Posted by: Bruce | June 1, 2006 8:32 AM

Now this just adds insult to injury. It's bad enough that we have suffered another tax hike for the fifth year in a row, but now my hard-earned money is subsidizing Kenny Rogers and Boys II Men??? Yuk.

The Jazz Festivals use to provide an avenue for talented local musicians to get some exposure to a broad audience as an opening act. No more. If this city wants to be known as a regional arts center, it needs to start supporting local artists rather than importing them from out of town. As both a local artist and an overburdened taxpayer, I find this practice extremely insulting and counterproductive.

One more item of note -- Kool & The Gang is not a jazz band.

Posted by: bill | June 1, 2006 12:19 PM

KENNY ROGERS! This must be a prank. I know they're trying to get people out of the suburbs, but there must to be a better way. By the way, Bruce is right and any musicologist will agree. It may be okay to include the group in the funk genre, but to call it Jazz - give me a break! Tito Puente Jr., T.S. Monk, Dave Brubeck - that's Jazz!

Posted by: alicia | June 1, 2006 7:17 PM

"Supporting" local musicians is secondary. Using my tax dollars towards that purpose as you would have them do, is insulting to me. This is about Marketing the City, stupid.

Posted by: OES | June 2, 2006 6:57 AM

Bruce, You are confusing the Market NH concerts with The City's Jazz Festival, they are two separate events. Market NH concerts take place in July, the NH Jazz Fest happens in August, where this summer you will see Dave Brubeck, Johnny Lang and Tito Puente Jr (all jazz musicians). Also, the funds to hold these concerts come mostly from a large group sponsors not from city money. So, embrace the diversity of the music and perhaps you'll find that you even like Kenny Rogers.

Posted by: Allen Lowe | June 2, 2006 8:16 AM

I'm in agreement - this summer " jazz festival" and concert series make New Haven look like a small town without taste or any real sense of culture - it's free, so people turn out anyway (hey, we had 20,000 people for Max Roach in 1990) - so put the money into encouraging new and interesting music and regional musicians -

Posted by: Christy | June 2, 2006 8:44 AM

I agree. Kenny Rogers and Boyz II Men appealed to a very (very) small segment, even when they *were* popular. I'd be happier with a lesser-known girl-with-guitar or a local act, or something more current, or more classic... or something. They managed to pick two acts that I would be least likely to want to see. At least last year they balanced the blah boring Vanessa Williams with Blues Traveler.

Posted by: B | June 2, 2006 8:58 AM

When 100,000 people show up on the green for a concert, I'm pretty sure that the tax revenue generated by the affected local businesses well out weighs the cost of Kool and the Gang. Kool and the Gang might actually be paying NH to play in front of that many people. J.K.

Posted by: Andy | June 2, 2006 9:44 AM

You're missing the point of the summer concert series: to bring people into town that don't live here so they'll spend money and notice the "local artists" or eat food, or buy stuff. There are venues in town for local artists, including the well-publicized open studios, Arts and Ideas fest, etc. I'm sure that Kenny Rogers had to play his share of local watering holes before making a name for himself. There's a lot of talent in town, but in order to bring attention to it, you have to have a draw.

Posted by: Pedro | June 2, 2006 12:16 PM

I have to respectfully disagree with Bruce. While I'll agree that a thriving local arts scene is crucial to New Haven being known as a regional arts center, having national acts on the New Haven Green also provides a crucial function in bringing in a huge audience from the Greater New Haven (and even greater Northeast) area right into downtown New Haven for an enjoyable evening. The green is positively packed with people when a national act comes to town.

These concerts bring thousands upon thousands of people in New Haven allowing them to discover what the city has to offer.

For 5 weeks before the August Festival there is Jazz in the Parks. This focused soley on local and emerging jazz talent, so its slightly disingenous to infer that the Jazz festival is not still opening avenues for local performers.

New Haven bars and clubs are also going to be having a substantially increased presence at the Jazz festival, with many of them hosting Jazz performers who have never done so before.

If anything, all of this indicates MORE support for local and national jazz in new haven and for the arts in general. I think that being able to support and host national acts is a positive sign of growth.

