you want to end on the strongest possible note. It's almost never a good idea to start with a ballad . . . except when it is a good idea. Only experience can give you the wisdom to know (see the sidebar "An Annotated Set List").

Money (or a distinct lack thereof). How do you become a millionaire playing jazz? Start with $2 million. Unless you're not too smart or you're totally insane, you didn't start playing jazz for the money. There's just not a lot of cash in it, especially when you're playing the kinds of gigs I'm talking about here. The typical jazz gig pays either the door or a small guaranteed fee (occasionally the venue offers you a percentage of drink receipts-almost always bad news for the musician). Theoretically, leaders get double scale, which essentially means they get twice as much as their sidemen. In the real world, it seldom works like that, for the simple reason that twice as much of nothing is still nothing. If your quartet makes $100, don't pocket $50 and split the rest, unless you don't care whether your sidemen ever work with you again. Split it evenly and call it good.

Afterword Jazz is an art, but there's a lot more to playing it than mastering the music. Real life exerts pressures that can take a lot of the fun out of it. Don't let this happen. Playing jazz is a calling. Even if you never make a record or get famous, even if you can never make a living at it, jazz offers an endlessly rewarding activity-the world's best way to get all sweaty.

So what should you play at your gigs-your own tunes or someone else's? Obviously, what makes the standards approach attractive is its flexibility. A quartet of capable improvisers (or a pianist or guitarist playing a solo gig), armed with a shared knowledge of the blues and a dozen or so standards, can easily play the three or four 45-minute sets that make up the average nightclub or coffeehouse gig. You prepare for this kind of gig mostly in the practice room (though you'll learn a certain group protocol from performing). Playing standards is tough, so don't stint on rehearsal time; don't book a standards gig with the idea of learning the tunes on the stand or reading them out of a fake book (which you should nevertheless always keep close at hand just in case).

Playing original tunes may not be any more difficult than playing standards, but it does require a different approach. Whereas learning standards is mostly an individual task, preparing to play tunes outside the standard jazz repertoire requires a lot more teamwork. This is true whether you play fusion, free, or postbop. Learning an unfamiliar vocabulary requires the type of communal effort that comes only from rehearsal. Playing original or unusual tunes can be a daunting proposition, but one well worth tackling. Try mixing standards and original tunes; that way you get the best of both worlds.

(In Order of Importance)

1. The demo: It had better sound good or you're wasting your time. Don't forget to make sure you've printed your contact information on the CD or tape case.

2. The artist's bio: This one-page sheet tells the world what you've done and with whom you've done it. Emphasize famous names here if possible, but don't invent associations with dead guys. Don't forget to include your contact info.

3. The write-ups: If somebody says something nice about you in print, put it in. It's a not-so-guarded secret that most musicians manipulate quotes from reviews when they place them in their press kit. Keep this to a minimum, but do what you have to do. It doesn't hurt to have your contact info somewhere on the page.

4. The photo: If you can afford Richard Avedon, get him, but unless you look like Mel Gibson or Julia Roberts, it's hardly worth spending big bucks on publicity photos too early in the game. Most people could care less what jazz musicians look like, anyway. Oh, and did I mention that you should include your contact info on the back? (For information on how to put your press kit online, see "The Virtual Press Kit" on page 66 of this issue.)

In my experience, a quartet with a couple of soloists will average somewhere between seven and ten minutes a tune. That means for a 45-minute set you'll need about five to seven tunes. Here's a sample set list, featuring some well-known jazz standards just about everyone will-or should-know (you'll find all these tunes in a good fake book):

1. I like to open a first set with a medium up-swinger. Charlie Parker tunes are a good choice; his "Ornithology" is an original bebop melody based on the chords of "How High the Moon," a golden oldie from the relatively obscure songwriter Morgan Lewis (if given a choice, I always choose the bop variation on these old warhorses).

2. I'm not a big fan of lying in wait; for a second tune, cut to the chase and play something up-tempo-say, a version of Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm" or Horace Silver's burner, "Room 608."

3. After such a fast number, ease the tension and relax a bit. It's also a good idea to change the rhythmic feel, so try a good bossa nova, something like Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Desafinado" or his "How Insensitive" (a favorite of mine).

4. Time to come home to swing-pick a song that's not too quick, yet intense; this song will set up the ballad to follow. Pianist Randy Weston's "Hi Fly" is a nice vehicle for some energetic blowing-it's not too complicated harmonically, and there's plenty of room to go nuts on the solos.

5. There's no shortage of good ballads. A couple of my favorites are the classic "My Funny Valentine" and saxophonist Wayne Shorter's "Infant Eyes."

6. You can almost never go wrong by ending a set with blues. You can take Thelonious Monk's "Straight, No Chaser" at almost any tempo and still sound good, though if it's the closer you might be wise to take it up-tempo.

Jamey Aebersold Jazz www.jameyaebersold.com This site is a jazz literature paradise-a place to find fake books, arrangements, transcriptions, and just about any other performance-enhancing aid a jazz musician might need.

Steve Lacy's Official Home Page senators.free.fr The home page of this great soprano saxophonist is one of the best examples of an online jazz press kit.

Jazz Clubs of the World www.jazz-clubs-worldwide.com This site contains an impressive list of performance venues from sea to shining sea and beyond.