JON HAMMOND: “WHERE’S THE GIG?” by Alex Walsh - Musicians Union Local 6 San Francisco American Federation of Musicians

JON HAMMOND: “WHERE’S THE GIG?” by Alex Walsh - Musicians Union Local 6 San Francisco American Federation of Musicians
LINK: http://afm6.org/member-profile/jon-hammond-wheres-the-gig/

"Every time I see a musician walking down the street I say, ‘Hey, where’s the gig?’ Because it doesn’t matter what kind of music you play, if you’re carrying an instrument–going to a rehearsal, or coming back from a repair shop, whatever it is–we all need our gigs. And that’s what the union is all about. Hopefully, we can all keep working and be supportive of everybody’s gigs. There’s room for everybody." “Every time I see a musician walking down the street I say, ‘Hey, where’s the gig?’ Because it doesn’t matter what kind of music you play, if you’re carrying an instrument–going to a rehearsal, or coming back from a repair shop, whatever it is–we all need our gigs. And that’s what the union is all about. Hopefully, we can all keep working and be supportive of everybody’s gigs. There’s room for everybody.” Jon Hammond is a musician, composer, bandleader, publisher, journalist, TV show host, radio DJ, and multi-media entrepreneur. He currently travels the world, playing gigs and attending trade shows. THE EARLY YEARS Jon Hammond was born in Chicago in 1953. His father was a doctor and his mother was a housewife. They both played the piano. In 1957, his parents moved Jon and his four sisters to Berkeley, CA, where his father worked in a hospital as head of the emergency room. When he was nine, Jon started accordion lessons. “In those days, they had studios where parents would drop their kids off after school for tap dancing and accordion lessons. There were accordion bands and they would compete against each other.” Jon played his first gig at a senior citizens luncheon when he was eleven. Not only did he get a free lunch but he was paid $25 –a lot of money in those days. Jon says his father was supportive, but did not want him to pursue a music career. “He told me that music was a great hobby. He got me a wonderful professional accordion for my Bar Mitzvah, directly from John Molinari, one of the greatest accordionists who ever lived. It was a Guilietti Professional Tone Chamber accordion. That’s the accordion I won Jr. Jazz Champion on in 1966.” In high school, Jon attended a private boys school in San Francisco. He was a class clown, and when it got to the point where he was going to be expelled, Jon took his accordion and ran away from home. He immersed himself in the San Francisco music scene and started playing organ in several bands. By 1971 he was in a four piece rock group called Hades which shared a rehearsal space with Quicksilver Messenger Service. “I was friends with their manager, Ron Polte, who also managed guitarist John Cipollina. We got to open for his band, Copperhead.” Jon in the early 70s Jon continued to play gigs in the Bay Area in different configurations, including a few gigs with a young Eddie Money. By this time Jon had become frustrated with the Bay Area scene. One night while playing a biker bar he got into a fight and his band didn’t come to his defense. “That was the last straw. I was angry and I said I wasn’t coming back.” Jon moved to Boston in 1973 to attend the Berklee School of Music. He also got a gig playing in Boston’s Combat Zone backing up burlesque shows. When Jon saw one of his idols, pianist Keith Jarrett play in New York he told him he was going to Berklee and asked him for advice. “Keith looked me right in the eye and said ‘Berklee can be very dangerous for your music.’ It was like he popped this huge bubble. Years later I came to understand what he was talking about. You have to learn the fundamentals, but the music itself comes from a much deeper place. They can’t teach that, you have to find it yourself.” When Jon’s teachers began sitting in on his gigs in Boston, he questioned why he was in school if the teachers were coming to play with him. He quit school, moved to Cape Cod and started playing with bandleader Lou Colombo. “He did all the private parties for Tip O’Neill. We played what they used to call the business man’s beat. On the gig it was forbidden to swing. It was like swing cut in half. So if you tried to go with the four, Lou would say, ‘Don’t swing it, don’t swing it.’ He pounded it into my head night after night.” LATE RENT In 1981 Jon took a trip to Paris where he broke through his writers block and wrote some of his best music. He returned to New York with his new tunes and started a production company with the idea of getting a record deal for a friend that had played on a #1 hit record. After months of pounding the pavement with no results, Jon realized he had better work on his own music before his money ran out. He took the last of his savings, including his upcoming rent money, and went into the studio to record what came to be known as “The Late Rent Sessions”. The session had Todd Anderson on tenor sax, Barry Finnerty on guitar, Stephen Ferrone on drums, and Jon on B3. They recorded at Intergalactic, the last studio that John Lennon recorded in. Jon had no luck getting a record deal for his new project, but he did get gigs in New York with his band Jon Hammond and the Late Rent Session Men. Jon-at-NAMM Jon Hammond Band Onstage at NAMM, 2014: Joe Berger, Dom Famularo, Alex Budman, Koei Tanaka, Jon Hammond In 1982, Jon found out about public access television and the idea that anyone could produce a show and get it on TV. He started broadcasting on Manhattan’s public station in 1984. “I decided I was going to produce a radio show on TV. The first episodes showed just my tapping foot and my voice. It was a gimmick. We had graphics that were synchronized to go with the music. It worked out well. People dug it.” Within a few weeks, Jon was interviewed and featured in Billboard Magazine. The Jon Hammond Show was considered an alternative to the clips on Cable TV. “MTV was still in its infancy. We had a concept that was revolutionary. My phone started ringing and we were the hot kids on the block.” LIVING ABROAD Jon continued to play gigs in New York and produce his TV show. In 1987, he went to his first trade show (NAMM) where he was introduced to Mr. Julio Guilietti, the man who built his accordion. He then began traveling to trade shows and making contacts with musicians and companies around the world, including Hammond Suzuki. “They gave me the Hammond XB-2, the first really powerful portable Hammond organ. Glenn Derringer, one of my all-time heroes, presented it to me. I got one of the first. Paul Shaffer from the Letterman Show got the other. At the time there was only one EXP-100 expression pedal–we had to share the pedal. I used the pedal for my gigs and when Paul needed it I would bring it over to him at 30 Rockefeller Center on my bicycle.” In the early 90s, when his New York gigs began drying up, Jon was encouraged to go to Germany. “It was a hard time. My father had just died and there were very few gigs. I got the XB-2 organ right when I needed it, so I decided to take a chance. I bought a roundtrip ticket to Frankfurt with an open return. I went with 50 bucks and stayed for a year. When I came back, I had 100 bucks.” Jon stayed at a friend’s house and played a borrowed accordion on the street until he could get a band together. “I played on the street until my fingers turned blue and would collect enough money to get some fish soup. After about two weeks I got a call—I had put a band together and had 3 gigs coming up. A TV show had heard my story and wanted to do a story on me. At the first gig 19 people came; the second only 15 people came. Then I got the little spot on TV. When I came to the third gig people were lined up down the street. When I walked up I thought they were having an art exhibit. When they said, ‘No, they’re waiting for you.’ I choked up, I couldn’t even talk. So I’ve been playing there every year since. The people in Germany really saved my musical career at a time when very few things were happening for me in New York or San Francisco. I have a really good following in Europe. I keep busy as a musician in the States, playing hospitals and assisted living places, but my band dates I pretty much play overseas.” Jon’s Late Rent Sessions was eventually released on a German label and received modest airplay. During the 90s he travelled back and forth to Europe, spending a year playing gigs in Paris, and eventually settling in Hamburg. Since then he has released two more albums and has played gigs in Moscow, Shanghai, and Australia. With the help of the internet, Jon is able to produce his TV show anywhere. PRESENT DAY In the mid-2000s Jon produced Hammondcast, a radio program for CBS that aired in San Francisco at four in the morning and was rebroadcast before Oakland A’s games. “When the baseball games played in the afternoon, my show would play for about 20 minutes and then it was pre-empted. I had a lot of fun with that.” His guests included Danny Glover, Barry Melton from Country Joe & the Fish, and many local people. “It took me awhile to figure out that I had permission to broadcast anything I wanted. I could play the London Philharmonic or Stevie Wonder. My tag line was ‘Hello, Hello, Hello! Wake up or go back to sleep…’” Today, Jon continues to visit tradeshows and is determined to keep doing everything he does as long as he can. “I made a pact with my longtime co-producer, guitarist Joe Berger, that we are going to go to these trade shows until we are little old men with canes.” Jon has released four CDsjh1jh3jh2JH-Live-at-bernies For more info visit www.jonhammondband.com American Federation of Musicians, Cable TV, Concerts, Gig, Jon Hammond, Musicians Union, Radio Program, #HammondOrgan #80thAnniversary

Jazzkeller Frankfurt - When I Fall In Love

When I Fall In Love in The jazzkeller Frankfurt


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bwqe0YbzSY

Annual 2010 Musikmesse Warm Up Party in Jazzkeller Frankfurt hosted by Jon Hammond Band
Tony Lakatos tenor sax
Jon Hammond XK-1 organ
Giovanni Gulino drums
When I Fall In Love
special thanks Eugen Hahn Jazzkeller Frankfurt Team, Musikmesse, Waichiro Tachikawa Suzuki Hammond, Michael Maier Falkenstein Hammond Deutschland, Video Camera by Jennifer
Jon Hammond is a member of AFM Local 802 Musicians Union and Local 6
http://www.jonhammondband.com

*WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

http://ia331202.us.archive.org/2/items/JonHammondWhenIFallInLoveinThejazzkellerFrankfurt/WhenIFallInLoveinJazzkeller.m4v



Joachim Hildebrand Style Photos of Jon Hammond Band Jazzkeller Frankfurt annual Musikmesse Warm Up Party 2010

Tony Lakatos tenor saxophone

Jon Hammond XK-1 Organ

Joe Berger aka The Berger-meister guitar

Giovanni Gulino drums

Jon Hammond and Waichiro Tachikawa - Suzuki Hammond 

スズキ楽器では、ハーモニカ、大正琴、短箏、三味線、ハモンドオルガンの教室を運営しています。楽器は初めてという方から上級者まで、幅広いコースの中から気軽に楽しく始められます

Special thanks Thomas Eich TecAmp

		ハモンドオルガンを取り扱うお店です。製品ご購入や修理についてお問い合わせください。なお、教室につきましては、ハモンド・スズキのホームページをご覧ください。こちらからどうぞ。 Alex Hsieh P. Mauriat Saxophones and Jon Hammond

Musikmesse, Warm Up Party, Jazzkeller, Frankfurt, Joachim Hildebrand, TecAmp, Thomas Eich, Waichiro Tachikawa, XK-1, XK-3c, Organ, HammondCast, ASCAP, KYOU Radio, Local 802 Musicians Union

http://blip.tv/file/3448059



photo by Joachim Hildebrand Style
Jon Hammond at XK-1 Hammond organ - Jazzkeller Frankfurt 2010 annual Musikmesse Warm Up Party

Jazzkeller Frankfurt, Musikmesse, Lufthansa, United Airlines, Star Alliance, British Airways, Love, Union, HammondCast, Local 802, American Federation of Musicians, XK-1 organ, KYOU Radio, Hammond Artist

ASCAP 27th Annual Pop Awards Red Carpet HammondCast KYOU Radio

*WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

http://ia331215.us.archive.org/2/items/JonHammondASCAP27thAnnualPopAwardsRedCarpetHammondCastKYOURadio/ASCAPPopAwards2010.m4v

Star Studded ASCAP 27th Annual Pop Awards Red Carpet KYOU Radio HammondCast Patti Smith Founders Award Recipient, Paul Williams, Randy Bachman, Jessi Alexander, Jared Cotter, Kerry "Krucial" Brothers, Allison Iraheta, Rob Knox, Jason Mraz, Olapido "Dot Da Genius" Omnishore, Matthew "BOI-1DA" Sammuels, Danny Seraphine, Janet "J-Nay" Sewell-Ulepic, Nate Walka, David "Hawk" Wolinsky, Malik Yusef and more http://www.HammondCast.com daily KYOU Radio http://www.KYOURADIO.com ©JH INTL ASCAP "We Create Music Expo" "I Create Music Expo"

Jon Hammond and Patti Smith ASCAP Founders Award Recipient

Jon Hammond and Neil R. Portnow president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Portnow Portnow was formerly the vice-president of the West Coast division of Jive Records.

http://vimeo.com/11307986


ASCAP 27th Annual Pop Awards Red Carpet HammondCast KYOU Radio from Jon Hammond on Vimeo.

