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Executive Director's
Message
STJS Executive Director
Gene Berthelsen
from the June 2009 "And All That Jazz"
A recent exchange on the Dixieland Jazz Mailing List sums up a long-boiling dispute about the music that jazz festivals and jazz societies ought to be offering. The DJML writer—and many others—take the position that our festival and others should remain mostly devoted to presenting early jazz music.
Here’s what the writer, referring to our use of the name “Sacramento Jazz Festival” and “Sacramento Jazz Jubilee” interchangeably, says:
“I find it interesting that the festival direction has steered away from what had made it the greatest festival in the world during the 70's and 80's.�I remember the heyday of over 100 jazz bands from all around the world with attendance of well over 100,000 patrons. With this festival rename it looks as if the festival direction is trying to distance itself from what the Borcher bunch created.”
My response was this:
“What the writer refers to is a conundrum. Our world-wide attendance has been falling for the past decade, with a larger and larger percentage of our audiences from within a 25-mile radius of the festival. In the early years, there was great enthusiasm for traditional jazz, but as the years have passed, the representation of traditional jazz purists has fallen.
Local audiences want newer and more varied styles of entertainment. Over the years, starting even when Bill Borcher was our executive, we have provided varied styles of music, but our local "brand" has not caught up with what we offered. So, after extensive discussions, we have taken the first step - referring to the festival both as the Sacramento Jazz Festival and as the Sacramento Jubilee, interchangeably.
“I might say that we continue to provide plenty of swing and traditional jazz, including BED, Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band, Company B, Fulton Street Jazz Band, Gramercy 6, Sister Swing, Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums, the 101st Army Dixieland Band, Black Tuesday Jazz Band, Blue Street Jazz Band, Big Tiny Little Jazz Band, Catsnjammer Jazz Band, Climax Jazz Band, Cornet Chop Suey, Dr. Bach and the Jazz Practitioners, Firecracker Jazz Band, , Golden Gate Rhythm Machine, High Sierra Jazz Band, K Street Ramblers, Midnight Rose Jazz Band, Natural Gas Jazz Band, New Lowdown, Night Blooming Jazzmen, and Polly’s Hot Paupers, and Royal Society Dance Orchestra, two dozen all star performers who play traditional and swing jazz and, this year, the Benny Goodman Centennial Tribute Band.
Many festivals and jazz societies that continue to remain ideologically pure, presenting only trad jazz, are in crisis. We prefer to let our Blues, Zydeco and other more varied entertainment subsidize the traditional jazz that we offer.
I believe that is how our festival can remain healthy.�
Gene Berthelsen’s message
from the May 2009 "And All That Jazz"
I write today to thank the City of Sacramento for the many ways it has assisted the Jazz Jubilee over the years, starting with Steve Hammond, head of the Sacramento Visitors and Convention Bureau, who has served ex-officio on the STJS Board of Directors for the past several years. Things can get a little dicey in those meetings where a dozen strong personalities often take opposing positions just about any issue that comes up; Steve has served as a voice of calm and reason in many of those debates.
Steve has also served as an advisor and often as an effective communications conduit between the jazz festival's management and various offices of the city, adding a calming presence to our sometimes strident yelps for help. Steve has taken the lead on asking City and County Employees to attend the festival and, as a result, sales have been ticking up lately. Shortly, you'll see welcoming banners to the Jubilee hanging on the city's light posts, thanks to Steve.
Elsewhere in Steve's organization, Doug Scholz and Aimee Conlee have worked tirelessly to bring in tens of thousands of dollars in sponsorships and to provide valuable advice on our own relations with our sponsors.
Elsewhere in the city, Barbara Bonebrake and the Department of Convention, Culture and Leisure have granted us tens of thousands of dollars in grants to assist us with payment for various security and emergency services. And the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission has given us various grants, including one to help with the restructuring of the festival web site. If you haven't seen it, take a trip to sacjazz.com. (Digital Gear, by the way designed it for about half their usual fee, so the whole thing was basically free.) The City has been extremely helpful right from the very first Jubilee with emergency traffic control services; the folks at Old Sacramento Management have been right there with us in planning for what is an enormous disruption in the daily life of that part of the city. The name "Ed Astone" continues to be revered around these parts.
