Diki, I thoroughly enjoyed playing with a full band, even got offered a cruise ship job with a large band, but the money just was not there, and still, to my knowledge, isn't. I know, personally, dozens of pro musicians, many of which were in the US Navy and US Army bands, and none of them ever played 4 nights a week. You must know some musicians that I never encountered during the decades I performed here in Maryland and in the Florida Keys. I did have a high school friend that eventually went to Nashville, cut a record. He made some really big bucks, but not as a musician. He worked as a waiter in an upscale restaurant where the bands (usually 5-piece) got $300 a night,and that was for the entire band. As a waiter, he managed to pull down about $400 a night in tips and salary.

When I worked in Baltimore's Little Italy at Delanote's Restaurant, I was paid $150 for a 4-hour Friday night. Every waiter and waitress made over $500 a night in salary and tips, mainly because it was frequented by professional ball players and they spent huge sums of money on outlandishly, overpriced food. The average tip was about 20% of the total, which on average was about $500 to $700 for a group of players and managers. Keep in mind these individuals were all hauling in $-millions a year for playing ball.

My friend Helmut Licht has a 17-piece big band, plays some huge events, and pays on average $75 per band member.

I talked with the guy who ran the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and they mostly hired locals for $75 performance.

Jerry and Elsa Burns, who performed regularly at DiNimo's Restaurant in Baltimore's Little Italy, were the best duo in the entire metro area. Elsa had a fantastic jazz voice and could sing the telephone book. Jerry, was a Peabody trained pianist, but could play a dozen other instruments, including vibes with 4 mallets. I remember clearly the day he told me that he would be playing at the White House with the Zim Zimmarel Orchestra and doing a 4 hour job in mid June, a time when the daytime temperature hit 100 degrees and relative humidity frequently hits 100 percent. I said "WOW! That's really great. Bet you'll get a big paycheck for that job." He said he wished that he would turned it down, mainly because it was outside in mid-afternoon and it only paid $75 and no expenses were covered.

Diki, I don't know about you, but I cannot survive on $150 gross income a day. After you subtract your travel expenses, equipment cost, maintenance and repairs to your van and gear, you could make more money working at McDonalds.

Yes, I thoroughly enjoyed playing with groups, and we had a lot of fun together. But that didn't pay the bills, and in most instances, didn't cover expenses. As an OMB entertainer, I was able to meet all my financial obligations, set up a couple retirement accounts for when I was no longer able to work, buy a sailboat big enough to live on, and still enjoyed playing music with my favorite instrument - an arranger keyboard.
Good luck,

Gary