{"id":1072,"date":"2012-10-09T15:58:09","date_gmt":"2012-10-09T19:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=1072"},"modified":"2012-10-09T16:03:05","modified_gmt":"2012-10-09T20:03:05","slug":"jazzers-for-obama-in-nyc-tonight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2012\/10\/jazzers-for-obama-in-nyc-tonight.html","title":{"rendered":"Jazzers for Obama in NYC tonight"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Jazz for Obama<\/a> talent pool fundraising for the re-election of the President at Symphony Space \"\"<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0(2537 Broadway,\u00c2\u00a0NYC) tonight is\u00c2\u00a0stellar. Roy Haynes, Joe Lovano, Brad Mehldau, Ron Carter, Jimmy Heath, McCoy Tyner, Kenny Barron, Jim Hall, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ravi Coltrane, Arturo O’Farrill, Kenny Garrett, Geri Allen, Jeff ‘Tain” Watts, Christian McBride, Gretchen Partlato, Claudio Acu\u00c3\u00b1a, Ralph Peterson, Henry Grimes, Aaron Goldberg, Greg Hutchison know with whom their best interests lie,\u00c2\u00a0and it isn’t the candidate who intends to cut funds for PBS (no<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Mr. Monopoly treads not so lightly<\/p><\/div>\n

doubt NPR and the NEA, too), dismantle the Affordable Care Act and increase the military budget.<\/p>\n

Since very few jazz musicians purchase health insurance through employers, they know how difficult it is to find a decent plan at a viable rate as an individual, whatever state they live in. Jazzers are on the road a lot, so they’re unlikely to support any political party that makes it harder to vote in advance, online or by absentee ballot. As rugged individualists, they not big believers in corporations being people, too. They know better than to scorn those who don’t pay federal income tax because they’re don’t make enough $. Since they have historically been prone to sleazy business deals and royalty grabs, they are not among those who resent paying teachers, police and firemen among other civil servants for previously agreed upon and paid-for pensions. They know too much about life to regard all those receiving safety-net benefits and Social Security as lazy moochers.<\/p>\n

Jazzers realize that there a big difference between working hard and being well paid. They have learned to operate on the economic fringes of mainstream American culture, their lifestyles often suspect and their financial foundations more creative than even the savviest hedge fund specialist’s (out of necessity, because they make do with much less, and it’s their own money\/time\/health\/lives they’re gambling with, not someone else’s).<\/p>\n

Furthermore, most jazz musicians are urbanites through and through, so they value government investments in \"\"<\/a>public transportation and education, alternative energies and environmental protections, rather than oil wells in federal lands. I don’t know many who hunt, though I’m sure some do — and a majority are probably ok with gun control, since the shooting deaths of Lee Morgan, Eddie Jefferson, Jaki Byard and Frank Rosolino still feel raw.<\/p>\n

Just on a personal level, they — ok, yeah, we<\/em> — are probably more comfortable with a bi-racial, former stoner, community organizer who can sing a passable measure of an Al Green lyric than with a guy rich from birth, who doesn’t drink even coffee, and was a religious missionary to France. These are petty reasons to prefer one politician over another, I suppose, but they stick nonetheless.<\/p>\n

Jazz is the free-wheeling, improvisatory American-born and globally embraced art form that is open to all comers, proudly interactive, full of humor and passion, operating in something of an alternative universe or society unto itself. But most people who play jazz depend on a strong social network and don’t claim they can go it alone. We at \"\"<\/a>least claim to believe in a meritocracy. We know how to listen. We’re not, perhaps, the very best slice of the demographic at planning ahead, so I suppose the argument can be made that we’re not the people who should be figuring out how to reduce the federal deficit. But we know how to stretch what little money we get, and have firm faith that living well does not require mountains of moolah. Some of us are religious (including Muslims, Jews, maybe even Mormons) but most are firmly grounded in secular humanism — and we’re generally quite a tolerant tribe, eager for connections across supposed cultural divides, with few war-mongers. \"\"<\/a>Do we live in a fantasy world? I think not. Which is why the majority of jazzers, I hazard to suggest without conducting or consulting any verifiable poll, are for Obama.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

