Baltimore As A Jazz City – part 2
The Importance of Innovation*
"With Baltimore being located between Baltimore and D.C., it has little chance of being know as a jazz city." - 1993
In spite of this dire prediction, just nine years later, Barry Glassman founded the Baltimore Jazz Alliance. How well I remember that first meeting - a room packed with performers and aficionados, expressing their desires and concerns. A dream was born, a dream that's been sustained and grown now for fourteen years.
Am I surprised? Not at all. Jazz musicians are some of the most passionate people I know.
As illustrated in Part 1, the key is attitude, but before the BJA starts patting itself on the shoulder, we need to consider: Why did it take a non-native, a person from New York, to recognize that Baltimore was indeed a jazz city all along, and initiate a dream that is now the Baltimore Jazz Alliance?
This suggests that inaction of the jazz community is responsible, in part, for some of the problems we face.
One frequent complaint is that Baltimore has no annual jazz festival. This is especially painful when you consider that the City of Chicago has sponsored a jazz festival since 1979. That’s 37 years. While writing for Music Monthly Magazine, we once got a 7-page press release about this event, which boasted how Chicago "nurtured" artists that went on to become major players.
The thing is, Chicago's jazz festival actually began in 1974, put on by the community rather then the city. It was only after 5 years of effort that the government finally understood the significance and decided to get involved.
Putting on our own festival will yield far better results then complaining about the lack of one. To paraphrase what I said back in ’93, “Forget about BOPA and instead carve out our own niche. All the BJA needs to do is believe.” It's all a matter of vision. As the song goes, "Keep your eyes on the prize."
Fortunately, the BJA already has put on two such events, so the idea is not entirely new.
We had the “First Annual Baltimore Jazz Composers Showcase in 2005,” a joint venture between the BJA and the Baltimore Composers Forum. We even received a write up, with photos, in the Baltimore Sun.
The BJA did put on its second composers showcase in 2013, but other then these two events, that’s been it.
The reason for emphasizing new music, is that the Maryland State Arts Council has a long-term goal of turning Maryland into a “Mecca for the Arts.”
Their first priority is EXCELLENCE. Considering the jazz talent this city has, the BJA has no worry there. We do fail when it comes to the second priority, INNOVATION. However, as the two composer showcases and the Baltimore Jazz Real Book show (I believe the only such publication in the nation), we have innovators too.
I’m guessing it’s either the lack of awareness or lack of interest that causes the BJA to continually miss this wonderful opportunity to be in on the leading edge of the arts scene.
One of the things that drew me to jazz was its spirit of innovation. At that time, the early 70s, we not only honored early innovators, we talked about the creative work of living artists, my two most favorites being Bill Evans and Miles Davis.
Over decades I noticed that support of jazz innovation waning. It was as if those whom one would think would be the most interested in promoting a fundamental aspect of the spirit of jazz, had come upon a wall that prevented them from imagining the future.
It was as if that derisive notion that “Jazz Is Dead,” had come true.
Of course that’s nonsense. Jazz innovation did not end with the death of Miles Davis.
(To Be Continued)
In spite of this dire prediction, just nine years later, Barry Glassman founded the Baltimore Jazz Alliance. How well I remember that first meeting - a room packed with performers and aficionados, expressing their desires and concerns. A dream was born, a dream that's been sustained and grown now for fourteen years.
Am I surprised? Not at all. Jazz musicians are some of the most passionate people I know.
As illustrated in Part 1, the key is attitude, but before the BJA starts patting itself on the shoulder, we need to consider: Why did it take a non-native, a person from New York, to recognize that Baltimore was indeed a jazz city all along, and initiate a dream that is now the Baltimore Jazz Alliance?
This suggests that inaction of the jazz community is responsible, in part, for some of the problems we face.
One frequent complaint is that Baltimore has no annual jazz festival. This is especially painful when you consider that the City of Chicago has sponsored a jazz festival since 1979. That’s 37 years. While writing for Music Monthly Magazine, we once got a 7-page press release about this event, which boasted how Chicago "nurtured" artists that went on to become major players.
The thing is, Chicago's jazz festival actually began in 1974, put on by the community rather then the city. It was only after 5 years of effort that the government finally understood the significance and decided to get involved.
Putting on our own festival will yield far better results then complaining about the lack of one. To paraphrase what I said back in ’93, “Forget about BOPA and instead carve out our own niche. All the BJA needs to do is believe.” It's all a matter of vision. As the song goes, "Keep your eyes on the prize."
Fortunately, the BJA already has put on two such events, so the idea is not entirely new.
We had the “First Annual Baltimore Jazz Composers Showcase in 2005,” a joint venture between the BJA and the Baltimore Composers Forum. We even received a write up, with photos, in the Baltimore Sun.
The BJA did put on its second composers showcase in 2013, but other then these two events, that’s been it.
The reason for emphasizing new music, is that the Maryland State Arts Council has a long-term goal of turning Maryland into a “Mecca for the Arts.”
Their first priority is EXCELLENCE. Considering the jazz talent this city has, the BJA has no worry there. We do fail when it comes to the second priority, INNOVATION. However, as the two composer showcases and the Baltimore Jazz Real Book show (I believe the only such publication in the nation), we have innovators too.
I’m guessing it’s either the lack of awareness or lack of interest that causes the BJA to continually miss this wonderful opportunity to be in on the leading edge of the arts scene.
One of the things that drew me to jazz was its spirit of innovation. At that time, the early 70s, we not only honored early innovators, we talked about the creative work of living artists, my two most favorites being Bill Evans and Miles Davis.
Over decades I noticed that support of jazz innovation waning. It was as if those whom one would think would be the most interested in promoting a fundamental aspect of the spirit of jazz, had come upon a wall that prevented them from imagining the future.
It was as if that derisive notion that “Jazz Is Dead,” had come true.
Of course that’s nonsense. Jazz innovation did not end with the death of Miles Davis.
(To Be Continued)
* - Since writing this, I've been made aware that the Baltimore Jazz Alliance is planning to have a Jazz Festival in October 2016.