Shot Through the Heart
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[Update below]
The TBA in Jazz Fest’s lineup turned out to be neither Bruce Springsteen or Neil Young as many hoped. Instead, we get Bon Jovi, who festival director Quint Davis refers to as soulful. Clearly, we’re expanding our definitions of jazz, heritage and soul, but so it goes.Â
The pirate treasure in Keith Spera’s story in today’s Times-Picayune came late in the piece when Spera wrote:
Jazz Fest could afford to book the likes of Billy Joel, Rod Stewart and now Bon Jovi after partnering with AEG Live, the nation’s second-largest concert promoter, in late 2004. Such acts generally command six-figure fees, but draw new fans to Jazz Fest.
“That helps the festival survive and grow,” Davis said. “If they attract some new people who find their way to the Gospel Tent … they get a-culturized. That’s part of the story of Jazz Fest, how it survived for 40 years, and is going to survive for another 40.”
The list of top tier acts Davis would like to eventually see at Jazz Fest include Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner and Elton John. Davis would not address rumors that another artist on his wish list, Neil Young, was nearly booked this year.
Festival Production and AEG Live’s strategy for the long-term health of the festival is to replace the aging baby boomers that are currently an important part of the Jazz Fest constituency with the next generation of graying music lovers. (Do I have to point out that New Jersey was released in 1988 – 21 years ago? That there are people old enough to drink and drive that have never known a world without Private Dancer?)
It’s tempting to simply attribute the preference for the aging to the fact that Quint Davis is aging, and like most of us, he embraces the bands and musical values of the period when he came of age musically – the early 1970s. I hope that’s the case, even if I don’t share all of his values. The more disturbing possibility is that there’s a strategic preference for older music fans because they have better jobs, more money, and the ability and desire to spend it on things like Big Chief and the other V.I.P. packages.
Whatever the case, it’s hard to see Bon Jovi as anything but a fairly naked attempt to sell tickets.
… in other Jazz Fest news, the day to day lineup is available here, Aretha Franklin’s status has been moved from confirmed to “maybe,” and Toots and the Maytals have cancelled. Julian Marley is taking their place.
[Update: 1:10 p.m.]
A friend sent me an email that made a great point. He wrote:
Please continuie to slap Quint every time he uses the “It draws people to the Gospel Tent” excuse. (Hell, if he had said “This is your tradeoff for getting the Drive By Truckers and Spoon,” I’d respect him more).
Good point. The implication is that people will come to see Bon Jovi and maybe see something “real” – gospel. There’s a heavy dose of condescension toward Bon Jovi in that statement, and a variation on hipper-than-thou: realer-than-thou. Davis didn’t pick a popular music like funk or brass band as his example, nor did he choose music that is hard to hear elsewhere in the country like Cajun. He chose the unassailable music that few outside of churchgoers hear all year long, which is a way of trying to scramble back to an aesthetic high ground after  conceding it by announcing Bon Jovi.
If Jazz Fest could ever simply say that it’s trying to be a popular music festival with Louisiana roots – be real as opposed to realer-than-thou – 90 percent of the criticism would vanish.
The Bon Jovi news made my day, just because I knew our favorite whipping boy Quint Davis was bound to come up with something amusingly stupid to justify the booking. He should just say, “I’m in the promotion business, and John Boy will spin the turnstiles.” That Festival Productions’ business, and they have proven they know how to do it. The bigger question is why the non-profit Jazz and Heritage Foundation continues to hire Quint and his gang. Aren’t they embarrassed? No, of course they are not, because all their talk of “culture” and “mission” and “education” is a sham for these bunch of hacks–they just want the money, too. I wonder if their is any legal mechanism for challenging their non-profit status???
More a slap in the face, to my interests, is Gregory Davis’ programming of the jazz tent. The tent only holds 3,000 at most, so from a business standpoint it is lost-leader, a prestige enhancing cost of doing business. So why not program with an eye to creativity, or even plain old quality? The jazz tent is the only entity in town with the budget to bring creative jazz programming to New Orleans (although the heroic efforts of entities like Anxious Sound and Scatterjazz and even Valid Records manage to do a great deal with almost no budget–and almost no coverage in Offbeat, Gambit, or the T-P,) yet all they can think to do at the top of the bill is to find what ever 80 year old is still standing (Roy Haynes again!) and tributes to dead superstars. The tribute to Miles’ KIND OF BLUE artfully combines the two, since it features Jimmy Cobb (who turned 80 last month) as the last living participant in that landmark recording. (Next year Ornette Coleman will hit 80, so maybe he will return, and Chicago stalwart Fred Anderson turns 80 in March (and he might be part of Kidd Jordan’s set at Jazz Fest,) and there is some change that Sun Ra orchestra leader Marshall Allen may come to town–don’t think I have anything against octogenarian jazz musicians!!!)
On the local front, I’m sure we will (well, I won’t because for the first time in 27 years I’m not going) hear the usual suspects playing the usual “Caravan,” “Cherokee,” and plenty of Miles. None of the local leaders who actually write music and have their own conception beyond a jam session of Hard Bop hits will be there: no Jeff Albert Quartet, none of James Singleton’s group, no Martin Krusche and Magnetic Ear, no Jonathan Freilich, no Rob Wagner, no Rick Trolsen and Neslort. And don’t believe that any of the above will be appearing in the Jazz Tent at all except Singleton with Astral Project, nor will such monster “side men” as Tim Green or Brian Coogan, and no doubt many others. But somehow Gregory Davis finds room to book a jam session with himself as the leader. The last time I heard Gregory was with the Dirty Dozen 12 years ago–he’s not exactly a heavy hitter on the scene. And I’ve never heard seen him checking out music, despite going out almost everynight of the year.
So to sum it up, Jazz Fest is really represents the worst of New Orleans’ tendencies: narcissism, hypocrisy, hucksterism, complacency, nepotism, self-delusion, and irrelevance. All for only $50 a day . . .
Comment by belyin — February 7, 2009 @ 11:39 am