Listening to @MarkGhuneim, pretty interesting stuff.

Talk about stagnant

So as I’m checking all my Google alerts, I get one that shows the current program for 2010 APAP Conference (Click here to read it), where I find that my concerns about the current state of the presenting industry in the Performing Arts world were completely dismissed. I had previously sent an e-mail to APAP, talking about the issues I saw with the panelists to the different forums:

“Ladies and gentleman,

I want to thank you in advance for your time and attention to my e-mail, especially at such a busy time, as I know that you are working hard on the upcoming conference.

We are excited about the programming for the conference because it touches on a subject that we are very passionate about. However, I’m a bit disappointed that it is not represented broadly. While we do understand that it is difficult to try and cover every form, I do feel that it is important to showcase some forms, and in this case I’m referring to Latin Jazz.

Based on the artists and speakers invited, I noticed that there are not any Latin Jazz artists invited to participate. I also noticed that it is the same “click” of individuals, and though we respect their career and the institutions they represent, they do not represent the current trend in the industry. We feel that the Latin jazz talent that’s out there is not being taken into account not only by APAP, but by the industry in general.

Take for example Track I “Jazz on the 21st Century” – though the artists are young and some of the newest talent in the scene, the other panelist represent the “old school” of programming.
On Track II – It is important to have the different directors, but why not listen to some of the professionals out there not only teaching but also performing? Need a suggestion? Well I represent Bobby Sanabria, whose latest album “Kenya Revisited Live” a project of the Manhattan School of Music – Afro-Cuban Jazz Big Band, which he currently conducts, got nominated for a Latin Grammy. www.sonicbids.com/bobbysanabria or www.bobbysanabria.com

Meet the NEA Jazz Masters, well we too represent NEA Jazz Master Candido Camero, who is also on the afore mentioned album and someone who has recorded with the many others great masters in attendance. He recently received the Lifetime Achievement award by LARAS the Latin arm of the Recording Academy.

Please note that these is just our point of view, based on the fact that we are out there everyday working on the same issues that will be brought up and presented in the upcoming conference, and feel that the panelist and artists invited are not representing the current state of the industry.


Again, I personally thank you in advance and look forward to your comments, and of course the conference.


Sincerely,


–

Emerson F. Bran
o: (310) 295-4259 x703
c: (818) 943-5155
http://www.emersonbranmanagement.com/
skype:emersonbranmanagment
Booking the best Jazz, Latin Jazz, Afro-Cubanand World music performers”


I received a response from Scott Stoner who is the Chief Program Officer, which in my opinion is very dismissive:


“Scott Stoner wrote:

Dear Emerson – thank you so much for your email drawing our attention to Latin Jazz. It is certainly not our intention to overlook any aspect of the jazz field and we want all of the sessions to be as inclusive as possible. I believe the important thing for you to know is that these are not traditional panel discussions and the content is not to be limited to the particular background or area of expertise of the few resource people we identified as invited discussants. We tried to ensure a mix (primarily intergenerational) of artists, agents/managers, presenters, and producers to help stimulate the initial discussion for each session – but strive for a rich dialogue that will cover broad yet cogent issues in the field today.

So that said, we hope you will be in the room and invite others to join us who represent Latin Jazz and will encourage you to contribute to the discussion. These are interactive sessions – all rooms set with roundtables and the session begins with individual roundtable discussions, followed by remarks from a featured speaker, followed by a facilitated discussion with invited discussants and the audience in the room. There are no formal presentations by “panelists” because these are not traditional panel sessions.

Regarding the Meet the NEA Jazz Masters session, this is part of our partnership with the NEA Jazz Masters Program in conjunction with the 2010 Jazz Masters Awards and the purpose of the session is to introduce the new 2010 NEA Jazz Masters to our members and to all others who wish to attend the session.

I hope to meet you at the conference and we again welcome your participation in the sessions!


Best, Scott


Scott D. Stoner”

Well you can check out the program here:
http://www.apapconference.org/docs/APAP10_ProgramGuide_WEB.pdf.


