Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival

[gator]

Indeed - i should have put the word seems in bold...

not to mention a little cynical fore -knowledge. But lets wait and see...

[isaacs]

timothystevens said:

Well let's read it first, hey?

I ordered a copy last night. It's only $12+postage. See www.currency.com.au/product_detail.aspx?productid=1734

[gator]

Yep just did...

[ironguts]

$12 for PR's opinion? He can have mine for free,,,,

We were looking for the Aus Kenny G, we may have found the Aus Stanley Crouch instead.

[gator]

Ha -that maybe a little tough on Stanley. There are some important issues here. If PR has written a book about a "national plan" then theres a good chance that his views could be interpreted as being those of the whole playing community. I'd like to see whose voices amongst the community are actually represented apart from his own and whether those voices hearken from somewhere other than Sydney...

[ironguts]

The voice of reason as always my dear gator, this is why sex with you is so nice. Interesting you say the playing community, of which he is certainly not part, though he is part of the listening ( I have thoughts on his ears too!) and booking community. I must say my experiences of PR have not been of what I see as the most helpful or constructive towards the artist developing their audience or indeed their art form. This is what makes me so skeptical of his point of view. I would be very interested to see if he does offer some idea of what he perceives "Jazz" to be, he certainly has put boundaries on the term as far as some of his booking/curating decisions go, but, I'm still not paying $12.
Oh well, there goes my gig at SIMA this year.

[gator]

Ah sweet Guts... I do like older men.....

Anyway thats a view shared by more than a few I'm sure.

I'll report back when Ive read it.

[aj]

gh said:

Ha -that maybe a little tough on Stanley. There are some important issues here. If PR has written a book about a "national plan" then theres a good chance that his views could be interpreted as being those of the whole playing community. I'd like to see whose voices amongst the community are actually represented apart from his own and whether those voices hearken from somewhere other than Sydney...

I think the whole point of a book like this is to raise awareness and generate discussion, ideas........who knows, perhaps even action.

If anyone (especially those in the 'playing community', whose livelihood is central to the issues being discussed) has any different or better ideas, by all means let's hear them.

[gator]

aj said:

I think the whole point of a book like this is to raise awareness and generate discussion, ideas........who knows, perhaps even action.

I think it already is AJ...

[ironguts]

We'll get chatting aj, just need to troll a bit first, you know how I am.

I'll get back to you later with a more sensible approach. But for now, I think there is lots of positive action going on, look at last month and this month in Melbourne. We have had MIBEM ( Melb Int Biennial experimental music- maybe not Jazz but still improvised and creative) the MIUC Birthday ( make it up club festivities) and then the The fringe fest coming up with the more Mainstream Melb Fest following. All these are well advertised and have and offer the audience a wide listening and viewing platform. These are Government supported too, though much more would be helpful. You'll find that these events are on the most part organized by the playing community too, and very well I might add. The other positive action that is evident is the dedication of the Artists presenting their work at these events. Lets not forget just how much work actually goes in to creating and maintaining the skills involved in being a performing artist and an improviser to boot!! That's a shit load of continuous arduous ( yes fun and rewarding too) work.
The idea that Jazz is in the permanent underground may well be true, but so is most adventurous music or Art. Lets face it, in the Art world there are very few who are successful financially ( or in popularity) don't see why we would expect any more. Most often the successful ones are in a more established genre like painting, the audience can handle that, it's on a canvas.
Now the funding system here is not huge, and heaps ( too much) goes on admin but, we do have it. It's helped many of us here on the forum, look at my fellowship (others here too) Bob S got the Banks, how many people here have put out an album or toured on Aus-co money? Heaps I bet. YES we need more, but thank christ we got what we have.
Ok, so I should read the article before dissing it for sure, but bottom line, there are many more opinions/ideas I would listen to first.

[gator]

In light of the above comments - heres a link to some figures - this is what the Dutch government lays out every year for Jazz -(similar population to Aus.)- interesting the way the funds are allocated. Explains to some extent the heavy politicisation in the music scene over there...interesting to know how we might do it differently here. Personally Im looking forward to Peters book to read his ideas.. we need original ideas for the funding issues here in Aus.

www.flemishjazzmeeting.be/UserFiles/File/DOCUMENTEN/Jazzpolicy%20in%20The%20Netherlands.doc

[isaacs]

ironguts said:

look at last month and this month in Melbourne. We have had MIBEM ( Melb Int Biennial experimental music- maybe not Jazz but still improvised and creative) the MIUC Birthday ( make it up club festivities) and then the The fringe fest coming up with the more Mainstream Melb Fest following.

Not to mention Stonnington. You guys have a feast going on down there. But, we're getting Sonny Rollins - exclusively.

[aj]

Re all the events that Guts mentioned......great, all positive stuff BUT how many provide the sort of income that will help musicians survive from playing their music of choice?

Is there a way to achieve that? Can musicians achieve a substantial increase in government funding, whether direct or via venues/festivals/other presenting organisations?

Or do we accept that's an unrealistic goal, and assume that jazz/improvising musicians just have to fit their music around other ways of making a living, be it teaching, writing for film, doing studio gigs, etc? I'd love to know what the musicians out there all think.

[shaggaz]

I had a chat with a more experienced musician than myself the other day and it was interesting to hear him mention that in a Census poll type thing (I think it's published somewhere on the MCA site), jazz was seen by many of the general public as a niche, cliquey art form that is difficult to find and difficult to feel a part of... he was also talking about how the music is 'marketed' (for want of a better term...)

Perhaps we need to rethink strategies of reaching new audiences and presenting the music to them?

Something that reinforces this to me is the fact that when I tour with a pop/rock/reggae/some more popular music, many audience members are quick to acknowledge the instrumentalists in the band; they really listen and really enjoy instrumental solos (for example). The music may not be them same, but the spirit is there and yet I never see any of these people in a jazz club or at a festival. Why?

Anyway, I hope that makes sense.

Here's the links to presales for the two Melb Jazz Fringe Fest shows; the Apra Commission Concert and Big Arse Sunday!

Big Arse: www.moshtix.com.au/record.asp?leventid=18171
Commission Concert: www.moshtix.com.au/record.asp?leventid=18170

Get those credit card digits out!

[ironguts]

Doh, Stonnington!!!! Sorry aj, so much on.

Mmm, I hate to say it but I don't think it's realistic to think I could make a living out of solely playing the music I'd like to play (in this country) , unless the fellowship lasted a lifetime! Even if I got a grand a gig I'd then still have to do a gig every week and lets face it, playing the stuff I really want to play it's more like a gig a month, maybe 2 on average. I think it's fair to say most musician are resigned to the fact that teaching and or commercial work is necessary to survive, especially having a family (and a golf addiction)
If we got rid of all the admin at the Aus-co and put as many (or twice) artists on a modest salary (even a 20-30 grand retainer) that would help. Then we don't need to have anyone administering the money as it'll be all dished out. I like that idea. Will it happen,,, der.
I'll read the link gator and check it out, love you darling.