And now, Holy Cow, Mayor Kevin Johnson has jumped onto our bandwagon with a couple of feet that we estimate to be at least a size 14. He'll be the 2009 Jazz Jubilee opening day parade Grand Marshall, and he also promises to be a guiding presence at "Come On Home," our special charity event on Monday, May 25 to raise funds for homeless people in Sacramento, a blessing in these troubled economic times. Hey, City of Sacramento. Thanks!
Gene Berthelsen’s message
from the April 2009 "And All That Jazz"
If the air seems a little quick around here these days, it’s because we’re getting down to when everything needs to be done at once.
As always, getting the program together for publishing is a big logistical problem. Roger Krum, John Cocuzzi and Vince Bartels have finished shoe-horning the performing groups into that big wall chart you see around the office at this time of year, but it’s in a code that has to be deciphered, inputted and checked and double-checked all in the space of a few days. Roger worked all weekend March 6, 7, and 8 to make the final allocations of various guest stars, create a schedule of special events, and proofread the somewhat random keystrokes of your correspondent.
So it’s off to the graphic designers. Whew. Not without some major secretions of stomach acid, particularly when a band decides it doesn’t want to perform at the Jubilee after all.
Just as busy: Janie Graves, who’s making travel arrangements for about 200 musicians, and Nancy Sullivan and Jackie Cotter are booking the rooms. Tom Duff is hiring transit vehicles and working out schedules. Linda Cousins is working on contracts with vendors. Wayne Hokom is arranging for advertising placement, Bill Evans is getting ready to put up fences and stairs and making sure that the burghers of Sacramento know where everything is going.
By the way, if you know anyone at the City of Sacramento, let them know how much we appreciate their help and cooperation, and particularly, their money.
Two months ‘til the Jubilee and counting. As a man of 71 years, I can tell you, that much time goes by at blinding speed.
Gene Berthelsen’s message
from the March 2009 "And All That Jazz"
If you’re getting a little jaded by the Second Sunday meetings of the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society, that’s a terrible shame.
First of all, last Sunday’s performances at the Dante Club by Bob Draga, Eddie Erickson and Westy Westenhofer, as well as the other fine musicians who provided the continuity, were exemplars of great musicianship and humor. In a word, it sparkled, and STJS should be proud of its collective self for putting that much good entertainment onstage on a chilly February Sunday.
But on any Sunday it’s fun to listen to a lot of creative people make a lot of creative noise (we owe a debt of gratitude to Bob Ringwald for arranging the entertainment on the front stage and Bill Bua and Jane Reinmuth, who act as traffic cops on our two back stages.) By the way, there’s a whole crew who get the stages ready and do the sound, and they deserve plenty of credit.
But more than the entertainment, I often think of the small town where I grew up when I go there. Dozens of people, maybe more, throw out a big smile when I see them, and utter the magic words, "Hi, Gene!" I never get tired of it, even though I’m often embarrassed not to know names as I should. There’s a camaraderie there that makes our society something more than just a collection of people. It’s a community, one that I take great pleasure being a part of- even when I have to end a sentence with a preposition.
Admittedly, the camaraderie is enhanced by the generous portions that the Dante Club’s bartenders ladle into our glasses, but more than that, it’s a set of shared values that include, not just music, but civility and respect for one another. If you haven’t been for awhile, c’mon back.
It’s a hoot.
Gene Berthelsen’s message
from the February 2009 "And All That Jazz"
Spring, improbably, seems to be upon us. Well, that’s California for you.
For those keeping up with the saga of me and my sycamore, I can tell you that 873 brown and dried out leaves remain on the tree, and that it continues to rain about six or eight on me each day. It has hardly given up, as each day provides a fresh crop of bark and other detritus; it can’t be more than a couple of weeks before the fuzzballs start to drop off, and then will come the first batch of mildewed leaves. Well, that’s a sycamore for you.
