[Dixielandjazz] Early Jazz In NYC - Jan 6, 2005

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

In a message dated 12/11/04 7:00:22 PM, arnieday at optonline.net writes:


> Theatre tickets in New York City are now in the $80 to $120 range. And you 
> can't get people to pay $20 to listen to Ed Polcer and his buddies? That's 
> really sad. Players like those won't be around for much longer.
> Arnie
> 
> 

Yes, it indeed is Sad Arn, but a strange thing goes on in California 
regarding Music Stars, not only in OKOM with great players like Ed Polcer and his 
buddies from the East.

Big name Rock Artists from the 50, s 60, s can sell out Madison Sq. Garden in 
NY and can't draw 300 people in California many times, which drives them 
crazy because they can't get a reasonable tour to work on the Left Coast.   

To promote a date on Ed Polcer out here you should have a built in audience 
for His kind of music, or at least a built in audience   of event attendees, 
because you cannot get sufficient airplay on his music to reach a general 
audience, and the costs of newspaper advertising would be more than the cost of the 
act as would the rental fee for the use of most decent venues where the act 
should be promoted. 

With the exception of the few OKOM programs on the air and the Internet out 
here, I doubt you could get any other radio station to play his CD as most of 
them have never heard of him or his buddies, heck many of them have never even 
heard of Turk Murphy or Lu Watters our Legends.

It is a bit of a different world out here especially for OKOM music, but 
having said that I also feel that it would get much better and bigger if we had 
more East Coast acts toured out here and opened up new territory, unfortunately 
for a while they cannot expect to get East Coast Prices for their shows unless 
they come here and promote the shows themselves and take the risk.

There is a large number of OKOM bands all over California and Oregon, 
Washington State, and they all have similar problems trying to find enough work to 
stay together outside of Jazz society circuits.

Sadly, But without Lots and Lots of promotion and exposure to the unwashed 
mass audiences that abound around here, it will simply not change or get any 
better for any of them.

Cheers,

Tom Wiggins