Got a call from a local musician, who was plenty, plenty steamed right after the Festival, claiming that local musicians weren’t being paid for the rain day, and artists from out of town were. I sent out a random email to some musician friends of mine who were supposed to pay that Friday and was told that local musicians had signed a contract that stated that, in case of inclement weather, the Festival (presumably Festival Productions acting as the producer of the festival) has the option of either paying the band or scheduling the band for next year’s festival at the same fee. In theory, this makes sense: you sign a contract, both parties are obligated to produce what’s specified in the contract. But what if 1) your band leader signed the contract, or 2) your band plays the festival every year?

A local bandleader (who’s played the Jazz Fest for the past 30 years or so) did sign the standard contract, but feels obligated to pay the guys in his band who took off the day to play at the fest gig. “Ordinarily my manager takes care of this, but because he was not able to take care of the contract evaluation this year, I signed it,” he says, with a sigh. “I’m going to have to pay the band out of my own pocket.”

Not all bandleaders are so generous. “We’ve played the Jazz Fest every single year for over 25 years,” he told me. “What good is it if we’re promised another gig next year? We play every year anyway! I think all the local musicians should boycott the Jazz Fest for treating us this way. Without the local musicians [which the Festival touts as the backbone of the Fest], there wouldn’t be a Jazz Fest.”

Strong words indeed. There are, as usual, two sides to this argument. Advice to musicians: read the contract. If you don’t agree with something in the contract, change it. Add a rider. It’s done all the time. The Jazz Fest is run to make money; if they can cut costs by not paying a musician when it was covered in the contract, they probably won’t (more on that later).

On the other hand, the Jazz Fest has to decide where it stands on working with the local musician community. I called Festival Productions to ask what was being decided on payment of the musicians for the rain day and was issued an official statement: “The issue of paying our local musicians whose April 30 Jazz Fest performances were cancelled is obviously very important to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. We’re still working very hard to resolve the situation in a manner that will be satisfactory to all parties involved and in a way that demonstrates our deep appreciation for the great New Orleans music community.”

But the larger issue is who really makes the decisions on who’s booked at the Jazz Fest? Who actually decides if people get paid? Is it Festival Productions (FPI), led by local producer Quint Davis and his staff? Or is it the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Foundation Board?

It’s a pretty thorny and complex issue. A lot of people think that the “Jazz Fest” is Quint Davis and crew at Festival Productions. But a spokesman from FPI has told OffBeat the NOJHF Board is just as responsible for making booking and financial decisions. So who’s responsible?

No one in the music community could possibly deny that the Jazz & Heritage Festival is the highlight of our financial year. Ditto the city’s economy as a whole. How could we possibly have a beef with what the Festival has done for this city and the city’s music in its 35 years of existence? It’s just not an arguable point.

But how the Festival progresses, how it’s changing, how the bills are paid and the bands are booked is still sort of hazy. Does the NOJHF Board call the shots or does FPI?

Coming off two down years, whoever is really calling the shots has some serious planning and thinking to do. Initial revenue estimates from the 2004 Jazz Fest, according to an account in the Times-Picayune, put the revenue down from $600,000 to $900,000 off from last year (and last year was definitely down, attendance-wise).

Staff positions have been eliminated on the Foundation; other positions have taken a pay cut. The Foundation still hasn’t hired an executive director (and now doesn’t seem like a good time to hire a high-priced new director).

With Festival head counts down, FPI may have a more difficult time selling sponsorships (a major source of funding) in the future—sponsors pay for numbers (thus, the emphasis by FPI, who does most of the PR work for the Festival itself, on pumping higher attendance every year). Ticket prices have soared, leaving many locals unable to attend the Festival, especially if they have families. And the other factor, which is beginning to really show an effect, is both economic and competition from other festivals. People are less willing to travel because of the fallout from 9/11. They have less money to travel. A lot of regional music festivals have come into existence over the past ten years: the Atlanta Jazz Fest, Austin City Limits Festival, Bonnaroo, High Sierra, Ft. Lauderdale, and the list goes on and on.

