Articles by B.D. Lenz
The Booking Agent: Matt Fripp of Jazzfuel
So many jazz musicians often face the same cruel task: doing their own booking. It can be a frustrating and discouraging endeavor, but it's necessary to maintain a career. I've had a lot of experience with it and discuss the basics in my column, Mind Your Business: Booking 101, but it's important to get advice from a professional booker. They'll mention things you already know and may need reminding of, but they're also going to review basic principles that can ...
read moreThe Club Booker: Albert Dadon of Bird's Basement
For this column I was given the great opportunity to interview Albert Dadon who's an accomplished man both inside and outside of the music world. Albert is not just a club owner/booker, he's a musician and can understand both sides of the booking relationship that can sometimes be at odds with each other. With very high standards he's opened Bird's Basement in jny: Melbourne (Australia), a beautiful club and a bastion for high quality music. I was curious to speak ...
read moreThe Radio Promoter: David Avery of Powderfinger Promotions
In the second edition of Chats with Cats I spoke with a radio promoter. I've actually used David Avery's services in promoting a few of my own recordings. Each time I embarked on a radio campaign I was reminded how much work it is and how detail oriented it can be considering the number of radio stations (terrestrial and digital) with each station requiring something different. I really like Powderfinger because they're not just about “jazz" promotion, their reach is ...
read moreThe Publicist: Scott Thompson
My previous column at All About Jazz called, Mind Your Business, covered the aspects of managing your own music career as a DIY jazz artist. Throughout that twelve-part series I covered such topics as booking, promotion, and touring. I've had to learn all of these skills on my own and figured there were artists in the same position as myself that might be interested in what I had learned along the way. Having completed that series, I now look to ...
read morePart 12, Just be nice!
I've truly had a great time writing these “Mind Your Business" articles and want to thank you if you've been following along. I genuinely hope that people have gotten some useful information and inspiration from them. This will be my final installment in this series as I feel like I've covered everything I wanted to say on these topics. Throughout my columns I hope I've given you the tools to push your career even just a little further. I hope ...
read morePart 11, Be Prepared
When I was younger I was a Boy Scout. I really enjoyed the experience and learned a lot from doing it. Probably one of the most important lessons I learned from scouting is one the simplest. The Boy Scout “motto" is be prepared and following that has helped in many situations I've faced as a bandleader. It's obviously expected that you'll bring your instrument and musical knowledge to a gig. But I'm going to suggest some other items to bring ...
read morePt. 10, Video and the Evolution of the Press Kit
I first started booking gigs for my band during the days of mailing tapes: manually copying cassettes and their inserts, then delivering an armload of clunky packages to the post office. If someone had the ability to burn CDs on their own computer and mail something digital, that was a big deal! Then came the rise of the online press kit and the ability to bypass cranky postal workers. The electronic press kit (EPK) is still relevant and saves a ...
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Contest Giveaway
ELIGIBLE WINNERS: 1 | DAYS REMAINING: 23
Prize: GroundUP Music Festival Tickets
Enjoy Three Days on the Beach with Snarky Puppy, Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band, Lettuce, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Lila Downs, Michael McDonald Acoustic Quartet, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Flor de Toloache and more—February 14-16, 2020 at the North Beach Bandshell in Miami, FL.
The winner receives a 3-day pass for two. Excludes travel or lodging.
Acclaimed by the New York Times as one of the “Top 10 Definitive Moments of the Decade in Jazz Music,” GroundUP goes beyond the typical festival experience, breaking down the barriers between audience and artists...
