They said it was impossible. No one would come. A festival in the heat of a New Orleans August? No way! But Satchmo SummerFest is working, and getting bigger and better every year. What better place to annually honor New Orleans’ most famous son, Louis Armstrong? This year’s fest, covered in our exclusive Satchmo SummerFest Guide, lets local jazz musicians shine, showcases our local culture, heritage and cuisine. Now in its fourth year, Satchmo SummerFest features a keynote concert starring Aaron Neville, Ellis Marsalis and Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. The concert proceeds benefit NOJO and will be at the Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts on Saturday August 7. Tickets are $25 to $50 and can be purchased by contacting Ticketmaster.
THE SAGA CONTINUES
The response to the “Open Letter” we ran last month has been mostly one of surprise from the community. Most people had no idea that there was any friction between OffBeat and WWOZ. In fact, we didn’t either, until we were read the riot act by Dave Freedman, WWOZ’s general manager. Mr. Freedman replied to the letter (please see offbeat.com/letters.html for his response), as did Johnny Jackson, Jr., President of Friends of WWOZ, Inc. (the station’s Governance Board).
In part, Jackson’s letter read: “You seem to be under the impression that the Governance Board is not aware of the ‘financial situation’ at the station. Nothing could be farther from the truth…Given the loss of $170,000 from the previous year’s budget, I can assure you that this Board knows where every cent is going. Assumptions drawn from fiscal reports drawn from a third-party web site could easily be cleared up with a simple conversation….I hope you can meet with us soon to address other issues you might have. Let us all work together to keep the music alive.”
Indeed, we (and the WWOZ listeners and volunteers) would welcome the opportunity to know where WWOZ’s membership fees, sponsorship dollars and grants are spent.
A former staff member of WWOZ wrote: “I would just like to pose a question in reference to WWOZ’s expansion. Seems like so much of it has nothing to do with a radio station. Second, and most important, has anyone in New Orleans taken the time to look at some of the larger and more successful radio stations across the country, like WBGO, KLON, WBEZ? Nowhere near the studio expense, nowhere near the federal funding. What is happening here?”
Hopefully a meeting with the Friends of WWOZ will make that clearer. When, Mr. Jackson?
MUSIC MUSEUM STILL IN THE WORKS
There may a different light on the idea of a music museum in New Orleans on Canal Street. Local consultant Zella May, who’s on the board of the New Orleans Downtown Development District, wants to try to get the Smithsonian Institution involved in developing a music museum in New Orleans. Both the D-Day Museum and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art are Smithsonian affiliates. The Smithsonian, according to May, could help develop the project and could also assist in loaning parts of its collection to a music museum located in New Orleans. “We want to hire a consultant to investigate locations, develop an intensive plan to bring the idea to fruition, including architectural plans, feasibility and possible funding.” The state’s capital budget still includes $500,000 that was set aside for the ill-fated Grammy Hall of Fame project.
“If it were up to me, I would like to see the museum at the corner of Rampart and Canal,” said May, “to create the beginning of the entertainment corridor.” The ideal location is the old Krauss Building, that was once earmarked by Tulane University to be part of its medical office training facility That concept fell through because of the costs of refurbishing the building for that use. The Krauss building is ideally located to be the location of such a museum (let’s call it the Southern Music Museum!): the building sits at an historic intersection; fits in with the Downtown Development District’s overall plan for Canal Street; it’s proximate to three great theaters (the Saenger, the old Joy and the State Palace); it has parking and is a renowned landmark in New Orleans. The $500,000 in state capital outlay program is only available contingent on securing $5 million in local matching funds. So all we need is the money! Where’s Paul Allen when we need him?
NOJO IN THE MONEY?
Trumpeter/composer/entrepreneur Irvin Mayfield recently called OffBeat to let us know that the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) will receive a $400,000 grant from the New Orleans Economic Development Fund over the next two years to fund administrative costs, educational programs and touring for NOJO. At press time, a formal announcement by the city hadn’t yet been made, and sources said that NOJO is one of nine other companies who applied for funding from the Economic Development Fund (EDF). All grant funding must be reviewed and approved by the City Council (which at press time had not yet set the grant reviews on its agenda).
Mayfield also said that ICM (booking agency for Yo-Yo Ma, Ravi Shankar, Patti LaBelle and other musical luminaries) will be signed on to book NOJO. Mayfield and NOJO’s Executive Director, Ronald Markham, have the backing of the business community (including Bill Hines and Dan Packer). For more information on the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, see. www.gonojo.com.
McCORMICK IN NASHVILLE
Songwriter Jim McCormick will have a CD release party at Carrollton Station on Saturday August 28. Along with Anders Osborne, McCormick has been trekking to Nashville to work with songwriting groups, and is scheduled to ink a deal as a staff writer with James Stroud’s publishing company in Nashville in the next month or so. Jim recently scored nationally with a cut on Blue Country’s (Curb Records artist) latest release. He anticipates getting another of his songs on the soon-to-be-released album by Lauren Lucas, a new Warner Bros. Artist hyped to being the “next” Faith Hill. McCormick has played the last three years at Jazz Fest and has been the co-coordinator for the Nashville Songwriters Association Chapter here in New Orleans for the last several years.
VOODOO UP
The Voodoo Music Experience had just announced its schedule this year for the Fest on October 16 and 17. Booked are the Beastie Boys, Velvet Revolver, Kid Rock, A Tribe Called Quest, the Pixies, Green Day, Cypress Hill and other big name alt.rock acts. The entire schedule is not yet finalized, and will also include some local bands. Tickets go on sale August 2. See www.voodoomusicfest.com for more info.
MONEY FOR MUSICIANS’ HEALTH
We’re working with Rock ‘n’ Bowl, Glazers and local musicians to create a series of benefit concerts for the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic. The first “Café CrossNotes” will be at the Rock ‘n’ Bowl Café on Thursday, August 26 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Donations of $7 per person will entitle you to one free drink and a $2.00 discount to Zydeco Night at Rock ‘N’ Bowl that evening. The first event will feature Julia LaShae, Sol Fiya, and the inimitable Eddie Bo. All proceeds will benefit the clinic. Call the Rock ‘n’ Bowl at 482-3133 for more information.
LETTERS FROM THE ROAD
Gary Edwards of Sound of New Orleans, writes: “Hey Jan & Krewe! I have six groups at Umbria Jazz now, including Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr. I looked a bit at the OffBeat newsletter yesterday, big hurry. It is really fun to get things from home after eight days in Italy. Dopsie is killing them every show. Last night, the crazy sucker dove off the stage into the audience, I almost had another heart attack, but all was okay, and the audience went wild yet again. Dopsie, perhaps the world’s best stage general, had musicians from the other groups coming up to play throughout the set: I wish that we were doing good video on some of these shows. Sunday night is finalé, and we are planning the world’s biggest R&B band, with the Mitch WoodsFive horns (with our Tim Green on sax,) the Funky 7 brass band section, Donald Harrison and Bill Solley on guitar, two or three drummers, and the Nashville Super Choir as backup vocals—it should be pandemonium!” Gee Gary, wish we were there.
