Last night I enjoyed The Roger Barbour Jazz Trio and Blues man Richard Wilson at The Taste of DahnTahn, 535 Liberty Avenue PGH 15222. Roger Barbours Trio is the every Wednesday.The food I had there was great & reasonably priced! Sincerely Dr Bruce of PittsburghJAM.org 

James Street Gastropub & Speakeasy is proud to become a member of the jazz community.  As a venue we hope to be home to all jazz artists that will have us.  We are aware of the rich jazz history that this place has, help us breath new life back into James Street.  With your help we hope to make this town swing!!  We are excited to hear all you comments and suggestions.... Any way we can help enrich the jazz scene in pittsburgh, we are ready. 

Now every Wed. night at TANA's Ethiopian Cuisine on Baum in E. Liberty from 8:30 till late is MPG Jazz with Mark Lucas playing exquisite jazz guitar, Jeff Montgomery on drums, Joe Sheehan on keys and who knows on bass because John Hall, Jr is touring in till Jan. 2013! The Jazz is great at TANA's with everybody dropping in the improvise with The MPG Jazz Quartet! sincerely Dr Bruce from PittsburghJAM.org

Club Bonafide, located at 212 East 52nd Street, is bringing music back to 52nd Street with the same open, embracing attitude as existed when 52nd Street was known as "Swing Street." Richard Bona views Club Bonafide, as a vehicle for reigniting an openness within venues both by doing away with exclusivity clauses and by looking to instill a more genre-blind booking. In this way, Bona hopes to encourage a celebration of live music and an environment of collaboration that he views as crucial to building a scene. “Charlie Parker was performing on 52nd Street every night,” he notes. “And that’s part of what made him great. The artists have to be able to perform, and it helps no one if a great musician can only play in New York at a major club maybe three times a year.”

senior homes a re a great venue for musicians, especially solo performers. There is usually a piano, sometimes a sound system and they always turn off the TV. The gigs are usually one hour either in the morning or the afternoon. I seldom play clubs anymore; I don't have to bring a crowd. It's a great gig.

I agree.  I just played 2 in the last 10 days.  One with a trio and I almost alone.

I think at times musicians are their own worst enemy. How we present ourselves during an initial contact with potential venues is something we don't always think about.  

I always have an "elevator speech" prepared(who I am, name of the group, why I am calling) when I call a venue, and find out who the contact person is, their e-mail, and when would be a good time to call after I send them our digital press kit and promo video. I also make it a point to drop by the venue to introduce myself in person to the manager. Many times musicians feel the venue has to come to them, and don't always realize the manager receives dozens of calls, CDs, etc from groups.  Some musicians have complained to me that they give a venue a CD of their group and are upset they haven't heard from them. When I ask if they have followed up with the manager, usually the answer is no.  Some managers have told me they have received CDs in a paper sleeve and the group name handwritten on the CD. We have to make an impression from the start to and sell ourselves to venues in a professional manner with a good elevator speech, updated promotional material including a digital press kit, regular phone and in-person follow up, and updated contact info. I once heard a musician say "All you need is a good business card, and you can walk into a place in shorts and flip-flops and get a booking." He may want to rethink that approach. 

Good advice and I couldn't agree more Rick.  The evidence of the success of your method is seen on our events page every week. Thank you for sharing. Others would be well advised if they tried it.

Thanks Nelson. This site has been a great way to promote jazz as well as generate dialogue among area musicians.