The economics of being a jazz musician in the San Francisco Bay Area was the topic of a roundtable discussion hosted by the Center for New Music this past Tuesday, June 12th. Featured representatives were Cory Combs, executive director of InterMusicSF, and musicians Darren Johnston, Lisa Mezzacappa, and Destiny Muhammad. Leading the conversation was Adam Fong, executive director of C4NM. Mario Guarneri was there too to represent Jazz in the Neighborhood. Altogether, about twenty people—mostly jazz musicians—came out to participate in the lively dialogue.

Concerning wealth, where does the money come from? A list of funding agencies compiled by C4NM was distributed, but it was noted that access to these funds is very competitive, especially for individual musicians. Grants are usually awarded for a specific purpose, which leaves musicians without a stable income once their project is completed. Nonprofits rely heavily on support from individual donors and corporate sponsors, but this type of funding is often not available for independent musicians and ensembles.

An obvious source of money is through ticket sales, the gate or the door. Garnering a large enough audience to pay the bills is difficult for both musicians and presenters. Obstacles to gathering a large audience include presenting in random venues, competition from other events and other non-live forms of entertainment, and simply the somewhat rarefied nature of the genre. Bringing in new and younger jazz audiences would certainly be beneficial.

In the SF Bay Area, it seems that most venues pay a percentage of the door, so if the audience is small, the musicians receive very little money. There are a few presenters who guarantee musicians a set amount upfront—Jazz the Neighborhood being one of them. For those venues that do guarantee, Jon Jang noted that musicians can negotiate for pay that compensates them fairly. Miles Anderson, a musician who has literally paid his dues, cautioned that when musicians work for little or no compensation, an environment for low paying jobs is perpetuated.

On the other hand, the current gig economy provokes an environment where the lowest bid can often be the deciding factor. How can equity be achieved under this market-based model? Much of the discussion centered on how freelancers can survive in the gig economy. Among the issues and ideas that were raised, organizing was a solution that all agreed would be valuable, particularly organizing at the local level. This includes smaller organizations working collaboratively to wield a greater influence. Historically, unions have helped workers gain economic equity. Is this a role they can continue to play in the 21st century?

The notion of local jazz music was another topic of conversation. What is its value and to whom? Clearly it’s valuable to local musicians, though not always monetarily. But do local communities benefit? In what ways, and can that be improved? Do audiences really care if the musicians they hear are local are not? To what extent should institutions like SFJazz and city goverments be supporting the local scene? These questions leave room for much more dialogue and paths toward action.

The roundtable, Tracking Series #2, was organized by the Center for New Music, 55 Taylor St. San Francisco. These quarterly events are designed to catalyze and build a community of new music researchers to demonstrably improve gender and racial equity within the field of new music. Tracking Series #1 was entitled Going Public.

— reported by Jan Woo

Dear colleagues;

In an effort to raise more relief funds we have collaborated with two other nonprofits to gather information which will be valuable in applying for more relief aid during these challenging times.

AND….check out the Music Relief grant opportunity offering $500 awards.

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A Message to our Musician, Composer, and Music Teacher Friends:

The COVID-19 virus is impacting the Bay Area Music community in many ways that affect both individual musicians’ livelihoods and the longevity of the venues where local musicians perform, and threatens to transform our regional musical landscape.

JitN and IMA are among a group of local music non-profits trying to advocate for independent musicians in this time of need. But first, we need accurate information on who you are, where you live and work, and what you need to survive and thrive moving forward. We would like to be able to provide area city governments, the local media, and prospective relief partners with valid numbers about the impact of canceled performances and teaching activities in our music communities, so that we can better coordinate a relief response that helps everyone who needs it.

Several organizations have collaborated to create a single survey to distribute to our constituents. Please take a moment to answer this 7-minute anonymous survey, as soon as you are able. Also, please feel free to forward this to your entire mailing list or share this link on social media:

https://forms.gle/9FDrfeZNJJ4NdBNH9

The more people respond, the more accurately we can understand and then communicate your needs to the entities that we hope can provide support.

Thank you, and all the best to you and your families in these complicated times.

Mario Guarneri and Eric Whittington
In collaboration with
The Center for New Music and InterMusic SF

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1. Bay Area musicians write an original song that’s centered around bringing musical relief to the community.
2. They share the song in a video post on Instagram, tagging #musicrelief, @motherwolfofficial and @jazzmafiaofficial.
3. The song will be enjoyed by music fans, and judged by reps from Motherwolf and Jazz Mafia based on the entry’s engagement, the power of its message, its musicality, originality and other criteria.
4. In the first round of funding, the top 60 finalists will be awarded a $500 grant.

