Pittsburgh's Own Regional Notables of Jazz
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PITTSBURGH JAZZ
From Blakey to Brown, Como to Costa, Eckstine to Eldridge, Galbraith to Garner, Harris to Hines, Horne to Hyman, Jamal to Jefferson, Kelly to Klook; Mancini to Marmarosa, May to Mitchell, Negri to Nestico, Parlan to Ponder, Reed to Ruther, Strayhorn to Sullivan, Turk to Turrentine, Wade to Williams… the forthcoming publication Treasury of Pittsburgh Jazz Connections by Dr. Nelson Harrison and Dr. Ralph Proctor, Jr. will document the legacy of one of the world’s greatest jazz capitals.
Do you want to know who Dizzy Gillespie idolized? Did you ever wonder who inspired Kenny Clarke and Art Blakey? Who was the pianist that mentored Monk, Bud Powell, Tad Dameron, Elmo Hope, Sarah Vaughan and Mel Torme? Who was Art Tatum’s idol and Nat Cole’s mentor? What musical quartet pioneered the concept adopted later by the Modern Jazz Quartet? Were you ever curious to know who taught saxophone to Stanley Turrentine or who taught piano to Ahmad Jamal? What community music school trained Robert McFerrin, Sr. for his history-making debut with the Metropolitan Opera? What virtually unknown pianist was a significant influence on young John Coltrane, Shirley Scott, McCoy Tyner, Bobby Timmons and Ray Bryant when he moved to Philadelphia from Pittsburgh in the 1940s? Would you be surprised to know that Erroll Garner attended classes at the Julliard School of Music in New York and was at the top of his class in writing and arranging proficiency?
Some answers can be gleaned from the postings on the Pittsburgh Jazz Network.
For almost 100 years the Pittsburgh region has been a metacenter of jazz originality that is second to no other in the history of jazz. One of the best kept secrets in jazz folklore, the Pittsburgh Jazz Legacy has heretofore remained mythical. We have dubbed it “the greatest story never told” since it has not been represented in writing before now in such a way as to be accessible to anyone seeking to know more about it. When it was happening, little did we know how priceless the memories would become when the times were gone.
Today jazz is still king in Pittsburgh, with events, performances and activities happening all the time. The Pittsburgh Jazz Network is dedicated to celebrating and showcasing the places, artists and fans that carry on the legacy of Pittsburgh's jazz heritage.
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MARY LOU WILLIAMS
INTERVIEW
Please Advise: Just what are Jazz fans looking for????
I want to recap a conversation I just had with someone calling to ask about Don Aliquo's perfornance at our restaurant, Gypsy Cafe, tonight:
Caller: What time does the music start tonight?
Me: About 8:30
C: How long do they play?
M: Until about 11
C; Oh, that's pretty good. (She is about to hang up...)
M: Would you like to make a reservation?
C: Why, is there a cover?
M: Not if you purchase a dinner entree.
C: Can't we just get a drink or dessert?
M: If you don't order a dinner entree or the equivalent, we charge a $10 cover
C: Oh. Per table?
M: No, the cover is per person.
C: Oh. Wow.
M: We are a restaurant....
C: (hangs up)
Jazz Community--please help. I am genuinely perplexed as to how to handle this. I've written about this before and invited input but I haven't gotten any responses. From my perspective, here are the issues:
1. We don't want to have to charge a cover. We instituted this because of how many folks come in for nearly three hours of live entertainment and expect to order, say, a glass of wine or an iced tea or maybe an appetizer for the night. I can not support and pay musicians on fans who spend $5 per person, period.
2. So, in an effort to see to the needs of all parties--cafe, fans, musicians--we started to say we would charge a cover of $10 waived with the purchase of a dinner entree. Frankly, each seat I have in my cafe is worth $25 every two hours. This means, if I'm not making $12.50 per seat per hour in the busiest times of the evening, I'm not covering my ends--mind you, not profit here--employees, food, overhead. Ordering an entree covers me and justifies paying musicians. Again, to try to please everyone, here was the thinking:
a. Start Jazz later (9pm and on) so we can make less per seat per hour. Result: Even though it's a Saturday night, most potential guests think this is far too late.
b. If it seems too late to eat dinner, pay a cover. I personally don't think an intimate personal music event with well-regarded musicians in a room that is great for sound and sight in a seat at a table with people waiting on you and offering a full bar and menu that you can choose NOT TO PARTAKE of by paying 10 bucks isn't too much to ask. Result: No one wants to pay a cover.