But enough of these arboreal miseries. Spring brings with it a quickening, and over here in our West Sacramento digs, there is a quickening as well. We’ve had a pretty good season for advanced sales, and interest in the Basie concert has really taken off (we’ve had to increase the number of tables for sale.) Elsewhere, we are cementing agreements with hotels and other establishments, and Roger Krum, John Cocuzzi and Vince Bartels are beginning to put all-stars and bands into their slots in the program. Janie Graves is busy herding the last few bands into their contracted slots and making their travel arrangements. Nancy Sullivan and Jackie Cotter are making hotel reservations for bands and volunteers, and Bill Evans is licking his pencil and making site plans. Linda Cousins is lining up her vendors and bartenders.
Vivian Abraham is everywhere, applying pine tar and peat moss to various leaking Jubilee orifices and Tina Lee is hard at work again, totting up the money.
In all, we’re humming these days, with the realization that as of this writing, the 2009 Sacramento JazzFest/Jazz Jubilee is only 121 days away and there is much to be done.
Join us! It promises to be a heady time.
Gene Berthelsen’s message
from the December 2008/January 2009 "And All That
Jazz"
As I write, my %&(*^$#@ing sycamore continues to rain its leafy bounty upon my back yard, leaving me little time to dwell on the felicities or, if your family situation is less than optimal and there are grouches about, the infelicities, of the season.
There are, however, hours spent at the office that, owing to a paucity of productive things to do or large checks hoho to open, make the writing of these words the only way to fill up these drear winter hours.
Things are happening. The great organism that is the Sacramento Jubilee is stirring, with contracts signed, sites selected, vendors contacted, marketing stuff in progress, and the first preparatory work done on next year’s schedule.
Arrangements to bring the world famous Count Basie Orchestra directed by Bill Hughes (our contract instructs us to refer to that group in those terms and none other) are virtually complete, and we’re finding that there is a good deal of interest in the concert, particularly among students. STJS members should remember that the $25 asking price for all-events badge holders, volunteers and STJS members is a heck of a deal when you consider that this is a world-famous big band that, after the concert, should send you away undulating rhythmically for a couple of days.
Deals do abound for members of the privileged classes (a member of which you may surely count yourself given your affiliation with the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society. Our colorful brochure outlining the discounts available to you is now in the mail. Your all-events ticket to the Jubilee if you are a member and if you act between now and January 1, will run you a cool $90. Wait until after that, and it’s going to cost you $110. And as they say in those Ginsu knife commercials, that’s not all, oh boy, no. Buy before January 1 and you will be eligible for a drawing for a luxury suite at the Holiday Inn plus $100 in drink tokes to keep you atingle all through the Jubilee.
I hope everyone goes to the STJS Sunday meeting on December 14. Bob Schulz is a great guest performer, but beyond that, it’s just a nifty occasion, with good cheer all about and good friends to greet; and, if we’re lucky, someone will play and sing “White Christmas” in a truly maudlin way.
That brings on the reflection that the two most popular songs celebrating the biggest holidays in Christendom, “White Christmas” and “Easter Parade” were written by a Jewish boy, Irving Berlin.
What a country!
Gene Berthelsen’s message
from the November 2008 "And All That
Jazz"
These amber days of fall, of college days and professional football, of crisp temperatures and cascades of leaves from the #$%&(&!! sycamore in my back yard, ought to be a time of winding down and contemplation.
No. They’re days when the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee begins to coil like a spring for its annual launch in May. Around here, there are anything but reflections. The Talent Selection Committee has developed a superior list of classic and swing jazz bands plus zydeco, blues, rockabilly and whateverelse bands; they’ve been contacted and given verbal approval and the contracts are out there. Venues have been engaged, the festival brochure and website are under construction, 2009 prices set, volunteer crews have been assembled and, indeed, we are well into the process of staging the grandest jazz festival in the western United States, the 2009 jazz Jubilee. Consider us a boulder rolling downhill.