Posted by: James | June 2, 2006 3:37 PM

I absolutely agree with people who want to bring more people into New Haven. Small time jazz and local acts are great, but this is about showcasing the city and bring people in who normally wouldn't. Anyone can have the local jazz combo play. We want to be a city of fun for the region. Kenny Rogers , Kool and the Gang, Boyz II Men = More people visiting = more money + more jobs = a better city. So let's all kick it a little old school for a while. "Check this out, see if this one moves you.." I'm going to go out and get a fade.

Posted by: Bruce | June 2, 2006 6:05 PM

Pedro & Andy: Cities like New Orleans, Seattle and Paris didn't become the arts centers by importing national acts for a handful of shows each year. They nurtured an artistic culture and helped it grow from the inside. I'm not by any means saying we shouldn't have national acts headlining the jazz festivals, but it would take very little effort to simply start the shows an hour earlier and showcase some local talent. They used to do that and I'm not sure why they stopped.

OES: I did not confuse the events -- Kool & The Gang is headlining the Aug 12th Jazz Fest show. Also, maybe things have changed in the last year or two, but after Brian Alden pulled out our taxes started picking up a large portion of the bill. The tax bill for Market New Haven is considerable.

Alicia: It would be a negligible cost to add local acts to the bill. And it's not nice to call people stupid.

Finally, if the revenue generated by these festivals is such a boost to local businesses, why doesn't the Chamber of Commerce foot the entire bill? If it's a net gain, then there's no reason they shouldn't.

Posted by: Spike | June 5, 2006 9:33 AM

Kenny Rogers? Gag me with a kayak.

Posted by: andyo | June 5, 2006 9:35 AM

Bruce: I'm aware of the importance of local music/art/culture etc. have on thriving "cool" cities like the ones you've mentioned. Places like New Orleans and Seattle got that way because there was enough diversity to support it, and enough small venues to showcase the local scene(s). That's where places like the Tune Inn came in, and the role Toad's still plays in town. I've no problem with some local acts being on the stage as openers, I do firmly believe (and agree with )that the point and intent of the summer concert series is to draw in outsiders to get them to spend their money and see how nice it is in New Haven. This serves to support all of us who live here and helps to maintain a positive perception of the city. I understand where local musicians are miffed that city government isn't paying them attention, but it's not government's role to get local musicians record contracts, it's to keep the city safe, and make it a better place to live, and Market New Haven is doing that by bringing in some big acts and therefore bringing in lots of people.

Oh, and forget all you naysayers, Kenny Rogers is great.

Posted by: nfjanette | June 5, 2006 1:14 PM

"The green is positively packed with people when a national act comes to town. These concerts bring thousands upon thousands of people in New Haven allowing them to discover what the city has to offer."

They discover that it's hard to find parking downtown, and that's about it. Out of towners are generally cautious about exploring downtown New Haven due to perceptions of violent crime; I recall the parents of a shoreline school my children attended up in arms because they didn't want their kids to go on an "sister school exchange" visit to a New Haven school. I went on that visit, BTW, and the school (Hill Central) was very welcoming; of course, its setting in the crime-ridden Hill section somewhat validated the concerns of those shoreline parents.

I've been attending these (generally) great events since the early Brian Alden and Taste New Haven days and over the course of that time I've rarely heard local business owners rave about increased sales from out of town customers. I would love to see numbers that show the total cost involved - including all city services and policing - are offset by local business revenue.

Until then, I'll treasure these festivals for what they really accomplish, which is to be one of the few types of events that brings the various ethnic groups in New Haven peacefully together to enjoy some good music and good vibes.

Posted by: Allen Lowe | June 6, 2006 8:35 AM

"Small time jazz" - Max Roach is small time jazz? We had Tony Williams, Max Roach, James Moody, Doc Cheatham, Jaki Byard, and more back in the 1990s - and routinely drew 20,000-25,000 people per concert -plenty of people to spend money, support the local economy, etc, etc - Doc Cheatham worked with Bessie Smith - yes, very small time - you can have real music, real tradition, real culture and still have crowds - hey, if you want to draw MORE than that, how about public executions? Yeah, that's an idea -

Posted by: Christy | June 13, 2006 9:22 AM

Even if out-of-towners will eat Dominos pizza if it's free, that doesn't mean that's what we should offer to make a good impression of New Haven. Kenny Rogers = has-been = cheesy = no one, except a few creepy women who think he's sexy, likes him = people looking at New Haven thinking that no one here has any taste.

Is there any point at which New Haven residents are able to offer some input?