smokehouse

This province has strict anti-smoking legislation in place. For a musician this is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is certainly far, far more pleasant to be playing in clean smelling, smoke-free rooms (ok, clean smelling is not always accurate). It is less stressful for the vocal chords and it's nice to come home and not have to shower and throw all the gig clothes in the laundry basket. On the other hand (ah, yes, you knew there was going to be an "on the other hand") - the legislation has caused some amount of hardship for small bar owners, especially for people who hired jazz musicians to play in cigar and cognac lounges. Less business for owners, less business for musicians. The legislation is fairly new and I have not felt its impact too strongly. Apart from one or two places where I no longer play, most other venues still hire music despite the smoke ban.



Imagine my surprise when I walked into a place last night to play a trio gig and the place was positively saturated with smoke. Acrid, thin cigarette smoke as well as pungent, heavy cigar smoke. There were well fed dudes with stogies standing around the bar and thin ladies with thin cigarettes sitting at tables. I mean - everybody smoked in that room. I later learned that this was the segregated smoking room which some restaurants are still allowed to operate...

Now the shocker: my first reaction was light-headedness and nausea and I almost thought I wouldn't be able to play. But play we did and people really seemed to enjoy it and half way through the second set, despite tearing eyes and a scratchy throat I sort of realized two things: these smokers were simply having more fun AND smoke and jazz somehow go hand-in-hand. Not in any rational way! I still came home and showered and threw all the clothes in the hamper. But somehow, the second half of the gig felt right, in part because of the well disposed, garrulous smokers and in part because that blue smoke provided such a perfect backdrop for My Funny Valentine