Last week came the disturbing news that yet another public radio station was about to give up the ghost on its jazz broadcasting responsibilities. WGBH, long a pillar of the Boston radio airways, axed longtime programmer Steve Schwartz program entirely and severely cut-back the nightly programming of its most veteran jazz programmer Eric Jackson, trimming his program to a weekend graveyard shift. Below is an editorial on this subject by jazz radio vet Bobby Jackson. Additionally a petition drive has been started by our web portal Jazzcorner.com. Please read below Bobby’s piece and sign your name to the cause…

Bobby Jackson at the radio console

This current issue with WGBH, Eric Jackson and Steve Schwartz actually is not about them. There is a much more at work here. This is about systematic oppression and privilege of African-American culture. I shared the article about the disappearance of commercial Black radio stations so eloquently pointed out by one of my radio heroes, “talk” show host Bob Law with the recent demise of WRKS. Ed Bride noted that GBH is not an African-American station. For those who did not see the posts, I responded, “They Play Jazz….”

The elimination of jazz on other public radio stations have not helped their numbers. In fact, in many situations, these behind closed doors, board room decisions have put the stations at odds with many supporters in their communities; supporters who have left their ranks. These stations still struggle against the tide of choices audiences possess that year after year, seem to multiply as the technologies to deliver programming becomes more and more facile for them to access. They are no less at risk of survivial than before they pulled the plug. They have also “lost” income because of the exodus of audience numbers that supported them because of the music programming. These stations as so many of you pointed out are now rehashing the same news like a monotone drone in a twenty four hour cycle.

I am incensed that African-American music and culture continues to be marginalized and is the first to be thrown under the bus when there is a “financial” crisis. It is criminal that In this new millennium this pattern continues. We can look at the pattern of stations across the country and see that what I’m saying is real. It is criminal that In this new millennium this pattern continues (my version of a newsie rerun).

One of the reasons public radio exists in the first place was to give voice to the voiceless over the airwaves. There is a rich history surrounding what we do that speaks to affirmation of the true melting pot that America is suppose to be. It is a model on display to share; for all to learn from, how we are able to come together under the magic of jazz, a music that originated in the African-American and is now shared not just here in the United States, but the world over. It is insane that it is being taken off the shelf in so many places in its place of birth. Is Ken Burns the only person who can get funding to talk about the story of how we as Americans come together? He even had the sense to realize that jazz is a major melting pot for this. The opportunities for this story to continue to be heard in the place of its birth are slowly being scraped away. This is not about Eric Jackson. This is not about Scott Hanley, formerly of WQUQ or Chris Heim formerly of WBEZ. This is not about me. This is about all of us. Even those who continue. None of you are safe. If you’re not making the decision in those board rooms, you too are also endangered. They are crunching numbers and they are not talking to you, but ABOUT you. What will they do with you? I think you know the answer to that…..

I turned to and became involved in public radio because I believed it was a perfect fit for the talents I began to develop as a journalism major attending The University of Georgia in Athens and even before that at my beloved alma mater, DeWitt Clinton High School. I have something to share and will continue to share it. When I was let go at WCPN in the Fall of 2009 I did not stop my journey to be heard despite the difficulties I experienced to be hired in other markets. Truth be told, I have more listenership today on terrestrial radio stations, in more cities than at any time in my radio career. I find it somewhat amusing that people in Guam can hear my show which I believe is the finest show I’ve ever conceived in all my years in service of this music. Conversely, I have made less money than at any time in my life. It has been a tremendous struggle for me financially but I believe in this struggle with all of my heart, mind and soul. The stations I serve by and large to a man are happy with my show and in a recent conference call, I was told they would help me in any way they could. Finding sponsorship dollars endangers its continued existence but I will fight the fight as long as I can alongside the less than 500 announcers who still can be heard on the radio. It is a noble fight.

What are we going to do about this?
Bobby Jackson
THE JAZZ MIND
www.thejazzmind.com
ftapache1@sbcglobal.net
phone: 216.288.4422
skype: bjackson10106

The Petition
Our goal is to collect 200,000 signatures and send on to WGBH. Please spread the word and discontinue your support until Eric Jackosn is reinstated with his current hours and Steve Schwartz is reinstated completely. Money and action talk. If you have any questions or advice please contact me – Lois Gilbert, www.JazzCorner.com, lois@jazzcorner.com
Jazz programming on WGBH-FM being scaled back, a blow to jazz fans

To the consternation of loyal listeners, WGBH-FM (89.7) is dropping jazz programming on weeknights, moving longtime host Eric Jackson to weekend duties only and eliminating Steve Schwartz’s Friday show.

