[Microsound-announce] New Music Culural Crisis

Thu Apr 12 23:36:22 EDT 2007

one of my favourite jazz trios, medeski, martin, and wood, used to  
play there all the time.

first the wetlands, the CBGBs... now tonic... such a shame.

there's still the 55 bar... but for how long?

i can see this happening to toronto in 5 to 10 years from now...  
scary shit.

g.

On 12-Apr-07, at 11:23 PM, Kim Cascone wrote:

>> From: Ned Rothenberg <ned at nedrothenberg.com>
>> Date: April 12, 2007 6:22:56 PM PDT
>> To: bridge3 at takeittothebridge.com, marco at marcocappelli.com
>> Subject: New Music Culural Crisis
>>
>>
>> Dear Friends in Europe,
>>         I'm writing you because New York is in a cultural crisis  
>> which has reached a breaking point very close to home for  
>> enthusiasts and players of creative music.  Tonic, the last  
>> sizable club where this music is played nightly will be closing  
>> tomorrow night as its owners can no longer afford to operate it.   
>> I'm sure you know that there is a long history of NYC's real  
>> estate market driving artists and musicians from place to place,  
>> now we see the loss of a key foothold on the central island of  
>> Manhattan.  The following press release explains the situation and  
>> the actions that are being taken.  I hope you have time to read it  
>> and if you can help us either by communications of direct support  
>> or, even better, creating articles in the press there, for which  
>> we would be most grateful.  Europe, which has always supported  
>> this music, has a great role to play because  New York's political  
>> leadership is well aware that European (and Canadian tourists) are  
>> central to the strength of NYC's economy.  Some of you are  
>> journalists, some promoters, some musicians - whatever you may be,  
>> the most important thing is that you let us know your response -  
>> we will be meeting with the city's politician's in an attempt to  
>> secure a viable venue.  If we can show strong support from  
>> culturally concerned folks throughout Europe it would help us  
>> immeasurably.  I am also sending this to a number of journalists  
>> who have extensive European contacts with the hope that you will  
>> forward it to your colleagues.  It is best that your respond not  
>> to me, but to the email address in the release (feel free to 'cc'  
>> me on any communications).
>>
>> Thank You For Your Time and Consideration,
>> Ned Rothenberg
>>
>> This release is also viewable on the web at http:// 
>> www.takeittothebridge.com/forums/?q=node/21
>>
>> April 12th, 2007
>> For immediate release
>> Contact:
>> Norman Yamada: 646-244-1886 or
>> 646-250-8361
>> Via email:<bridge3 at takeittothebridge.com>
>> Avant Jazz/Indie/New Music Cultural Crisis
>> Responding to community outrage at the eviction of Tonic - a  
>> center of New York City's new music cultural life on the Lower  
>> East Side for the last 9 years - an ad hoc committee of musicians,  
>> cultural activists, and supporters are convening to call for  
>> public political intervention.
>> When:               11:00 am this Saturday april 14th
>> Where: Tonic, 107 Norfolk street between Rivington and Delancey
>> Why:    To ask for public political intervention to protect new  
>> music/indie/avant/jazz in New York City and to ask the city to  
>> provide a minimum 200 capacity, centrally located venue for  
>> experimental music.
>> What:     from 11 am on, musicians and other performers will stage  
>> a musical protest against the planned closing of Tonic, a vital  
>> NYC new music resource.
>> Tonic, located at 107 Norfolk Street, has been unable to afford a  
>> series of rent increases imposed by landlord William Gottleib Inc,  
>> and will be forced to close its doors this April 14th.
>> Coming on the heels of the closing of  CBGB's, Sin-e, Fez, the  
>> Continental, and numerous other downtown venues, the closing of  
>> Tonic represents the continued shutting down of NYC's hugely  
>> important live music experimental jazz, indie, and new music scene.
>> This wave of club closings constitutes a market failure.  If there  
>> is not immediate and sufficient public intervention, either in the  
>> form of limiting rents or supplying alternate space and funding -  
>> or both - New York City will lose an essential part of its  
>> heritage, culture, and economy.
>> Tonic is the last new music/indie/avant jazz venue in Manhattan  
>> with a capacity above 90, presenting concerts on a nightly basis.  
>> It is also the last such venue in the city with the relatively  
>> musician friendly policy of paying 75% of door receipts.
>> In the words of Steven Bernstein, (leader of the band Sex Mob):
>> "My band plays some of the biggest festivals in Europe...Meanwhile  
>> there's only one club I can play in New York and it's about to  
>> close." (New York Times)
>> According to Patricia Nicholson-Parker, organizer of the Vision  
>> Festival:
>> "We have come together to say we deserve a space and in essence,  
>> we have already paid for our space.  Musicians contribute to the  
>> economy of this city every day with world class performances.  In  
