[Dixielandjazz] Free Music/ Truly upsetting

[Jack Mitchell]

Here's a good news story re paying musicians for a change.

For the last 40 years or so (since audio tape cassette machines became 
available) Australian jazz fans have been interviewing jazz musicians in 
Sydney and Melbourne whilst taping them. These are called oral histories, 
and the resulting hundreds of tapes are held in the National Film and Sound 
Archive in Canberra and/or the Victorian Jazz Archive in Melbourne. No doubt 
there are others in other archives or libraries, or still in private hands.

Some of these tapes have been transcribed for articles in magazines or used 
for the basis of books such as John Sharpe's DON'T WORRY BABY. THEY'LL SWING 
THEIR ARSES OFF.

Recently Sydney drummer Andrew Dickeson started a series called JAZZ VOICES 
and somehow got the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (our public radio 
and TV organisation) to do the the recording. Andrew asked another drummer 
John Pochee to do an interview. When John discovered that the ABC was 
involved, he insisted upon payment, which was agreed. Since then the ABC has 
recorded interviews with at least  three other  jazz musicians, and paid 
them $200.00 each.

Presumably they will go into the ABC Archives, but I hope they will be 
accessable to researchers and authors as required.

Best wishes
Jack Mitchell