I have lamented many times about the lack of commitment from the public sector towards developing the local music industry. There’s a lot of lip service, but unfortunately too little has been done to strengthen what I consider to be our weakest points: an informed, "connected" infrastructure of music business professionals who will be able to provide the expertise local musicians need to further their art and their careers.

Finally, Loyola University is instituting their Music Business Program, which will include courses for anyone interested in learning more about the biz. Dr. Scott Fredrickson will head up the program, which is in curriculum development this semester and will go full-steam ahead beginning next semester. Keep looking at OffBeat for more news on the program as it develops.

On a grass-roots level, though, no one can educate a young musician better in the ways of the music biz better than an older musician who’s paid his (or her) dues, and who knows the ropes.

This is the concept behind the Eighth Floor Foundation’s New Orleans Music & Culture Preservatory, which is ably headed by Cyril Neville in partnership with Tipitina’s. We spoke with Cyril about the mission and goals of the Preservatory:

"The idea is basically an extension of New Orleans Musicians Organized, which started way back in 1982 with myself and George Green. There’s a lack of mechanism for New Orleans artists to make a living doing what they do best. And a lot of times that means that it takes more than a cat who plays sax and drums; a lot of local artists are producers in their own right, band teachers and band leaders.

"For example, we have five to six movies made in New Orleans every year, but there is little or no local talent participating in scoring those movies. There are opportunities for making commercials and jingles. But there’s no real organization that really, truly represents local musicians that is getting those jobs for local artists.

"A long time ago, I figured it out as an artist myself, that unless we put together our own organization that could confront the fact that the opportunities were not forthcoming without going out ourselveswe’d wait forever. You might get a little gig here or there, but in terms of the bigger scene, taking a local product and getting from the studio, to the radio stations, to the record stores, and on into the consumer’s hands, the only time that’s going to happen where it will happen properly, is when the artists organize to get those jobs done themselves.

"The local artists need to be educated on these opportunities and the Preservatory, as an extension of NOMO, was formed to educate local artists on ‘show business,’ the business and the show, and all the ways you can make money. You can have nine or ten [music] commissions, but they’re not doing the local artists any service. Local musicians have to realize this is a business-their business. As far back as I can remember, we’ve been influencing the music of the world!

"The Preservatory’s mission statement is to preserve information about the culture and music of New Orleans. The first thing we got into doing was to taking and filming interviews with cats who were on older sessions, the cats who created the hits from New Orleans, all the way from the late 1940s through the 1960s. Guys like June Gardner and Red Wallace, "Moose" Jamison. The idea is to put the story down right this time from the mouths of the people who really lived it. Some of the stuff those cats talked about at the Dew Drop, and Rampart Street is worthy of being documented correctly-it’s the history and culture of New Orleans.

"The idea behind Endangered Species Records stems from the inspiration provided by AFO [Records, Harold Battiste’s label]. You have to pay attention on who’s making the stuff happen. Who’s taking this stuff from just a song, and making it into a hitand how it really happened. The older guys are royalty; they are like the ‘professors,’ if you will. They have the ability to impart their wisdom and pass it down.

"And there’s an urgency in what we’re trying to do in that they’ll be gone soon. We believe that what they’ve done really belongs to the people who were involved in it. We intend to see that they profit from it, a book, a movie, or whatever. And it’s all there for posterity.

"We want the Preservatory to be an extension of Xavier University. We have interns from Xavier now, to help conduct and record the interviews. We’re also involved in artist development-not just for stage presence, but making decisions off-stage too. The aim is to preserve not only the past, but the present too.

"Anytime we have an interview with one of the older guys in here, we compare the dues they’ve paid to what the younger cats are going through, so the younger guys will know what they’re dealing with.

"We also have teachers who are willing to work with us outside of the traditional school system. We want to show all these kids who are interested in becoming musicians, what this really is, not just playing an instrument. We show ’em that they’re entrepreneurs, and that they’ll wear lots of different hats.

"We’re trying to set up a school atmosphere that will foster a structured learning environment. And we’re developing relationships with other people who have informal groups of kids set up to learn music, like the Mid City Ramblers. These kids can come to the Preservatory to apply what they’ve learned as far as the industry is concerned. If you really want to be an artist, these are the steps you have to follow, the dues you have to pay.

"We also have people like Shannon Powell, Donald Harrison, Eluard Burt, just to name a few, who have offered time and instruments to this effort, to catch these kids who maybe aren’t old enough to go to NOCCA, but who can play, who have a strong burning desire to play who don’t have an instrument. So they have a place to go where they can play an instrument, but also learn about this industry and about the culture.

"We’ve had Smiley Ricks come in and show the kids the Mardi Gras Indians’ costumes, and explain to them what it really means to be a Mardi Gras Indian. There are a lot of things we can offer our children.

"We’ve had kids up here in the studio, in the control room [at the Eighth Floor Studio at Carrollton and Tulane]. That’s the part I want to break the mystique of: you can turn these knobs, you can work these mics, and work these computers, and make your own records. There are a lot of jobs associated with the entertainment industry that have nothing to do with playing. And we want to let them know about it.

"I learned stuff by listening to the older guys, and giving that to little kids-the ones who are really into it-is great. These kids-all ages, young old, black, white-are going to create the music for the new millennium.

"What we’re doing is positive and we’re creating more connections to bridge the gap between the public/private school and the NOCCA thing. We’d put more emphasis on music and business, culture and art. We’re searching for and welcoming anyone who is interested in our children and who wants to preserve the history and culture of New Orleans."

You can contact the Preservatory for more information at 483-0907.

Club listings, statewide, on-line-FREE!

Beginning in our November issue, OffBeat will begin gathering information from music clubs around the state of Louisiana for publication on our web site, www.offbeat.com. The listings will also be published on www.louisianatravel.com by Louisiana’s Office of Tourism, in its campaign to use music to promote travel to Louisiana. If your music club is outside New Orleans and you want your club’s listings on-line for free, call Missy Crory, our new listings editor, at 504-944-4300, ext. 10, for more info on submitting your listings and deadline info. Deadline for the November issue is October 15, 1999.

Irma goes to Memphis

Irma Thomas has completed sessions in Memphis for her next Rounder album, tentatively titled My Heart’s In Memphis: The Songs of Dan Penn. In fact, the album was co-produced by the legendary songwriter and Rounder’s Scott Billington, and features an all-star Memphis band with guitarist Michael Toles, keyboardist Marvell Thomas and drummer Steve Potts. "We had originally set out to do a retrospective of Dan’s work, with a balance of old and new songs," commented Billington, "but Dan came to the sessions with over twenty new songs written for Irma. It was an embarrassment of riches, and we finally settled on just three older songs." Penn is known as the writer of such hits as "Dark End of the Street," "I’m Your Puppet," and "Cry Like a Baby." "It doesn’t get any better than this," added Billington, "a great singer, great songs and great musicians." The album will be released in Spring, 2000.

More Jazz and Staff

Jon Pult joins the OffBeat staff this month to write about traditional jazz in his column, "Know What It Means." We’re expanding our coverage of jazz because, hey, this is the city that began it, dammit-and with the new Jazz Historical Park finally getting on its feet, a jazz documentary in the works by renowned documentarian Ken Burns, and the new emphasis our tourism marketing people are placing on music (finally!), we wanted to add more jazz to our musical mix.

Jon comes to us highly qualified as a music writer and editor. He’s worked for George Buck’s Beat quarterly jazz publication, and is the Executive Director of the Louisiana Jazz Federation. You can contact him at [email protected] with comments and suggestions.