Entries can be submitted starting today through April 30th. Additional rounds of grants will be available as more donors contribute to The Music Relief Project.

“What a moment to pause and reset the stage for how artists and the larger community coexist,” says Tom Chavez, President and CEO of Chavez Family Foundation, who sparked The Music Relief Project with an initial $25,000 donation. “Artists and audiences need each other. Let’s make something beautiful together.”

A longtime resident of San Francisco, Chavez turned immediately to the beloved local music scene, and teamed up with Adam Theis, founder and leader of renowned Bay Area music collective Jazz Mafia.

“The Bay Area is the most expensive place to live in the U.S., and a majority of artists I know are living on such a thin line as it is, which makes this situation even more catastrophic,” adds Theis. “The relief that musicians and music fans provide for each other in these unprecedented times and circumstances will define the Bay Area music scene for many years.”

For more information about The Music Relief Project, visit themusicreliefproject.com.

Contacts
For press inquiries, contact Baochi Nguyen: baochi@motherwolf.com
Colleen Courtney – Executive Producer – coco@motherwolf.com
Adam Theis – Music Director – adamtheismusic@gmail.com

ABOUT MOTHERWOLF

Motherwolf is a new digital music label created by artists for artists. Motherwolf creates multi-sensory musical experiences that stimulate human possibility. Its mission is to make you feel something so you will do something.

ABOUT JAZZ MAFIA

Adam Theis co-founded Jazz Mafia; an eclectic artist collective of some of the most forward-thinking and accomplished players of Electro, Hip-Hop, World, Classical, and of course, Jazz. In its 20 years, it has become one of the most prolific music collectives on the West Coast, bringing together many of the Bay Area’s most creative and accomplished instrumentalists, vocalists, MCs, composers and arrangers in what has become the quintessential San Francisco sound.

tbd (a quintet)

Thursday, February 20, 7 pm at Tam Commons

Mario Guarneri, trumpet/flugelhorn — Erik Jekabson, trumpet/flugelhorn — Randy Vincent, guitar — Doug Miller, bass — Akira Tana, drums

The trumpet-bass-drums quartet along with guitar will perform two sets of improvised music in various combinations, including both original compositions and jazz standards.

Presented by Berp & Co., Jazz in the Neighborhood is pleased to recommend this event where each musician will receive guaranteed minimum compensation of $150 (JITN’s scale).

The venue is a new listening space above Tam Commons, with  food and drink available downstairs in the brew pub. Come listen to creative Bay Area jazz artists and support a new listening room in Marin!

Admission: $20, available only at the door. Seating is limited. Email mario@berp.com to reserve a seat.

Tam Commons Tap Room and Kitchen — 1300 4th Street, San Rafael

 

 

 

 

 

The George Cotsirilos Quartet

Sunday, February 9, 7:30 pm at The Back Room

Jazz in the Neighborhood is pleased to recommend this event where each musician will receive guaranteed minimum compensation of $150 (JITN’s scale).    

The ensemble is a group of accomplished veteran musicians, featuring George Cotsirilos on guitar, Keith Saunders on piano, Robb Fisher on bass and Ron Marabuto on drums. They released the widely acclaimed CD Mostly In Blue in 2018. which spent over three months on the national Jazz Weekly top 50 radio charts, rising to number 15, and was named by Downbeat Magazine as one of the 100 best CD’s of 2018. The group performs primarily original, modern jazz compositions and selections from the jazz cannon. For more information, see the venue listing.

The Back Room — 1984 Bonita Avenue, Berkeley

“Thankfully, a few, but not all, American clubs guarantee artists a payment. Recently, the 7 Mile House has set that fee at the minimum level established by the Jazz in the Neighborhood advocacy organization,” notes Jeff Kaliss in the San Francisco Classical Voice for July 6, 2019. Full article link.

Read Jazz in the Neighborhood presents emerging artists in SF, by Jesse Hamlin, published in the San Francisco Chronicle, January 17, 2018.

Mario Guarneri’s father had a no-tipping policy at his union barbershop in Berkeley’s Elmwood district, where a fair wage was paid. Guarneri takes the same proud stance at Jazz in the Neighborhood, the nonprofit he started five years ago, banning the tip jar at its concerts and at other shows it subsidizes through its promising new Guaranteed Fair Wage Fund.

