In recent years, arts presenters at the Jersey Shore have often misrepresented jazz in their programming. And in the rare times jazz is presented in large venues, musicians from Northern NJ, NY and Philly are most likely hired. World class jazz artists from Monmouth and Ocean Counties and surrounding areas go unacknowledged.
There are no jazz clubs at the Shore anymore. No place where local accomplished jazz players can play the music to which they’ve dedicated their professional lives. There are many reasons for this, and not all the blame should go to event
organizers.
I moved to New Jersey 44 years ago, and almost immediately resumed the singing career I began as a child in way upstate New York. Traditionally, musicians of my generation didn’t have a head for business. Jazz musicians in particular, tended to keep to themselves. They were imaginative and inventive playing music, but they weren’t entrepreneurs. Networking hadn’t yet become a fashionable activity among artists.
I had to acquire an enterprising spirit because I was a single, working mom with four kids to support with only my talent. I made a point of learning how to put together a band, sell it and promote it. I learned to write press releases, use bulk mailings, and paste-up style graphic arts from other people who had those skills. During the late 70s, DJs captured the market in private parties, and many local jazz players who freelanced in bands rarely worked.
After hearing them complain that “My phone isn’t ringing,” I decided to create All Music Inc. (AMI), a non-profit organization. Non-profit in the literal sense! I published a companion “magletter” where I and others wrote about artists’ issues. I shared what I had learned, including how to create our own gigs when phones weren’t ringing with offers. I organized AMI events to showcase musicians and bring them together with music consumers. Today, that’s called audience development. I was disappointed that musicians “didn’t get it;” did not support my effort nor the concept of preparing for the future.
Through the years, many of the jazz players whose training allowed them to play all kinds of music, taught private lessons, continued to study and practice their instruments, and some composed and arranged. But they didn’t work much as jazz musicians. As music and pop culture began to change, so did DJs. They became slick, complete entertainment offices and even more popular.
Shore jazz clubs closed. Some jazz players took factory jobs for the first time. Some grew ill and died. And there was a suicide or two. After six years, I lost my shirt financing an organization that fulfilled its mission, without the reclusive Shore jazz players. And as jazz died at the Jersey Shore, new music was being born to run.
Today, jazz festivals around the country, and especially at the Shore, don’t feature much jazz. You’ll hear blues, hip hop, house, rock, R&B, and even country music. There are good trends and bad. And, where music is concerned, I look at the bigger picture. My anthem has never been “everybody’s doing it.”
I like and support all genres and all musicians, but I’m concerned with helping to preserve jazz…real jazz. If music events are not featuring real jazz, young people will not know what it is. A good trend is that the newer generations of jazz musicians are enterprising. I hope we’ll see their performances at the Shore.
Today, jazz musicians (singers are musicians, too) are like chameleons. They play in utilitarian contexts all the time. They become unwitting purveyors of alcohol in restaurants and lounges. They might as well be wallpaper. They take requests at parties and are expected to keep people dancing. They’re hired to accompany all sorts of singers. But jazz musicians rarely get to freely play the style of music they love.
As a die-hard advocate, I’ve begun hosting monthly jazz jam sessions at my home. Using the nickname I’ve had in the music and healing communities for decades, I call it “Rosemother’s Jam – 100% Jazz!” I invite accomplished jazz players to come play the jazz repertoire and their originals freely, and to have a good time.
One of the drummers involved suggested we play a concert at the music studio where he teaches. It seemed like a good idea, since some jazz lovers have asked if the public can come to my house sessions, but I don’t have room for an audience.
Please come and support the very first public performance of Rosemother’s Jam – 100% Jazz! featuring Rosemary Conte’s Reality Jazz. The show will take place on Sunday, October 18 from 3:00pm - 5:00pm at the Monmouth Academy of Music (1230 Campus Dr., Morganville, NJ). Admission is $15. The all-star band includes Brad Mandigo, piano; Tony Cimorosi, bass; Bob Boyd, drums; myself, vocals, and a very special guest! Students of jazz are encouraged to come.
Rosemary Conte is a singer, voice teacher, and hypnotherapist living and working in Matawan, NJ.
Address comments and questions to RConte9@Verizon.net.
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