Big Band Report
December 2002

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By Jack Bowers

Even in today's high-speed, technically sophisticated, computerized and digitized world, some things simply don't add up. Take the state of Jazz, for example, or, more specifically, big-band Jazz. There was a time not long ago (although it sometimes seems as though endless ages have passed) when big bands ruled the land, criss-crossing the country with one-night stands that brought high-quality music for listening and dancing to enthusiastic audiences in cities large and small. There were no Jazz education programs then but big bands nevertheless drew standing-room-only crowds almost everywhere they went. Today, when nearly every reputable university, college, high school and even middle school has a Jazz Studies program complete with Jazz ensemble or ensembles, big bands can barely draw flies. As for record sales, fuggedaboudit. Jazz record sales as a whole are less than three percent of the market, and one can only shudder at what percentage of that three percent the big bands manage to accrue. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that there's something seriously wrong with this picture.

Trumpeter Mike Vax, a fellow who knows a thing or three about big bands, having played in a number of them before establishing his own first-class (not-for-profit) ensemble in the Oakland, CA, area, recently posted a message on the Kentonia web site (comprised mostly of Stan Kenton connoisseurs and admirers) that has sparked an ongoing debate about the reasons for the decline of big-band Jazz and where its future may lie. "[M]y gut feeling," Vax writes, "is that Jazz, especially big-band Jazz, is going the way of the concert band. At the beginning of the 20th century, many towns and cities had a 'city band.' They'd play on Sunday afternoons in the park and put on concerts at [various] times throughout the year. Now the only place you can find a concert band is in our schools and colleges and universities. I truly believe that within 15-20 years or less, the only place you'll find live big-band music will be in schools. . . .

"The San Jose Symphony, here in the Bay area, just closed its doors. They can't meet the financial demands of keeping an active and very good orchestra together and have given up. . . .I think that the events of September 11 hurt the arts even more than the hotel and airline industries. . . .My business from September 11 [2001] through the end of this year is off 45 percent. Many other musicians are feeling the same pinch that I am. One of the reactions to September 11 is that giving to [non-profit arts groups] has been way off. People have been so 'into' giving to the New York firemen and so on that they have abandoned the arts. I've read [many] newspaper articles that talk about arts non-profits giving up and shutting down. What are the answers to these events? At this point I'm not sure. I know that those of us who try to promote and produce Jazz programs, concerts, clinics, tours etc., have to try to keep going on less money. I know we won't give up, but it is getting harder and harder to keep it going."

In a later posting, Vax writes, "In talking with musicians all over the country, they all say the same thing: 1 -- It is getting harder and harder to make a living in the music business; 2 -- venues (especially Jazz clubs) are closing right and left; and 3 -- they are having to take on more private students or even get a part-time job to help pay the bills. As a full-time entrepreneur, as well as a player, I am finding it harder and harder to book clinics and concerts. It seems that many schools' budgets [are] being cut and they just can't afford extras. . . .As a person who runs a non-profit [group] and a big band that performs throughout the year, my board and I are trying everything we can to make our concerts draw more people and just break even. In 2002 we have put on six concerts, and have lost a total of $5,000 producing [them]. We have a mailing list of 1,400 people but only draw 200-250 per concert. We do all the usual free advertising in papers and on Jazz radio stations. That's what I'm talking about when I say that one of the problems we deal with are 'lazy people.' I'm not sure what the answers are. I only know things are getting worse, with no relief in sight."

Fred Stride, a Jazz educator, is one of those who has replied to Vax's e-mails, writing, in part, that he has had "similar experiences with getting students, even my own, to attend concerts. In fact, I have many students (I teach at a university) sign up to play in a big band or take Jazz theory or even arranging courses who never listen to the music on CD or live. That's like studying Japanese out of a book and never hearing it spoken! Or being blind and having someone else verbally describe colors [to you]. Damn near impossible. If they are interested enough to want to play or write this music, why don't they listen?