“It’s demeaning,” says Guarneri, the esteemed Bay Area trumpeter who sat in with Louis Armstrong onstage at Cal at age 13, played for 14 years with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and knows all about the tip jar from years of playing jazz gigs in the Bay Area.

He worked with great musicians who were barely compensated, often not knowing how much they’d earn until the night was over, when they’d get a percentage of the door or just split the tips. For six or seven years, Guarneri performed with top Bay Area players Sunday nights at the now-defunct Book Beat in Fairfax, where he lives, and paid them from his own pocket.

“I thought it was time to give a little back, not that I’m a millionaire,” says the affable trumpeter and composer, who played the trumpet solos on the soundtracks to “Godfather III” and “Lonesome Dove,” among other studio work, and has taught for 25 years at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Since its inception, Jazz in the Neighborhood, which receives grants from funders like San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music, has presented hundreds of musicians at venues around the Bay Area, paying them a guaranteed rate of $150 a gig, plus 10 percent more for the bandleader. Its Guaranteed Wage Fund pays other presenters and venues, like Bird & Beckett bookstore, up to 40 percent of that compensation for certain shows. The concerts are either free or modestly priced.

“We’re keeping jazz alive out in the neighborhoods, making it accessible to people,” says Guarneri, 75, who’s presenting clarinetist Ben Goldberg’s prime quintet, Ben Goldberg School, at the San Francisco Community Music Center on Friday, Jan. 19.

Joining in will be vibraphonist Dan Neville, one of the musicians in the nonprofit’s Emerging Artists program, which invites promising young players to share in the old jazz tradition of learning on the bandstand. Vocalist Shana Dinha is the emerging artist booked for Feb. 9 at Copperfield’s in San Rafael with Guarneri’s quartet featuring guitarist Randy Vincent, bassist John Wiitala and drummer Akira Tana.

Then there’s the New Chamber Jazz Quintets show the nonprofit has planned for Feb. 16 at Community Music Center, showcasing three young composers and bandleaders who came out of the Emerging Artists program: flutist/pianist Erika Oba, guitarist and singer Ian Faquini and drummer/vibraphonist Dillon Vado.

“If they have enough places to make a living here, people won’t have to go to New York or some other place,” Guarneri says.

Jesse Hamlin is a Bay Area journalist and former San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

A special Memorial Day issue of the Jazz in the Neighborhood newsletter for May 29, 2017. In memory of and in tribute to —

JOHN SHIFFLETT, BASS
John Shifflett’s passing has left a great big hole in my life. John was a wonderful person — funny, generous, humble, an astute observer of life’s details. He was also a hell of a musician. Like Big Sid Catlett said, “I can swing seventeen men with one wire brush and a phone book.” You got the feeling John could swing an entire band by just standing still. In a funny way, I didn’t really think of John as a bass player; he was just John Shifflett. Sometimes you needed a bass player and sometimes you needed John Shifflett. He was a master of contrapuntal groove. The melodies he created on the bass were carved out of metal; they were functional objects. You’d be playing a song and you’d be astonished by John’s lines — he had found the inner shape and substance of the song. It sounded perfectly obvious when he played it, but you had never known it was there. I regret John’s passing, but one thing I don’t regret is that whenever we played, I tried to tell him all of this, that I loved him and that I learned something new from him every time. We will really miss John Shifflett.
— Ben Goldberg

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I always loved hearing John sing along with his bass lines. I remember the first time I got to do a gig with him, perhaps late 1980s or early 1990s — I was so excited to be playing a gig with John Shifflett! Later I called him to play bass with me on a New Year’s Eve gig in 1999, but he chose to decline a really good paying gig to spend time with his wife. The last gig I played with John was at the De Anza Hotel Hedley Club, perhaps a couple of years ago, with Ed Johnson, I believe. I got to chat with him some on the break. I didn’t realize it would be the last time.
—Walter John Bankovitch

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When I first encountered it, in the midst of one of my first gigs with John, I was startled, amused and curious. What kinda guy would holler like that in the middle of playing a gig? I didn’t do that. No one I knew did that. I eventually came to realize what it meant. It was an instinctual utterance of a musician who was deeply attuned to the intense expression occurring at that very moment on the bandstand.Interestingly, even though that holler was bold and surprising, he was actually a very humble and private guy. I will sorely miss John’s holler, but I will carry it with me forever. I get it now. Thanks, John.
— Alan Hall