The changes, which take effect July 2, amount to a serious downscaling of jazz programming on Boston radio, where Jackson and Schwartz have been mainstays for three decades, exposing their listeners to artists old and new and promoting concerts and other events that have been vital to the local jazz scene.

“Jazz on WGBH With Eric Jackson” will no longer run from 8 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, airing instead from 9 p.m. to midnight Friday through Sunday. Schwartz’s Friday evening jazz show is disappearing altogether, and he will no longer produce live performances for Jackson’s show. The hosts learned of the changes Tuesday from station managing director Phil Redo. As of mid-afternoon, WGBH had yet to release a statement confirming the new programming schedule.

Eric Jackson

Jackson, who celebrated 30 years on air last spring, was told his show was being moved — and cut back to nine hours weekly — to make room for more news and public affairs programming. “The station has been moving in that direction for a couple of years,” he said Wednesday. A month ago, he and Schwartz heard their shows would be cut one hour apiece, he added, but moving his show to weekend nights only was “a total surprise.”

To the local jazz community, “this is major,” Jackson said. “The music has always been there in the evening. To put it on the weekends at 9 p.m., when families won’t necessarily be listening together, is not the same thing. It’s a different vibe.”

Live interviews and shows featuring a single artist may no longer be tenable, he continued. “I still love doing radio, and Boston still needs jazz radio, because jazz is a major part of American culture. Not to pat myself on the back, but I think my show has been a major part of the jazz scene around here.”

Schwartz, who’s been on the local airwaves for nearly 27 years, said change was imminent a couple of years ago, when WGBH shifted its classical programming to another station. Then, “the other shoe dropped,” said Schwartz as he was told that having two jazz hosts no longer fit with WGBH’s plans.

Steve Schwartz

“It wasn’t a total surprise, but it is a loss,” Schwartz said. “The station is losing a consistent format spread across the week. And the Boston jazz community is losing an important venue for musicians to promote their events.”

The moves could also have a negative impact on WGBH membership, Schwartz added, since membership in the WGBH Jazz Club includes access to live concerts that will no longer be produced.

As news of the changes spread, many in the local jazz community reacted with shock and dismay. On Facebook, a “Save Eric in the Evening” page — a reference to the show’s former title — elicited postings ranging from sadness to calls for a protest petition directed at WGBH.

Saxophonist Ken Field noted how well-known and popular jackson has been among artists from all over the area, and the world. “Reducing his airtime is a step in the wrong direction, for people in Boston and people outside Boston,” he said. “Eric has been so supportive of not only international musicians who come to town but also local jazz musicians.”

A lot of people he knows are angered by the news, Field added, and wondering why they should continue to support WGBH if it drops shows such as these.

“That’s some tragic news,” commented pianist Danilo Perez, reached by phone in Colorado Wednesday afternoon. “In a culture where we are so much in need of hope and optimism, that’s what jazz is all about. As long as people listen to radio, it’s crucial to have jazz [featured] there.”

Beyond that, said Perez, “People like Eric and Steve love and know the music. To a listener like myself, it’s almost like having a History of Jazz class on the radio.”
Sign petition:

Last post we detailed the 8th annual DC Jazz Festival, and its admirable outreach efforts that resulted in their building a big tent across Washington that all told encompassed an incredible 21 neighborhoods. One of the key partner organizations in the DC Jazz Festival this year was CapitalBop, the brainchild of two enterprising young Washingtonians, journalist Giovanni Russonello (better known in the jazz community as Gio) and musician and one of my fellow WPFW programmers Luke Stewart. What they delivered to the DC Jazz Festival cannot be discounted; they brought not only a bit of cutting edge music sensibility to the DCJF menu, they also breathed a breath of fresh air into the proceedings by endeavoring to attract a younger demographic component to the festival. They succeeded in attracting a younger audience for often challenging music by establishing an inviting festival atmosphere, including multi-media (an effective panel discussion on the intersection of jazz & hip hop, and a screening of the film “Jazz Icons” which features a number of young heads talking about the current directions in jazz) with food & drink, crafts vendors, and the clever before & between sets audio/video mixology of DJ O’s Cool. The latter component cannot be discounted; the deejay’s irresistible mix encouraged those who wished to dance (for the most part the loft was a stand-up audience atmosphere) and socialize freely to the music, which proved particularly effective in between pianist Marc Cary‘s two kinetic shows with his new ensemble.