YouTube Version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkORtXJs_yk





*Excerpt from We Create Music ASCAP Expo Wrap-Up

http://wecreatemusic.ascap.com/expo/

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Watch Video Highlights of Quincy Jones's Interview with Ludacris at the ASCAP EXPO

By Erik PApril 28. 2010 01:29 PM

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My Blind Date with John Mayer - By Erik Philbrook

By Erik PApril 26. 2010 12:18 PM

(Photo by Rick Miller)
He was tall, dark and handsome. And he carried himself with a confidence that made him seem even taller. I had heard through the “grapevine” that he tended to overshare and had been burned by it, so I was glad that he was willing to get back in the saddle and open up to someone new. It’s crazy out there. I give him props.
When we walked out onstage at the ASCAP “I Create Music” EXPO in Los Angeles in front of a packed audience of over 1,500 people, things got off to a good start when he shook my hand, leaned close, and graciously thanked me for the introduction I had just given him. What a gentleman!
After a few requisite questions that covered the basics (“Where you from?” How did you get into your line of work?), I realized I was sitting across from a fascinating individual. On many levels. As our conversation unfolded, Mayer peeled away any preconceived notions I may have had about him and revealed himself as the talented, passionate, brilliant, funny, unbridled, articulate, conflicted, self-deprecating and ambitious songwriter and musician that many of his fellow music creators know him to be.
He talked about his secret for success: “Continue. Continue. Continue,” boiling down the essence of his message into one word – no small feat for someone who is prone to verbosity. He talked about his restless desire for challenge. He talked about not letting others validate who you are. He talked about trusting his own instincts. He talked about how he learned how to enjoy the journey and the moment instead of always thinking about what the next step should be, and as a result, he is able to make better music and enjoy the process.
He often spoke to the room, as a peer, telling the audience that anyone in that room could be the “next new thing” because there was no “one” thing happening right now. He even joked that he had become so well known, that now he “wanted to be the next John Mayer.”
He was wildly entertaining, and vividly descriptive in describing his craft and the emotional and physical rigors of expressing it. He was most eloquent in describing the feeling of working hard on one song, only to discover the joy of another song suddenly flowing into being from some other place.
He wasn’t perfect. He got a little grumpy talking about Twitter. And at one point he joked and said I looked like one of the characters from The Lord of the Rings films. At first I was taken aback and struggled for a witty comeback (like “Oh, you mean Viggo Mortensen?” But he hadn’t – he meant one of the Hobbits). But even with that quip, he was being honest. Admittedly, I do see a resemblance to Dominic Monaghan. He could be a distant cousin – from another country.
As our rendezvous came to end, he had won me over. Not in a swooning way, like some of his female fans, but as a fellow songwriter (@brilliantmusic). He has the heart and soul of a true artist. And just like everyone else sitting in that packed ballroom, I was enriched by our time together. I had also learned two valuable lessons about pursuing a life in music:
1. To be. 2.Continued.

http://ascap.com/network/audioportraits/Jon_Hammond_Rent/

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=104641157


ASCAP 27th Annual Pop Awards Red Carpet HammondCast KYOU Radio

JON HAMMOND Band | MySpace Music Videos

ASCAP, I Create Music Expo, Pop Awards, HammondCast, Jon Hammond, KYOU Radio, Patti Smith, Justin Timberlake, Neil Portnow, American Federation of Musicians, Local 802, Bobbi Marcus PR

AUDIO PODCAST HammondCast 186 KYOU Radio Jon Hammond

AUDIO PODCAST HammondCast 186 KYOU Radio Jon Hammond

*LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE:

http://ia361308.us.archive.org/22/items/JonHammondAUDIOPODCASTHammondCast186KYOURadioJonHammond/HammondCast186.mp3

HammondCast KYOU Radio from Frankfurt Germany today live at Jazzkeller Frankfurt Jon Hammond's annual Musikmesse Warm Up Party "When I Fall In Love", "Lydia's Tune" "No X-Cess Baggage Blues" "Late Rent" with TONY LAKATOS, GIOVANNI GULINO, JOE BERGER on Jon Hammond Band recorded live in Jazzkeller Frankfurt at Jon's 2010 annual Musikmesse Warm Up Party © JH INTL ASCAP

http://www.kyouradio.com/?page=details&mp_id=19642

HammondCast 186

HammondCast KYOU Radio from Frankfurt Germany today live at Jazzkeller Frankfurt Jon Hammond's annual Musikmesse Warm Up Party "When I Fall In Love", "Lydia's Tune" "No X-Cess Baggage Blues" "Late Rent" with TONY LAKATOS, GIOVANNI GULINO, JOE BERGER on Jo

Last Aired: Apr 16, 2010 12:00pm - 12:45pm This is an ON DEMAND Podcast:

This is an ON DEMAND Podcast:

http://kyou-am.tritondigitalmedia.com/player.php?id=19642

http://ia361308.us.archive.org/22/items/JonHammondAUDIOPODCASTHammondCast186KYOURadioJonHammond/HammondCast186.mp3

This is the 24th consecutive year for Jon Hammond at the Musikmesse
http://musik.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/besucher/willkommen.html
This is the largest international music trade show in the world. Next Musikmesse will take place April 6-9 2011, so Jon's Musikmesse Warm Up Party will take place on Tuesday night April 5th 2011 back in the Jazzkeller Frankfurt http://www.jazzkeller.com/ see you there for 25th year Jubiläum!

