Richard Davis featured in Spectrum Magazine

Is the business community recognizing that jazz is good for Madison’s local economy?

Richard Davis, bassist extraordinaire, is featured this month in an article by Neil Heinen in Spectrum Magazine that  highlights Davis’ achievements in jazz and in combating racism in Madison. 

Is jazz dead? The “Whither Jazz” Isthmus article

Yesterday’s Isthmus ran a story, “Whither jazz? Musicians search for venues in Madison.” The writer, Jessica Steinhoff, notes the changes at the Concourse Bar and the Hilton, and is surprised, ”more people haven’t stepped up their attendance and asked the hotels to keep the music coming.” She says, “it’s tempting to question the genre’s relevance if people don’t go to hear it performed live.”

Jessica tiptoes around the question “Is jazz dead?” but the debate she seeks to stimulate is the same. It is a debate that has been around for decades and continues to surface on internet discussions and in newspaper columns. 

The Bad Plus’s brainy blog takes on Wynton Marsalis

I just came across this great site today by Ethan Iverson, the pianist for The Bad Plus. Do The Math is a blog/webzine that is much more than a PR piece for their group. Iverson posts intensely detailed, highly intellectual jazz critiques, musical analyses, and interviews of other jazz musicians.

The Secret of Jazz Appeal

This is the third article of a 4 part series addressing audience development. The first two articles were “Looking to the future – become a jazz mentor” and, “Exposure to jazz is not enough.”

How do we keep jazz relevant to the young without watering it down? 

Find a way to make jazz cool; give it a marketing face lift. Other genres use  pretty faces, exposed skin, and gangsta talk to appeal to the young. We don’t need to push sex and violence, but we must find a way to freshen the image of jazz and gain back some of the emotional appeal it had before it went from dance music to brain food.

 

Take a look at Fred Ho, he understands what I’m talking about.  He recently played a concert at the Union Theater and used this publicity photo. Now that’s one interesting looking dude! I bet his music is interesting too.

Exposure to Jazz is Not Enough

Recently I discussed the value of jazz mentoring for growing a jazz audience. Mentoring is a step beyond just getting kids playing jazz – it also involves the human connection. It’s clear that mere exposure is often not enough because many of the kids involved in jazz aren’t going on to become adult listeners. 

Joe Moore, works for jazz station KSFR in Fresno, California and describes this problem in his blog, “Jazz Portraits.” Here’s Joe:

Looking to the Future – Become a Jazz Mentor

Jazz at the Concourse may be gone, but the jam will find a home and live on. The Madison jazz scene remains vibrant: the fan base for the jam is large, the list of performers on the registry page continues to grow, and the jazz calendar is full each night of the week. Unfortunately, things can change. For the jazz scene to stay strong we must continue to cultivate interest in jazz. Since musical tastes are largely set during youth, and youth are not being exposed to very much jazz, it makes sense to start with them.  Mentoring is one way to introduce jazz to young people.

Mikayla Gilbreath, a talented teenage jazz journalist, makes a strong case for the power of mentoring in her profile, “Nick Colionne: Making a Difference for the Future.” She notes that jazz is in many cases being pushed aside by rap, rock, and other contemporary music, and that many kids do not know what jazz is. She describes how Chicago based jazz guitarist/vocalist Nick Colionne, “has found mentoring children to be both an effective way to create new jazz fans for the industry and an extraordinarily rewarding experience for himself.”

The article discusses how Colionne became involved in mentoring, illustrates how mentoring can lead to lasting friendships, and even provides ideas for nonmusicians to help out:

Everyone can participate in the process by simply introducing children to the music at an early age, taking kids to jazz festivals and concerts, and by encouraging their involvement in jazz programs at their schools. We can also make contributions to support school jazz programs, which are increasingly being eliminated due to inadequate public funding. All of us can be a part of the solution in some fashion.

Mikayla Gilbreath may only be 15 but she is already a very good writer and full of wisdom beyond her years. Read her heartwarming profile of Nick Colionne, and her own story, and I’m sure you will agree the future of jazz depends on nurturing an interest in jazz by young people.

Happy Thanksgiving!

OK, that’s enough with the letters. I hope yesterday’s post didn’t mess with your mind too much. If you are confused, the first two letters were genuine, the last was not. You can expect it to be pretty straight around here, but it seemed like time to loosen up. Thanks, Ray, for the humor.

And thanks to everyone for your contributions to this site: articles, event notices, comments, and support. We have a great jazz community in Madison. Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Here’s a little reminder to go light on the turkey and fixings… 

Overture to be Wisconsin’s Largest Sports Bar?

(The following post comes courtesy of Ray Rideout)

I was one of the jazz musicians that received a form letter from the Concourse Hotel explaining why they are discontinuing live jazz starting in 2009. Coincidentally, while walking down Fairchild Street the other day, I found a rough draft of a different letter in the street. Apparently the Overture Center is going to be sending this letter out to their classical musicians next year around this time. They must have gotten their cue from the Concourse Hotel, because the letter looks strangely similar to the one received by jazz musicians who worked at the Concourse Hotel Bar.

I can’t verify the authenticity of this letter, and I don’t know whether you want to print it or not in your blog. It might be rather alarming to all the classical musicians who perform at Overture Hall to know that in 2010 they will be out of work, and the venue will become Wisconsin’s largest sports bar, with over fifty widescreen TVs.

Here’s the letter:

Ray Rideout’s letter to Kathleen Falk

Alright, another Madison jazz club is toast. We have plenty of great jazz musicians but fewer and fewer places to play. Some say there isn’t an audience for jazz, “Jazz is dead.” I disagree. I believe the audience is out there; we just need owners that love jazz and properly market their venue to other jazz lovers. If we agree the audience exists, then the question is, “How do we find these new venue owners, or how do we in some way create influence towards a healthier jazz scene?” It will take many combined efforts. The Madison Music Collective was resurrected towards this end. I started this blog for the same reasons.  If you were trying to promote the jazz scene what would be your approach?

Ray Rideout, the well known local saxophonist, wrote to Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk. He sent me this copy of his letter from October of this year: