Nickell’s Bag

Pretty much since Bruce Anderson started putting on live jazz concerts at his home on Daly Avenue, I’ve wondered how he did it. I even did a story for the newspaper, which I’ll admit was inspired in part by my personal curiosity about the economics of the productions — where Anderson not only serves up world-class jazz music, but also fantastic gourmet dinners, all for a requested donation of just $25 per person. I was one of those who left his house quietly assuming he had some kind of trust fund or benevolent patron to back the whole thing up.

Turns out, I was wrong. And now, Anderson has come clean: He can’t afford to keep shelling out the hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars a month that it takes to produce these events.

If you’ve never attended Daly Jazz, you’re missing something remarkable. Hopefully this won’t be one of those things that people three or four years from now look back upon mournfully, wondering why they let it die.

So I guess this post is my own unambiguous endorsement: Help the guy out, if you have any interest in live jazz music (and note that he’s also trying to bring classical music into the mix as well).

Here’s Anderson’s letter that he sent out to Daly Jazz patrons last week, republished with his permission.

Hi Folks-
It’s been an unmitigated pleasure to present over a year and a half remarkable jazz performances for you all!  Who knew DalyJazz would become so robustly popular, attracting the best jazz musicians in the world within 12 months?  Certainly not me!  DalyJazz has exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds.  The continuously-growing, active and appreciative group of listeners (i.e. you) have made those 27 nights of music possible in only one year.  As Joe Locke said in a KUFM interview with Jon Floridis recently: “the last six performers you’ve hosted would be a major jazz festival in Europe!”  And in fact, this is true.

Every one of the musicians is continuously amazed and delighted with your enthusiasm, and they have all asked to return.  Another wonderful gesture is that many performers have taken the time to do masterclasses with students at the University and Hellgate High School – even volunteering to work individually with some students after school for free – as well as teach private lessons.  It’s been great to coordinate that!

In the end, the main challenge for every quickly growing venture is how to finance a rampaging success.  DalyJazz – with both feet planted firmly in reality and cashflow- is no different.

As most of you fully appreciate, the cost of presenting performances substantially surpasses the $25 donation.  Interestingly, musicians fees are remarkably affordable.  Players have come for a fraction of their customary amounts, even with the added effort of two days of travel to visit Montana.  Food and the rest amount to a relatively minor sum.  The lion’s share of expense – and the one especially tricky to scrimp on – is airfare to bring the musicians to Missoula.  Business-style lodging (which the musicians generally prefer and greatly appreciate) come in second for costs.  So airfare and hotels for musicians are the bigger pieces of the pie chart that we hopefully can support together.  If not, well – to be abruptly candid – it will be difficult to enjoy jazz musicians from beyond Montana.

I’m the delighted and relentless sponsor of this grand experiment.  Several kind benefactors have helped with the expense for the last 8 performances.  It’s largely because of these few that you have had the opportunity to hear the FLY Trio, Scotty Wright, Geoffrey Keezer and Joe Locke, and Dena DeRose/Eddie Marshall/Craig Hall over the past few weeks.  You’ll know exactly who these individuals are, because they will be the person sitting next to you one evening.  Please thank them profusely at every opportunity you get.

I’ve had wide-ranging discussions with many of our community’s finest to explore long-term options ranging from sponsorships, fundraisers and non-profit options to grass roots bake sales and in-kind services.  If you have a jet and a pilot available, feel free to contact me immediately!  We should talk!  Of course substantially raising the donation is one way to approach this, but one of my hopes is to keep DalyJazz an accessible and affordable event for each of you, and especially the students.  In an uncertain economy where $25 seems (and is) harder to come by, keeping things affordable seems particularly important.  This of course is also a tough year for non-profits in general.  In February alone there were benefits for 4 organizations I support.  John Meyers kept me company during the KUFM findraiser driving home at 11 pm from a Conservation District meeting in Hamilton the other night, and I enjoyed hearing old friends make pledges.  I’m uncertain how our fledgling DalyJazz will fare.  Hopefully OK, if not thrive?  This will be up to you.

One of the heartening things about DalyJazz is the low overhead.  There isn’t any.  Nada.  Every penny pays musicians’ fees and direct expenses needed to bring them to DalyJazz.  I’m happy to cook, clean, and host for free.  I intend to keep the overhead low…and believe me, I’m especially motivated since I’ve been writing the checks   For the time being, I’ll pass on management, board meetings, administration, software, and reams of paper.  I’m interested in great music, and great company to enjoy it along with me.