>> the case of Tonic, many musicians came together and invested in  
>> the space.  Through benefits and organizing they raised  
>> significant sums of money (100+ grand) for the venue, 'Tonic.'   
>> The city needs to acknowledge this.  It is good for the city and  
>> good for the artists and their audiences that the city make  
>> available a musician-friendly community club/space which holds up  
>> to 200 audience members.  It is important that it not be in the  
>> outer boroughs but be centrally located in the LES where this  
>> serious alternative music has been birthed and where it can be  
>> easily accessed by audiences."
>> This press release is being issued by an ad hoc coalition of  
>> musicians and supporters of new/experimental jazz/indie music. We  
>> represent a racially and culturally diverse community united in  
>> our desire to preserve the cultural legacy and future viability of  
>> the progressive jazz, experimental rock, and new music  
>> historically based in the LES.
>> Saturday's action will be the first of an ongoing series of  
>> actions towards this goal.
>> Further information and contacts are available at  
>> www.takeittothebridge.com
>> The coalition is asking:
>> 1. That the city council adopt a general principle similar to  
>> European cultural policy; that NYC's new music and experimental  
>> jazz/indie musical culture is a unique asset, an essential part of  
>> the city's history, economy, and identity, and not to be left  
>> entirely at the mercy of market forces.
>> 2. That the city recognize the damage done to its cultural  
>> heritage and status as a 'cultural capitol' by the displacement of  
>> venues central to experimental music, and act now to protect those  
>> venues still left from displacement either by providing funding  
>> sufficient to allow them to withstand the explosion of commercial  
>> rents, or by legislation forcing landlords to restrict rents of  
>> culturally valuable venues, or both.
>> 3. That New York City intervene to preserve 107 Norfolk street as  
>> an experimental music venue, or make available a comparably sized  
>> and centrally located space for that purpose.
>>
>>
>>
>> BACKGROUND
>> Economic impact:
>> There has been little discussion of the economic impact of  
>> shutting down nightly new music venues in NYC. Beyond its own  
>> inherent value as art, new/experimental/ indie/jazz music also  
>> serves as crucial research and development for a much larger music  
>> industry- entertainment products, including music, are a major New  
>> York City export, and live entertainment in NYC is a major factor  
>> in restaurant, tourism, and hotel industries.
>> The reason people come here from all over the world to hear music,  
>> and hire ensembles from New York to tour all over the world,  
>> derives from the unique sound of the city's music. This uniqueness  
>> derives in turn from the historic interaction between NYC's  
>> mainstream and its avant garde and other indigenous scenes.
>> The proximity, the mutual artistic influence, the trading back and  
>> forth of players between mainstream and the avant garde is what  
>> has created the competitive advantage of NYC music- its world  
>> famous "edge." The avant garde draws from a pool of excellent  
>> professionals also working in NYC pop, classical, and mainstream  
>> jazz and rock: these are enriched by the cultural ideas of its  
>> avant garde. This "edge" brings millions in local club and  
>> restaurant business, music and film production, and tourism to New  
>> York annually, in addition to creating employment for the  
>> thousands of NYC-based musicians who tour world markets on a  
>> yearly basis.
>> The Mostly Mozart festival is a wonderful experience for many New  
>> Yorkers.   However it is neither an export nor the type of music  
>> representing New York City's musical culture  abroad. Europeans  
>> can travel to Salzburg or Vienna to hear Mozart. New York's  
>> indigenous forms, however, are being presented every night of the  
>> year in cities throughout Europe, Asia and around the world. New  
>> music/experimental/indie/jazz has support abroad completely  
>> disproportionate with its profile in NYC, as even a brief visit to  
>> http://www.europejazz.net/, the European jazz network website will  
>> confirm. And tourists from abroad can and do travel to New York to  
>> hear this music in its local setting.
>> But all this depends on its having a local setting: including a  
>> viable new indie and experimental music nightly club scene. It is  
>> not only culturally barbarous, but also incredibly short-sighted  
>> economic policy that the internationally and critically recognized  
>> value of this music should be without an adequate, well- 
>> advertised, and easily accessible showcase in its place of birth:  
>> one funded well enough to be able to both nurture new talent and  
>> present established musicians.
>>
>> -- 
>> ....................................................................
>> Ned Rothenberg
>> ned at nedrothenberg.com
>> http://www.nedrothenberg.com
>>
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