The Justice for Jazz Artists! Jam Session on August 17th was a grand success. A hearty congratulations to all who took part!
Two Mondays ago, Local 802, the Jazz Foundation of America and the 802 Jazz Advisory Committee hosted a Justice for Jazz Artists! Jam Session and Kickoff Event to raise awareness around the current campaign to bring benefits to musicians who work in NYC area jazz clubs.
The award winning filmmaker/musician Ron Grunhut created a splendid high definition video of the event, which features interview clips of Randy Weston, Dr. Billy Taylor, Benny Powell, Bernard Purdie, Junior Mance, Reggie Workman, Bob Cranshaw, Sean Lyons and Jimmy Owens, among others.
Featured in the J4JA! video are snippets of performances by Jimmy Owens, Benny Powell, Sean Lyons, Danny Mixon, Kenny Davis, Bernard Purdie, Guadencio Thiago de Mello, Vinnie Knight, Keisha St. Joan, Wade Barnes, Reggie Workman, Bertha Hope, Fran McIntyre and about 2o other performers.
The soundtrack for the video selected by filmmaker Grunhut, was, appropriately, the bluesy “Justice for Jazz Artists,” composed by trumpeter Owens.
The video is about 5 minutes in length, and will be posted on YouTube on or around September 14, 2009.
The Justice for Jazz Artists! campaign is gearing up for future events as we move our campaign into the public sphere this fall.
Local 802 and J4JA! have already been in contact with club owners and NYC political leaders in an effort to resolve issues surrounding the redirection of forgiven NY State tax dollars towards the American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund.
The tax dollars can be painlessly redirected from door admission charges towards benefits for performers who work in the club on any given night. The tax money is about .84 cents of every $10 collected at the door.
Club owners must comply with the intentions of state lawmakers, who passed a law forgiving the door sales tax in 2007, and allowing it to go to performers’ benefits.
Thus far, the clubs have refused to do so.
The Justice for Jazz Artists! campaign seeks to change that!
To volunteer in this important effort to help jazz artists in NY State, please email us or call the Local 802 Jazz Department at 212 245 4802 X185.