What are you experiencing elsewhere that makes what we're asking seem out of line to people? Are there places that let you come in at 7PM, stay for 3 hours, not order anything siginificant, and not pay a cover? If there are, they can not be for-profit establishments, certainly.
We would love to serve a musical community that seems to consider itself underserved; we would love to invite people to our cafe to hear music in a unique enviroment that's great for music, but at this point, we are simply subsidizing jazz music--and frankly, I'm not a non-profit. I'm a struggling business owner who hasn't seen a paycheck since May.
I read a post from someone who said he felt that Jazz had become a "Benedum event"--something to dress up and be fancy for and pay out the nose for. If what we are trying to offer seems to line up with a "benedum event" I don't know what to say beyond my intitial question--just what do jazz fans expect???
Caller: What time does the music start tonight?
Me: About 8:30
C: How long do they play?
M: Until about 11
C; Oh, that's pretty good. (She is about to hang up...)
M: Would you like to make a reservation?
C: Why, is there a cover?
M: Not if you purchase a dinner entree.
C: Can't we just get a drink or dessert?
M: If you don't order a dinner entree or the equivalent, we charge a $10 cover
C: Oh. Per table?
M: No, the cover is per person.
C: Oh. Wow.
M: We are a restaurant....
C: (hangs up)
Jazz Community--please help. I am genuinely perplexed as to how to handle this. I've written about this before and invited input but I haven't gotten any responses. From my perspective, here are the issues:
1. We don't want to have to charge a cover. We instituted this because of how many folks come in for nearly three hours of live entertainment and expect to order, say, a glass of wine or an iced tea or maybe an appetizer for the night. I can not support and pay musicians on fans who spend $5 per person, period.
2. So, in an effort to see to the needs of all parties--cafe, fans, musicians--we started to say we would charge a cover of $10 waived with the purchase of a dinner entree. Frankly, each seat I have in my cafe is worth $25 every two hours. This means, if I'm not making $12.50 per seat per hour in the busiest times of the evening, I'm not covering my ends--mind you, not profit here--employees, food, overhead. Ordering an entree covers me and justifies paying musicians. Again, to try to please everyone, here was the thinking:
a. Start Jazz later (9pm and on) so we can make less per seat per hour. Result: Even though it's a Saturday night, most potential guests think this is far too late.
b. If it seems too late to eat dinner, pay a cover. I personally don't think an intimate personal music event with well-regarded musicians in a room that is great for sound and sight in a seat at a table with people waiting on you and offering a full bar and menu that you can choose NOT TO PARTAKE of by paying 10 bucks isn't too much to ask. Result: No one wants to pay a cover.
What are you experiencing elsewhere that makes what we're asking seem out of line to people? Are there places that let you come in at 7PM, stay for 3 hours, not order anything siginificant, and not pay a cover? If there are, they can not be for-profit establishments, certainly.
We would love to serve a musical community that seems to consider itself underserved; we would love to invite people to our cafe to hear music in a unique enviroment that's great for music, but at this point, we are simply subsidizing jazz music--and frankly, I'm not a non-profit. I'm a struggling business owner who hasn't seen a paycheck since May.
I read a post from someone who said he felt that Jazz had become a "Benedum event"--something to dress up and be fancy for and pay out the nose for. If what we are trying to offer seems to line up with a "benedum event" I don't know what to say beyond my intitial question--just what do jazz fans expect???
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Maryellen Hayden on
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I agree, we need to rethink how we do Jazz performances, and also Jazz advertising.We need to start talking about concerts and tickets instead of dinner with an extraneous jazz performance...