You can learn more about their efforts at www.CapitalBop.com. In the meantime a few questions for Gio & Luke…

CapitalBop partners Luke Stewart (left) and Gio Russonello (right) at their June 9 DC Jazz Loft Series event (photo: Jason Crane)

Willard Jenkins: What are the origins of Capital Bop, and what’s the mission?

Giovanni Russonello: I started CapitalBop in 2010 because I noticed a disconnect between the strong, cohesive, prolific and relatively youthful community of artists in town and the city’s populace, which was generally disengaged from the local jazz scene. When I would discuss the music with friends – no matter their age or generation – most would say, “I didn’t realize D.C. had much of a jazz scene.” My first goal was to start a website that would offer a full calendar and listing of all the jazz going on in town, and would also cover and advance the scene by running reviews, interviews, feature stories, videos and the like. On the day that I launched the website, I ran into Luke – whom I’d met before – and he immediately committed to helping out.

Luke Stewart: Capital Bop was started by Gio. He launched it at the Rosslyn Jazz Festival in 2010, where WPFW also was a media sponsor. We were broadcasting the event live, and was one of the highlights of the year for jazz in the DC area. Gio and I had met at jazz shows before, so he was a friendly familiar face when we bumped into each other at the festival. He was passing out flyers and cards promoting the website and asked if I was interested in contributing to the website. Both his and my own original intention was to contribute more audio, but I have since written and helped to organize shows, in addition to contributing audio I recorded at the DC Jazz Loft performances.

The mission of Capital Bop is to promote and enrich the local DC jazz scene, which Gio and I feel is one of the best jazz scenes in the world. We are blessed to have in our midst some incredible musicians from many different approaches in the Music. Also, the city has a deep legacy in the Music from all eras and movements. Unfortunately, many people are not privy to just how rich the DC area is in the jazz scene and in the history. Through our efforts as a website and an event organizing entity, we hope to bring more awareness to DC’s unique jazz community.

WJ: How do you see Capital Bop intersecting with our critical mission to grow the audience for creative music, to further develop that audience in the WDC area?

GR: CapitalBop has always been about reaching out to all present and potential jazz listeners. We truly want to serve as a reliable resource to those with the highest expectations – dedicated fans and musicians who already value jazz for its vitality, its historical significance and its narratives of resilience and joy. But we’re also committed to proving the music’s relevance and its ability to speak vociferous truths about an existence in the present day. (My thinking is, if it’s improvised, it’s gotta be about today.) Luke and I know that the music needs a young, sustainable audience, and we also recognize that – taking it from the opposite direction – our commodified and media-saturated generation secretly craves more raw, earnest art-making. A separate point: The District is gentrifying so rapidly, with so many of the “immigrants” often looking straight past those they are displacing – and so many emigrants understandably wishing they could ignore or avoid the population shift. Jazz speaks of universal truths, and it comes from a particular perspective of resistance and communal investment; it is a music that creates democratic spaces, where listeners of all stripes can share in a dynamic experience. I think jazz concerts have a lot to offer in the way of community building. (Check out the broad audience at Bohemian on a Saturday night, and notice how, by the end of the night, everyone is hollering together at a baying trumpet line.)

Among the participants in the jazz/hip hop panel discussion were saxophonist-author-educator Will Smith and WPFW programmers Keanna Faircloth and Bobby Hill, along with three members of WPFW’s Decipher Crew of progressive hip hop deejays (photo: Carlyle V. Smith/Capital Bop)

LS: For me as “Avant Music Editor”, it is my own mission to really drive this home. DC has a reputation for being somewhat musically conservative in terms of its jazz audience. However, at the same time, there are many musicians who reside in the area and who have come through the area over the years who are continually pushing the envelope beyond playing 4/4 standards. Even so, we feel that it is important not to be myopic in our musical approach. At any given DC Jazz Loft performance, you will find a straight ahead group playing alongside a free jazz group, or a hard bop group. The goal is to portray that we are existing all within the same continuum, and it is important to expose it all.

Also, one of the strengths of Capital Bop is our success in attracting a younger audience to creative music and jazz. It is this audience which is hungry and open to hearing new music. A lot of our audiences are new to the Music, and are looking for a place to start. We have been able to expose people to a more comprehensive look at the world of jazz.

Young DC saxman Elijah Jamal Balbed performed at the DC Jazzloft Megafest with bassist Taurus Mateen and drummer Kush Abadey (photo: Carlyle V. Smith/CapitalBop

WJ: In addition to your web site and your various writings, you are also establishing Capital Bop as a presenting entity. How has that been developing, and what kinds of things have you done thus far from that presenting perspective?

