Mitchell Player-Musician and Entrepreneur
By Jann Darsie
This series is brought to you via a grant from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation.
Photo by Kurt Coste
Just back from the 504 Festival in Clinton, a festival he produces, bassist Mitchell Player discussed the need for musicians to know business side of their industry. With The Ella Project helping him with legal work, Player produces music events and manages bands while maintaining an active gigging schedule.
Player can be found on stage regularly at Preservation Hall and other venues around New Orleans. He began playing the string bass in Shreveport at the age of nine. He had signed up for Claiborne Magnet School’s orchestra thinking he would play the electric guitar. But by the time he arrived, the only instrument left was the upright bass. “The teacher opened a closet to get it out, and I actually thought it was cool,” Player said.
Throughout junior high and high school, Player played in the school orchestras, and he credits an exceptional teacher, Johnette Parker LeBlanc, with his taking music seriously at a young age. “In fact, we are still in touch today,” Player said. “She made it possible for some of us to perform with regional symphony orchestras.”
LeBlanc also arranged for Player to take private lessons with Terry Pruitt, the principal bassist with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra. Then Pruitt arranged for Player to perform with the orchestra’s pops concerts.
In high school, he got into jazz. Player recalled that teacher Larry Parnell was a big influence. “I still wanted to play electric guitar, but it was Parnell who encouraged me to stay with my string bass,” he said.
At the same time, he also got into the business side of music. Player’s band was getting gigs at high school dances and private events, and he was the one doing the bookings. “It wasn’t until much later that I realized I was drawn also to the business side of music,” he said.
That experience connected Player with accomplished musicians such as Louisiana blues greats Leon “Peaches” Sterling and Jesse “Babyface” Thomas. He began viewing his gigs as professional bookings.
Like his parents before him, Player attended Grambling State University, majoring in music education. “I was fortunate that my parents were very supportive of my career choice,” Player said.
Grambling has its World Famed Tiger Marching Band, but he didn’t play a marching instrument. So he became part of the “side-line combo” that performed as the band was lining up or on break. Traveling with the band to Tokyo gave Player his first international experience. “I was hooked!” he said. “I realized I could both play an instrument and travel.”
Upon graduation, knowing he wanted to be a jazz musician, Player moved to New Orleans. His high school friend, Brian Blade, now a renowned percussionist and composer, had already relocated here.
He recalls those early times as a challenge. He felt lucky to meet Sal Giardina of String Instruments Restoration and Making, who not only restored his bass to perfection but introduced him to Joe Simon, who was booking gigs for musicians. Player had to be a quick study to learn traditional jazz tunes, because up until then he had played only modern jazz.
This proved to be a turning point for Player. He got to know the band leaders, and he still plays with some of them, such as banjo player Joe Cushenberry, and saxophonist Daniel Farrow at Preservation Hall. “They were so gracious with their knowledge and teaching me the repertoire,” said Player. “I really learned a lot and also became immersed in the history of the music.”
Player’s next chapter began when trumpeter Leroy Jones was asked to sit in on a date, which led to playing with Jones’ quintet. Because his gigs alone were not paying the bills, Player turned to his interest in the business side of music and began booking and producing. He laughed and said, “I even bought a book entitled ‘How to Be Your Own Booking Agent.’”
He then started Player Productions Inc. and cold-called and emailed people who were booking musicians. “Because Leroy [Jones] was just off a contract with Sony/Columbia records and was well-known, we started getting booked,” he said. “I became his booking agent, and we toured nationally and internationally.”
Just before Hurricane Katrina, Player rented office space within the Arts Council of New Orleans. It was there that he first met Gene Meneray, then the director of the council’s Arts Business Program.
Forced to leave the city after the storm, Player was away for two years. When he returned, the nonprofit Sweet Home New Orleans helped him and a lot of other musicians with the transition.
“Then I met Ashlye [Keaton], and I realized the Ella Project also was helping musicians. This is invaluable resource to me and all musicians,” he said. “They answer all my legal questions, and it’s incredible that this is free.”
Player has used the Ella Project’s assistance for any number of legal issues, including copyrights, trademarks, contracts, operating agreements, partnership agreements, and establishing his LLC. “No matter what my project, I can count on them for excellent legal advice,” Player added.
He also gave a shout out to the Ella Project’s Crescendo Program. Attorney Bri Whetstone and musician and music entrepreneur Lou Hill lead the sessions, which are free of charge. It is a series of seven workshops on topics such as copyrights, music licensing, collecting royalties, touring, festival gigs, album releases, and keeping up with the technologies changing the music economy.
“It’s even recorded and downloaded onto YouTube,” Player said. “I send all my interns and students there to watch these valuable sessions.”
Player’s latest project, the 504 Festival, benefits the Jazzy Hideaway, a nonprofit that provides music training to rural youths whose parents cannot afford a jazz camp or private lessons. The festival raises both funds and awareness for the program serving the next generation to carry on Louisiana’s musical traditions.
Mitchell Player can be found on his website at www.504experience.com and on Facebook @MitchellPlayer.
