State of the Art - Music
I don't believe in the old concept of a "jazz scene" existing in night clubs and bars any more. I think that is dead in most cities in the US. Most clubs who call themselves jazz clubs are actually "Back-Ground-Music" restaurants or bars who advertise Jazz as a novelty or circus type exhibition similar to the way they hang old plows and harnesses or pictures of the “good ole days” on their walls. So, I've dedicated myself to confronting this problem by trying to invent a new venue for the performance of local art that is dignified and something I can be proud of.
I believe that by piggybacking our performances to the education of music, a perpetual life between the two can be formed. Teaching music can help to financially support our gigs by offering a tangible service of lessons in a venue that can also support concerts when lessons are not in session. As a result of this relationship, the educational facility (or school) will profit by charging students for instruction. Artists profit by having a space to perform concerts in and teach at. The performances help to recruit students for the school and brings potential new blood into the art. This brings back dignity and honor to our performances that once were the primary lure of becoming professionals. Instead of selling pasta and beer, we’re selling tickets to our own concerts (with the help of our students) and teaching our art to others.
Therefore, I believe that the place to focus our attention for live music performance (aka gigs) is not to try and piggyback onto some unrelated business such as restaurants and bars but attach ourselves instead to the teaching of what we do by forming co-ops and schools in our areas that bring local artists and students together, one supporting the other – daytime teaching, with evening concerts.
This could be accomplished perhaps with local art society’s support for forming co-ops that will place it in the hands of the artists but with an organized cooperation… similar to a union or better yet, a “Musician’s Club”. Something like this could also fall into the "not for profit" column and local businesses could help support it by offering small scholarships for students who can't afford the lessons.
On the flip side of that coin, we mustn’t confuse the education of art with what is happening in many of our public and private schools. As a matter of fact, the local schools could be your biggest obstacle.
In the case of Independent School Districts or public schools, the definition of "music" must be carefully scrutinized because most of the public schools are trying (and succeeding) in turning the art form into a competitive sport. This degradation of the art is proudly conceptualized in many of the school band logos, inferring that music is performed primarily on a marching field or in a contest situation. Catering to a mass who typically don’t understand the importance of art on it's on terms has created a second generation of "educators" who are a product of that same system. The band directors who do not embrace the marching/competitive sport concept are usually miserable and won’t last.
This pressure or desire to win contests and put on a great half-time show pressures the administration to hire people who win contests and put on great half-time shows. They then turn the music into something they understand such as marching or regional contests more similar to a track meet than a concert hall. They control all aspects of their student’s lives so that a true music education outside of their control is not possible without lowing the student's grade dramatically. This creates difficult challenges for both the students who wish to learn real music and instructors who are attempting to teach the real art. So often, students who get involved in the band programs at public school eventually find that they belong to a cult-like environment that will never help them learn to play the music they love. I’ve run into many students who believed that they were eventually going to learn music at school or at least learn how to learn music but the only thing they came away learning was bad habits and stick-twirling techniques to win contests.
This is a sad thing, yet in some ways, it is an opportunity for professional artists. As artists, we can spot this weakness in our communities and offer an alternative. Many students and parents are beginning to recognize it too and they are looking for alternatives.
Supporting your local music program is important but you may have to create one first.