This is possible, by the way, because Vivian Abraham’s $36 campaign money is continuing to roll in, and my bet is that when it’s all said and done, it’ll finally have brought in about $50,000. If you ever want to warm the cockles of your heart, come into the office here some time and read some of the heartfelt letters that have come in with those donations. They’re very moving.
I also want to thank the convention and visitors bureau for its assistance, both financial and moral. Boosters are boosting, presales are selling, and while we couldn’t call ourselves fat, we remain as they say on the right side of the grass. For that, we say "thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!"
Here’s another good one: at the most recent Sunday Jazz Society session, Janet Arnold laid a great idea on me. If you have frequent flier miles that you aren’t planning to use, how about donating them for next year’s musicians’ flights to the Jubilee? Janie Graves will be glad to handle those donations.
Anent that, Vivian Abraham and Bill Evans right now are the two busiest people on the planet. Give ‘em your appreciation the next time you see them.
Molto importante: On the initiative of President Jim Roberson (see his comments elsewhere) we have engaged the fabulous Count Basie Orchestra for a gala kickoff and benefit concert on Thursday, May 21 at the Radisson Inn on Route 160. During intermissions, we’ll introduce the hall of famers and pay obeisance to various other rites and rituals and we can fairly well promise a rip-roarin’ good time to set the tone for the Jubilee. Get your tickets early. Prices are detailed elsewhere in this newsletter.
I know there’s a lot going on, but please understand that this all has to be done while my #$%&(&!! sycamore continues to rain down on me.
Anybody wanna help rake some leaves?
Gene Berthelsen’s message
from the October 2008 "And All That
Jazz"
Welcome to 2009 Jubilee. We’ve been working on site plans and talent lists for the past couple of months to develop a plan that reflects today's economic realities.
It’s a bit of a day of reckoning. We have been over–spending for years, and in 2008, the sluggish economy, high gasoline prices, and rain conspired to reduce our attendance —and our nest egg— for 2009. As a result, our budget officer has handed me a draconian budget that, for the first time in several years, is balanced. We will have to take in our belts, but when this year is over, I am confident that we will have a very healthy festival.
In my view, what we are doing is to eliminate the empty chairs.
The 2009 Jubilee will feature about 55 bands and about 20 all-stars. The Jubilee will continue to be largely based in Old Sacramento and the Sacramento Convention Center area--a total of about 18 sites.
The festival will continue to offer a full lineup of traditional jazz bands, bolstered by appearances of zydeco, blues, latin jazz, jump jive, and other types of music. The 2009 Jubilee will feature such bands as Bill Allred’s Classic Jazz Band, last year’s sensational Firecracker Jazz Band, Reynolds Brothers' Rhythm Rascals, the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra, and many other bands playing classic jazz. Tom Rigney and Mick Martin typify the zydeco and blues genres. We have developed a very high-quality lineup. Unfortunately, we have had to ask a number of old friends to sit out, at least this year.
All Stars to be featured this year include Bob Draga, Brady McKay, Harry Allen, Bria Skonberg, the members of BED, and the personnel of the touring Benny Goodman tribute band, including Allan Vache, Randy Reinhart, Johnny Varro, Howard Alden and several others.
A full list of contracted bands and guest stars will appear soon on the Jubilee's web site, www.sacjazz.com.
We are now contacting our mailing list with an offer of all–events tickets at last year's prices between now and January 2009. Those purchasing the early-bird tickets will be eligible for a drawing for a luxury suite at the top of the nearby Holiday Inn and $100 in food and drink tickets for use at Jubilee bars and participating vendors. It's a good deal and a great chance for some high living.
We’re going to have to do a lot of hard work between now and next May 22, but when we’re done, we’ll be a lot healthier.
Gene Berthelsen’s message
from the September 2008 "And All That
Jazz"
I’ve just finished compiling the results of an opinion survey conducted at the 2008 Jubilee. Very interesting. It presents both problems and opportunities.
