Jazz is alive and well and living in Cincinnati – but we can NEVER take it for granted!
As we re-launch Cincinnati Spotlight on 90.9 WGUC, we re-connect with friends who are out there, day after day, night after night, keeping our precious Jazz Scene going. I’ve had the opportunity to speak with club owners, Brent Gallaher (Café Vivace) and Zarleen Watts (Schwartz’s Point) and musician/music booker for Washington Platform, Michael Sharfe over the past few weeks. They each report toughing it out through the worst days of the pandemic, when their doors were shut, and the long, slow climb back. You’ll be hearing from them in the days and weeks to come on Spotlight, weekdays at 10:00am and 5:00pm, and on our website at wguc.org/spotlight.
I also spoke with one of the hardest-working musicians in town, Trombonist Zachary Granger (The Wild Magnolias, Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, the Sly Band and many, many more) about his perspective on the State of Jazz in late 2021... here’s a bit of our conversation:
How's the gigging?
Gigging is great! I would say that for performing musicians, work has pretty much entirely come back. I just had the busiest week since gigs have come back; 5 jazz shows in 4 days!
Are people coming out?
People are coming out in droves. Audiences are not only coming out in greater numbers, but they are also staying, listening longer and being more respectful. I think people really missed live entertainment, music especially, and they seem much more grateful to have something that was taken from them for almost 2 years.
How are musicians doing - do you know any who gave up music and got "real" jobs during the pandemic?
It’s actually a bit of a mixed bag with the musicians. There are people like me who are doing better than ever and are happy to have any kind of work they can get. And there is a whole other group of working musicians, like a lot of them, that still haven’t recovered. Musicians who had plans to move to other states only to arrive and not have any opportunities. Musicians who decided they were going to go back to school to get a teaching job somewhere and then paid tuition and signed up for classes only to have those job offers/prospects evaporate because of lockdowns lasting 3-5 semesters. I had a friend that bought a house only to sell it 7 months later because he couldn’t pay for it; no gigs, and less than half of his students signed up for virtual lessons. I might be one of the best cases of someone who got a “real job”. I saw that at the music store I was teaching at could use some extra help and I asked for a job. Now I’m an instrument repair man! Its music related in an indirect sort of way but I couldn’t be happier to have more things to flesh out my schedule.
What else needs to happen, in your opinion, to revive live music?
In my humble and heavily biased opinion, I think what everyone needs to do (in all aspects of public life) is to take this pandemic as seriously as it ever was. Feeling sick? Stay home and get a Covid test. Want to hear some live music and finally enjoy a night out with your friends? Respect if a business asks you to put a mask on or has reduced/assigned seating. Realize that you might be young and healthy but that everyone of the people you see have loved ones and families and that some of those people in those families could be high risk. I’m a huge fan respect; don’t make fun of someone for wearing a mask, don’t be upset if someone doesn’t want to shake your hand or give you a hug, and most importantly: just don’t be gross! Wash your hands, don’t share drinks, etc.
We all just want everything to stay open. I love what I do for a living and performing is a privilege and on the behalf of all musicians, I ask that everyone still take this pandemic seriously.
Stay connected with the Arts in Cincinnati through Cincinnati Spotlight at 90.9 WGUC.
-Elaine Diehl