". . .Would it not be reasonable to expect many of these [students] to continue their interest in Jazz or classical music? It doesn't appear they do, or we would be getting more than 250 people [to attend] concerts. This, then, is the big question -- why is this youthful interest not sustained throughout a lifetime? Something I have observed is that many high-school students join Jazz bands to be cool, to meet gals / guys, to have fun, to play harder / cooler music than the concert band . . . in other words, [many] of the kids are there for social reasons, and only a select few are there for passionate reasons. So how can we (educators) cultivate a passion for playing music, both expressively and creatively, [in] all our students? And more importantly, how can we cultivate a passion for listening to music?. . .I've been thinking about these things for quite a while and I've come to change my approach to teaching. Certainly digital excellence, sound, tuning, blend are still important . . . but I also try to engage the students in expressing their reactions, or feelings, about what they are doing. . . .I hope my revised approach will begin to move the students closer to [understanding] what music is all about, and maybe this will help develop the future audiences."

Vax replies: "We've actually tried to get young people to our concerts by offering reduced ticket prices and . . . offering free tickets to all the students in a particular school Jazz band. When we did that, one student out of a whole school band came. The students in Jazz bands in many schools today are not there because of the music. They are there because they aren't athletes and this is a way to compete and win trophies. It's the marching band / drum and bugle corps mentality of winning is everything, seeping into Jazz programs too. Band directors are caught up in this and don't get their students interested in hearing any of this music live. They don't even worry about the kids listening to Jazz on their own time. . . .Maybe if we put our heads together we can come up with some answers to getting this turned around."

Another Kentonian, David Clements, writes that he was reminded "of a gig where I was the quasi-leader (filling in for the regular leader) that had a pianist and bassist from the University of North Texas. They were very talented but neither one (one from the One O'Clock band, one from the Two O'Clock) even knew 'Satin Doll!' They knew 'Stella by Starlight,' but as for many of the 'standards,' forget it . . . and these were two accomplished products of the supposed Jazz Mecca of UNT. A friend there is talking about teaching a class dealing with music in the real world, teaching things like 'Satin Doll' . . . maybe he should."

As for the students' music appreciation, Clements adds, "I don't know if they expect it to come to them through osmosis or what. . . . I remember [a] clinic in Bayonne, NJ, where there were two drummers in the school, but one decided that softball practice was more important than learning [about Jazz] from some of the best in the business. Jazz is an art that you can't just pick up through study; one must sit at the feet of the masters to get it. I first heard the Kenton band live when I was in high school (1969, I think). I cut class, including missing a test, to sneak across town to hear that glorious band. I would have crawled across broken glass to get there if I'd had to, and now it seems we can't get [young people] to walk down the hall!"

Many questions, few answers. But if young people aren't supporting Jazz there must be a reason, as rock concerts draw huge audiences with many people turned away because there's simply no place to seat them, even some who have waited in line for hours or, in some cases, days. As many of them are the same young people who are depicted as too "lazy" or "disinterested" to support Jazz, the answer must lie elsewhere. Young people will invariably go where the action is, regardless of the time or expense that is involved. Today, like it or not, image is everything, and the image that big-band Jazz projects is one of stodgy irrelevance. Until that changes, the same two hundred people will keep on showing up at Jazz concerts. And that's a shame, because today's big bands are, as a whole, more technically accomplished and musically inspiring than ever. What they lack is whatever it takes to grab young people's attention and induce them to sit still for a couple of hours and listen to the music. Yes, they are capable of sitting relatively still; if they can do it at the movies, why not at a Jazz concert? Once there, some of them may become "hooked on Jazz," but getting them to choose Jazz in the first place, when there are so many other choices, is the problem.

The alternatives may be too grim to imagine. As a recent article in The New York Times disclosed: "Broadway producers are quietly preparing to keep their shows running with recorded music -- what have come to be known as 'virtual orchestras' -- in anticipation of a strike by the musicians' union when its contract expires in the spring." Yes, musicians have to make a living, but if I were a musician I'd think carefully about striking when groups like RealTime Music Solutions or Music Arts Technology are more than willing to step in and supply the theatres with "virtual orchestras." If no one (theatre-goers, that is) objects too loudly, canned music could mark the end of the line for living, breathing musicians in Broadway shows, or as Music Arts expressed it in a letter to the League of American Theatres and Producers, "Music Arts looks forward to working with you and your membership to usher in a new era in sound and music excellence for the Broadway experience."

To paraphrase Charles Dickens' Tiny Tim, ". . . and God help us every one."

If you have any thoughts about this, please feel free to share them. The e-mail address is bigbandman@earthlink.net. I'll pass 'em on to my fellow Kentonians.

Until next time, keep swingin'!