First Comprehensive Book on the Business of Jazz Has Been Published

Straight Ahead: A Comprehensive Guide to the Business of Jazz (Without Sacrificing Dignity or Artistic Integrity) is the first book of its kind – dedicated to enlightening musicians, students and professionals about the business, with a strong emphasis on self-empowerment. Written by Marty Khan – noted manager, producer, strategist, non-profit specialist and passionately committed advocate, this 400+ page book is an indispensable aid to a successful career in Jazz. Published by Outward Visions Books, it’s available at www.outwardvisions.com

“It took nearly three years to write, and includes everything I‘ve learned about the music and fine arts business during my 40 years on the scene.” So says Marty Khan about his new book. Widely considered to be one of the most dedicated, knowledgeable, creative and visionary professionals in the jazz business, Khan has created a book that contains indispensable information and advice for anyone looking to pursue a career in jazz on either the artistic or professional sides. With its emphasis on maintaining artistic integrity and personal dignity, Straight Ahead provides a clear-cut and pragmatic methodology for those musicians who desire to place their music above all else. For those who are more interested in career success and economic productivity, Straight Ahead offers extensive and invaluable information that will be referred to countless times during the pursuit of their career goals.

Formatted to allow easy reference to many of the most important issues and specific questions that will surface regularly in day-to-day business, Straight Ahead is an ideal textbook for developing or accompanying collegiate level jazz business courses. A Teacher’s Guide with Suggested Assignments is also available.

Straight Ahead is comprised of four Parts with more than 160 of its over 400 pages making up Part IV – Strategies, Recommendations, Solutions. Included in this Part are highly useful strategies and suggestions for making important career decisions, handling economic issues, achieving self-empowerment, working productively with other musicians, building successful relationships and establishing effective marketing and development concepts. In addition, there are forms and samples of critical documents that are essential for conducting business in a professional and legally protected manner.

Part IV also contains an extensive section on the 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, the business entity under which most of the major artists in the fine arts industry operate, and in which more and more jazz artists and organizations are taking into serious consideration.

Usually portrayed as a highly complex and intimidating vehicle, the non-profit organization is covered in a comprehensive and easy to understand style, with the assistance of one of the foremost attorneys and law professors in the non-profit realm, Leonard Easter. Using a straightforward question/answer format, the 501(c)(3) is covered in six sections that answer nearly 90 questions, divided into understanding the basic principles, setting it up, the board of directors, funding, the artist’s role and the formalities (meetings, filings, etc.). An invaluable resource to anyone wishing to establish a non-profit or simply learn about it, this information alone would cost at least five times the price of the book through consultation with an attorney or other qualified expert!

The question/answer format is also the primary method used in Part II – The Artist’s Team, which answers approximately 100 key questions regarding managers, agents, lawyers and artists in a clear and direct manner. Furthermore, the nearly 200 questions and answers contained in the book are listed in the Appendix for easy reference.

For those who have attended any of Marty Khan’s workshops and seminars, or have read his commentary on the Internet (or that of his less incendiary alter-ego George Lane at jazzplus.com or gmn.com), Parts I and III of Straight Ahead will strike a familiar chord. With plenty of facts, figures and direct examples to back up his observations, Khan takes on the jazz, recording and fine arts industries in a hard-hitting, no-nonsense style that lays out the cold truth in no uncertain terms.

Using his pen like a surgeon’s scalpel, Khan dissects the mechanisms, methods and attitudes that have given the jazz industry such a treacherous and negative reputation. Filled with sardonic humor, wit and clear-cut reasoning, these two Parts are designed to help the artist or dedicated professional understand the true nature of the business in specific terms, laying the groundwork for why the alternative methods that are found throughout the book are so essential to a successful career. For those who wish to pursue their careers under the more traditional methods, the information contained here will be enlightening and enormously helpful in understanding all of the mechanisms and methods of the business that will be controlling their destinies.

Part I – Overview offers advice on how to use the book and a chapter that spells out 10 extremely important and disturbing realities that are essential to understand in pursuing a career in jazz.

Part III – The Business covers all aspects of the performance and recording industries, the people who work within them, and the contracts that govern them. Although the content in Parts I and III are provocative and will inevitably cause considerable controversy, the overall tone and focus of Straight Ahead is extremely positive, uplifting, and highly enjoyable to read.

Khan, co-founder and co-director of Outward Visions, Inc., has been professionally involved in the jazz and fine arts business since 1967. As manager, he has guided the careers of many artists, including The Art Ensemble of Chicago, World Saxophone Quartet and the legendary composer, theoretician and MacArthur recipient George Russell; and non-jazz notables like John Zorn and Kennedy Center honoree choreographer Alwin Nikolais. He has helped form over 60 non-profit organizations and has provided strategic planning/consultation to many more. He has lectured on arts and business at numerous educational institutions and developed and participated in seminars created to better inform artists and arts professionals on how to avoid the traps and pitfalls of the arts business. He’s been a passionate, outspoken and effective advocate for jazz musicians, while producing over 30 albums and scores of concerts at many top venues throughout the U.S., as well as hundreds of educational activities for student musicians.

To purchase Straight Ahead, or for more information about Khan, Outward Visions and Straight Ahead, visit www.outwardvisions.com. There you’ll find the Table of Contents and Appendix of Straight Ahead, along with numerous excerpts. The book is printed on high-quality stock and easily readable print in an 81/2 x 11 format, with a laminated cover. It costs $50, plus $10 for shipping and handling and The Teacher’s Guide with Suggested Assignments is available for $9.95 plus $3 for shipping and handling (within the continental United States. See website for global shipping costs.) Discounts are available for quantity purchases.

“Marty Khan is the master of the way in which the business of the arts is conducted. No classroom course, convention panel, or self-serving industry hype will present the truth in the way this book presents it. Practicing music industry judo for over three decades, Marty knows more about this topic than anyone I have known in my 65 years as an artist. This book distills his extraordinary perception and experience, and is a must for the musicians/artists who wish to survive, create, and control their work and their lives in the twenty-first century." George Russell

“Marty's book has been a long time coming -- exactly what our jazz students, as well as many of us older pros, need to know about the business of jazz. The book covers virtually everything the jazz musician needs to understand to make a living in this business without having to compromise his or her artistic integrity. And it speaks in a 'straight ahead' manner, a way in which even the least business-savvy among us can understand. Definitely a must-own for any jazz musician's library."
JB. Dyas, Executive Director, Brubeck Institute