LS: That began with the start of the DC Jazz Loft series in December 2010, which took place at the now shuttered Goldleaf Studios.

An aside about Goldleaf – this was a studio which has been in the DC arts/underground music community since 1998. It has been the home to a number of successful bands from DC such as Trans-Am, Thievery Corporation, and US Royalty. It has also been the home for a number of successful visual artists like Joshua Cogan. Through the years, the studio has held underground events under the names “The Hosiery”, “Goldleaf Studios”, and “Red Door”. My band Laughing Man became tennants of the studio in late 2009. We had been practicing there for a time before we started to organize our own shows featuring local underground groups. The name “Red Door” was penned by my bandmate Brandon Moses, in an attempt to differentiate the things that we were doing from the heavy history that the name “Goldleaf Studios” or “The Hosiery” already had accumulated. Also, it was a clever way to let people know how to get to the space, through the Red Door.

So from the DC Jazz Loft series at Red Door, we have been able to present some of the best young musicians in the DC area, in spaces that we and the musicians feel are conducive to creative freedom and musical exploration. The vibe we try to set is always open and engaging. In addition we have begun to present shows outside of the series, such as our partnership with the NYC-based Search and Restore, headed by kindred Adam Schatz.

Bassist Taurus Mateen in performance at the DC Jazzloft Megafest (photo: Carlyle V. Smith/CapitalBop

GR: In our efforts to accrue broader, younger audiences, the handiest tool has been the D.C. Jazz Loft shows that we present once a month, and in a concentrated series each year at the DC Jazz Festival. We held our first loft in December 2010 at Red Door, aka Gold Leaf Studios, where Luke was renting studio space at the time. In June 2011, we debuted at the DC Jazz Festival with a successful string of four shows spanning three venues, where we paired up local musicians with out-of-town stars. D.C. Jazz Loft shows are low-key, donation-based (except during the festival) and fully focused on music, not commerce. All sorts of people, but especially young people, can get excited about that. At each monthly loft, we present three local acts and end the night in an open jam session. Among performers, we find the shows to encourage experimentation and honest music-making because the audiences end up being delighted to just sit down and let themselves be absorbed by the music.

WJ: Your presentations have been staged in non-traditional venues. Talk about your use of DC spaces.

LS: As before mentioned, we feel that reaching a wider audience has to come through fully engaging with the audience. Through presenting at “Red Door”, the space had already accumulated a loyal audience of young curious listeners, so we were able to get some of that audience to our shows, many of whom had never been to a live jazz show. We feel that presenting at non-traditional spaces attracts a newer audience, one who typically are under-served. That is, non jazz club patrons. Too often 20 somethings who might be interested in the Music don’t want to spend $20 to get in to a Twins Jazz or a Blues Alley, then have to pay a $10 minimum. In these non-traditional venues, the frills are off, and the prices are lower. This doesn’t mean that the crowd gets more rowdy, quite the contrary. This means that the crowd has the opportunity to really engage themselves in the moment, focusing in on the amazing music they are hearing. And that benefits everyone, from the musicians to the audience, both young and old.

GR: I think the music takes to unpretentious, no-frills spaces. Jazz’s greats – Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler – deserve places in the canon, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore the fact that jazz is revolutionary music. It isn’t a commodity, and it wasn’t made to be used as background music on luxury sedan commercials or sultry liquor ads. It has always spoken to a reality (often, one centered in an urban environment) that involves combating oppression, repression or despair with the joy of honest human interaction. What better way to highlight this music, then, than to let people arrive as they wish over the course of a four-hour period; mingle in between sets with other listeners and musicians; pay what they can; and sit up close, face-to-face with the sounds as they’re being created?

WJ: Is it safe to say that as far as Capital Bop presentations, despite the “Bop” in your name, you’ve pretty much specialized in what some might characterize as “edgy”, original music?

The lineup board for the DC Jazzloft Megafest Saturday, June 9, 2012 (photo: Carlyle V. Smith/CapitalBop

LS: That is safe to say, however as previously stated, we want to present the music in a way that gives a more comprehensive and non-divisive look into jazz. With jazz being essentially a niche already in today’s music industry, there is no room for some of the compartmentalization which exists in some circles. As such we have presented folks like Paul Carr, who few I think would categorize as “edgy”. However, he is an important and influential mainstay of the DC community, and is a great performer who needs to be heard. Likewise, we presented a duo set from Joe Bowie and Nasar Abadey alongside a performance from a group lead by Elliott Seppa, two different worlds completely. So we do try to push the envelope, but the real goal is to try and break the notion that jazz music is or should come from a narrow approach. Perhaps that goal in itself is “edgy”.