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I learned more from John Shifflett than any other person while in college. And he never said a word.
— Casey Filson

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John Shifflett was a great bass player as well as a wonderful person. He was warm, funny, smart, kind, generous, an altogether fine man. I had the pleasure of telling stories accompanied by a trio (John, Jason Lewis, and Steve Slagle) on a number of occasions; it was probably the performing highlight of my life.  John not only knew how to support a band, he knew how to support a storyteller. I will miss him.
— John Dobby Boe

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JENNY MELTZER, VOCALS
On May 13, 2017, we lost Jenny Meltzer, vocalist, composer and arranger of the vocal trio Pastiche. Jenny was my close colleague, along with Becky West. Although we were most active in the ’80s and ’90s while in the Bay Area and touring the US and Japan behind several CD releases, we continued to record together on and off as recently as last December. Jenny was the daughter of renowned poet and musician David Meltzer and Tina Meltzer, also a singer and musician. Jenny had a beautiful voice and incredible pitch. In our early days of singing more straight ahead, I remember our arrangement of “Moment’s Notice” where she sang a Coltrane solo with our guitarist, perfectly articulated and in tune. Later on as we experimented with fusing Latin and other elements, Jenny composed some beautiful tunes that we recorded on our second and third CDs: “Remember That,” “Destination Drive,” and “When Will There Be.” (The last two composed in collaboration with her husband, producer/composer Nic. tenBroek are among my favorites.) After moving to LA in the late ’90s, Jenny continued working with Pastiche and also sang on various TV and film soundtracks and CD projects.

(left to right: Becky West, Jenny Meltzer, Sandy Cressman)

Those who remember the sound of Pastiche always remark on the blend and precision of phrasing, and indeed, we were like musical sisters where the blend and phrasing is automatic even when we hadn’t sung together in months or even years. Jenny quietly fought a valiant four-and-a-half year battle with cancer, letting a very close few know what she was going through. We will miss her beautiful sound, her elegance, and her sense of humor.
— Sandy Cressman

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LOREN LINNARD, KEYBOARDS
My dear friend and longtime keyboardist Loren Linnard passed away in November from a brain tumor. A tragic loss, he was relatively young (mid fifties). Loren was incredibly humble, kind, generous, and a rare virtuoso with perfect pitch (which he never bragged about). In addition to being conversant in jazz, classical, pop, Latin, and Brazilian styles, he was also a prolific composer of musical theater pieces. In my group, the Silver Moon Big Band, Loren would often play keys, kick bass, sing backup, and run the PA all at the same time. Amazing!

Loren Linnard was a fantastic artist and a wonderful human being. We all miss him so much. He is survived by his wife Judith and their son Dean.
With sadness — Lee Waterman

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NEEL FOON, GUITAR
I had the honor and pleasure of being Neel Foon’s one-on-one guitar instructor for almost four years. I watched him blossom from a talented, but shy, freshman guitar player at Oakland School for the Arts, into an articulate, confident musician with amazing talent as a college freshman. I spent an hour a week, every week (minus a vacation here or there) with Neel, and he always had a smile on his face. He’s charming, funny, intelligent and had that smile which could light up a room. His playing had transformed into something special — he was truly a one of a kind musician. I’m honored to have been apart of his life and musical paths and feel blessed to have shared this art form together.
— Terrence Brewer

(Neel Foon, center, with Terrence Brewer quartet)

Neel Foon was our Emerging Artist with Terrence Brewer in February 2016. He had recently graduated from OAS and was attending UCLA when he suffered a fatal injury while hiking near Santa Cruz this past April.
— Jan Woo

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KHEVAN LENNON ONAJE, TENOR SAX
Khevan Lennon Onaje—friend, early music mentor, and sax player—passed away just this past month. He hired me for my first gig. Just played at his memorial last Sunday [April 30th].
— Ollie Dudek

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OMAR CLAY, DRUMS
This dedication is in memory of drummer, composer, and educator Omar Clay, who passed away from ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) on December 8, 2008, at the age of 73.

