Very happy to see great weather over the Easter and according to Tauranga Jazz Festival organisers 60,000 people turned out in place of 30,000 in 2011. The headline act Earth, Wind & Fire seemed to go off like a rocket – hallelujah!!
All in all, TCC ratepayers normal expectations are to benefit from this windfall immediately and the $90,000 ultra vires Council loan would be repaid to TCC along with the annual $30,000 grant injection which was outside the TCC policy guidelines too – a win, win situation for ratepayers.
Perhaps the Jazz Festival organisers may now stop bludging and even look at returning $10,000+ grants received from Bay Trust and Pub Charity Foundation which need to be put to better use on more needful community projects.
All that aside, I see however it is now rumoured that a substantial loss will be made on the latest Jazz Festival.
How could this be? There needs to be a full investigation and some termination notices issued me thinks.
R Paterson, Matapihi.
6 comments
The jazzfest ‘bonanza’ 2012
Posted on 21-04-2012 12:38 | By algail
Any Jazz festival will always stutter and stagger in NZ. Why? Because hardly anyone hears it these days. Jazz muso's and aficionados need to get together and promote small shows all years round even playing for free in cafes and coffee houses or for a small fee and get people interested. One cannot expect people to come out of the woodwork to listen to music they have never heard of. When did anyone last hear a Jazz work played on local radio. If a radio station played works like ' Time after time ' by the Miles Davis group and other works of that kind interest in jazz would start to grow. Encourage your local radio station to play such music a month or so before a festival. I am an artist of sorts and have paintings of people like The Duke, Bird Diz etc on my walls. Often people ask first who painted them then who are they. I tell them who they are and they have never heard of them. The jazz listening generation has drifted on into old age and don't go out as much as they used to so Jazz groups have got to create interest where and when they can to survive. Alastair Bethlehem
Jazz Festival
Posted on 21-04-2012 13:43 | By jazza2
Reading the comments re Nelson Festival you can list all the negative things like Earthquakes , Pike disaster, economy etc but if you fail to provide swinging melodic jazz ,not funk or rock then jazz may survive for the future . Open your eyes and ears Liam listen to the public but really its time you went
@Alistair and jazza2
Posted on 23-04-2012 09:11 | By The Tomahawk Kid
What you suggest Alistair is EXACTLY how the jazz festival became the longest running jazz festival in the southern hemisphere! For OVER 45 years the festival was run by the Society - People PASSIONATE about Jazz , using THEIR own money, booking acts that THEY chose, to please likeminded people. The festival almost DIED, due to those passionate people running out of steam (40 Plus years is a long time to do anything just for the passion of it) and it was RESCUED from certain death essentially by 2 young men - who not only appreciated jazz, but also other genres of music (blues being one of them). They resurected the festival to great success to become the festival that many of us enjoy today. Without that widening of the genres I believe the festival would have ended by now.The reason the festival has come into disrepute is because due to the actions of immoral and unpricipled people (the result of our political climate)it has its fingers and sights set on public money - money taken by council from the public via rates. And for this reason, every man and his DOG want a say in how the festival should be run, and WHO and what types of music should be played! It should be none of their damned business, (as was the cas for the first very successful 45 years!) Graham Clark
The jazzfest ‘bonanza’ 2012
Posted on 25-04-2012 11:31 | By algail
Valid comments Graham but this is now. There have been dynamic and negative changes since even as recent as last year. People don't have as much money as they used to. I guess money has to be a major. I used to drive up from Wellington to the festival but I wouldn't do that now with high fuel costs and accom costs. Now if it is a fact that 60,000 people attended the festival it seems to me that there could be something more rotten in the state of Tauranga than one was originally aware of. Surely an attendance of that many people would have made a profit and huge one at that. Who is milking the Jazz cow? Many great institutions in many parts of the world have disappeared simply due to allowing local bodies or central Govt to put a sticky agenda bearing hand into the mix. Once an institution accepts money from a local body or central Govt a kind of mafia, you owe me, kind of situation can come into existence and the likelihood of the demise of said intuition becomes close to a reality. Another point to raise could be if the festival was so successful for 45 years why on earth did it take money from the council?. What changed to make the original recipe fail?. The Jazz society that ran the Festival needs to examine their conscience and see where they went wrong and make a correction. It is great to make the changes when playing but stick to the score when running a festival. A bum note in jazz costs nothing but in business it cooooooooooooosts. Alastair Bethlehem.
Where it all went wrong
Posted on 26-04-2012 22:04 | By The Tomahawk Kid
I couldnt agree more alastair. Once you allow council or govt into the mix it is a slippery slope downhill. So called private schools are a perfect example. What changed to make the original recipe fail you ask. First of all the jazz enthusiasts started dropping off due to old age, and running out of steam - 45 years doing anything just for the passion is enough for anyone. The festival was rescued from certain death by a couple of young blues enthusiasts who also appreciated the legacy of the old jazz guys. They took the festival into making a profit, and made it popular again by introducing more contemporary genres of music. The festival became so big, they could not continue organizing it in a voluntary manner so handed the reigns back. This was the point where the society employed those running the festival at present.the majority of people these days (due to our current political climate) are not hesitant to accept, lobby or plead for council or government funding -they think it's normal and ok - not to mention a lot easier than actually having to work for and earn the money themselves. THIS is where it all went wrong. The jazz society could have Mickey mouse at the festival if they wanted when they were funding it themselves and it would have been nobodies business, but by accepting public money they have opened up THEIR festival to debate from the public when it should be none of their business
PUT THE $120,000 BACK IN COUNCIL
Posted on 27-04-2012 17:42 | By PLONKER
The Jazz Fest committee should not have taken that money from TCC, the committee, TCC, Councillors knew that before the vote that it was all wrong and they know it. If they don't then the Councillors who voted for it should dig into their own pockets and pay it. Then justice will have been done to all ratepayers for once.
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