GR: The past is prologue, which makes the present a privilege. What I mean is, every action you take has the advantage of building upon the past. All people, artists, thinkers – from Duke Ellington to Miles Davis to Wynton Marsalis to Frederick Douglass to Albert Einstein – are only offering their variations on and reinterpretations of what they have digested. So history is the foundation and the mortar in every bit of competent artistic work. But if you’re expressing something personal, it has to be a variation and a reinterpretation. So yes, we like to highlight artists who we think have something to say in the present moment, and are in full command of their medium. Those people must be pushing their way to the outer “edge” of something. At the last loft, we had alto saxophonist Sarah Hughes, who composes a lot of unusually structured pieces and sometimes uses a looping pedal; rock-jazz fusion steel pan player Jonathan Scales in a friendly “battle” with pannist Victor Provost; and the swingin’ guitarist Rodney Richardson. Every one of them did something different, with varying degrees of separation from the clinically defined “jazz tradition,” but I’d call each one of them “edgy.” The same thing goes for the Jazz Loft MegaFest this Saturday, when we’ll have a quintet of all-star high school students playing so-called straight-ahead jazz (the Jazz Academy Youth Combo, directed by Paul Carr); two saxophone-bass-drums trios that each approach the post-Coltrane small group ideal in a different way (Elijah Jamal Balbed-Tarus Mateen-Kush Abadey, and Lenny Robinson’s Mad Curious); and a renowned band that blends Indian scales, go-go rhythms, Malian vocals, computer music, speech samples and more (Marc Cary’s Cosmic Indigenous, feat. Awa Sangho).

WJ: Talk about your plans for Capital Bop going forward

GR: For Luke and me, the immediate plan after we complete the MegaFest involves beers, books and relaxation. But after a week or so of decompressing, we’re prepared to double down on our efforts to cover the scene (which absolutely continues to grow) and present excellent music in exciting spaces. Can’t give you too many specifics on planned “innovations,” but I can tell you that we’re just getting started.

LS: Going forward, we have plans to officially file as a 501 c3 organization. Through this we will expand our live productions to include more ticketed events in addition to the monthly donation-based DC Jazz Loft performances. Also we plan to add an educational element to the organization, reaching out to different schools in DC to conduct workshops and master classes. We are also looking forward to partnering with more arts organizations to produce more interdisciplinary arts events and showcases like the one we are doing this Saturday at the DC Jazz Loft Megafest. We feel that DC is exploding right now with artistic creativity, and we want to have a part in that as a way to further expand and develop our audience and to introduce our audience to some other aspects of the rich art scene in DC.

Luke & Gio with Elijah Jamal Balbed (photo: Carlyle V. Smith/Capital Bop)

www.CapitalBop.com for more information…

In this pinched economic atmosphere, one which has been further constricted by a DC city administration that doesn’t appear as favorably disposed towards the event as in the past (unfortunately no Jazz on the Mall free extravaganza this year), the DC Jazz Festival kicked off its 8th annual edition June 1 very favorably. Swimming mightily upstream against the tide of tight economics, festival founder and Executive Producer Charlie Fishman and hard-working Executive Director Sunny Sumter kept tight upper lips and went about the business of building a mighty rainbow coalition of presenting entities ranging literally across the DC community. In so doing they’ve positioned this festival as a model of community coalition-building and cooperative effort the likes of which seems quite unprecedented in the jazz festival community.

Vocalist Sunny Sumter is the Executive Director of the DC Jazz Festival

Certainly there are other jazz festivals which have built sturdy community coalitions to broaden the artistic reach and audience development of their events. Two such festivals that come immediately to mind are the Discover Jazz Festival, which has done a marvelous job of building a big tent atmosphere that welcomes a coalition of restaurants, bars and grills, and municipal spaces under the big top to literally take over their lovely, compact Burlington, VT community sitting on the banks of Lake Champlain. A big city example in this country would have to be Earshot Jazz, which has done likewise in Seattle. But all too often the attitude is one of suspicious competition; as is the case with certain festivals whose most significant year-round jazz venues cast a sidelong glance at the festival in question, offer lip-service and grudging support, but continue to operate under a veil of jealousy owed to the wrong-headed notion that since the festival is presented by a not-for-profit and is subject to grant support which the year-round venue (a for-profit) isn’t privy to, that they are somehow competitors. Such is the plight of jazz presenting, which for about the last 40 years has uncomfortably straddled the fence between its for-profit, club-based venue system and the newer not-for-profit model that has arisen along with the development of the National Endowment for the Arts and various community arts funding systems. Seems some for-profit venues just don’t get it, that mutual support is to the ultimate benefit of the music, the musicians, and more importantly the local audience, since jazz audience development is job #1; that this is NOT a competition for butts in the seats, but instead should be a hand-in-glove, mutual cooperation society.

