by Marvin Stamm

We were all “young lions” at some point in our lives and were recognized as burgeoning talents. That said, we were given the opportunity to grow infinitely as players and as people when we were able to play along side the older, more experienced musicians who imparted their musical wisdom to us, allowing us to become part of their music. Our musical proximity to more experienced players over a period of time helped us mature and develop our own voices. This invaluable process helped fan the flames of our intense desire to learn more from our mentors and peers and fueled our hopes of one-day being accepted by them as equals. It stimulated and motivated us to work harder in order to feel that we belonged on the bandstand with our elders. Nothing can ever replace these experiences. But what 22 year-old signatory to a big recording contract would ask prominent musicians with established reputations - whose maturity might make evident his or her own shortcomings - to join his or her group? Instead, these young musicians called upon young people their own age or younger and, in doing so, deprived themselves of an opportunity afforded generations of Jazz musicians before them. This is not to deny the fact that these young people are talented or that they play well, but how much can they learn from others just as inexperienced, compared to the opportunity of being in the musical company of those who have spent years finding their voices and refining their art? Artists strive to attain knowledge and skills above and beyond those they possess in the present – this is what produces growth and maturity in a musician. The reasons for making a record or CD also has been altered and/or obscured. The main purpose of a recording in the life of any artist should be to document his or her creative efforts at that point in time. Of course, it also is to allow the public to hear and become familiar with an artist, in hope that a demand to hear them perform “live” will be created. Now, the concept for the record companies is to invest their resources in a perceived trend, to support a marketable artist fitting the “star” image and, by utilizing the “star’s” marketing power, to yield a “hit” in the process. The CD has come to signify stardom to these young artists, and they put all their hopes and dreams in one basket. The recording companies’ expectations are that these young people will “produce” in order to justify the monies the companies spend marketing and creating these “stars”.

Musicians of my period seemed to know instinctively that Jazz was about our spending a lifetime seeking to find our own voice with which to express our deepest inner emotions and not about “hit” records, a term applied mostly to pop groups. In the past, most recording labels seemed to have understood the concept of a long-term investment and that developing an artist in any area of music takes time and resources. They were once willing to do that. It seems now that companies are not interested in developing artists, but rather in creating “stars” in order to make money quickly. Many of us have observed these companies dropping the young artists if they don’t produce “hits”, if they don’t become the next “Wynton”. When this happens, many of these new young artists are devastated because they don’t understand the realities of a recording industry now patterned after the “pop” music business. They don’t understand that the driving force is money and that the music in most cases is far down on the list of priorities, just as in the “pop” arena.

A number of smaller American and European labels have never wholly subscribed to the racial or age premise, but neither have they been a counter-balance to the “majors”. The large companies in the industry were - and still are - fixated on the practices I have described and show little inclination toward change. Now, however, they are paying a price because much of the music they are producing hasn’t stood the test of time, and the Jazz audience is rejecting it. One hears constant complaints about the state of the business at industry conferences such as the recently defunct Jazz Times Convention. Many companies say that the “re-issue” – of music played by those who grew musically within the mentoring process – is their financial savior. If companies continue to produce Jazz music based on the marketing strategies of “pop” music rather than on music with substance and content and on the true validity of the artist’s work, then they will continue to lose their audience.

The saving grace for many of us wanting to document our music is that technology allows us to produce quality recordings inexpensively. Many musicians are doing this and “co-oping” with other players in order to make it even more affordable. By selling the CDs on the Web, as well as at public appearances, we are able to generate a much better financial return for ourselves than by having our music released by a label. Except for those few players signed to “majors” who employ extremely intense marketing efforts, I have heard of very few musicians who have received ANY return from having their music released by a label. As I read in a letter posted on a web site by another musician, ”We will soon have our revenge on the record companies, who take everything and give nothing in return.”

To conclude, let me be clear about some things: This treatise was not meant to “point fingers”. It was meant to show cause-and-effect and to illustrate a number of destructive practices affecting both our music and the corresponding business. I offer these observations in the hope that we might become more vigilant and aware of what is at risk when we lose sight of what is truly valuable and essential to our art.

Fortunately, it seems that some of the tensions and negative feelings have moderated during the last four or five years. There seems to be less uneasiness and more warmth among a good number of the musicians in the community. Perhaps this more temperate stance can be credited to musicians discovering through experience that players of other racial and ethnic backgrounds can really play this music and the resulting respect that this realization has generated. Regardless of the cause, things do seem to be changing. The pendulum in the community seems to be swinging back toward the middle. But let’s not be deluded. Unfortunately, racism has always existed to some degree among all people, and, if we who know better don’t speak out against it in any and every forum and attempt to implement change, it will continue to haunt our communities and our lives.

I have experienced a great career through the years, and I continue to be busy and productive. For this, I must give great credit to those who, through their efforts and caring, taught me and helped me learn and grow. All of them, throughout the last 40 years, regardless of race or ethnic origin, have been responsible to an enormous degree for making me the musician I am today. They taught me that this music is supposed to be about “we”, not “me”. They taught me about knowing the difference between those experiences that produce the best in people, bringing them closer together within the beautiful world of music, and those experiences that humiliate people and produce the opposite effect. The world I have experienced most of my musical life has been the former, and, idealistic as it may sound, I think everyone deserves that.

Many elements today are working against our culture and the music. During the hard times, especially, we should come together as artists who share so much that is rich and good. If we can do that, I truly feel we can energize both the community and the music, and that energy will flow outward to create more interest and love of the music, bringing us still closer. We must understand that discrimination in any form, no matter who it is directed against, is wrong and makes a mockery of our humanity. If we let ourselves be driven by purely selfish motives fed by those who couldn’t care less about the music or the musicians, then both the future of the music and we will be the losers. And if we artists are petty as to allow things such as skin color, age or nationality divide us, then we deserve the consequences.

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