Here's an interesting article that was in today's WSJ. It's a sad day for New Orleans.
A Jazz Diaspora Redraws the Musical Map
Even as New Orleans rebuilds, some fabled players have decided not to return
By JOHN JURGENSEN
April 8, 2006
Sweet Lorraine's Jazz Club in New Orleans was a popular spot for local music, drawing crowds who came to hear Wilson "Willie Tee" Turbinton, a renowned pianist and singer.
The club reopened in February -- but without Willie Tee. Mr. Turbinton has moved to New Jersey. "I'm in a good position here," he says.
New Orleans is busy rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina. But when it comes to jazz, the city's most important cultural touchstone, it's becoming evident the damage could be permanent. Dozens of musicians who relocated temporarily now say they don't plan to return, in part because they're making better money elsewhere.
WHERE THEY ARE NOW
See our guide on where to hear New Orleans' transplanted musicians.This is redrawing portions of the country's musical map, energizing the jazz scene in cities like Portland, Ore., and Houston. That's a boon, of course, for music fans outside the Bayou State. But for some storied clubs in New Orleans, it means scrambling to find replacements for big draws.
"New Orleans never treated its musicians well," says Wynton Marsalis, the trumpet player and artistic director of New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Some transplanted musicians say they don't expect to attend the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. The high-profile event has taken on special meaning this year, and is being billed as a homecoming for the city's musicians. But Henry Butler, a noted jazz and blues pianist who's played at the festival for years, says he turned down an invitation to play this time.
The payment offered was "very insulting," says Mr. Butler. He's been house-hunting lately near Boulder, Colo., where he relocated in the fall. These days, "my paydays are better" than they were in pre-Katrina New Orleans, he says.
Jazz Fest organizers say they made Mr. Butler a generous offer, and that out of 400 acts on the festival's bill, 90% are New Orleans artists -- more than ever before. The event features other types of music as well, and its headliners include Bruce Springsteen, who recently released an album in tribute to folk musician Pete Seeger.
For Cyril Neville, the youngest of the city's four famed Neville brothers, Texas has replaced New Orleans as his home. He recently bought a house in Austin. Several brass bands, including ones led by popular trombonist Corey Henry, are now settled in Houston. Bill Summers, a Grammy-nominated drummer who's recorded with Herbie Hancock, has moved to Atlanta, and plays gigs there with both New Orleans transplants and locals.
About 50 players moved into hotel suites in Portland after being recruited for the Portland Jazz festival in February; more than a dozen have decided to stay for good. One of them, trombonist Stephen Walker, along with his funk band, the Few Chosen, now plays every Thursday at the Blue Monk, a Portland jazz club. The Blue Monk's co-owner, Tim Gallineau, says the club has seen a surge of fans of the New Orleans sound. Crowds "come and they don't leave," on such nights, he says.
Jazz Movement: Devin Phillips and Stephen Walker in Portland, Ore.
Displaced New Orleans musicians say they didn't fully appreciate how much better the financial opportunities were in other cities until the hurricane forced them to relocate. For all but the biggest names, a night's work for a band at a New Orleans club -- typically four hours for two sets -- pays less than $500 a night. Split among an eight- or 10-piece brass band, this can mean as little as $50 a gig.
Traditionally, many New Orleans musicians offset their low wages by joining forces with several bands and performing in up to three venues in a night. Even so, musicians say earning about $20,000 a year was typical in New Orleans. This was partly a function of having so many players in one city; there was always someone else willing to work for less money.
For their part, club owners say they've struggled under the same system as musicians. In a city packed with music clubs, patrons are reluctant to pay more than $5 at the door -- many clubs have no cover charge at all. The manager of one New Orleans club, which doesn't usually charge a cover, says the midsized venue typically brings in about $3,000 on a strong weekend night from drink sales, or about half that on weeknights. In some clubs, bands earn a cut of that money -- usually 20% -- plus tips and free beer. If there's a cover charge, the band typically takes 80% of that.
Outside of New Orleans, cover charges are far more common at jazz clubs. At one club in Portland, musicians take in all of the door fees of up to $8 a person, which may amount to about $1,200 a night. In Houston, at the club St. Pete's Dancing Marlin, where displaced brass bands from New Orleans perform regularly, band members make $200 each for a gig, according to the club's owner, John Zotos. John Williams, a washboard player who performs there, says that's double what he typically made in New Orleans.
Of course, returning to New Orleans is a complicated decision for any former resident, given the level of rebuilding needed before the city can truly return to normal. Other musicians who haven't returned say their absence is temporary -- but add it could be years before they move back.
Some New Orleans clubs say it's hurting their ability to draw customers. At Sweet Lorraine's, owner Paul Sylvester Jr., says Willie Tee was a jazz legend who brought in tourists. "Right now, it's real difficult without him. I have to make do with what's available to me," he says.
Since October, Mr. Turbinton has been an artist in residence at Princeton University, lecturing, performing and directing two campus bands. He was supposed to stay only until January, but his residency was extended, in part at the prompting of authors and Princeton professors Toni Morrison and Cornel West.
To fill the void, some clubs are looking beyond jazz and other traditional New Orleans sounds like zydeco. They're turning to cover groups who play popular music from the '70s and '80s.
At Bourbon Vieux, a private-party space in the French Quarter, sales and marketing director Annette Huth says she used to book mostly local jazz combos and funk bands. But lately, with her go-to musicians scattered and her convention clients staying home, she's been hiring cover bands to play for visiting fraternities from Louisiana State University.
To try to lure bands back for occasional gigs, some club owners are turning to aid money offered by nonprofit groups. John Blancher, the owner of Mid-City Lanes Rock 'N' Bowl, recently booked a New Orleans piano player living in Atlanta with the promise of a $350 payment, plus an extra $100 from the New Orleans Musicians' Clinic, which provides health care and support to the city's musicians.
As for the musicians who stayed behind in New Orleans, some have benefited from the thinning of musical competition. Bassist Jeff Tyson says his Ka-Nection Band, which used to play about four nights a week, now works virtually every night as one of the few R&B bands working on Bourbon Street. "That's why I'm spread so thin. There's nobody here," he says.
"Clubs fighting over us? Hey, it's about time you see something like that."
