John Altman & Digby Fairweather : There's No You.wmv

[ziggydamaestro]

Many clubs turn down touring bands, simply because they can't afford to pay them. Such clubs cannot increase their ticket prices to even a fiver, since the regulars will complain bitterly and vote with their feet.

[ziggydamaestro]

It might be to do with the fact that many (not all) British "trad" audiences are fiercely resistant to anything slightly innovative or new, preferring each week to hear the same six-piece line up playing the same twenty tunes with the same "as played by" solos.

There are also quite a few trad bands in the UK that have barely changed their set list in thirty years.

I'm not sure about avril2's wealthy comment - many clubs can barely afford to pay the musos a decent wage... 

[avril2]

No disrespect to the musicians involved here, but how did we ever get to this?

Jazz for wealthy, white, middle-class audiences.

But without them?

[hostroute]

@avril2 I wrote an article about this recently. It started with these lines "When I was 23 and attending traditional jazz concerts I was usually the youngest person in the audience. Now at the age of 43 and attending traditional jazz concerts I am still the youngest there."

Another issue is that the black community in the UK have largely seen jazz as a white artform and not viewed it as a music of black origin which is very sad.