What are they worth

[Robs]

i hear vince guaraldi was rolling in peanuts dough

[Deepak]

It is interesting to speculate on which jazz musicians have made serious money int he business, but I find it even more interesting to think about the many more who somehow seem to scrape along, seemingly living hand to mouth for years. I've gone to plenty of free jazz shows where there might be 10 people in the audience, often less, and I think, "How can anyone live on this kind of money?" Especially in a place like NYC, which is dearly expensive. Maybe supportive families or spouses? One thing the "business" seems to provide though is extensive travel. The same musician playing to 10 people in Brooklyn next week might be playing to 10 people in Latvia. The economics of all this are not very transparent.

I remember seeing John Zorn at Tonic years ago and before the show he was moving chairs and sweeping.

[John Litweiler]

I remember seeing John Zorn at Tonic years ago and before the show he was moving chairs and sweeping.

Malachi Favors bought buildings, rented them, then did the janitor work himself.