[Dixielandjazz] Jazz Aspen Snowmass Controversy

[G. William Oakley]

Mr. Barbone:
If you can pull yourself up from the floor and contain your mirth, you will
note that the article refers twice to Jazz Aspen.  If I see a news piece
that refers to the Ford Motor company I might in my naivete think they were
referencing a car company.  As to being "had by a knee jerk follow the
leader reaction" that's a bit of a stretch.  I originated the string and
suggested a response to the matter.  Further, anyone who knows me knows that
I am anything but "a follow the leader type."  My career history shows that
I started a theatrical enterprise that all "wiser heads" said would not
work.  When I retired it was grossing $6,000,000.00 per annum.  When I took
over the Goldenrod in 1975 I acquired a jazz festival that was limping along
and within three years it was a major cultural event in St. Louis and
garnering national recognition.  Following the leader,  not I.   Now that I
have had my turn at being pretentious and tooting my horn I will return the
pretension gavel back to its rightful owner.

As a relative newcomer to the list,  I do not know what the paranoid
nattering regarding Beebe, Hooks and yourself is all about but from the
tenor of your response to my post I can guess.
Regards,
G. William Oakley

----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Barbone" <barbonestreet@earthlink.net>
To: "G. William Oakley" <gwilliamoakley@earthlink.net>
Cc: "DJML" <dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Friday, August 23, 2002 8:02 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Jazz Aspen Snowmass Controversy


> G. William:
>
> Well now, where in that article does it say it is a Jazz Festival? Does it
not
> list the musicians who are appearing? Like Dylan and Willie Nelson? Are
you
> saying that this article justifies the context of the letters that were
> written, like false advertising, miss-leading people etc. You've been had
by a
> knee jerk follow the leader reaction of people who told you on the list
that
> this group was touting the Labor Day Festival as a Jazz Festival. That
> contention was simply not true. Get a grip.
>
> This has been a major music festival for the past 10 years or so. In
Summer
> they promote all types of music including lots of jazz. And they have
summer
> sessions to promote jazz among young, talented musicians. They are quite
good
> at what they do, generating major corporate sponsorships as high as
$420,000,
> major season subscriptions to $2000 per person. The last thing these folks
are
> worried about is a few misinformed OKOM "fans" who don't know how to read.
>
> Who among the letter writers read this article and based their letters on
it?
>
> Pretentious? Not me, I'm rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
> "G. William Oakley" wrote:
>
> > Apparently you did not read the Denver article which set off the
brouhaha.
> > Here is the article:
> >
> > "All that Jazz Aspen
> >
> > Jazz Aspen boss Jim Horowitz is jazzed about the upcoming Labor Day
> > festival.
> >
> > "The advance sales are triple anything we've had in the past 12 years,"
says
> > Horowitz. In 2000, it was Lyle Lovett, Joe Cocker, Jimmy Cliff and the
> > Allman Brothers taking the stage. This year, it's Phil Lesh, Macy Gray,
Keb'
> > Mo', Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and Nickel Creek.
> >
> > "The Dylan show on Sunday (Sept. 1) is the biggest one of all," says
> > Horowitz. "The venue holds 10,000, and we expect to sell out early on
the
> > day of the show."
> >
> > It's a new venue this year - the base of Buttermilk Mountain, close to
Aspen
> > and the action.
> >
> > And the action will be at Colony, a new restaurant/nightclub in town
where
> > Horowitz will hold court every night after the bands wrap. He's invited
all
> > the musicians to sit in, so it should be a jam to remember."
> >
> > When I see it in the Denver Post I assume there is a certain amount of
truth
> > to the article.  According to you we are supposed to go to their web
site
> > and verify.  If I had seen it on their site should I go to the Post to
> > verify.  I don't think so.  Thus, your suggestion of reacting to a
hearsay
> > note is,  to put it mildly,  nonsense.  There is another word I would
choose
> > but I won't.  It was a reaction to a legitimate newspaper source and
your
> > pretentious chiding cannot change that.
> > Regards,
> > G. William Oakley
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Stephen Barbone" <barbonestreet@earthlink.net>
> > To: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com>
> > Sent: Friday, August 23, 2002 1:47 PM
> > Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Jazz Aspen Snowmass Controversy
> >
> > > Well, we got hoisted on our own petards. Maybe all who wrote the
> > > festival producer rushed to judgement?  A look at the web site reveals
> > > that Jazz Aspen Snowmass is not the name of the Labor Day Festival.
The
> > > name of the Festival is something more exotic like "Labor Day
Festival".
> > >
> > > Jazz Aspen Snowmass is apparently a generic name for the producer
and/or
> > > venue.
> > >
> > > Note also that the description of this Labor Day Festival that follows
a
> > > few paragraphs down, It quotes their site which says "ROCK, FUNK,
WORLD,
> > > SOUL, R & B, and more". There is no mention of jazz, or this being a
> > > jazz festival.  NOTHING ABOUT JAZZ AT ALL.
> > >
> > > So, this poor bastard festival producer gets all these nasty letters
> > > from people reacting to a hearsay note that a "Jazz Festival" is
> > > occurring in Aspen and it has no jazz. People who obviously did not
read
> > > the information on the event web site.
> > >
> > > Me, I don't blame them for getting just a little pissed.  Especially
> > > since during the year they produce more than one jazz event, with some
> > > big time jazz artists in performance.
> > >
> > > We are lucky that Charlie Hooks, Jim Beebe or I are not the Festival
> > > Producers cause then we'd really see some tough love letters back..
:-)
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > > Steve (Trust But Verify) Barbone
> > >
> > > HERE IS THE FESTIVAL DESCRIPTION ON THEIR WEB SITE.
> > >
> > > "Description: The open air Labor Day Weekend music extravaganza
features
> > > four full days of rock, funk, blues, world, soul, R&B, and more. Set
in
> > > the shadow of the spectacular "bowed roof stage", four acts perform
> > > daily from noon ? 8:30pm. The dance-oriented event never skips a beat,
> > > and attendees keep moving during intermissions in the 'JAS Village',
an
> > > international bazaar of exotic food, crafts, drumming circles and
more.
> > > Between main-stage acts the music is continuous with bands at the
Janus
> > > Music Club throughout the day. The broad and diverse collection of
ages
> > > (12-60+) and music attract daily audiences of 8000+ from around the
> > > U.S.A. and beyond..."
> > >
> > >
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>