Gypsy Jazz Dinner Concert featuring Don Aliquo, tickets available online and at Gypsy's, two shows, beginning at at 7 and 9 pm. Concert Only Tickets, $7.50, cash bar, Dinner and concert for $25.00 per person, or $45.00 per couple.
To do this, you would neet to set up some concert style seating near the band. You could allow those who purchased dinner tickets to stay for the second concert for free, if you like. I am part of a couple who would spend $50.00 on a night out with dinner and jazz, easy! You have to find the right clientele, that's all.
Maryellen -
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Permalink Reply by Gypsy Cafe on
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Okay, this is helpful; thank you for the direction. I would not be able to do this on a Saturday and risk losing prime time seats to $7.50 people. Would this work for people on a Tues, Wed, or Sunday?
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So, if you want, I will come to your club and help you make some adjustments. If a $7.50 person bought one $5.00 drink per hour - \which your profit should be $2.50, and one dessert for $6.00- again, you should have a $3.00 profit here, they would have spent $23.50. You began by saying that you needed to get 12.50 per seat per hour. but you have not put cost into the equation. So I was off by 50 cents, and you need to charge $8.00 for the concert only seat. The concert only seating should be in addition to your dinner seating, by the way, not in your dinner seating. Call me at 412 657-3251 and I will meet you at your club and help you figure it out. I have 19 years experience in your business- I just don't do it any more. I will help you for the sake of my musician friends. And it is my opinion that to get a reputation as a concert venue, you will need to have concerts Thu, Fri, and Sat, at the very least, and more would be better.
Maryellen -
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Maryellen,
I would love to take you up on your offer. Obviously there are more things to consider--some I touched on here, some I did not, but the idea was never to have Jazz during my dinner seating; the issue is that folks aren't coming out late, even though it's Saturday. I would love to have a 930/10 start that could be drinks and dessert and an app or two...seems to me that most places with Jazz start early vs late, perhaps to accomodate the older crowd that seems to support Jazz??? -
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Ok, my cell phone is 412 657-3251. Give me a call tomorrow and I will stop over.
Maryellen -
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Permalink Reply by Kevin Amos on
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Perhaps the question should be what do folks expect when they go out...period.
I really don't think pinning this on the Jazz patrons is fair. Everybody , especially now is looking for a bargin. Some restaurant/bar owners want to create a win-win situation. At least it seems that way in your case. This is NOT going to get easier.
I also heard the interview on WDUQ with Tony interviewing Don. Let me please remind you that they are NOT the only station in town that programs Jazz and Mr. Mowad does not have control on all things Jazz. We are a Jazz community that is part of a music community. The time for segregating the music community by socio-economic and other factors is over. It's a new day.If we don't work together your venue and others will not last.
It really interesting that those same people who called your establishment may go to a Steeler game and spend $200-300 like it's nothing. They will also tavel to New York, go to a club to see an artist and not complain at all.
Yes ...there are many views to this. I've only covered some of them.
Kevin Amos -
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Mr. Amos,
I really don't have a relationship with Mr. Mowod or much of a relationship with the jazz community as a whole; this is all a learning experience for me. I am finding resources as I go and I would be very interested in folks putting me on to places I'm missing. We can't afford print ads--way, way too expensive--but I list my events in the PG, the Trib, the City Paper; I list online here and on Eventful; I send emails directly to Gypsy's mailing list of 800, and I list on myspace and have recently gotten on Facebook--(still trying to figure that one out).
At the risk of touching a tender spot...unfortunately, this IS something I experience SPECIFICALLY with the Jazz crowd. We have a Gypsy/Tambura band every Thursday night at 8PM that is always well supported. They buy dinner, they buy drinks, the crowd is excited, appreciative, and loyal. Now, I understand that such music is pretty specialized and since it's tied to peoples' ethnicity they do get passionate about it, but lately we've been doing events with the Guitar Society of Fine Art. I thought the Gypsy Strings crowd was pretty rare until GSFA-- their flamenco events are extremely successful with a crowd that is equally excited for them and the opportunity to see them. Also, we've done bellydance events with more success than jazz, and--to touch another nerve--their crowd is often regarded as acting similar to the stereotypes the jazz crowd faces.