A problem is that the percentage of attendees from outside Sacramento keeps dropping. The out–of–towners are mostly people who buy their tickets in advance—and they buy mostly all–weekend passes. Most of the in–towners buy their tickets the day they go to the festival. This year, they looked out the window on Saturday, saw rain, and stayed home. The reduction in out–of–town attendees is happening because of higher travel costs, aging of the traditional jazz fans, and the lack of space to replace Cal Expo’s RV parking. But it does make the festival vulnerable to unfavorable weather and other conditions.
The good news is the huge favorable rating of the festival, its services and its offerings. Customer ratings of food, beverages, and volunteers were considered either somewhat or highly favorable by about 90 percent of respondents. Jubilee volunteers were found to be either somewhat or highly favorable by a whopping 93 percent. The volunteers therefore represent a huge asset for the festival. Perhaps the fact that a large number of those volunteers pour a very generous drink has something to do with that hoho. Thanks there to Linda Cousins.
One interesting piece of information is that while there were considerable disparities among respondents as to what kinds of music they preferred (not a surprising finding), attendees were virtually unanimous in the opinion that the Jubilee’s overall musical offerings were very good.
More than 90 percent of respondents considered the festival either a good, or very good, value overall. It’s no wonder that word-of-mouth is the largest single source of information about the Jubilee among new attendees.
That suggests to me that if each of our members and each of our volunteers told a half dozen of their friends what a kick in the pants the Jubilee is, it would help greatly with keeping our attendance at a respectable level. I’d like to figure out an incentive to get them to do that.
The average attendee at the Jubilee individually spends $242 dollars both inside and outside the festival. That means that our 60,000 or so attendees at the 2008 Jubilee cumulatively spent about $15 million in Sacramento over the four days.And that is good news indeed for the city of Sacramento.
Gene Berthelsen’s message
from the August 2008 "And All That
Jazz"
Summer 2008 is a plummy time for the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society. These hot days find us neck-deep in all the things that go to the society's mission: preserving and promulgating traditional jazz.
We’ve just completed the running of the 35th annual Jubilee. Although the Jubilee was beset by high gas prices, a stagnant economy — and of all things, rain — we still attracted 63,500 visitors and, to be immodest, put on a hell of a show that has become a civic institution. Site/talent selection and financial arrangements are already under way for 2009.
Other goings-on include our monthly meetings. The July meeting, "Parade of Bands" enterprised by Bob Ringwald, was a great success. Great bands all day long and attended by a house full of enthusiastic attendees who danced right up to the final song played in fine style by Ernie Bucio's Little Big Band from Modesto. Almost everything presented on Sunday was generally in the tradition of early jazz.
We're knee-deep in "Jazz in the Park" Sunday concerts that are well attended in Sacramento's leafy parks. Big thanks to The Golden 1 for sponsoring this event. These concerts attract many non-STJS members from surrounding neighborhoods and help to spread the word that traditional jazz is alive and well. The Fulton Street Jazz Band concert at Belle Cooledge Park in South Land Park on July 13 acquainted a huge number of attendees with superbly-presented jazz.
On July 27, Bill Dendle takes to the hills at Sly Park with his cadre of top-notch musicians to immerse 90 "youth" and 60 "adult" musicians in the ways of traditional jazz at the STJS Jazz Camps. (Bill is particularly proud of the 43 present and former jazz campers who performed either as adult or youth performers at the 2008 Jubilee.)
Elsewhere, Dave Johnson is getting a short breather from his responsibilities as mentor of the TNT band (STJS's trad. jazz ambassadors to a generation that's even younger than Gen-X and Y). Dave will start auditions for next year’s TNT band after the kids get back from vacation.
And Elinor Hackett is busy disbursing funds for a total of 30 scholarships to be awarded to young musicians for lessons in the performance of traditional jazz, while Yvonne Au is in the planning stages for her third Trad. Jazz Youth Band Festival at Sacramento State.
All in all, it adds up to a busy summer, and a lot more people — young and older — are learning the enjoyment of traditional jazz as the result of the generous efforts of STJS members. Kinda makes ya proud, doesn't it?
Gene Berthelsen’s message
from the July 2008 "And All That
Jazz"
The 2008 Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, as they say, is history.