New Orleanians are convinced that this is the best place in the world; no city is better than ours; we have a culture here that is unique. “We’re the best!” we say, and never think that anyplace can beat New Orleans. Therefore, we are either ignorant or non-caring of the ability of other places in the U.S to attempt to co-opt our culture. It’s capitalism at its best—and the Jazz Fest concept is so fantastic that competition is now eating away at our “market share,” particularly those festivals that attract a younger demographic.

The Jazz Fest (be it the Board or FPI) has to decide what it is and what it wants to be in the future. Do we need to grow at an exponential rate in the future? Is that even possible anymore? From a business standpoint, making that decision and taking steps to make sure that the Jazz Fest is still the largest (and best) music festival in the country is going to be crucial in the next few years.

ILLEGAL MUSIC

Did you know that many of the venues on Frenchmen Street, that haven for the strategically hip, are illegal? Zoning on that street doesn’t permit live music unless the venue has a “mayoralty permit,” and they’re not allowed due to the current zoning. Clubs like Snug Harbor and the Blues Nile were grandfathered in when the current zoning took effect.

Ridiculous, isn’t it?

Frenchmen Street has been touted worldwide as a bastion of the new bohemia, largely because of the scene that’s developed as a result of the music there. How ironic that the city of New Orleans would begin to crack down on Frenchmen Street clubs that offer live music.

The City Planning Commission recently instituted a study that would provide a zoning “overlay” to turn Frenchmen Street into a “cultural and arts district,” which would mean that it would be possible for the bars and clubs on Frenchmen to legally offer live music. A meeting of roughly 30 business owners on Frenchmen, from the City planning office and police from the Eighth District was held on May 18 to discuss the needs of the area, which include safety issues, street cleaning and sanitation, parking, and of course the ability to present music legally.

Basically, the city has pretty much ignored the music scene on Frenchmen, giving it the chance to flourish. But now it’s gotten into the spotlight, and legal eyes are upon it. After vigorous protests from business owners, city planners and police agreed verbally to cut Frenchmen Street venues some slack until the study is finished and recommendations were presented to the City Council, sometime in late August. Stay tuned for more as the study progresses.

SERIOUS ABOUT MUSIC?

The New Orleans Music Office Co-op has just released the results of an economic impact survey to measure the effectiveness of their services. The New Orleans Music Office Co-op, a partnership of the Tipitina’s Foundation and the New Orleans Music Office (and supported in part by OffBeat) is located at 4040 Tulane Avenue in the Fountainbleau complex, and provides musicians with access to computers, high-speed internet, phones, fax, photocopying, training, business mentoring, tech support and production assistance.

Apparently, the Music Co-op is off to a rousing start, as its survey reports that there is an average of a whopping 32 percent increase in the earnings (or over $228,000 annually) of Co-op members, which currently number 125. The ripple effect to the local economy in 2004 is estimated at over three-quarters of a million dollars at the current membership level. Think if more musicians joined the Co-op how much more money they could potentially be deriving from the training and services.

In my opinion, the Musicians’ Clinic and the Music Business Co-op are the best things that have happened to the local music community in a decade. If you’re concerned about the local music community and you’re a business, both deserve your support. If you’re a musician, and you don’t take advantage of this wonderful resource, you’re not serious about making music your career.

The Co-op is available to any musician in the area, for only $10 a month membership fee. Call (504) 483-2880 for more info, or log onto musicofficecoop.com.

TWANG AGAIN

Kudos to the “seriously twisted” guitarists of the band Twangorama (Jimmy Robinson, Phil deGruy, Cranston Clements along with bassist Paul Clementand Mark Whitaker on drums), who are continuing their series of shows at Carrollton Station on Thursday evenings through the summer. These look like really interesting showcases and will feature an eclectic group of performers including James Singleton (of Astral Project), Leigh “Li’l Queenie” Harris, Brian Stoltz (funky Meters) and June Yamagishi (Papa Grows Funk) in June, and many others as the summer progresses.