[Dixielandjazz] Re: Jazz Festivals

[G. William Oakley]

Snippet:
"Benny Goodman's concert at Carnegie which  included some very fine
musicians other than his band."

Tom's reference to Carnegie Hall brings to mind a situation I was presented
with some years ago (probably around 1987) and I am wondering if any
listmates have ever heard of this or if it is just apocryphal.  The on- air
entertainment personality for KOA-TV here in Denver called and asked if I
could give him advice on something.  He said he had met a man who had
retired to Denver and for many years he had been the sound man for Carnegie
Hall.  This fellow said that they had always run a microphone out of the
ceiling above the stage and recorded all of the concerts there.  This had
been going on for years and he had still had all of the discs that had
accumulated from this bootleg situation.  He had no use for them and was
asking my KOA friend if he knew of anyone who might be interested in having
them.  Norvell (my KOA friend) called me and asked if I knew of anyone who
might want them.  I made a couple of contacts but got nothing back in the
way of a positive response.
This brings me to two questions:
1. Is this story true?
2. Does anyone have an interest in these    recordings if they were
available?
According to the sound man this had been going on from the late 30's up to
the time he retired which I would guess was in the 80's.
I am not sure I could locate the fellow because all Norvell told me was that
he lived in Littleton but if there were interest I would make an attempt to
see if I could find him.
If anyone has thoughts on this situation let me know.
Best,
Bill

----- Original Message -----
From: <TCASHWIGG at aol.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 12:25 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Re: Jazz Festivals


> In a message dated 7/9/03 6:43:36 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
> barbonestreet at earthlink.net writes:
>
> >
> > I don't think one could properly call that a "great jazz festival" in
the
> > context we are using for this discussion. It was more like a jazz
concert with
> > a couple of acts. Similar to Benny Goodman's concert at Carnegie which
> > included some very fine musicians other than his band.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Steve
> >
> >
> The term Festival does indeed have various interpretations depending upon
> where you are in the world.
>
> In Italy for example a Festival happens of some kind almost every week
> somewhere, and the Italians are fond of the word Festival.  Some Festivals
last six
> months, but are really no more than one day or night concerts held over a
> period of several weeks or months in various venues.
>
> What we commonly refer to as a Festival in the USA is one day gigantic
event
> or several days with many acts performing on a variety of stages and or
> venues.  Some are held in Sport Stadiums, and some are held in parks or
even open
> fields such as Woodstock, we all remember that one don't we, even if we
did not
> attend.
>
> In Europe in the winter time Blues festivals often move indoors and are
> called Blues Parades, because they feature several acts on the bill at
each event.
>
> I have also toured in Europe with four or five acts in a show and they
> promoted it as the San Francisco or Chicago Blues festival.  Hardly
considered a
> Festival by American Standards, we would refer to that as a musical Review
> playing one nighters and often for a week long engagement nightly.
>
> So it is partially in the Billing, and many folks promoting one night
> concerts like to make the public feel that it is a much larger event than
it really
> is so they call it a Festival.
>
> Out west we have Tomato Festivals, Bean Festivals, Zucchini Festivals,
> Strawberry Festivals, Blues Festivals, Jazz Festivals, Flower Festivals,
Honey
> Festivals, Mustard Festivals, Wine Festivals, and just about anything else
you want
> to make a festival for.
>
> Most of them feature live entertainment in various forms, and would always
> welcome OKOM if you go looking for them and book yourselves, some of them
pay
> and some of them don't have an entertainment budget, but you can always
perform
> and sell the heck out of your CDs and tapes and book other gigs that do
pay.
> It is called Promotion and advertising for your Band Business.  Give you
> excellent opportunities to cash in on some other organizations advertising
and
> promotion budget to promote your own business and attract new followers
and fans
> of OKOM and your music.
>
> Playing for a few hours at an outdoor event with 10-50 thousand people
will
> get you a lot more fans and CD sales than playing for a year in a pizza
parlor
> or small bar once a week or once a month.  The more folks who see and hear
you
> the more famous you get, and every event you play like this attracts you
new
> fans that will then come and pay to hear and see you at other events.  It
is
> also a good live rehearsal for your group as you are allowed total freedom
to
> play whatever you wish since it is your stage.  Insist upon getting
newspaper
> and media coverage for your group for performing at these kind of events,
and
> always ask for it in advance of the event, not afterwards in the form of a
> review, as that is useless for drawing any people to the event, although
it can be
> useful for your future promotion kit to help sell you to other events that
> have a budget.
>
> It is always fun to meet new people who walk up to the stage and tell you
> they came to hear you because they saw you in the newspaper or on TV etc.
lets
> you know your marketing is working, and make sure you tell the event
organizers
> about it as well so they know that people actually came to their event to
see
> you, therefore you do have drawing power to attract folks to their event
and
> you can then negotiate for payment or increases the next year.
>
>
> Remember if there is NO OKOM MUSIC at any event you go to it is usually
the
> fault of the local OKOM bands for not doing their homework and marketing
> themselves to the events available to them every week.  You don't call on
them and
> try to book your group you can bet they are not going to call you, there
are
> simply too many other groups of all sorts of music genres banging on their
door
> begging for a place to perform, even for Free.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Tom Wiggins
> Saint Gabriel's Celestial Brass Band
>
>
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