What is it like to be a working JAZZ MUSICIAN?

How do you earn a living? How often do you travel? Is it fun? Is it hard work?

It all depends on you. I would say jazz musicians all the least paid profession in the world given the amount of information that is required for you to know. A jazz musician is an ultimate swingman, they generally can cover a lot of genres of music unlike most classical players. This is how they stay working. Whos ever heard of a "thriving" jazz club in 2007?

I played alto sax for 16 years, I made no money. Not because I suck, but there isnt any money to be made. My musician friends all try and get me to become a musician again, but why? Consistant money is always a good thing. If you hustle, and I mean really hustle you might make $20k in a year, or you could make that working at McDonalds.

It has its advantages and disadvantage, the biggest being the inconsistancy. Freedom from a 9-5 is a plus. Being broke 5-9 isnt.

I'm a musican hoping to be a pro, but not a jazzer-but maybe in the future. I know you need some good sight reading skills and knowledge of many, many, many standard songs. You get paid to perform-at parties, lounges, weddings, ect. If you are really good you can do studio work and earn some extra income. I'm sure you could find a hotel circuil that one would travel from hotel to hotel, performing in the bar. This may sound kind of sad, but if it does, than you probaly don't absolutely want to do this. It's not about money-you get to perform every night doing what you love to do...and you make a LITTLE money.
Good luck.

I'm a musician in Nashville. There are no WORKING JAZZ MUSICIANS in Nashville. The musicians who work here are lucky to get beer and dinner after a gig. I didn't come here for the music anyway, fortunately. My girlfriend is here and we live out in the country where I can practice zen. But anyway, getting back to your honest question:

I lived in San Francisco for years and worked as a jazz musician. But you have to realize, JAZZ DOESN'T PAY MUCH. It's always been like that. NOBODY ever makes a good living at just working playing jazz.

I lived in Vegas and played jazz, but the real money was working lounges and shows and tours and teaching. Then, after hours, all the cats would jam jazz till 6am. No money in that either.

My advice to you if you want to be a jazz musician is to find a really cool lady friend who loves jazz and loves YOU and she has a great job.

Being a working jazz musician is incredibly hard, especially depending on your location. I am a semi-pro in Seattle and most players I know make $50-$100 per night and have to gig in several bands and combos to make a living (almost always in addition to teaching private students which is more lucarative).
Travel is usually for the bigger national acts and if you are one those lucky few then you're not worrying about how much etc. If you are talking about try to tour with your own Jazz band or combo - it's just like any other type of small touring - you almost never break even and it's the funnest hard work there is.
For those that love and play jazz, there's nothing better than doing it and trying to make a living at it is very hard but worth a shot. best of luck.