[Dixielandjazz] Re: "Jazz" Festivals

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/2/03 7:37:19 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
barbonestreet at earthlink.net writes:

> One should also note that very few, no fans are going to see all 25 bands 
> at an
> OKOM festival, so why not have 10 OKOM bands and 15 "others". What is the 
> harm
> in that? As Wiggins says, go for quality, not quantity. Get rid of the 
> bottom
> 15 OKOM bands. The musicians in them may suffer a bit, but then, they 
> probably
> are not doing the genre any good either if they are presenting mediocre 
> music.
> And other jazz forms will expand the audience for the festival and perhaps 
> for
> OKOM.
> 

HI Folks:

It is my contention that the bottom 15 mediocre OKOM bands, are usually just 
not ready for prime time bookings, I however certainly do not recommend their 
dismantlement, by any means, there is a time and place for any act.  However 
the time and place for non proven ticket selling acts should be limited on a 
festival.  All Bands are not Created equal and with any certain inalienable 
right to perform and be paid as well as the best bands, who have taken a 
professional approach to their music and business.  I suggest any new local band or 
those that do not have a proven ticket selling track record, be given tickets or 
badges in the value of their payment fee and if they expect to get paid they 
must sell them to people willing to pay to hear them at the festival, the more 
tickets they sell the more money they are worth.
 Therefore if you have a reasonable budget for paying bands, get those local 
bands involved in your promotion of the festival, let them go out and play in 
the park ahead of the festival, or downtown at the mall and sell their tickets 
and encourage folks who hear them to come out to the festival and see them 
with the big guys.

  If this band believes they are worth $300.00 give em $300. Worth of 
tickets, if they think they are worth $600. give em $600. Etc.  Insist that they 
return all unsold tickets or pay for them.  (Many of the bands will elect to give 
away many of these tickets to their friends and family to garner support, and 
that is OK too, but it should be considered part of their payment.  Nobody 
should ride this bus for free.  NO GUEST LIST, if your friends, fans and family 
are not proud enough of you to pay to see and hear you perform then how can you 
expect John Q. Public to do so.  Professional Musical employment is not a 
Party for the Band and their immediate friends and family folks, it is a party 
for the people who buy the tickets.  Musician's Guest list are what helped to 
kill the live music scene in nightclubs and restaurants many years ago, and it 
will continue to kill new clubs that attempt to provide places to employ 
musicians and entertainers.  (There still ain't no Free Lunch.)

Just like promoting Jazz festivals, promoting a band of any kind is indeed a 
tough business, and only the strong will survive to make a living and or break 
even.  In today's market there are far too many wannabes than there are 
professionals plying their trade, and these wannabes continue to undercut the value 
of a real hard working professional bands.  This has caused many a good band 
to disband because they have been forced to work for less than reasonable 
wages to support their band, travel and families plying their once honorable 
trade.

We must be advised of and always remember that professional musicians and 
entertainers are people too with house payments, car payments, health insurance, 
clothes for the kids, child support, and all the other things enjoyed by 
Doctors, Lawyers, Dentists, Firemen, Policemen, plumbers, electricians, 
programmers, etc., and any other profession.



Perhaps a question we need to ask is: "Are OKOM Festivals as we know them 
since
the 1970s, going to remain viable?" Maybe, maybe not. But from the general
experiences of OKOM festivals around the USA it seems as if they are on a
downward spiral.

In my opinion they need to be incorporated into large diversified festivals 
to expand the audience base for it.  I am a firm believer that the music will 
not die but it does need to be taken to those evangelically who have not 
experienced it and they are many more than we are folks.   I played the Great North 
Sea Jazz Festival last year which had 250 Acts of all styles of Jazz from all 
over the world and all the headline Name Acts in the business were there.   I 
received the greatest compliment of my bands career together, from the 
Festival promoters, who by the way are Clear Channel now the largest live music 
promoting firm in the world.  They said to us after the festival as they paid us 
the balance of our fees, "We are so glad we finally got you guys to play our 
festival, You Really brought a Breath of Fresh Air to this Festival, everyone 
loved you and your enthusiasm."

We have received similar compliments from several other major top ten Jazz 
festivals in Europe, so we must be doing something right in our presentation of 
OKOM.  There is a vast audience out there for good quality Jazz but you have 
to go find them they will almost never find you unless you hone your act and 
promote and hype it to get booked on those major events and exposed to larger 
audiences.  Then of course you have to deliver a top quality competitive but 
friendly performance with the professional quality all the top players ahead of 
you.  The same can be said for promoting events, promote the best and in the 
proper presentation and your event will succeed, fall into apathy and it will 
indeed fail and all those around you will get tired of it and it indeed will 
dissipate.

Entertainingly yours,

Tom Wiggins
Saint Gabriel's Celstial Brass Band and other stuff.