Open Letter To Brent Black

Dear Brent Black:
First of all, hello. How are you? I hope you are well.

Secondly, thanks for reading my blog. I struggle to keep up with posting new articles; I'm a full time professor and father of a two and a half year old, so with all of that going on, and playing the occasional gigs, it's hard to find the time to sit down and write.(At this very moment, my son is watching "Wibbly Pig" on TV right now, so that's a little distracting at the moment. But I shall press on.....)

I have also read some of your writing. As you know, I was critical of your review of Nicholas Payton's "Bitches" back in December of 2011. I believe you have the right to your opinion; however, I felt you were a little bit harsh regarding Payton's singing.(It seemed more like a personal attack than an objective review, which is why I felt the need to defend Payton.) However, at that time, I read many of your other reviews, and I admired your good taste and solid writing. I think, even if we disagree over some things, I think we could find common ground on quite a lot of music.

Your recent post, entitled "Amanda Palmer:Who Cares?"(September 18th, 2012), refers to what I said on my latest blog post ("Amanda Palmer:Musician, Nude Model, Scientologist, D#&*hebag"). The main point of my article was that Palmer, after getting 1.2 million dollars from a Kickstarter campaign, published a call to have local musicians join her on stage in every city of her world tour for a couple of songs. However, instead of offering to pay the musicians in actual money, she offered the following:

we will feed you beer, hug/high-five you up and down (pick your poison), give you merch, and thank you mightily for adding to the big noise we are planning to make.

Palmer went on to insist that the musicians should actually know "HOW TO PLAY YOUR INSTRUMENT!" before showing up to not only an unpaid performance, but an unpaid rehearsal as well. As a professional musician, I felt that this was wrong. And I'm glad to see from your update that Palmer is now planning to pay her musicians. As I said, it's a tax write off; and with all that dough from the Kickstarter, she will need to see a good accountant.

But what I am having trouble trying to figure out is the correlation between my negative description of Palmer's music and the fact that I have hired a publicist on two occasions. In your words:

The irony here being that George Colligan admitted on the same blog that he once paid a publicist 3k in hopes of getting a good review. Take a long hard look in the mirror George, before you trash an artist that you are seemingly not familiar with or fork over another 3 large remember this...

When you point 1 finger you have three coming back at you...A second rate pianist at best should know when he is over stepping his reach. You did not hesitate to attempt to try and trash me and my reputation over my review of Nicholas Payton's Bitches and now you are doing the exact same thing...

Pot meet kettle...Kettle meet pot...

First of all, I checked out enough of Palmer's music to have an informed opinion. I admit, I was probably harsher than I should have been. However, if you check out some of her videos, you might get the impression that she is more of a performance artist than a songwriter. And the fact that she wasn't paying musicians really bothered me. But I will say that she is, considering the genre, not the worst singer I've heard. At best, I'll just say I'm not a fan of her music. Maybe she's really serious about music. Judging from her nude and semi nude videos, it seems like she's more concerned with her image. Unfortunately, as I alluded to in the blog, I think that musicians almost have to be visually shocking these days to become famous. You can't merely come out on stage and play; there has to be something OUTRAGEOUS. This is why most jazz doesn't get much attention. There's no sideshow; it's merely music.

Now, to be clear, I have no interest in shifting my own focus to nude videos and a shocking image in order to gain more notoriety as a jazz musician. However, I feel the need to explain to you the way publicity works. You make it sound like I am the first and only jazz musician who ever paid a publicist. I must inform you that this is the norm; most jazz musicians who want to publicize their CD have to hire a publicist in order to get reviews in major publications. This is absolutely a fact. And unfortunately, publicists don't work for free. Whether it be hiring a publicist, or buying ads, or whatever, the more you spend, the better your chances in getting reviews and articles. There's just no way to break through the massive amounts of CDs being released without some kind of marketing. One might have created the greatest music that has ever been heard; without some kind of campaign, it won't see the light of day. A CD without some kind of publicity is like a presidential candidate without any advertising and campaign appearances. They raise millions of dollars for the sole purpose of publicity. This seems to be how our society works now, much to my dismay.

I guess you thought I was trashing Palmer, but you think I shouldn't have because I also want good reviews for myself? I don't really see the correlation. I guess you thinking is that, since I'm the only musician that ever paid a publicist, that I must be desperate for positive reviews. Sure, I'd like some positive reviews-who doesn't? And maybe the fact that I'm a musician also makes it unfair that I should judge Palmer so harshly. That might be true.

Perhaps, in fairness, I should let Palmer blog about my music. I can see her review now:

 "....Colligan sounds like he knows how to play the piano, but I imagine that he would look terrible if he appeared naked in his videos."

(I have my doubts that she knows anything about jazz.)

Also, I really never intended to "trash your reputation". I took issue with your comments on Payton; I have nothing personally against you as a human being or a writer. Unfortunately, the entire "Bitches" incident really got out of hand; I think that things got a little too heated in the comment section of my blog. Sometimes, when people feel strongly about certain things, they tend to get defensive and stand their ground. (Some of the issue is that the internet is not the same as talking to someone; I wonder if you and I, and Nick Payton and Dwayne Burno were all in one room, would it really be as contentious as it was in cyberspace?) If you think I trashed your reputation, then I am sorry.

Finally, in regards to your labeling of me as a "second-rate pianist": part of me wonders if you have ever heard any of my music. If you have, and you still feel like I'm second rate, then I'll accept that. I've recorded a bunch of CDs as a leader and a sideman, and there are many clips of my music on youtube, so it wouldn't be impossible to find an example of my piano playing or composing. I don't think of myself as second-rate. Maybe I'm more second-tier, or third tier. Honestly, when I hear all the great pianists out there, living or dead, I think of myself as not even close to fourth-rate. Any jazz pianist who has sat at Bradley's and heard two or three sets of Geoffrey Keezer, or Mulgrew Miller, or Kenny Barron, or James Williams, or Dave Kikosi, or Harold Mabern, or Benny Green,  would probably just want to cry rather than rate themselves among the first tier of pianists! And you might not want to hear this, but I believe Nicholas Payton is actually a better pianist than I. (I subbed in his band about 10 years ago, and during one of the sound checks, he played so much piano that I wanted to quit. It's true. I know you don't like his singing, but he can play instruments!)

After all, those who can't, teach. And those who really can't get tenure track jobs at universities! Ha! So in a way, you are right. If I was first rate, maybe I would have more gigs!

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I don't hate you, and I actually would hope that if you were ever in Portland, Oregon, you would look me up, and maybe we could have a civilized conversation. I think we probably could find a lot in common.

I wish you all the best with your blog and your future endeavors.

Regards,

George Colligan