RE: Klezmer in corporate hands?

[Seth Rogovoy <rogovoy...>]

I don't want to stray too far off topic, but I do see some trends to give
one hope that the corporate monsters (we are now down to five major record
conglomerates controlling virtually the entire market down from six a year
ago) are not in control of every last bit of music. The phenomenon of
radical-leftist-feminist singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco is a great case
study. Over the course of this decade she has built a grassroots following,
by sheer dint of relentless touring and self-produced recordings, to the
point where she has sold over a million DIY albums and now headlines at
major theaters and summer sheds and small arenas, all of this while turning
her back on weekly offers from major labels. Along the way she has found
herself on the cover of major national magazines including Spin and Ms., and
she continually tops readers and critics polls.

Granted, not everyone is as equally capable as DiFranco in both musical and
business terms. I do think, however, that hers is a case study that proves
that, in some instances, no matter what the marketing forces, quality will
win out. DiFranco is simply a brilliant songwriter and performer, and it is
by dint of her talent that she is widely acclaimed by real musical
aficionados. Granted, she'll never sell like the Spice Girls, but look back
over the history of the record business, and you'll see that little of real,
lasting quality ever did (aside from The Beatles, perhaps).

But in my experience as a professional listener/observer of the scene, it
seems like whether groups choose to function within or without of the
system, if there is real talent and ability, they can survive and even
prosper, relatively speaking. No one who is in it for the art or creativity
could really ask for more. This goes as much for klezmer or Jewish music of
any sort as it goes for folk, pop rock or world music. If you're good, and
if you're willing to put yourself and your music out there with a sense of
integrity and commitment, you will be heard, and maybe even be able to make
a living at it.

--Seth Rogovoy

-----Original Message-----
From:   owner-jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org [mailto:owner-jewish-music (at) 
shamash(dot)org]
On Behalf Of Marvin Margoshes
Sent:   Thursday, December 31, 1998 11:42 AM
To:     World music from a Jewish slant.
Subject:        Re: Klezmer in corporate hands?

How does it become "if it's not censorship, it might as well be" when the
government decreases its support for the arts.  I think there should be some
government support for the arts, but I can't justify making it enough to pay
every artist who asks for a grant.  Then, some choices need to be made, and
"he who pays the piper calls the tune".  That would be more like censorship,
IMHO.
>

-----Original Message-----
From: JeffSchan (at) aol(dot)com <JeffSchan (at) aol(dot)com>
To: World music from a Jewish slant. <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Date: Thursday, December 31, 1998 3:53 AM
Subject: Klezmer in corporate hands?


>Ingemar Johansson wrote:
>
>> Dear list-members,
>>
>> An American friend of mine sent me this, apalled, angered and distressed
by
>> recent developments in the US. The reason why I forward this bitter
>> statement to the list is that he included some words about Jewish Music.
>>
>> > US remains the country with more people held in jail than any police
>> > state in the world. The criminalization of Black and Latino youth
>> > continues unabated. The death penalty has become an acceptable
>> > "liberal" position. There is an escalating war on immigrants, with
raids,
>> > concentration camps, and militarized borders. The actual ability of
women
>> > to obtain abortion is methodically stripped away through gangster
action,
>> > parental consent, waiting periods, and the denial of government
funding.
>> There
>> > is no foreign military venture of the Bush-Reagan years to which
Clinton
>> has
>> > not wholeheartedly subscribed. The openly racist, misogynist,
homophobic
>> > and murderous Christian-fundamentalist demands for "family values" and
>> > preparation for Armageddon continue to fester in growing organized
>> > networks. The censorship of music and culture has passed directly into
>> > corporate hands. This goes for rebel culture and odd music, too - like
>> Jazz
>> > and Klezmer, both of which you're very fond, I know.
>>
>> Any comments?
>>
>> Ingemar J.
>
>Ingemar:
>
>Of course this depends on your political point of view.  In general, I
agree
>whole-heartedly (more about "censorship" below), except for the hyperbole
>about concentration camps (as far as I know there haven't been any of those
in
>the US since the Japanese-American internment camps in WWII).  I have been
>involved in the struggle to free death row political prisoner Mumia
Abu-Jamal
>for over a decade now (long before the liberals got on the bandwagon), and
>views on the death penalty keep moving to the right.  And it's not just the
>fundamentalist Christians.  For example, New York's Cardinal John O'Connor
>threatened to excommunicate former New York governor Mario Cuomo because he
>supported the right to abortion.  The Catholic Church is opposed to capital
>punishment too, but you never hear the good Cardinal threaten to
excommunicate
>any of his flock who support the death penalty.  And to continue, it's not
>just the Christians.  A number of years ago, the late Lubavitcher rebbe was
>asked by his followers for guidance on which political candidates to vote
for.
>He answered that Lubavitchers were free to vote for any candidate who met 3
>criteria:  1) opposing abortion rights, 2) opposing gay rights, 3) opposing
>pornography.  I was quite taken aback by this statement, particularly since
>this would leave Lubavitchers the option to vote for any candidate of the
>American Nazi Party or the Ku Klux Klan.
>
>As for "censorship," this is a tricky question in the US, for cultural
control
>of the arts is more economic than legal, which is what I understand the
term
>"censorship" to be.  Many of the more alternative forms of music in the US
>relied upon government support through the 60's and 70's.  That support has
>almost entirely dried up.  Those types of music which are commercially
viable
>outside that support have continued.  Example:  New York's World Music
>Institute began as part of the new music/world music series at The
Alternative
>Museum.  It grew and flourished with funding from the National Endowment
for
>the Arts (NEA), state agencies, etc.  It grew to be too big for the
>Alternative Museum, and they created the World Music Institute, which now
has
>a multi-million dollar budget and is much less dependent on government
funding
>(which it still does receive).  The Alternative Museum continued with a
>primarily new music series, one which I ran for a season, and my wife for
2.
>There used to be dozens of similar artist-run and artist programmed series
>like that, ones in which to a greater or lesser extent musicians were
>guaranteed a decent fee.  However, in the 80's, with the furor over
>Mapplethorpe and other controversial artists, the NEA cut off funding to
many
>of the more cutting edge institutions, and other government agencies
followed
>suit.  Today, the Alternative Museum no longer has a music program, and
there
>are only a handful of artist-run alternative music spaces left in New York
>City.  So the scene has become much more driven by "cut of the door" type
club
>gigs, especially ones where you have to deal with scummy club owners like
the
>folks at the Knitting Factory.  Luckily for klezmer, it now seems to have
>reached a critical mass where it is supported by enough of an audience to
be
>commercially viable.  And the straight-laced jazz of the Wynton Marsalis
>school certainly has plenty of corporate backing these days.  So is this
>censorship?  Perhaps not.  But when my friend and mentor Leroy Jenkins, one
of
>the greatest living composers in the US (IMHO), someone who has played in
most
>of the main jazz clubs in the world, and has also had an opera performed at
>the New York City Opera, calls me up and complains about how tough things
are
>these days, I figure if it's not censorship, it might as well be.
>
>Jeffrey Schanzer
>
>