[Dixielandjazz] Reason for less OKOM at Sacramento Jazz Festival (formerly Dixieland Jubilee)

[Marek Boym]

Does it work, Charlie?
Have you really attracted new, younger audience?

IN Europe, some festivals are indeed managed in closed, paid venues.
It is difficult for me to know waht's going on now in Breda - I
haven't been there since 2005, but until then one could listen to free
music outdoors.  True, there was some sound overlap, especially from
stages featuring music with screaming electric guitars, but
nevertheless enjoyable enough.  I assume that the pubs near which the
stages were located participated in expenditure - after all, they got
a lot of business!  And, of course, many bands had sponsors.  And
while this does not contribute directly to the cash register, it
provides exposure for the music and ensures new audiences.  Of course,
there were paid venues, too, and they, too, were well attended.  And
sold food and beverages (but their beer selection was poor - a good
thing, as it saved me money).  Of course, the weather affects
attendance at the paid vanues - when it was bitterly cold, people
crowded into the closed venues rather than sitting outside.
And yes, Breda, like Sacramento, dropped the "Old Time" tag and
remained just "Jazz Festival," and added blues, zydeco, etc.
Cheers

On 13 May 2011 21:30, Charlie Hull <charlie at easysounds.com> wrote:
> Sacramento's 2011 Memorial Day weekend event will include a number of trad
> and swing bands as well as entertainers, including Banu Gibson, who have
> N.O./Chicago-styled backup groups. The full list of bands is on
> www.sacjazz.com. Click on Artists.
>
> In previous years the lineup included a couple of dozen trad jazz bands, but
> the largely-elder audience for those is dwindling and, to make the Festival
> pay its way changes had to be made, including addition of other popular
> music genres to attract a broader audience sufficient to support the event.
> They also dropped the word, "Dixieland" from the event name and changed
> "Jubilee" to "Festival", broadening the title to "Sacramento Jazz Festival",
> to avoid attracting only Dixieland fans and those who would associate the
> word "Jubilee" with Dixieland jazz and might think that was all that was
> offered. To make room for the additional musical styles, the number of OKOM
> bands was reduced.
>
> Foreign bands are no longer included unless willing to come at their own
> expense. That applies also to bands in other parts of the USA whose travel
> expenses would be prohibitive. The full cost of a foreign band today could
> be as much as $30,000 dollars. Coincidentally, that's the same amount
> Jubilee officials told the local bands would be saved by eliminating most of
> them.
>
> Starting small in 1974, the Jubilee decision makers kept adding more and
> more bands and venues until it became the largest such festival in the
> world. As overhead costs grew it eventually outgrew it's ability to be
> self-supporting and ran in the red for a few years. A reduction in size was
> necessary to reduce overhead. The number of venues was cut, including all
> those not located within walking distance in downtown Sacramento.
>
> As a strategy to keep the event alive, the Sacramento Jazz Festival is now
> run on a business model. The bottom line is paid attendances. You don't tie
> up valuable shelf space with products that don't sell. And you try new
> products in the continuing quest for those which produce the largest sales.
>
> As previously mentioned, more than a dozen of the trad bands which had
> participated regularly for many years have been dropped, especially those
> who were not attracting full houses. Each year the site manager for each
> performance venue, usually a non-musician, evaluates each band performing at
> his or her site, reporting the size of the audience drawn by the band,
> whether the band 'connected' with the audience, and the band's deportment
> and compliance with starting and finishing times and behavioral
> expectations. The bands with small audiences and not interacting with the
> audience, or whose deportment was inappropriate, are headed for the drop
> list.
>
> Evolution. Changes made for survival. I give the Sacramento Jazz Festival
> program directors credit for including at least a few OKOM bands. Hopefully
> enough to satisfy those attendees who come to hear trad jazz music.
>
> Charlie Hull
>
> On 5/10/2011 4:28 PM, Coastsidegiraffe at comcast.net wrote:
>>
>> I absolutely think that jazz - especially Trad Jazz - is at the back of
>> the bus (maybe not even on it?) at both Sacramento and N.O.J.&  H festivals.
>> Karen Brooks Anthony, Pacifica CA
>
> _______________________________________________
> To unsubscribe or change your e-mail preferences for the Dixieland Jazz
> Mailing list, or to find the online archives, please visit:
>
> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>
>
>
> Dixielandjazz mailing list
> Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>