Jazz Standing Up For Itself

I wanted to make note of the campaign being organized by Justice for Jazz Artists, details of which you can read here.

In a previous post, I talked about the need for musicians to organize and/or collectivize on their own behalf. This organization and this campaign represent a credible way to do just that.

Happily, JJA is savvy enough to know that they have to broaden the campaign to include not just musicians, but everyone in the jazz community and, in fact, anyone who cares about artists in our culture not getting the usual shaft.

I urge you to go to the website and sign on as a supporter and to let your circle of friends know about this campaign.

"The Shadow of Kitty Genovese" by Stephen Provizer (reprised)

This is a re-written version of a piece from last April, which I'm reprising as a pre-quel to a post later this week about the Occupy movement. I think it's timely.

I recently re-discovered the unusual Phil Ochs LP "Pleasures of the Harbor."  A song from that album, "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends," and another song from 1967-"All's Quiet on West 23rd," by a group called "Jetstream"-were inspired by a 1964 incident in Queens where the murder and rape of a woman named Kitty Genovese went unreported by neighbors.

The degree of passivity and non-involvement on the part of Genovese's neighbors is not clear (Good explanation here), but the incident inspired a flurry of research, which in turn generated a sociological premise called The Bystander Effect. The gist of this is that the larger the size of a group of people witnessing a "reportable" activity, the less likely any one person is to take action.

No doubt the Bystander Effect is second cousin to what's been called Charity or Compassion Fatigue, a more diffused phenomenon-about an accumulation of events than a specific one.

What has yet to be found is an explanation for a phenomenon I've been puzzling over for a long time: that people are willing to de-prioritize their own well-being in order to make sure that some one or some other group of people does not make out better than they do. The key example is believing that unions don't represent a way for lots of people to get a fair deal from employers, but a threat to one's own well-being.

I despise but at least understand why we humans are willing to ignore the physical harming of someone else-it's a self-protective reaction. Ditto that stressed financial resources can explain a person's ignoring the plight of someone else with a disease or handicap.

But how to explain the widespread belief that the decent wages and job security of a fellow working person are more of a threat to your well-being than the massive accumulation of wealth at the top, or the enormous military expenditures used to support a decaying American empire around the world? This is sheer masochism, rooted in a massive disinformation campaign, combined with a bizarre belief that people born on third base deserve help getting to home plate.

It may be time to let go of the "I'm not poor, I'm just not wealthy-yet" mythology, to recognize that we have been divided and are well down the road to being conquered-and that your local teacher or pipe-fitter are not your enemies. Kitty Genovese, collector for Clean Water Action, the Hyatt 100, what's become known as the 99%-we're all in it together.

"The Shadow of Kitty Genovese" by Stephen Provizer

This is a re-written version of a post from last April, which I'm reprising as a pre-quel to a post later this week about the Occupy movement. I think it's timely.

I recently re-discovered the unusual Phil Ochs LP "Pleasures of the Harbor."  A song from that album, "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends," and another song from 1967-"All's Quiet on West 23rd," by a group called "Jetstream"-were inspired by a 1964 incident in Queens where the murder and rape of a woman named Kitty Genovese went unreported by neighbors.

The degree of passivity and non-involvement on the part of Genovese's neighbors is not clear (Good explanation here), but the incident inspired a flurry of research, which in turn generated a sociological premise called The Bystander Effect. The gist of this is that the larger the size of a group of people witnessing a "reportable" activity, the less likely any one person is to take action.

Unions and the Fame Myth-by Steve Provizer

Seattle Negro Musicians Union-1925

Music is a collaborative art, but the sketchy history of unionism in American music seems to say that the spirit of collaboration has too often ended at the edge of a bandstand.


Believe it or not, there actually is something called the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), under the aegis of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The union has forged many collective bargaining agreements that benefited musicians, but it seems there was always an uneasy relationship between union leadership and rank and file. In jazz especially, racial problems were ongoing, with union chapters in every American city segregated through most of the 20th century (The desegregation of Boston's unions only happened in 1970). I understand the AFM using its website to try and put a positive spin on the union's history, but racially, it's a complete whitewash and at this point, it seems depleted as a cultural force.


But you know, we musicians have been all too ready to cut each others throats and not to act collectively.

Well, damn. Who doesn't want someone else to look out for their own personal interests-Get me on a label that can plug my efforts. Get me an agent who gets me the good gigs. Get me a manager who looks out for my interests.

You Know Who

Of course, this makes us no different from any other group of people who must divide up a pie that's increasingly too small-noblesse oblige only comes with a surplus of money. But this attitude has made the vast majority of musician's lives way too wracked with dues-paying.

Musicians have been opting for what is essentially an elitist approach to the business of music, buying into The Fame Myth and aggravating the economic disparity between those few who have Made It and the much larger group which is serious about the music, but must constantly scuffle.

The internet has opened up entrepreneurial possibilities for many musicians-largely for the younger, tech-savvy ones. But what we really need is an attitude adjustment. Or, when it comes to getting our collective due, maybe we simply need more attitude.

Wildman Fischer

Many of us aren't cut out for a lot of confrontation, but if we stand together, a representative of our union, guild, association, or collective could bring the bargaining skills we need.

The Fame Myth is a shaky foundation to base your life and art on, so, just let it go... My 12-part cassette series will help. Available now for 4 easy payments of just $19.99.

Ronco Presents

Just kidding.