But back to the DC Jazz Festival. Where jazz presenting is concerned, the nation’s capital region – and in this case I’m considering the District, Maryland, and Northern Virginia – is blessed with some very significant concert presenters who regularly include jazz in their varied menus. That equation begins with the Kennedy Center, Washington Performing Arts Society, the two gorgeous bordering Maryland venues, the Clarice Smith Center (University of Maryland in College Park with four separate venues) and Strathmore Music Hall (Rockville, with its intimate Mansion space and large concert hall), and to a lesser extent Lisner Auditorium (George Washington University), the Smithsonian (including fostering April as Jazz Appreciation Month and the annual Sculpture Garden offerings), and occasional Library of Congress offerings (including Larry Appelbaum’s annual curated jazz film series). The community has also been blessed recently with several spiffy new venues, chief among them The Hamilton, the beautifully refurbished historic Howard Theatre, and the comfortable mid-sized Atlas, located in a fast-rising sector of the city’s N.E. corridor. The latter is an auditorium, while the former two might well be characterized as 21st century supperclubs due to their larger-than-club size. Yet it is the club venue marketplace that is the DC Jazz Festival sweetspot.

Charlie Fishman and Sunny Sumter have craftily built a sturdy coalition of local venues that in addition to The Hamilton, the Howard Theatre, and the Atlas, also includes DC’s hottest jazz venue Bohemian Caverns, the Phillips Collection art museum, several Smithsonian facilities, a senior wellness center, and the Kennedy Center to boot. They’ve also incorporated a vibrant scene of sorts which is being developed by two sharp young grassroots jazz enthusiasts under their web-based CapitalBop.com banner (you’ll be able to read more about CapitalBop on this site in a minute). The festival’s partnership with CapitalBop.com has also broadened the event stylistically as the two 20-somethings who comprise CapitalBop.com have an eye towards the adventurous edge of the music, engaging non-traditional venues for their DC Jazz Loft Series component of the festival.

Charlie Fishman is the visionary founder and Executive Producer of the DC Jazz Festival

Some of these, and a raft of other partner venues, contribute to the vibrant heart of the DCJF, their Jazz In the ‘Hoods component which as its name suggests brings a jazz presence to all corners of the District (bringing jazz to 21 DC neighborhoods!). This includes areas east of the Anacostia River, a traditional African American community which had been largely bereft of jazz presentation before arts entrepreneur Vernard Gray stepped up with his series of presentations under the rubric of the East River JazzFest. Houses of worship are part of the equation as well, ranging from Faith Presbyterian Church’s presentation of vibist Warren Wolf‘s “Jazz: A Music of the Spirit” to the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue’s presentation of the Anat Cohen Quartet. Reading the DCJF brochure and web site can be a dizzying exercise, the event is literally chockablock with tasty morsels, and one can barely traverse five blocks in the District without encountering part of the big tent of venues that comprises the DC Jazz Festival.

So far the results of this big tent effect have been very promising, with sell-outs in several venues and the town buzzing with activity. Les Nubians sold out two shows at The Hamilton, following a fine opening evening with Randy Weston‘s African Rhythms Trio and vocalist Akua Allrich. Later this week The Hamilton will host Jimmy Heath & Antonio Hart, Roy Hargrove, Cyrus Chestnut, and what should be a kinetic island show (yes ‘mon) with Monty Alexander & Etienne Charles. Dianne Reeves sold out the Howard Theatre, The Fridge loft space was jam-packed for bassist Kris Funn & Corner Store and Tarbaby (with Orrin Evans, Eric Revis & Nasheet Waits), and Ron Carter‘s Quartet sold out four weekend shows at the Bohemian Caverns. Carter’s ensemble, with Renee Rosnes on piano, was a marvelous display of small group interplay and dynamic color.

