Not that long ago I was happy with the start of Art of Cool, the Beyu Caffe's many nights of jazz, & the growth of Sharp Nine as the place to listen. Right now Art of Cool expanded way beyond jazz & now quiescent (until it finally reveals its 2018 schedule), the Beyu has shifted its music to what brings in people, & the Sharp Nine is the only consistent jazz Triangle jazz listening venue. My take on the latter is that S9
My take on the last is that the relatively small but fervent jazz audience here now knows where to go to listen to good jazz in a community atmosphere once a week. There's a lot packed into that sentence. Having been to more jazz performances than just about anyone in the last few years, some thoughts:
- The latent jazz audience woke up to what's playing, due to venues putting out good music, those venues keeping up websites & other social media, the Word Getting Around, & whatever I've done that's brought in some dedicated customers.
- The audience is still limited. There are enough fans to keep S9 going & whatever jazz adds to the customer base in all the other venues that rely on drinks & food (go for it, C Grace, Empress Room, & Irregardless!).
- No venue attracts big crowds except Duke Performances, Carolina Performing Arts, NCSU Center Stage, DPAC, & the Carolina Theatre--& those are people by season ticket holders & folks seeking big names. As much as I like student & faculty jazz performances at NCCU, UNC, Duke, none of them packs their houses.
Conclusion #1: There's lots of good music out there, but not enough fanatic fans to support it.
How do I know that? I've been a fanatic for the last five years. That's how I've put together the list of venue on the LJ home page. Last night I overdid it & listened to pianist Ernest Turner & bassist Butler Knowles giving two of us a personal concert in the back of Sullivan's Steakhouse bar, stopped briefly at the Empress Room because I'd never heard or heard of pianist Doug Kobs, & then listened to guitarist Jimmy Gilmore's standards trio at C Grace. In the last two it was quiet enough to hear the music, which isn't the case in such bars on busy weekend nights. And, along with Irregardless, the latter two venues provide more jazz gigs than any others including S9.
I've gotten to know a small group of fervent fans over that time, but even those folks listen to their live jazz mostly on weekends. That's not to fault people; it's reality. Which may relate to the high proportion of older adults in local jazz crowds. If we're to go out to any music, it's got to start at 8p or earlier.
Conclusion #2: It Don't Mean A Thing Unless It Makes the Cast Register Sing! Unless a venue has another source of income (or is very generous), it's hard to justify having (any) music unless it's profitable. A brilliant conclusion, no? I'm stating the obvious, but I have appreciated venues keeping jazz going despite few people attending (or listening). And, this won't change until the local population gets big enough to support more steady venues.
Conclusion #3: There's still plenty of good music out there! A blessing for fans & a curse of musicians. Yeah, I now have less choices on weeknights in Chapel Hill, but in mid-week Raleigh venues should be quieter. All I have to do is drive 40 minutes from Carrboro, yet that gets to the point that you gotta makes the effort if you want to hear the music--& you gotta tip musicians generously when you hear them. Nearly all local musicians are playing because they love the music, because they make very little money out of it. Most of them have multiple jobs if they don't have a real day job & scramble to get gigs. So that means go to a few more jazz gigs. There's great pleasure in doing something like I did last night, listening to a melodic piano/bass duo in a quiet venue. Jazz envigorates us through our souls...