{"id":534,"date":"2011-09-06T15:12:45","date_gmt":"2011-09-06T19:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/?p=534"},"modified":"2011-09-06T15:30:06","modified_gmt":"2011-09-06T19:30:06","slug":"privatize-the-chicago-jazz-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/09\/privatize-the-chicago-jazz-fest.html","title":{"rendered":"Foundation to run the Chicago Jazz Fest?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Labor Day weekend free Chicago Jazz Festival<\/a> had multiple musical high points, like Mike Reed’s \u00c2\u00a0<\/object>\u00c2\u00a0Myth\/Science Assembly, yet\u00c2\u00a0Chicago Tribune critic Howard Reich believes<\/a> the fest is old and creaky, in dire need of reinvention, under a new, fest-dedicated Foundation. With new mayor Rahm Emmanuel facing an immense budget shortfall, Reich may be right that something has to be done to convince City Hall the Fest should continue . . . but are his prescriptions the way forward?<\/p>\n

Essentially Reich recommends separating the Jazz Festival from the City, which has been its producer for 33 years (the non-profit Jazz Institute of Chicago is responsible for programming). He doesn’t call for privatization, but for a “Chicago Jazz Festival Foundation,” whatever that would be. An appealing idea at first glance, however: This would very likely end up replacing “free” from “ticketed” at a time when cultural institutions that have historically been for everybody are increasingly charging large $, putting the arts out of reach for impoverished and even middle-class citizens. Chicago has no basis for creating a non-profit jazz-oriented foundation, and has had bad recent run-ins with privatization, as outgoing mayor Richie Daley leased the city’s parking meters<\/a> to a private firm, a deal that’s locally considered outrageous. Turning the fest over to some stand-alone entity, for-profit or non-profit, is a highly dubious way to go.<\/p>\n

And it’s not likely possible, anyway. Reich points to the San Francisco Jazz Festival<\/a> and Montreal Jazz Festival<\/a> as models, but neither of them are starting up in the constricted financial context of 2011 and both exist in very different public\/private spheres than Chicago’s. Who would provide the money for a publicly beneficial Chicago-wide festival? Reich thinks the Chicago Jazz Partnership<\/a>, major sponsor of the Fest and a collaboration of The Boeing Company, Kraft Foods, Chicago Community Trust, J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, United Airlines and some philanthropies, could provide seed funding. Maybe so — and perhaps Reich is staking out a position for the Chicago Jazz Partnership to take over responsibilities.<\/p>\n

But ask George Wein, producer of the 56-year-old Newport Jazz Festival<\/a>, how he got Natixis Global Asset Management to be chief sponsor this year. It ain’t easy. Big funders are scarce. The Detroit Jazz Festival<\/a> survives because philanthropist Gretchen Valade endowed it with $10 million. Any wealthy Chicago jazz fans out there?<\/p>\n

Reich proposes, I believe more assiduously, that the Fest embrace and be extended further into Chicago’s thriving though factionalized musical community, along the lines of Chicago’s City-sponsored World Music Festival<\/a>. Since the Fest’s mid-week club tour is a unique feature of Chicago’s events, carrying listeners throughout the city on trolleys to clubs they would probably otherwise not visit for a modest one-entry-to-13-venue price ($25 average), and is extraordinary fun, I endorse the thought. Thing is, the Chicago Jazz Festival already does that, having this year had fest-related events in the Mexican neighborhood of Pilsen and the South Asian community, too.<\/p>\n

Fact is, the Chicago Jazz Fest isn’t how it’s been because no one wants it better, but because resources, financial, organizational and otherwise, are thin. It’s a great accomplishment that the Jazz Institute and City collaborate on what they’ve got now.\u00c2\u00a0Not to say it’s the best of all possible worlds and there should be no improvements. Reich has carped for years about the acoustics of the Petrillo band shell; the sound mix isn’t very good, and that’s the mixing engineer’s issue — better mixing engineer? Better mikes and\/or speakers? — not so much the locale’s. Reich far prefers the new Frank Gehry designed Pritzker Pavillion, which is indeed a nice open air venue, but holds at best half the audience that Petrillo accommodates. And we don’t want to limit the number of Chicagoans and visitors who can enjoy this vibrant, locally-focused programming, do we?<\/p>\n

About that programming, my favorites (many videos from the Fest and other sites — but not by me — linked below) included:<\/p>\n