What is the future – and the value – of the voluntary jazz club? Merged with: How should local jazz clubs judge their success?

SESSION: What is the future – and the value – of the voluntary jazz club? Merged with: How should local jazz clubs judge their success?

Convener(s): Mike Gordon & Brian Allen

Participants: Pete Lyons, John Blandford, Brian Allen, Roan Kearsey-Lonosen, Margaret +, sue Lightaun

Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:

What's criteria for success? Self evaluation consist wholly of whether financial plan is working out OK. (Chichester).

Developing young muisicians important.

Jazz club more than just music – builds up social base from which people can be drawn into wider variety of styles.

Benefits include encouraging young people from the locality.

Massive amount of voluntary time not recognized nationally (ACE, Arts Ministers …). In a smallish local club can be in excess of a 100 hours a week – equates to 100s of thousands of £s a year nationally. Jazz Services could calculate total hours across the country and publicise.

National network of voluntarily promoted venues is massive and lifeblood of the business nationally and essential route for many young developing musicians.

Without financial support from ACE it may not be possible for clubs to take more risks in programming more adventurous things.

Financial support for opera is massively disproportionate – promoters need to be actively lobbying to redress the injustice.

Request jazz Services organize a national voluntary promoters’ conference.

How do we increase the impact of Jazz Services?

SESSION: How do we increase the impact of Jazz Services?

Convener(s): Peter

Participants: Peter, Chris, Chrys, Will

Summary of discussion, conclusions and/or recommendations:

A general view that the individual activities of Jazz Services were valuable, but a perception that they lack an overall focus – this could be a communications issue or it could be a real issue.

Should Jazz Services be primarily a service to musicians and promoters etc; or should it represent the industry to the outside world and be a service for them. At the moment it does both.

Does Jazz services try to do too much?

The industry needs an organization that speaks for us to bodies like PRS, British Council etc and that represents jazz and lobbies on our behalf. Should that be Jazz Services? Can anyone else do it?

Jazz Services could enlist support from the industry to make it more effective in these roles.