And, it seems, the 2009 one will be history practically in the blink of an eye. Wheels are already starting to get the next one under way.
Some statistics: The Jubilee attendance was down by about 10 percent from the previous year — the victim of a struggling US economy, astronomical gas prices and the vagaries of Mother Nature who, capriciously, decided to rain on our parade.
It is fair to say that the Jubilee was an artistic success but not a financial one. There will be a 2009 Jubilee, but we’re going to have to stre-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-tch our pennies to make it.
When we say it was an artistic success, it was indeed. There were times when the K Street Mall was so full of people from end to end that you couldn’t walk in a straight line. Our new K Street venues were very successful and, I think, probably will be a part of the festival for a long time. The Blues venue (at Laughs Unlimited) was a marvelous success, so much so that we’re probably going to have to move it to a larger site next year.
Venues were often full of cheering and happy crowds, and for the most part, we featured an extremely strong lineup of performing groups. As always, the volunteers — ah those dear volunteers — performed with great distinction and perseverance, particularly when it began to rain on Saturday morning. They went into a flurry of action, covering pianos and drums and sound systems, and wiping down the chairs so our audiences didn’t have to suffer from a wet-bottom syndrome not of their own making hoho. My hat is off as I say thanks to every one of them.
It is no secret that we’ve got some difficult times ahead; we will have to be very penurious in selecting bands and all-stars, and in how we spend our cash (we do have some, by the way). Our plan is to develop some programs to provide early seed money for next year. One thing we’re exploring is a program to work with Cal Expo to develop a cooperative marketing plan for RVs. If we can get a couple hundred out there, that will justify a shuttle and get us some operating cash.
It’s going to be a rough time, but this is a wonderful organization, and I have every expectation that we’ll handle adversity as well as we handle success.
Gene Berthelsen's message
from the June 2008 "And All That
Jazz"
Wow! Forty years!
I’m told the whole thing started at the Orangevale Grange in 1968. What a year! The assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, riots, moon shots, Lyndon Johnson, Vietnam war, blood in the streets and the Miracle Mets. No wonder a bunch of people thought it was a good idea to take some time out and listen to Dixieland, which it was unashamedly called in those days.
I wasn’t there; didn’t show up until 1975, so I missed out on those seminal years, but I did get in on the sessions held on the Delta King and began attending meetings regularly after that. I had played jazz in college, but got married shortly after and started a family and didn’t pick up a horn for 15 years. When I did, I found nothing but encouragement, and that’s what STJS is all about. Even so, I still feel a little left out of things when Jim Roach and Ned Poffinbarger talk about the good old days of the Orangevale Grange.
I have a deep and abiding love of this organization and the people in it. I never miss a meeting when I can make it, and nothing gladdens my heart quite as much as walking around, pressing the flesh and flashing my cherubic smile. One thing, I notice there’s a lot more hugging going on these days. People used to be satisfied with a smile and a handshake, but now it’s hugs. (I wonder if they hug at the Knights of Columbus.)
Gene Berthelsen's message
from the May 2008 "And All That
Jazz"
At this juncture, your Executive Director can’t help feeling a little like the kiddies in the poem, “A Visit From St. Nicholas” with the stockings all hung and little ones snug in their beds.
I’m not going to embarrass myself and you by reeling off a chuckle-headed parody of Clement Moore’s poem. That’s been done badly enough so many times that the crime needn’t be repeated. Still, there are parallels.
As the kid on television says, “Things are lookin’ up.” All of the performers are under contract. Flights have been booked' rooms reserved. Tickets and badges have been ordered. Billboards and radio-buys are in the works. Food vendors are busily tuning up their menus. Shuttle services have been ordered. Sound systems are being readied. Phone banks are being manned. The website is gathering ticket orders like a vacuum cleaner. Sponsors have been lined up. Stages haven’t been constructed yet, but the materials are on order and site plans are complete. Pianos are being tuned. Coordination with the city is fully in order. Hospitality rooms have been reserved. The parade entries have been identified and invited. The list goes on.