Another very positive element of the DCJF big tent presentation equation is the broad stylistic spread of the music, which this year ranges from such masters as Weston, Carter, Kenny Barron, Paquito D’Rivera (the latter three – Barron and Carter as part of the Classical Jazz Quartet with Stefon Harris and Lewis Nash – in a stellar Kennedy Center concert titled Jazz Meets the Classics last evening at the Kennedy Center), and Jimmy Heath to John Scofield at The Hamilton, Dianne Reeves, David Sanchez, Mark Turner, Roy Hargrove, Cyrus Chestnut, Marcus Strickland, Anat Cohen, and such promising young artists as Trinidad’s Etienne Charles, Israeli guitarist Yotam Silberstein, and Moroccan songbird Malika Zarra (as part of the Kennedy Center’s free Millennium Stage series for the festival). The majority of these artists have or will be presented under more intimate circumstances than the typical jazz festival big hall/bloated budget scenario. At his NEA Jazz Masters conversation with WPFW jazz show host Rusty Hassan Sunday afternoon at the Phillips Collection, when quizzed about his favorite venue Kenny Barron reiterated the general jazzman’s bromide that although most of his performances these days are made in concert halls, Barron still prefers the club venue purely on the basis of proximity to the audience, saying “In a club I can make eye contact with the audience, but in a concert hall I usually can’t even see the audience.” Get complete information on the DC Jazz Festival at http://www.dcjazzfest.org.

In the always thoughtful NPR jazz blog A Blog Supreme http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme editor Patrick Jarenwattonan poses the question “IF not jazz education, what will rebuild the jazz audience.” In the piece he cites a music educator who questions the tired old saw that suggests that if we just pour more money into jazz/music/arts education in general we will reap the audience development benefits in the end analysis. The educator in question points to the wide gulf disconnect between the increased education dollars dedicated to building jazz education programs on college and university campuses around the world and the fact that there is limited-to-no evidence that said investment has resulted in significant audience development. Further, this particular educator suggests that not only may age-old jazz performance methodologies be outmoded, so too may be the existent language and jargon of the music be an inherent impediment to developing the jazz audience.

The Jazz Arts Group of Columbus, Ohio is in the midst of a funded Jazz Audience Initiative which will hopefully study these and other factors related to our collective desire to grow the jazz audience.

Yes the increase in jazz education programs has resulted in more than enough competent-to-good jazz players – technicians might be a more apt description in most instances. However the jazz academy has failed to teach its students about the care and nurturing of their eventual audience. In her excellent blog Alternate Takes http://alternatetakes.com past Independent Ear contributor Angelika Beener explores the whys & wherefores of the contemporary jazz musician’s magnetic compulsion towards exclusive performance of their own originals (“The Modern Standard: What is it?”), perhaps to the detriment of building a 21st century canon of tunes and setting new standards. This steadfast stance on a platform of standards – and, I might add, standards that have little to no shelf life after their original recording, and standards that are too complicated to stick with the average listener’s memory (and thus set a “standard”) – is I maintain also an roadblock to audience development.

I’ve yet to see a jazz education program that offers innovative coursework to its young musicians on audience development, on nurturing and growing an audience through proper programming, staging, and other elements that might better engage and grow an audience. Evidence suggests that jazz education programs and coursework do little if any actual teaching on subjects as elemental as proper stage comportment and effective artist-to-audience communication methods. There remain far too many young musicians who figure if they simply play technically correct and with vigor… that’s more than enough, assuming a sort of Audience of Dreams mentality that says ‘if we play it, they will come…’ That’s not enough for today’s audience. What then must we do to grow the jazz audience?

One of the subsequent comments in response to Patrick’s piece suggests that the typical jazz venue is simply not conducive to today’s audience. The feeling being that the jazz supper clubs and venues one respondent has experienced, with their detached staging and audiences seated like “robots” at tables imbibing while a group of musicians plays seemingly for their own pleasure, is simply outmoded; and frankly where it concerns generations born since the late-70s, I’d have to agree to a point. However the commenter then goes on to lament the loss of the old smokey jazz lofts and clubs as a reason today’s venues do not appeal to today’s arts consumer market. Sorry my friend, that outmoded scenario won’t work either. Today’s would-be audience requires more of a sense of give and take between artist and audience, interactive options, more of a sense of shared experience.

The venerable Monterey Jazz Festival recently copped a $300K grant from the James Irvine Foundation, the core of which will assist MJF in diversifying its audience.

