[Dixielandjazz] Jazz Festivals and Self-fulfilling Prohecies

[Nancy Giffin]

Hi Listmates!!!

Bob Ringwald has sent a batch of emails to those of us involved with
presenting the Sacramento Music Festival. Everyone certainly has their
OPINION, and they are FREE TO EXPRESS IT in whatever form or media
they wish...BUT AT WHAT COST TO JAZZ, the art form?  It's so easy to
look at what you don't like, and overlook what you do like.  Half
full? Half empty?  It does not help jazz -- the art form -- when the
people who supposedly love it are dead set on badmouthing and
boycotting a festival that is evolving but is still one of the few
remaining places one can hear live trad music.

QUESTION: Ever try to organize a small event, let alone a large
festival?  If not, you can't even imagine the complexity -- the art,
the science, the dance -- of so many interwoven intricacies, with so
many factions and SO MANY PEOPLE TO PLEASE.  Even if you HAVE
organized your own festival, you cannot know the parameters of someone
else's festival well enough to make comparisons and judgments.

I suppose people generally become more vocal when they are displeased,
but I very much appreciate those who are vocal with GRATITUDE AND
APPRECIATION.  I often ask myself: do I want to be CONSTRUCTIVE /
CREATIVE? Or do I want to be DESTRUCTIVE?  It's a choice. (Sometimes,
I forget to ask myself this question, and it's usually a negative
outcome.)

Badmouthing and boycotting HURTS THE BANDS, not just the festival. If
you love trad music, show up at the festivals that present it. Fill
those seats and be counted so those bands can play to a full audience,
sell CDs, and be hired again. It's a SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY: don't
show up to fill seats for trad bands at a mixed-genre festival like
Sacramento, hence consequentially force the festival to cut back on
trad bands next year (while instead hiring bands that DO fill seats).

It HURTS TRAD YOUTH BANDS, too.  When Talent Budgets are cut  due to
lower attendance, there's less money for bands (performance / travel /
hotel), and fewer dollars to help youth bands attend and enjoy the
experience.  Definitely support those festivals that have Next
Generation Band sites -- they're usually FREE (no badge required, like
in Sacramento).

Chris Tyle mentioned how FESTIVAL ORGANIZERS retire, with no one to
take their place. It's hard to find a younger person to take their
place if the festival only offers trad, without any of the music that
this younger person has grown up with.  YOUNG VOLUNTEERS also lack
interest if there is no "generation mix of music."  I sincerely
acknowledge the 2nd generation of festival directors at SUN VALLEY
Jazz Jamboree (in October) and at the ATLANTA JAZZ PARTY (in April)
for carrying the torch and keeping jazz alive into the future. Thank
you! (You've made your parents proud.)

Trad lovers: feel free to express your opinion, but if your intention
is to harm the reputation of a festival that STILL INCLUDES PLENTY OF
TRAD in their lineup, then be careful what you wish for... Once these
festivals are gone, they are gone.

THANK YOU to all trad festival ORGANIZERS & VOLUNTEERS everywhere!  I
appreciate your hard work and dedication -- during the event, and all
year long throughout the planning process. And THANK YOU to all TRAD
MUSICIANS who are keeping the music alive!  My best wishes to you all.

Cheers everyone!

Nancy