Obviously, there’s a lot that remains to be done, as exemplified in the daily harvest of e-mails, telephone messages and drop-ins that confront me, but this neophyte director can’t help marveling at how much seems to be in place—and how efficiently.
When I began to think about taking this job, it seemed to me that there were four potential torpedoes that could be fired at us. If the Interstate 5 rehabilitation had been done on the schedule that was planned, hoo boy! If the Kings had made the playoffs, O Boyoboy. Both of those potential problems have disappeared.
That leaves the weather, so let’s make nice with the cheery weatherpeople who dance gaily daily among their isobars and occluded fronts on our TVs.
And it leaves the economy; a problem that isn’t going away. As we whistle past the graveyard, we reserve the hope that the price of gasoline and the dearth of spondulicks will mean more people will stay in Sacramento instead of flying or driving out of the area, and thus find the Jubilee an attractive alternative for entertaining themselves. Let’s hope.
We’ve been pretty prudent with our pennies so far; the Convention and Visitors Bureau has brought us some very high-quality sponsors; we’ve added three quality vendors; and we’ve raised some prices.
That should give us some cushion—I hope enough to be able to say, come Sunday evening, May 26 (Mr. Moore forgive me), “Happy Jubilee to all, and to all a good night.”
Gene Berthelsen's message
from the April 2008 "And All That
Jazz"
"Whew!"
There are great scenes in the “Star Wars” consecution where our intrepid heroes in their little jerry-built fighter rockets are confronted with what looks like a giant planet but is really a drifting spaceship. As our heroes drift closer and closer toward the behemoth, it grows in size until it finally fills the screen and now we’re looking at just a squirrel‘s-eye view. Details begin to launch themselves out of the firmament, and at last we see an actual entry portal.
When I took this job last July, the festival looked far away and the details were fuzzy. Now, in March, the Jubilee is looming and details are defining themselves. Dozens of people stride daily in and out of our headquarters, past my door, bent on activities and processes that are impossible to identify from a distance.
It comes clear when an anomaly pops up. A band from out of town cancels. That sends ripples all through the schedule, which, if you were to look at it, is a grid containing about 900 separate cells, each filled by a performance. Sometimes it’s possible to give already-engaged bands more performances to fill the slots, but that’s all contingent on travel schedules, bands sharing musicians, distance between venues, themes of performances (blues, western swing, etc.), how late a band played the previous night, and how many performances a band can handle in a day. Roger Krum is a genius at this.
Or we may have to find another band to fill the spot being vacated. The closer we get to the Jubilee, the more processes are affected. The ripples go way beyond the schedule. They involve travel tickets (Janie Graves and Miyamoto Travel) hotel rooms, (Nancy Sullivan and Jackie Cotter), accounting (Vivian Abraham and Tina Lee), band packages, and of course, the printed program (Laura Martin). Band names pop up in the schedule section, the band description section, the Booster section, the special events section, the musical styles section, and probably several places I haven’t thought of.
Once we’re in the belly of the beast, we’ll really know whether or not we’ve covered all the bases.
Gene Berthelsen's message
from the March 2008 "And All That
Jazz"
Whew! Less than three months until the Jubilee, but things are coming together.
Roger Krum and Dave Acheson have finished the schedule about a month early. By the way, give a hoot of thanks to Dave, who took a week of vacation and flew to Sacramento on his own ticket to work with Roger on that.
Our 33 sites have been selected and we're already working arrangements to provide sound at those venues. Linda Cousins has all of her vendors in place, including a late addition, Lockford Sausage Oboy.
This year we have developed a special alliance with the Sacramento Blues Society and will have 15 Blues bands, most of them performing at Laughs Unlimited, which will be renamed "Blues Unlimited" for the festival.
The souvenir program is about 90 per cent of the program completed because of the good work of Laura Martin, who is now hors de combat with Bell's Palsy, but gamely continuing on. Publicity is swinging into action, with our first newspaper ads appearing, and various trade deals being developed with broadcast media.
I tell ya, the way time is fleeting by, the festival will have come and gone and we'll be starting with arrangements for 2009 before we know it!
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