How’s this for one potential jazz performance scenario: since the art of improvisation – the art of creative expression period – remains pretty much a mystery to all but those who’ve taken the time to investigate the creative process, would it provide a more meaningful audience experience if at some point during a performance there was some very real sense of give & take between artists and audience? What if after a couple of pieces were played, an informed interlocutor (bandmember, MC, presenter, journalist, etc.) were to pose questions (and take a couple of audience questions as well) to the performing musicians on how they came to make their creative choices, why they chose that particular piece and what they hoped it said to their audience; what was the story behind that composition; why the saxophone player made an extended statement; why at the close of the piece the band seemed to go back-and-forth in short bursts (i.e. trading four bars or whatever); how does that particular piece fit in with the rest of the set in terms of telling a cohesive story? Would that level of audience/artist interaction better assist the consumer/audience member in unlocking the inherent mysteries in the art of the improvisor? Would that kind of in-set give-and-take distract the artists unnecessarily? (On the latter point, so what; sorry musicians but ya’ll have got to do more to nurture and interact with your audiences if we are ever to build an audience for your creative expressions.)

The Independent Ear featured a recent dialogue with Kennedy Center artistic adviser, pianist-composer Jason Moran about his plans for the Jazz at the Kennedy Center program. Among those plans, Moran appears to be carefully observing and considering the very environment where the music is made. Is the current listening environment conducive to building audience for creative music? Does today’s audience require more than a comfortable seat and an applause interlude in between supposedly satisfying music-making? Is the option of being able to enjoy the beverage or refreshment of one’s choice just the tip of the audience-enjoyment iceberg? Are we missing a level of interaction that today’s growing consumer market craves but is not getting from the typical creative music performance environment? What’s your take?

We applaud, and want to lend a helping hand to our friends and colleagues at CapitalBop (http://www.capitalbop.com)- erstwhile purveyors of adventurous jazz music in DC loft spaces and major supporters and promoters of Washington, DC’s vibrant jazz scene = are undertaking an ambitious project as part of the forthcoming DC Jazz Festival, which promises to be better than ever this year (http://www.dcjazzfest.org). Dig this…

Hi friends –

We want to let you know about CapitalBop’s exciting plans at the DC Jazz Festival next month. It’s all part of our mission to ensure that D.C.’s vibrant jazz scene retains its rightful place in the creative renaissance that’s underway all across this city. Next month’s second annual D.C. Jazz Loft Series at the DC Jazz Fest is absolutely the most ambitious thing we’ve undertaken in our two years of work – and it stands to cultivate a whole new crop of jazz fans. But we won’t be able to make this happen without your help, which is why we’re asking you to head to our Kickstarter campaign http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/capitalbop/capitalbops-dc-jazz-loft-series-at-the-2012-dc-jaz and check out the video and the awesome rewards we’re offering to supporters. There’s only one week left before time runs out!

Here’s what’s planned for the D.C. Jazz Loft Series: On June 1 and June 2, we’re presenting two double-bill shows, both at alternative venues and both featuring an innovative D.C. band paired with a national ensemble. The next weekend, on June 9, we’re upping the ante with a daylong Jazz Loft MegaFest at a converted loft space in downtown D.C. The MegaFest will feature …
four bands (including Marc Cary’s amazing new future-fusion project, Cosmic Indigenous);
food and drink catered by the Taste of DC;
a pop-up retail shop with vintage clothes and records, organized by SHAM;
specially commissioned art installations by many local artists in a “floating gallery,” also presented by SHAM;
a film screening (Icons Among Us);
a panel on the synthesis of jazz and hip-hop, hosted by Shaolin Jazz.
The MegaFest (flyer below) is our attempt at presenting jazz in a way that it’s never been showcased in this town – a way that’s especially hospitable to younger, artistically curious crowds, while also serving longtime fans of the music. The goal is for this show to offer a range of experiences and “entry points,” so that we can draw in a bunch of people that might not think to go to a jazz show otherwise. We know that once they’re there, they’ll hear the music and be thrilled by it.

Please check out our Kickstarter page, where you’ll find a range of awesome rewards – a downloadable modern-jazz mixtape, signed CDs, a poster autographed by all the series headliners, a private music lesson with the great Todd Marcus, your very own slot as a DJ on WPFW 89.3 FM… the list goes on. If we can just raise another $2,000 in the next week, we’ll have enough to compensate musicians, outfit the venues, and help prove that jazz is relevant and vital to D.C.’s contemporary artistic conversation.

Thanks so much for your support,
Gio and Luke

NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron is one of the featured artists in the 2012 DC Jazz Festival – http://www.dcjazzfest.org
—
Giovanni Russonello
Editor-in-Chief
CapitalBop.com
202.255.0392
editor@capitalbop.com
@capitalbop