Todd Weeks, Local 802 Jazz Representative, and Bertha Hope, renowned jazz artist, will be on Yetta Kurland LIVE!, 1600AM on your radio dial, tonight from 10PM to 11PM. Please call in to ask questions regarding our campaign. Below please find the specifics. **Justice for Jazz Artists Campaign on Yetta Kurland LIVE! **WWRL 1600AM – Streaming …
Category Archive: Jazz news
J4JA! Gets Times Coverage
Season’s Greetings! For any and all of you that are interested in the issue of fairness, and would like to see a more level playing field in the NYC jazz club scene, the following article in last week’s NY Times may be of interest to you. The leafleting phase of our long term campaign …
J4JA! WHO WE ARE
Justice for Jazz Artists! (J4JA!) is a coalition of over 3,000 musicians, advocates, and fans who seek equity in the form of fair treatment of jazz (and other musicians) in the NYC nightclubs. Since 2005, J4JA! has been seeking to engage with NYC nightclub owners (including the management of clubs such as Birdland, the Blue …
J4JA! Leafleters Start Out with a Bang
Last night a small but determined group of musicians and their supporters hit the street in front of the Blue Note to hand out informational literature on J4JA! to audience members and passersby. Central to their message were their four demands: 1.) fair PAY, 2.) a decent PENSION, 3.) PROTECTIONS for the recording or reuse …
Taking it To The Street: Justice for Jazz Artists Redux
Musicians make a joyful noise at the union’s big jazz rally on Sept 29, 2009. Photo: Ron Grunhut by John O’Connor Originally appeared in Allegro The time for waiting is over. Meet us in front of the Blue Note to make some noise. It’s time to turn up the heat. As of Dec. 8, …
J4JA! Leafleting Begins Tonight
Justice for Jazz Artists! and Local 802 will begin leafleting the Blue Note tonight in an effort to get the club’s attention, and to alert musicians and fans alike to the campaigns’ goals–and to the fact that the Blue Note has not returned our calls. The demands of the campaign are simple enough: * fair …
Nat Hentoff: Local Nightclubs Need to Stop Resisting Pension Payments for Jazz Musicians
Nat Hentoff penned a great column about J4JA in the Village Voice this week. Read the whole thing here–please leave comments on his column! There have been jazz musicians with gigs—Broadway shows or nearly disappeared television network orchestras—who have been able to benefit from the American Federation of Musicians and Employers’ Pension Fund. But excluded …
Actors Equity Association Endorses Justice for Jazz Artists!
The National Council of the Actors Equity Association, chaired by Executive Director John Connelly, declared their full and unambiguous support for Local 802’s Justice for Jazz Artists! campaign on Tuesday, October 21, 2009. The resolution to endorse was supported by a unanimous vote. Council members from Chicago and Los Angeles weighed in with their “yea” …
Link Roundup
We’ve had some nice mentions lately. The New York Foundation for the Arts listed us on their Arts Advocacy page. There’s an article up on All About Jazz, with a link to the aforementioned Jazz Session podcast featuring an interview with Todd Weeks. Stef mentioned J4JA! on her blog Free Jazz, and Carlton J. Wilkinson …
Jazz Session Interview
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 …
