City Puts The Squeeze on Local Music Clubs.

I really don’t know why we put up with it. With all the hype about the city supporting music, presenting live music is getting to be a real financial burden on a lot of local venues. There are a few large clubs in town that have live music, but most of the real local music is presented in the smaller music venues.

Last month, this column mentioned that Vic’s Kangaroo Café’s permit fees had been increased significantly. Obtaining a permit for “Music for entertainment or dancing w/admissions” has gone up in one year from $100.25 to $1,000, including an additional $250 processing fee–an increase of 898%! This is prohibitive for a small business, and could mean the demise of some small local music clubs, according to Ellen Dearden of Vic’s. “We’ve tried to make suggestions to the City Council about other solutions to raising money, including imposing a ticket tax, but no one at City Hall has paid any attention,” she says. It seems to me that representatives of local music clubs need to form a politically active coalition to address these issues. Until there’s a cohesive lobby for music in this city, these sorts of punishing permit fees and taxes will be imposed by a local government, which does not seem to care about maintaining one of the most important cultural and economic resources we should be promoting and developing.

I just read about the city of Philadelphia naming a middle school after one of its musicians, Grover Washington, Jr. Wouldn’t it be great if some of our schools were named after some of the musicians who have made Louisiana so famous for its music? Think about it…

Upcoming Events

United Way will present a second annual “Day of Play for United Way” at Jazzland on Saturday March 24 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. This year’s event will be a 60th birthday celebration for Irma Thomas. Here are some preliminary details: Tickets cost $20 (adult or child). Ticket price includes admission to the park, all rides, attractions and entertainment (except the Sky Coaster ride, which requires an additional fee). Proceeds benefit United Way and United Way agencies.

Instead of a birthday gift for Ms. Irma, ticket holders are asked to bring a non-perishable food item for Second Harvesters Food Bank. Anyone bringing six non-perishable food items (one for each decade of Irma’s life) will be eligible to win a Jazzland Season Pass. United Way is asking Irma’s friends (fellow musical entertainers) to perform from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., and Irma will perform from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased with cash, check, or credit card from United Way and any participating United Way agency, get in touch at (504) 827-6825 or [email protected].

Loyola University Music Business Program will present a Music Business Conference on March 23-24, 2001 in conjunction with a sponsorship by Music & Entertainment Industry Educators Association Conference. The conference will include panels on topics such as careers in the music industry; legislative updates on issues affecting the music biz; studio pro workshops; music contracts and licensing; the impact of digital technology; copyright infringement issues; film scoring; synchronization licensing basics; songwriting and more. For more information, call (504) 865-3976 or check out www.loyno.edu/musicbiz/meiea/conference.htm.

I guess we are not going to see the original Meters perform at the Jazz Fest–at least there’s no knowledge of that at this writing. But if you want to see the Meters play again, you can take a short hop to Memphis to the Premier Players Awards (presented by the Memphis chapter of The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the GRAMMY® Awards organization) on April 5 in Memphis at the downtown Pyramid Theater.

The Meters will accept the Governor’s Award, the highest award that can be presented by a chapter of the Recording Academy, and will close the show with a 30-minute set. Astral Project and Galactic have also been added to the show.

Anticipating that Meters fans everywhere will be interested in seeing this historical event, the Memphis Chapter of the Recording Academy (which presents the Premier Player Awards) has arranged for special travel packages to make it easier to see the show. Packages will include special hotel and travel prices and discounted tickets. For those coming up from the home of the Meters, an Amtrak train special is being organized. For more information on travel contact McCarty Travel at 888.526.7670 ext. 632. Or for more information on the Premier Player Awards contact the Recording Academy in Memphis at (901) 525-1340 or e-mail [email protected].

So many musicians…so little time.

Jazz Fest, a virtual orgy of music, seems to be spawning even more music. Over the past ten years or so, every venue in town is now presenting music of all kinds, sometimes all night and into the next day. The Maple Leaf really started the sunrise series of local music events and Superfly Productions has taken it even further with several all-night events planned for the Leaf, the Howlin’ Wolf and Tip’s this Jazz Fest.

There’s a pretty interesting possibility for more music that’s being planned for the Zeitgeist space on the old Dryades Street route. Rene Broussard, maven of Zeitgeist, has a great locale for presenting music. Over the past 18 months, a lot of interesting music has gone down at Zeitgeist, that’s located on the first floor of a building at 1724 Oretha Castle Haley in a shared space with Barrister’s Gallery. According to Broussard, “We’re tentatively calling it the ‘Zeitgeist New Music Festival.’ It’s an alternative ‘fringe’ fest to the Jazz Fest. What we lack in heritage, we’ll make up in killer music.” The idea for the festival has grown out of an increasing number of innovative and locally renowned groups who for some reason have not been invited to perform at the Jazz Fest or some perennial favorites who find themselves “rotated” out of the Fest. A list of more than 60 bands has already expressed interest in playing at the alternative grassroots fest. Stay tuned to the OffBeat website (offbeat.com) for more info.

Next month we’ll focus the magazine on probably the most unsung festival in New Orleans: the French Quarter Festival. I love it: it’s got the homegrown rootsy feel of the Jazz Fests of the past, with nothing but local music, local food, and the ambience of the French Quarter in the spring. If you’re reading this and you don’t live here, try and make it down. And the best part is that the admission is free!! Call (504) 522-5730 or check out the website www.frenchquarterfestivals.org for more information.

Also coming up is the biggest celebration of Louis Armstrong to celebrate the centennial of his birth. The Satchmo Summerfest takes place from August 3-5 and will include a free music and food festival at the Old Mint (there’s air conditioning!), a UNO Colloquium celebrating Armstrong’s life, a NOCCA trumpet camp, the Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp, and a gala fundraiser on August 4 at UNO’s Kiefer Arena with the entire Marsalis Family and Harry Connick, Jr. and his orchestra. The centennial celebration kicks off with a Nicholas Payton tribute to Satchmo on March 31-April 1.

Wyckoff Joins OffBeat

Geraldine Wyckoff has lovingly written about New Orleans music for over 20 years. She’s an avid fan of our music and culture–and we’re pleased to present her new column “Kickin’ it Live” in OffBeat every month, as well as other feature stories and interviews. Welcome back to OffBeat, Geraldine!