Want More Jazz
A musician friend once related a comment one of his band mates made. It went something like this: "It can be frustrating being a jazz musician. I play a thousand notes for ten people and across town some blues musician is playing ten notes for a thousand people!" And his comment is tantamount to a truism. The typical act filling the local 1000 seat music hall, the 2700 person auditorium, and the larger arena venue is far more likely to be rock, blues, symphonic, or some form of pop music than it is to be a jazz musician or band.
That is unfortunate because it means fewer people get opportunities to be exposed to live jazz music and the incredible energy environment it can produce. Unfortunately the reality is that few jazz musicians can afford to tour at the club level because so few people frequent live jazz clubs outside of large cities. Musicians depend upon live performances to build CD sales and a name for themselves.
Without those gigs, or with small audiences at the shows, the musicians can't build themselves up to a level of fame that will see them headlining a 1000 seat club or larger venue.
You can change that. You vote with every dollar we spend. If each of you makes it a your goal to choose live jazz for your evening's entertainment and activity one more night per week than you already do, you can make a huge impact on the whole of the jazz music scene, and dramatically increase the number of great live jazz acts that can afford to come play our local venues. See you at the club!