We hate to be the ones to temper all the post-election enthusiasm for potentially more arts support, but it seems like the financial crisis facing the world has trickled (or deluged) down into jazz. Recent reports indicate that Festival Network, which took over George Wein’s Festival Productions company last year, has laid off most its staff, making it uncertain if New York (or any other city for that matter) has seen its last JVC Jazz Festival. We will report more as we obtain information but this is a serious blow as jazz rarely got that level of exposure otherwise. Another, more personal casualty, is the dismissal of legendary jazz journalist Nat Hentoff from the Village Voice after 50 years. His final column for the once-proud counterculture rag was Jan. 6th, 2009. Hentoff will still continue writing for other outlets including, ironically, the Wall Street Journal. But jazz as an art form has weathered such storms before and, honestly, how much smaller can its market share get anyway? It has become a music of perseverance, something to which drummers Chico Hamilton and Charlie Persip (On The Cover and Interview, respectively) and saxophonist Larry Ochs (Artist Feature) can attest. Another entity that thus far has shown ‘staying power’ is Blue Note Records (Label Profile), celebrating its 70th anniversary (overlooking a period of dormancy) this year with numerous local and national events.
In additional coverage, free jazz icon Arthur Doyle (Encore) makes a rare appearance this month and jazz lives on the Upper West Side at Columbia University’s Miller Theater (Club Profile). We also have two new CD features: Globe Unity (covering releases from a specific country) and an in-depth look at a Boxed Set, starting with the 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition of Kind of Blue.
Winter is in full swing and despite depressing news and weather reports, put on an extra scarf and go see some jazz this month. Our Event Calendar is packed and jazz needs your support more than ever. We’ll see you out there...
For more information contact All About Jazz.
