Club owners get an often-deserved bad rep from musicians. Many times, the conditions in the club or restaurant are terrible: the lighting’s non-existent; the band’s crammed into a dingy corner below a monolithic row of television sets blaring the latest claptrap from any—and sometimes all—of 100 available stations; the pay gets magically reduced at the end of the evening; and you fight for a lukewarm glass of water from the bar. Ask any musician who plays casual gigs, and they’ll have stories of unpleasant experiences with owners or managers of clubs, restaurants, or hotel lobbies.
One famous story involved the late cornetist Connie Jones, who was leading a band at Fritzel’s in NOLA one night. An agent/manager/club owner notorious for paying musicians $75-100 for the corporate gigs and weddings he was booking for $2000-3000 was sitting in the front row of the audience that night and, after the band concluded their tune, enthused, “Connie, I want you and your band to play that at my funeral!” Connie made a show of glancing at his watch and replied, “Well, thank you for the invitation, ________. We’re free next Thursday!”
When a club/restaurant owner or manager flouts the norm with generosity, foresight, cooperation, and appreciation, there’s a cause for celebration. I thought I’d be able to write about Robert E. Claffey, known as “Butch” and the owner of
Trumpeter James O’Donnell: The Motor City Jazz Maestro
Brian Sheridan
