Chords for John McLaughlin: State of the Musical Arts

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_ _ _ _ _ _ There's no record industry.
And so musicians, I know because I get mail.
I get mail [C#] from young musicians.
I mean, _ _ _ [E] they're really just struggling [C#] to survive.
Struggling because they're not going to get a record contract.
So what do they do?
_ [G] To survive, like [D] I did, I mean, okay, I drove trucks and [G] sold caviar and repaired instruments just to survive.
But in the end, you know, I'm in the studio, you know, recording _ [Cm] _
rock music, [F#] pop music, whatever.
Whatever _ gives me money to _ put in my, you know, put in my mouth.
[D#] And so there's a lot of great musicians today.
[E] They're just looking for a gig.
And what are the gigs that are going around?
The gigs are with [G] pop bands or with _ smooth jazz, funky jazz, you know, a lot of this kind of cliché music.
I'm sorry to [C#] criticize it like that, but I grew up with _ [G] _ Tony and, you know, Miles Coltrane, the real thing.
Where there's blood all over the floor, blood all over the stage.
That's what the [C#] passion's about.
The situation is actually dramatic [G] as far as [D] musicians, [C] instrumentalists are concerned, jazz musicians.
[N] It's a dramatic situation.
_ I'm fortunate because I've been around a long time in my 70s already.
You know, when I was with Miles, when I was with Tony, I played with the greats, East and West.
So I'm lucky.
I [G#] still have a reputation and a following.
[E] The younger musicians today, I mean, it's dreadful.
So _ how can you get them _ [N] to _ _ reinforce _ your proposition about the kind of music that Tony would do
or the kind of music that was done in the 60s or the kind of strong music _ that _ we used to listen to and admire and love? _ _ _
_ You tell me, you tell me, what band is [G] playing that kind of music today?
_ _ I don't [C] know.
I don't even [E] know one.
So, _ _ _ _
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_ _ _ _ _ musician, I mean, _ struggling is their middle name. _
It really is tough.
It really is very, very tough.
Because where can they go and [G#] play?
First of all, there are not many clubs.
Jazz concerts, what do you [G] have in America?
You've got a few festivals, you've got a few jazz festivals.
You've got the Playboy Festival, you've got the _ Newport Jazz Festival, you've got maybe one in Chicago, _ but not many.
And a lot of Americans, they make their living in Europe, here.
You know, because the jazz festivals are all over Europe.
I mean, even in Eastern Europe, the ex-Soviet Union, you know, this [B] is part of our itinerary now.
Fortunately, they have this _ [Gm] great love and affection for jazz that I don't even [D] see in America anymore.
It's regrettable.
It really is.
[C] And so, for the average musician _ _ [E] coming out of Berklee School or Manhattan School of Music or the North [G] Texas State, where are they going to go? _
Where are they going to [E] get a gig? _ _ _ _ _
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_ _ _ _ I think the long-term effects of piracy and free downloading, _ we have not seen.
The [B] _ _ _ _ toxic _ _ _ results of _ _ _ what's happening, _ I think it's getting worse.
It will get worse.
[G] And _ _ how to change it around, this is a really big question.
I don't have an answer.
[N] Unless you have_
you need enthusiasm, okay?
You need enthusiasm, you need money.
Musicians got to survive.
You know, we've all_
_ I mean, I've literally starved _ for days, gone without food, _ _ _ just to be a musician, to be a musician.
But when you're young, you [Gm] don't mind.
You can get through it.
[G] But you know, you come out of university and you're [D] struggling and you drive a taxi for a [G#] while.
You got this job, you got that job and then you're still practicing, you're practicing.
And you think, well, maybe I'll get a [C] gig when I'm 25 or when I'm [G] 27.
And if it doesn't happen, what?
What then? _ _ _
What then?
He's right.
You have to_
[N] Today, they're going to have to have a degree in something else in order to _ fall back on it.
Because more than likely, you will have to fall back on it.
[B] Unless you're a brilliant genius and you come up with some new _ _ concept _ _ that_
I'm talking about jazz, where you are able to incorporate kind of popular _ _ _ [G] _ aspects, _ popular musical aspects
into a coherent and beautiful [B] way, you know, while having the real [G] playing and not just this, you know,
[E] this smooth kind of [G] cliché playing, you know.
But [C] until now, I haven't [E] seen it happen. _ _ _ _
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_ _ _ _ _ [B] Because, you know, I [E] sell a tenth [C#] of records of what I used to sell.
And now I have my own label because if I didn't have my own label, [E] I wouldn't have a label. _ _ _
Simple as that.
I wouldn't have a label.
I got my own label.
And so we [G] sell records and all we want to do is recuperate what it costs us to make a record.
And if we do that, we're happy.
That's it.
That's it.
If you make a hundred bucks on top or a couple of hundred bucks on top, so much the better.
[C] Sometimes you won't even make what [E] you invest. _ _ _ _
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_ _ _ _ In Europe and Asia also, jazz is [N] really supported.
It's recognized in art form.
And there's enthusiasm.
In the US, it's where it's really_
it's in the doldrums.
What you need is _ _ enthusiastic support for the true American culture, I would say.
The true American culture is jazz music, born and bred in America.
And what do Americans do about it?
Do they support it?
_ No.
Do the young people get exposed to it?
No.
Because there's no media.
_ [G#] The government has to get behind it.
It's a cultural thing.
Look at the symphony [D] orchestras around the world.
They all have city [G] and governmental support.
Otherwise, they're gone.
[C] No symphony orchestra makes a profit.
[N] It's unthinkable.
It's not supposed to be like that.
It's an orchestra.
What about a ballet?
The ballet.
Ballets don't make money.
They lose money.
Symphony orchestras lose money.
But you gain culture.
You gain live _ music, live [G] playing.
Why isn't jazz supported in the US?
It should be.
It has to be.
And gradually, you get more people who are exposed to it.
And you'll have this_
a new [A] impetus, I'm certain of it.
A new impetus [G] coming into jazz music that will _ [D] _ _ compensate for this shallow commercial [B] jazz that is programmed today in the US.
But for that, you're going to _ _ need a _ big _ _ _ [E] conscious _ awareness.
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