Are you serious?! Are these the people that should know on how the business and especially Jazz Industry are supposed to know how things work now?! Are they supposed to know how technology, marketing and a segregated market are supposed to work?! The same people that don’t book or program any or very little Latin entertainment, mind you Latinos are the largest population in the US?!!

Come on! No wonder the entertainment industry is so screwed up!

For those of you who may not know whom Israel Lopez "Cachao" was http://ping.fm/eZdE3
and Carlos "Patato" Valdes: http://ping.fm/Hw3yk

The Wall

So I just got back from the Aspen Ideas Festival, and it was an amazing experience. I feel so blessed, as something like this never crossed my mind. Being among the elite of the world, having dinner and sitting next to the CEO of Phillips, meeting Dana Perino and Bob Schieffer, walking and mingling with people like Michael Eisner, Alan Greenspan and many more notables, was so unreal. I mean here's someone that came from Latin America, not rich, small business owner, but so freakin' blessed!

Even though it was an amazing experience and such a blessing, it was also something that continued to confirm the huge gap between the hard working citizens and the elites. This festival is supposed to be a think tank on how to help our society get better and be better, but something that resonated in my mind was, "how can they come up with ideas when they don't really know what's going in the trenches?" It's parallel to what's going on in the music industry, where they are trying to solve the issues on monetizing new media, but yet they have no idea on what's going on with the audience and/or the artists.

Furthermore it also made me realize that even though these people always talk about diversity, their group is not really diverse. Though I was having a good time, sometimes I could feel the pressure of being Latino. We have to find a way to brake "the wall" that keeps us from uniting, the wall that says "we are too colored for mainstream, and too mainstream for the colored".

This is something that many of us struggle with, and I experience it everyday with all the talent buyers out there. It's never enough to be able to book the artists that we represent, if it isn't "they don't draw enough", then is "they don't have a new album" or the classic "I'll think about it, I like the artist, I'm just not sure". Since when is it about the talent buyer? Isn't it supposed to be what the customer wants? Isn't the customer always right? If so then why is it that talent buyers, record labels, radio, print and TV media don't deliver to their audience? Do they really know what they're doing?

Yes is a different kind of wall, but could that be because our artists are Latinos playing Jazz or Latin jazz?

The quest continues, I just pray that God helps me to eliminate or at least help me get around the wall. Our artist are worthy of working on any stage in the world!

So after reading Bob Lefsetz and Jim Markunas today, it got me thinking. How can Latin Music be completely ignored by the music business?

I mean we have some amazing talent, especially in the arts and yet we don't get the respect to what we call the big boys? I mean we have bands like Spanish Harlem Orchestra, The Latin Giants of Jazz (Tito Puente's Band), Sonora Ponceña, El Gran Combo, and of course many more. However, you will rarely see these bands in a performing arts center, or a jazz festival. This year for example Playboy had Oscar Hernandez but with Los Angeles based musicians, you look at Monterey Jazz fest and they have Conrad Herwig with Joe Lovano and Randy Brecker? Playing the music of Wayne Shorter? Is that the best they can do under the Latin Jazz field? The only band that I can say plays Latin jazz is "Forro in the dark", which they don't even bother to put a link to their site to even try and help promote the band!

Oh wait! My mistake they're also having "Alfredo Rodriguez Trio", he was "discovered" by Quincy Jones. Again, does it take a noteworthy US American (yes I have a gripe with people in the US calling themselves Americans, if they haven't noticed America is an entire continent), to make it happen? Are we looking at Q's version of "Buena Vista Social Club" phenomenon?

Why can't talent buyers take their time and learn more? I mean we are in the 21st century and most jazz buyer feel they're the only ones that know and have an eye for talent. What will it take for them to realize that pretty soon their regulars will no longer sell? Do they really know the fans? How many of them actually attend?

Most Jazz clubs complain about attendance, but yet they fail to realize their food and drink prices. Then they forget about the people that come, they try and target the "high end" clientele, but reality is they don't really care about music. Then we get into the ticket pricing, yes I know that they have to price it according to artist price and what it would cost them to open the door. But what about when the artist takes the risk? We still have to share a percentage with the venue!

Some of the old timers ask for top pricing, but question remains can these guys deliver the audience? And we ask why is the business aspect of music doing so bad...