(left to right: Phil Ipolito, Poppa Joe Jones, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, Omar Clay, early 1970s)

His illustrious professional career included a stint in the 7th Army Jazz Band, which toured Germany (circa 1958-1960); being Sarah Vaughan’s drummer (1964-1966) and an original member of Max Roach’s M’Boom percussion ensemble; and later being the drummer in the Guarneri Jazz Quartet. He retired as music director of Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley in 2002. Amongst many, many memories, the most heartfelt ones became etched during the last years of Omar’s career when he played regularly with Mario Guarneri in venues around the Bay Area. When Mario learned of Omar’s diagnosis, he wrote “Requiem,” which was later recorded on the CD Tell Your Story in honor of Omar. At Omar’s tribute/memorial at the SF Conservatory of Music in 2009, Mario donned a newly purchased sports coat and graciously played a few tunes on stage. In addition to producing and releasing his CD dedicated to Omar, Mario organized a benefit with proceeds shared with the ALS Foundation. With a deep appreciation to Mario Guarneri for his love, continued support, and assiduous dedication to jazz, music, and the formation of JITN.
— Barbara Chew, Omar Clay’s loving partner

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Omar was a dear friend, a colleague, and a mentor. It all started when I gathered my courage to call him for a two-hour steady gig I was putting together in Fairfax at the Bookbeat around 2003. I paid people out of my pocket to play, but couldn’t believe a player of Omar’s caliber would drive to Fairfax for the $50 I was guaranteeing (when my finances improved, I got it up to $100). The only thing he said when I asked was “Who is playing bass?” That was the start of his mentoring. I told him I would not call him unless I got someone from his list, and the musical mentoring went from there. He became a big part of the inspiration for Jazz in the Neighborhood and that continues to this day. He wasn’t afraid to offer his opinion, and I particularly remember walking into a gig and hearing Omar say “Don’t you own an iron?”… probably more than once.
— Mario Guarneri

(left to right: Omar Clay, John Wiitala, Mario Guarneri)

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EDDIE SMITH, TRUMPET
Eddie Smith was my first trumpet teacher when I started at the age of eight. He taught me everything I ever needed to know to be a professional musician who played the trumpet. Eddie’s passion was playing with Earl “Fatha” Hines and leading his own group at the Club Shanghai in SF. I heard him there with my family in the 1950s, and I even hired the band to play at events at my high school. He got me into the 49er band at Kezar and the Raider band at Youell Field. I sat next to him in the band during the shows in the Venetian Room, listening to Ella Fitzgerald and many others. Lessons went on for hours, full of Socratic philosophy, transcribing solos, playing the blues, and working diligently on every page of the Arban book. He always talked about finding the diapason of my sound and using my ears. Because Eddie knew Louis Armstrong, I had an opportunity at the age of thirteen to sit in and play a set at a concert in Berkeley with Louie and his band. Edgar Clarence Smith passed on at age 83 in 2012. Selfless, dedicated musicians like he and Omar made a commitment to their art form and entertained thousands of people with their music-making but never achieved the recognition and monetary security they deserved as professionals in their field. I hope that the work of Jazz in the Neighborhood is changing that model for the future.
— Mario Guarneri

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SVEND ASMUSSEN, VIOLIN
To me, Svend Asmussen was the first guy to really play bebop on the violin. He was playing lines as hip as Charlie Parker even before Charlie Parker played them. Svend brought the violin into being as a serious jazz instrument because he had the chops and harmonic knowledge of any great saxophone or pianist improviser. I first heard Svend with his quartet when I was fifteen years old. I could see what a great player and arranger Svend was, but I also remember the natural entertainer in him. He put a smile on everybody’s faces. After that experience I had the urge to start “messing around” on the violin with jazz, but I didn’t know where to start. So I looked up Svend in the telephone book, and there he was. I called him, and he told me that he doesn’t teach, and then he said, “Just listen to Stuff Smith.” Svend being truly humble and always pointing to others as being superior was just part of the way he was. Svend has had a major impact on me on every level when it comes to being an excellent musician. For the last few years, guitarist Jacob Fischer and I have toured around Scandinavia playing Svend’s music in jazz clubs and concert halls. Having been a part of Svend’s group for over fifteen years, Jacob has a unique perspective and understanding of Svend’s music, which resulted in the 2016 CD release Mads Tolling Quartet feat. Jacob Fischer — Celebrating Svend Asmussen. Svend is also a superb arranger and composer, especially for the small jazz combo size. It doesn’t get much better than his versions of “Honeysuckle Rose” and “After You’ve Gone.”  We have truly lost one of the world’s greatest and most original musician, entertainer, and human being.
— Mads Tolling

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DAVE VALENTIN, FLUTE
Latin Jazz flautist extraordinaire Dave Valentin passed this year. I shot this photo in 2008 at the Yerba Buena Center where he was performing with the New York Latin All-Stars.
— Jose Constantino

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We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who contributed their thoughts and photos.