Success Beyond The Score

As one of the best-selling jazz artists of all time, Kenny G is a widely known name in and out of the genre. His work is an essential reference of "smooth jazz", a radio-friendly type of jazz that crosses over to popular genres like pop and R&B. As it's unfortunately unavoidable, a sector of the jazz community sees Kenny's formidable commercial success as something negative, criticising him for not staying true to the genre, among other things.

This is what he had to say when asked about it during an interview with The Hang Podcast:

His words ring true and apply to the experience of all musicians, or in a wider sense, to all artists. There's always someone who won't like what you do, and a few more people who won't like that you're successful doing what you do. Part of growing as an artist is to learn from whom to accept criticism, and how to tell the difference between constructive and destructive criticism.

If you're visited by the "jazz police", the "rock" police, the "heels d...

Here is the transcription of episode 10 of season 3 of the podcast "Success Beyond The Score". Happy reading!

- Watch the video of the episode here: YouTube

- Listen to the audio of the episode here: Kajabi

INTRO:

Hi! I hope you are well. Let me just do my little buttons here, and hopefully you can hear me. If you can, please put a message in the chat. That would be really, really good. Oh dear. Okay, so I'm going to crack on as I wait for those replies. Hi Gary! Good to see you. Lovely to see you there.

Today, I've got a topic about putting on your own show. Actually, before I dive in, let me do a proper welcome. This is my 10th episode live. If you've been with me from the first one, I said that I'm here for 11 days on YouTube, and my 11th is going to be [on] Monday. It's just great. It's just gone really, really quickly. But I want to thank you so much for showing up, for liking, subscribing and sharing and just commenting. Thank you. Thank you so much. It means a lot that ...

Labour Day is an opportunity for workers across the globe to pause. Whether you use the day to rest and recover, to reconnect with others, or to think about ways to improve the conditions of your trade, the day is about having a breath and look at the reality of labour without the rush of the race for success (or survival).

In a landscape where 71% of music makers and professionals are freelance, however, the date can easily be dismissed and pass unnoticed. This is highly detrimental, given that freelancing is a particularly hostile and challenging model of work. The specificities of freelancing make plenty of room for abuse, exploitation and intimidation. It's vital that we push together for increased standards of protection for freelancers all across our sector, and for that, we need information and perspective.

Last year, Black Lives in Music worked to inform the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) report on Misogyny in Music, which found wide-scale issues that pointed to an ‘end...

Here is the transcription of episode 9 of season 3 of the podcast "Success Beyond The Score". Happy reading!

- Watch the video of the episode here: YouTube

- Listen to the audio of the episode here: Kajabi

INTRO:

Hi, how are you doing? Just checking my little things here. I think I've got everything ready. I hope you're having a lovely day and I hope you can hear me. Okie dokie. Then, today we've got a really, really interesting topic. Firstly, I just want to thank Phil, Angie Lee, Morgan Genus Sports, for dropping those questions in advance, because it got me thinking, and I'm looking forward to answering them.

So: we've got a really good session today. I'm Millicent Stephenson, your podcaster, your host, and I challenged myself to come onto YouTube Live to do my podcast because usually I pre record. I'm on the... What day am I on now? The 9th day. Tomorrow's the 10th and then next week, the 11th. So far, I've covered:

"The 7 stages of a gigging musician," that was my first ...

Here is the transcription of episode 8 of season 3 of the podcast "Success Beyond The Score". Happy reading!

- Watch the video of the episode here: YouTube

- Listen to the audio of the episode here: Kajabi

INTRO:

Hello! I'm so pleased you're here with me again. It's a lovely day. It's cooler than it's been for a couple of days, I've got to admit. I'm still sweating, but hey-ho, that's the life of a gigging musician, menopausal musician, you name it. 

Now, today I've really got a very interesting topic, and it might be one that you're already familiar with, but I think maybe I can put a twist on it. So: this is why you should video record your gigs. 

There are a lot of benefits for video recording gigs, and it's something I have a lot of experience with, but it wasn't something that came easy. Maybe you're the type of musician that's thinking: "What? Video recording my gig? Nooo, wait, I ain't doing that!" You know, because you don't like the way you look, or maybe you're just...