Also, thank you for noticing that we are a restaurant dedicated to making things work for everybody--we have a strong community focus and identity and I am very firmly of the belief that if we don't do it together, it won't get done. (in other words, i WISH I could be the selfish promoter who didn't care about her customers--that doesn't so much work!)
Melanie -
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Melanie....from the example of your events it's quite clear that the economic demographics are quite different. That is NOT your fault.
I have no answer for that. you are making an effort at least to be inclusive of serveral different genres and I applaude you for that.
I will come out and visit you soon. Keep up the good work.
Kevin -
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Thank you, sir. We are trying! Hope to see you soon!
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I think that's fair about being more knowledgeable about the music, but I am a little concerned about how limiting or exclusive that can be. My goal here was to respond to what I understood to be a dearth of venues offering Jazz in Pittsburgh. I am not a club or a concert venue whose main goal is to promote music. I am a restaurant that happens to be--as Don Aliquo himself put it--"a good room". Maybe that's an insurmountable part of my problem--I don't want to try to be something I'm not--I just want to offer my dinner guests a great musical experience and along the way offer music guests a great dinner experience. There aren't too many "cabaret" joints in town where dinner and a show are the way to go; I suppose we are attempting to do that on a very small scale.
Also, two thoughts:
1. Don's a fixture; I guess I thought to the Jazz community he was above/beyond promoting as one would a new artist without recognition
2. If the audience was there to support the music, it seems to me they'd be willing to follow it--if I got a jazz crowd in at 10PM well after my dinner crowd, I would be happy to do it for the drinks and an appetizer . I'm not seeing much demand for that, though... -
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Permalink Reply by Debi Arnett on
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The fact that people are starting to hibernate and pull back on ALL spending is a major issue. I think a $5.00 cover and a Two drink Minimum per person might be an answer to try. Or based on the average drink price say they must spend that amount on whatever? Could be appetizers and desserts, could be a combination of drinks and desserts. Dont force the entree. Scheduling two hour shows is another. So that the people cannot sit for 4 hours on one or two drinks. People do not really expect to hear Jazz before 9 pm on a weekend night like Friday or Sat. But if you were going with 2 shows per night have a 7 - 9 and a 930 - 1130 followed by additional DJ or piped in music so the crowd doesn't dissipate immediately (unless you want that for an early closing time). For the early show a removable announcement can be printed and inserted in the menu that states that if an entree per person is ordered the 2nd show is free. You have a lot of options you can try. A Jazz brunch or late afternoon jazz for 2 hours might bring in additional business on Sunday. NOT during the steeler game. Some individual musicians will play for the door + a fee. You just need to make a plan and work your plan. If some things seem to function in the plan and others dont, modify it till you are making it work. The fact that you are asking for suggestions is a good thing because you are open. Have a jazz jam session one night a week and if you get a decent crowd continue it and pay the musicians extra if you do well. Word of mouth from the musicians will get more people in your door too. Do your musicians have an email list they can send to? DO YOU? Make a Mandatory check sheet for the people who collect money at the door to Find out what advertising is working by asking everyone who enters how they found out about you. Give the musicians an incentive if someone entering says they came because they were invited by one of the musicians. Be proactive not reactive and you may find a more consistant flow of traffic that is now referring people to you. I sell credit card processing and we have a loyalty/rewards card that customers can sign up for. This rewards repeat customers in any way you see fit. If you are interested in that please get in touch with me. I am an average person that goes out for dinner, for drinks, for app's, for jazz. I want my money's worth and I want good entertainment. Hope this helps.
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Wow, you've really thought about this. Thanks so much for your advice; unfortunately, I think most of it misses the mark for me. I'm not a jazz club and not trying to be. I"m just trying to offer music for my dinner guests and get dinner guests for the music. There is not an opportunity for 2 shows, there is no person working the door, no DJ. I am an intimate little restaurant that seats 50, but some of this still can apply to me.
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