New York City jazz musicians deserve a retirement like anyone else. Sign our petition to help them earn pension payments from NYC jazz clubs — at no cost to the clubs or musicians.
Check out Jason Crane’s Jazz Session podcast with Local 802 Jazz/J4JA! rep Todd Weeks. In this interview, Todd lays out the history of the J4JA! campaign and talks about the importance of pensions and other benefits for the musicians — young and old — who play jazz.
The play button is at the bottom of the page. Thank you Jazz Session!
It’s time to take action — and we need your support. We’re holding a rally on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2pm, at Judson Memorial Church at 55 Washington Square South (West 4th Street) in Manhattan.
We need you to be there.
Since 2006, the Justice for Jazz Artists! campaign has repeatedly tried to engage NYC jazz clubs in constructive dialog to secure retirement benefits for working jazz musicians, to no avail.
We successfully lobbied for a tax break that would go to jazz musicians’ retirement payments, at no cost the clubs; and yet almost none of the top NYC jazz clubs will even discuss the issue with us — these clubs include the Village Vanguard, the Jazz Standard, Birdland and the Blue Note.
We’re holding this rally to put public pressure on the clubs, so that they do the right thing. After the rally, we will march to the clubs and deliver our petition with 3000+ signatures of professional musicians, demanding that the clubs direct the forgiven tax dollars to musicians’ pension payments — a tax break that we lobbied for, and that the clubs are now enjoying.
J4JA! Rally and March on the Clubs
Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2pm
Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South (West 4th Street)
Greenwich Village, New York City
Musicians: Bring your instruments for our march to the clubs!
Email us at [email hidden; JavaScript is required] or call (212) 245-4802 X 185 for more information. Here’s our Facebook event.
Check out our new endorsers page! The list is necessarily incomplete, but we’ll be updating as we add more supporters. Check out our many political, education, religious endorsers, as well as writers and of course jazz musicians.
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.
Invited performers: Billy Taylor; Hank Jones; Bob Cranshaw; Jimmy Owens; Junior Mance; Keisha St. Joan; Lewis Nash; Bernard Purdie and many others…
Monday, August 17th 6-10PM
322 West 48th Street (8th/9th)
NY, NY
This is a FREE Kick-Off Event for the Justice for Jazz Artists Campaign to get benefits for jazz musicians who work in NYC clubs.
Fans Welcome!
All Musicians and Audience Members will required to sign a release upon entry, as this session is being filmed. No partcipation without RSVP!!
RSVP: 212 245 4802 X 158 (Claudia) or email us
See You There!
Best,
Todd Bryant Weeks
Featuring Jimmy Owens, Bob Cranshaw, Bernard Purdie, Reggie Workman, Randy Weston, Benny Powell, Junior Mance and more! View now »
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