Joachim Hildebrand Style Photos of Jon Hammond Band Jazzkeller Frankfurt annual Musikmesse Warm Up Party 2010

Tony Lakatos tenor saxophone

Jon Hammond XK-1 Organ

Joe Berger aka The Berger-meister guitar

Giovanni Gulino drums

Jon Hammond and Waichiro Tachikawa - Suzuki Hammond 

スズキ楽器では、ハーモニカ、大正琴、短箏、三味線、ハモンドオルガンの教室を運営しています。楽器は初めてという方から上級者まで、幅広いコースの中から気軽に楽しく始められます

Special thanks Thomas Eich TecAmp

		ハモンドオルガンを取り扱うお店です。製品ご購入や修理についてお問い合わせください。なお、教室につきましては、ハモンド・スズキのホームページをご覧ください。こちらからどうぞ。 Alex Hsieh P. Mauriat Saxophones and Jon Hammond

HammondCast KYOU Radio from Frankfurt Germany

HammondCast KYOU Radio from Frankfurt Germany today live at Jazzkeller Frankfurt Jon Hammond's annual Musikmesse Warm Up Party

This is an ON DEMAND Podcast:

http://kyou-am.tritondigitalmedia.com/player.php?id=19642

HammondCast KYOU Radio from Frankfurt Germany today live at Jazzkeller Frankfurt Jon Hammond's annual Musikmesse Warm Up Party "When I Fall In Love", "Lydia's Tune" "No X-Cess Baggage Blues" "Late Rent" with TONY LAKATOS, GIOVANNI GULINO, JOE BERGER on Jon Hammond Band.
This is the 24th consecutive year for Jon Hammond at the Musikmesse
http://musik.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/besucher/willkommen.html
This is the largest international music trade show in the world. Next Musikmesse will take place April 6-9 2011, so Jon's Musikmesse Warm Up Party will take place on Tuesday night April 5th 2011 back in the Jazzkeller Frankfurt http://www.jazzkeller.com/ see you there for 25th year Jubiläum!

Joachim Hildebrand Style Photos of Jon Hammond Band Jazzkeller Frankfurt annual Musikmesse Warm Up Party 2010

Tony Lakatos tenor saxophone

Jon Hammond XK-1 Organ

Joe Berger aka The Berger-meister guitar

Giovanni Gulino drums

Jon Hammond and Waichiro Tachikawa - Suzuki Hammond 

スズキ楽器では、ハーモニカ、大正琴、短箏、三味線、ハモンドオルガンの教室を運営しています。楽器は初めてという方から上級者まで、幅広いコースの中から気軽に楽しく始められます

Special thanks Thomas Eich TecAmp

		ハモンドオルガンを取り扱うお店です。製品ご購入や修理についてお問い合わせください。なお、教室につきましては、ハモンド・スズキのホームページをご覧ください。こちらからどうぞ。 Alex Hsieh P. Mauriat Saxophones and Jon Hammond

Musikmesse, Warm Up Party, Jazzkeller, Frankfurt, Joachim Hildebrand, TecAmp, Thomas Eich, Waichiro Tachikawa, XK-1, XK-3c, Organ, HammondCast, ASCAP, KYOU Radio, Local 802 Musicians Union

http://blip.tv/file/3448059

Labels: American Federation of Musicians, British Airways, HammondCast,Jazzkeller Frankfurt, KYOU Radio, Local 802, Love, Lufthansa, Musikmesse,Star Alliance, Union, United Airlines, XK-1 Organ

American Federation of Musicians, British Airways, HammondCast, Jazzkeller Frankfurt, KYOU Radio, Local 802, Love, Lufthansa, Musikmesse, Star Alliance, Union, United Airlines, XK-1 Organ