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Unsurprisingly, even the jazz world isn't immune to the current financial climate. The NY Times reports that the annual JVC Jazz Festival, which would normally be taking place in New York next month, won't be happening here or in other cities that it has in the past. In fact, the company has no festivals to announce this year, even losing their contract "for the Newport jazz and folk festivals in Rhode Island because of late payments for use of state parkland." This is the first cancellation of the city's jazz fest in 37 years, and fans are likely to be singin' the blues. The company who puts on these events, Festival Network, turned ownership over to an (over)ambitious Chris Shields just two years ago. He blames the economy and losing a top sponsor on this year's woes, but some say he "overspent on booking talent and took unnecessary risks, including opening four new festivals last summer without securing sufficient sponsorship." Meanwhile, the old Festival Network head honcho, 83-year-old George Wein announced that he would present a folk and jazz festival in Newport this August.
Cue Up Sad Trombone: No More Jazz Fest
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Yeah I've been following this for a while and the economy has next to nothing to do with this. Shields is just a complete hack who drove it into the ground by wasteful spending and unnecessary risks. Shame.
I'm curious. What kind of waste/risks were going on?
I have fond memories of this festival, including the Hudson River boatrides (early '70s?) That they could make it through the financial mess of the mid-'70s but not this one is sad, and if the above comment is correct just another example of how you just can't trust that all is well with your finances.
One risk, which is mentioned in the article, is about starting several new festivals in the same year. This would be risky for anyone, but for a person with as little experience as the article suggests Shields has, it was a recipe for disaster.
Another risk, hinted at in the article, was Shield's concept of expansion. This went beyond creating more festivals, and, as you can see in the article when you read between the lines, included his mistaken impression that producing music festivals is somehow like operating the NFL or any major sports league.
Music festival goers and folks who pay $5,000 a ticket to go to the Superbowl ARE NOT THE SAME PEOPLE! No one is better, no one is worse, you just can't use the Superbowl as a model for how to make money in the music business.
jazzSpy out.
Corporate Jazz Fests i.e. "We love black people, see!" festivals...