This is the era of streaming. There's no doubt about it. However, the radio, especially that from independent stations, still has a lot to offer. While algorithms risk to trap users in an echo chamber, radio programming is a human endeavour. Listeners are presented new sounds and information, they are questioned and challenged.

The radio is also important for musicians. Algorithms push everything that isn't already well known to the bottom of the playlist, while the social component of the radio allows for unknown artists to share space with big names of the industry. Topping the charts is still an important indicator of success, and achieving this feat remains very rewarding.

A radio station that has been very helpful to our director, Millicent Stephenson, is Affinity Xtra. Besides her music, they have also played different seasons of her podcast Success Beyond The Score through the years. Right now, they’re playing season 3 every Friday at noon, UK time. Theirs is an edited, more p...

Hillary, known professionally as Tiny Sax, is part of the Time For My Music online community for emerging female musicians. Her instrument is the alto saxophone, with which she plays a variety of genres including blues, soul, jazz and funk.

She has performed as a solo artist at a number of events, like a Windrush celebration (H Suite), OPOL function (Legacy Centre of Excellence), Our Journey function (Ibis Hotel), and as part of the ‘Not Just Jazz V’ concert of multi-award-winning saxophonist Millicent Stephenson. She has also played at private events like garden parties, and for children at schools.

Hillary plays in two bands: ‘As One Collective’ and ‘Mojo Train’. She has been occasionally invited to join the brass section in the Mike Davids Band too. You can watch her in action on her YouTube channel:

About Time For My Music, this is what Hillary has to say:

When I initially learned to play the saxophone, I had no real intention of performing in public – mainly because I didn’...

Here is the transcription of episode 7 of season 3 of the podcast "Success Beyond The Score". Happy reading!

- Watch the video of the episode here: YouTube

- Listen to the audio of the episode here: Kajabi

INTRO:

Hello, hello, hello. I hope you're well. I've changed my setup here. I've put my notes to this side. So if you see me looking that way, that's what I'm looking at instead of that way. And I had a nice iPad stand for my birthday yesterday. So I'm really excited. I'm trying it out today.
Really, really happy. So I'm hoping you can hear me okay. Um, it looks as though my volume might be a little bit too loud. So let me just turn that down one second. Yeah, that seems a bit better, not peaking.

Okay, so today is about: "Do you have a music hobby or a music business?" And I think this is a really good topic. When I started off, many moons ago, at school, I did some music, left school, did some part-time studies. Music was my hobby, and eventually I moved it into a music bus...

Last year was a busy one for the women of Time For My Music, our community for emerging female musicians. Among the highlights, there's their first meeting face to face at the OLDP Women's Hub, and many preparations, workshops and rehearsals for their first live concert in Birmingham.

The idea to make the jump from the screen to the stage was brewing since 2022. While the event was originally planned for November or December 2023, the group arrived to the conclusion it'd be better to move it to 2024. That way, the suggestions of the survey we conducted in regard to the concert could be better addressed, there would be more time for logistics, and the participants would have more time to become confident in their performances.

The work in progress has been rewarding on itself. Every member of Time For My Music has been involved every step of the way, starting from the selection of the songs. The set list includes long time dreams of some of the women, as it's the case of Michelle, who...

On November 15th, 2023, our director Millicent attended a hearing health workshop in Birmingham, taught by Miles Dakin, the founder of Dakin Custom Audio. Miles Dakin is a guitar player who suffers from tinnitus. Around ten years ago, he got in contact with other professional musicians and sound engineers to develop ear monitors that protected the users' hearing. He also campaigns to bring awareness to hearing issues.

This is what Millicent had to say about the experience:

The workshop was fantastic. I learned about the structure and anatomy of the ear canal, which allowed me to understand better how the process of hearing actually works. Miles Dakin explained that whenever we are exposed to loud and startling sounds, like sirens, roaring machinery, or blasting speakers at live concerts, we might experience ringing in our ears or discomfort. These sensations indicate that some of the nerves on our ears have died, therefore our hearing has been reduced.

This is something that musicia...