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 …
Category Archive: Pension
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 …
J4JA! Myths
Since it’s launch, the J4JA! campaign has had an enormous outpouring of support — over 2,500 signatures on our petition. And check out our list of endorsers! Unsurprisingly, we’ve had some criticism as well. Some of the comments are well-intentioned; some are blatantly dishonest. We’ll take a moment to address a few here. Myth #1: …
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 …
2,000 Signers and Update
Our goal was 2000 signers by October 1, and we’ve already met it. The J4JA! YouTube video has bumped from 500 to 755 views in the last two days! We have received over 300 petition signatures in the last 48 hours. As we inch closer to our rally in NYC on Tuesday, Sept. 29 2PM @ Judson …
J4JA! Jam Session a Grand Success
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 …
