The World Jazz Network (WJN) held its first conference in 2020 when Jazz NL recognised the devastating impact the COVID pandemic was having on the music sector. Hosted online during the COVID-19 the WJN brought together festival organisers and leading musicians to consider ways to navigate the pandemic’s impacts. Notably the conference was launched by non-other than legendary trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.
Now the pandemic has subsided, but support for Jazz seems more challenging to get than before. On Friday 8 August 2023 a unique group of people came together in Amersfoort to meet and consider their common missions – the sustaining of Jazz Festivals around the world. From the rest of Europe and from as far as Perth, Johannesburg, and Hong Kong over 50 delegates of the World Jazz Network came together to meet, understand one another and find ways to cooperate.
The World Jazz Network (a network of jazz and world music festivals) was the brainchild of Amersfoort Jazz Festival’s director Alexander Beets and South African cultural activist Andre Le Roux of IKS Cultural Consulting. Seeing the untapped potential of global jazz and world music and their capacity to bring people of different backgrounds together in unbounded creativity, they worked together to grow the collective efforts of Festivals around the world. Alexander was grateful to Foundation JazzNL who were the backbone of the World Jazz Festival’s ongoing momentum.
‘The objective is to build a network based on mutual respect and reciprocity,’ said Beets when he opened the conference. ‘This is not about speed dating. We are here to develop long term relationships.’ From the energy and enthusiasm in the room it was clear the other festival organisers agreed with him.
📋 Ingredients:
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At least 60 festival organisers from around the world
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A pound of fairness
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A pound of diversity
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An ounce of collaboration
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A pinch of common interest
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A shared belief between all the organizers that, by working together, they can play an important role in the preservation and development of talent and music on a global scale
🧭 Follow the following steps:
- Identify the festival organisers into those who only represent their self-interest or that of their artists and, while be careful of breaking eggshells, sift them out of the selection.
- Using the remaining festival organisers, those who are willing to work in a spirit of reciprocity; recognise the value of relationships; are open to opportunities; and have the common goal of promoting Jazz, bring together the other ingredients in the goals of the network and mix carefully, gradually adding collaboration, common interests, fairness, and diversity to taste.
- Allow to simmer over a couple of days filled with musical experiences where common interests and flavours can mix and mature
- Separate the festival organisers into those who only represent their self-interest or that of their artists and put them aside.
🎉 How did it turn out?
- Over 50 delegates from around the world gathered in Amersfoort for the World Jazz Network conference.
- The World Jazz Network was founded in 2020 in response to the devastating impact of the COVID pandemic on the music sector.
- The network aims to build connections and cooperation among festival organizers and musicians in the jazz industry.
- The conference was launched by legendary trumpeter Winton Marsalis.
- Building international careers and encouraging global talent development are key goals of the network.
- Delegates from different backgrounds and regions came together to explore opportunities to sustain jazz festivals and promote jazz worldwide.)
World Jazz Conference Delegates 2023. Image by Cees Wouda.
😋Anecdotes to flavor the main course:
Beets told his story of how he and his brothers grew from humble beginnings in their youth to becoming local music heroes and then regional music heroes. Breaking through to international markets was their greatest challenge, as people did not communicate across borders. He said these challenges remain today. ‘The dream of music fame is not true. When you start playing and your grandmother says it’s great, you even get recognition in local concerts and newspapers, and this encourages you to go to the music school and get into the conservatory. There they tell you to do your own thing, develop your own signature. You apply for funding, record your work. Maybe you find a label and they release your album. And then you wait… and wait. How do we get delegates from distant spaces to build international careers?’ he asked.
In answer Beets told the network they were there ‘to find ways to encourage international mobility, global talent development, transparency, reciprocity in the Jazz industry.’ The delegates nodded in tacet agreement, understanding their pivotal role in opening up opportunities for Jazz musicians to access the international Jazz scene. Following Beets’s introduction delegates each had the opportunity to introduce themselves and their role in the Jazz Festival sector.
Confirming the challenges of preparing Jazz Festivals delegates at the conference noted:
Alexander Beets, World Jazz Network
‘Jazz struggles to be sustained by just ticket sales alone’ Fabio Lannino (Sicily)
‘We all have a responsibility to build our connections, be a family and get to live a little bit longer’ Elister van der Moolen (Netherlands)
‘Cooperations across the industry to support artists are vital.’ Peter Vasarhelyi (Hungary)
‘The music industry suffers from a lack of music journalists and access to international media.’ Kung Chi Shing (Hong Kong)
Andre Le Roux, IKS Cultural Consulting
‘We mustn’t neglect the value of small venues in the music industry. They provide the spaces for future festival performers to present their work.’ Andre Le Roux (South Africa) and Paul Pace (UK)
‘We need to open the breach between continents.’ Mariam Makharadze (Georgia)
‘Networking comes hard. At showcases musicians get to ‘speed date’ with potential clients, but often have to pay to get opportunities.’ Alexander Beets (WJN)