howardmandel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Jazz for Obama talent pool fundraising for the re-election of the President at Symphony Space \u00c2\u00a0(2537 Broadway,\u00c2\u00a0NYC) tonight is\u00c2\u00a0stellar. Roy Haynes, Joe Lovano, Brad Mehldau, Ron Carter, Jimmy Heath, McCoy Tyner, Kenny Barron, Jim Hall, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ravi Coltrane, Arturo O’Farrill, Kenny Garrett, Geri Allen, Jeff ‘Tain” Watts, Christian McBride, Gretchen Partlato, Claudio […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-main","8":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/barack1.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-hi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":293,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2010\/02\/nea_jazz_masters_as_new_yorker.html","url_meta":{"origin":1072,"position":0},"title":"NEA Jazz Masters as New Yorkers","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"February 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Are all Jazz Masters in\/of NYC? Most, yes -- but can that last? My new City Arts column.\u00a0See photos that demonstrate the thesis. photo by Tom Pich:\u00a0back row, l to r: Rocco Landesman (NEA Chairman, NYC), Cedar Walton (NYC), Bobby Hutcherson, Bill Holman, Kenny Barron (NYC), Wayne Brown (NEA Director\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"NEA 2010 Jazz Masters Photo by Tom Pich.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/assets_c\/2010\/02\/NEA%202010%20Jazz%20Masters%20Photo%20by%20Tom%20Pich-thumb-420x278-12894.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":246,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/09\/jazzlives_listeners_tweet_from.html","url_meta":{"origin":1072,"position":1},"title":"#jazzlives: listeners tweet from across the U.S.","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"September 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Audiences for live jazz from East Coast to West, North border to South, all points between and some beyond are using Twitter and the hashtag #jazzlives to buzz about bands and venues they like. A campaign begun to encourage \"anecdotal evidence\" that demonstrates a vibrant listenership for America's indigenous music\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":183,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/04\/manhattan_jazz_residencies_my.html","url_meta":{"origin":1072,"position":2},"title":"Manhattan jazz residencies (my new City Arts column)","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"April 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra\u00c2\u00a0at the Village Vanguard on Monday night since 1967\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0The Mingus Big Band, Orchestra and Dynasty ensemble in regular rotation on Mondays at the Jazz StandardGuitarist Les Paul, at age 94 a genuine hipster, the Ben Franklin of American popular music, Monday nights at Iridium forever.These are a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1954,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2015\/12\/branford-marsalis-and-kurt-elling-in-new-orleans-ready-for-recording.html","url_meta":{"origin":1072,"position":3},"title":"Branford Marsalis and Kurt Elling in New Orleans, ready for recording","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"December 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Saxophonist Branford Marsalis's quartet and singer Kurt Elling prepared for their upcoming recording in a rare four-night stand at Snug Harbor in New Orleans last week, and\u00c2\u00a0photo-journalist extraordinaire Marc PoKempner went each night, enthralled. \"It was sort of an open rehearsal for the recording, so the set list was the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/unnamed.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/unnamed.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/unnamed.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/unnamed.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/unnamed.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2264,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2017\/07\/great-new-jazz-photography-dee-kaleas-campaign.html","url_meta":{"origin":1072,"position":4},"title":"Great new jazz photography — Dee Kalea’s campaign","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"July 6, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Dee Kalea of Creative Music Photography is old school, in that she's created black and white images of jazz musicians in performance, closeup, usually one-to-a-frame. The passion she's captured, however, is timeless. How she became alert to the precise moment of creative rapture, and intimate with the music beyond the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Creative Music Photography\"","block_context":{"text":"Creative Music Photography","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/tag\/creative-music-photography"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/unnamed-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":285,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2010\/01\/wynton_orch_play_nea_jazz_mast.html","url_meta":{"origin":1072,"position":5},"title":"Wynton & Orch play NEA Jazz Masters, on radio tonight!","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"January 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Just announced: WBGO, NPR and Sirius\/XM are broadcasting live and streaming on the web tonight's NEA Jazz Masters ceremony and concert with W. 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