So with that lengthy preamble, it’s time to unhook the training wheels from DalyJazz.  I’m asking each of you to participate in one of the most efficient and cost-effective fundraisers ever: an email list.  Each of you are on it; nearly all of you have enjoyed one and probably many performances since 2008.  If you would like to see DalyJazz continue through 2010 and feature world-class performers, I’m more than happy to do it.  This is your chance to let me know.  By which I mean, send me a check at 240 Daly Ave, 59801.  You can make your contribution for an amount that reflects your personal interest and ability to support DalyJazz.

I believe there are now enough of you to make DalyJazz sustainable….assuming that many of you actively choose to contribute.  I’m hoping I’m correct about this.  If I’m not, we’ll all find out pretty quickly!  Either we have the collective ability to make this work, or we don’t.

I’d also like to extend my thanks to many of you who have offered in-kind services, brought cakes, cookies, and drinks over the last year.  That’s been great, too!  Following is a letter volunteered by DalyJazz supporters Bob and Ellen Knight.

Cheers-
Bruce

—————-

Dear Fellow Jazz Enthusiast:

Bruce shared “Rolling Without Training Wheels at Daly Jazz” with Ellen and myself prior to its general dissemination.  We asked him not to change a word.  It is a beautiful, candid, heartfelt, poignant assessment of what Bruce has tried to accomplish by creating Daly Jazz.  We would encourage you to hit “print.”  And we ask that you sit down somewhere quiet over the next few days to truly reflect upon the contents of Bruce’s wonderful letter.

This is a very difficult letter for Bruce to share with the Daly Jazz crowd. Many have asked over the last few weeks (or in some cases many months) “just how is he able to pull this off”.  Most have undoubtedly speculated how a fellow with a demanding,  more than full time day job, in a totally unrelated professional field, a small son, other substantial community/charitable interests/commitments and a large home to maintain, manages to handle Daly Jazz as a side-line. And what a side-line!—from attracting and booking top level talent, to arranging all of their travel and lodging needs (including personal airport pickup), master class presentations at the U of M and Hellgate High School, sound checks and constant system upgrades, creating performance announcements and responding to reservation requests,  topped off by grocery shopping, gourmet meal and beverage preparation for 60+ per night, house cleaning, and dish washing.  And what finally emerges every time is a vibrant and knowledgeable host, who introduces and presents intimate, small venue jazz performances of a quality and character that simply cannot be replicated anywhere in the United States!

At a minimum, incredible personal strength and endurance (mental and physical) have been required to do everything Bruce has accomplished.  That is obvious and goes without saying.  But the other element of “just how is he able to pull this off” hasn’t been so obvious.  Many have speculated that Bruce “must be financially independent” or that he has a “wealthy benefactor”.  How else can he afford to put on these incredible programs for a suggested $25 donation?

Well, the resident Daly Ave cat is now really out of the bag! Bruce isn’t independently wealthy, nor does he have a “wealthy benefactor”. All of our $25 donations have gone to the artists—most of whom are still working for substantially reduced fees.  And Bruce, despite some assistance from a few, has ended up personally subsidizing all remaining costs to the tune of $1000-$1250 per month. And those costs don’t include one cent for his time, trouble or the use of his home!

We are frankly at a critical threshold.  We have all been the direct beneficiary of a truly gifted jazz impresario, who has generously shared the product of his visionary talents with an appreciative jazz community. But, before reading on, please take a few moments to reflect upon the offerings of last year, the incredible talent and energy you witnessed  each evenings, the intense personal pleasure you experienced, the smile it put on your face and the thought that crossed your mind that “this is simply wonderful and I want more”  And, at the same time, think seriously about the real cost of a quality night out in Missoula with dinner and live entertainment or what it would take to see Geoff Keezer/Joe Locke or Dena Derose and Eddie Marshall in Helena or Spokane, let alone in their normal venues of New York City or San Francisco.

Now for the hard part!  As a matter of fundamental fairness and financial reality, the financial burden of Daly Jazz simply cannot continue to rest on one man’s shoulders.

So, how do we go about delivering a minimum of $12,000, and more appropriately $15,000 to Bruce annually to continue to enjoy the same level of extraordinary live jazz to which we have become accustomed?

Candidly, it is absolutely essential if there is any hope to raise this kind of money that a significant number of individuals or couples, who have the means, step up to the plate to make non-tax deductible unrestricted gifts in at least the $500-$1000 range.  We have always believed that we should never ask anyone to do something that we aren’t personally willing to do, so we have already started that ball rolling with our gifts to Bruce last September and in early January. We sincerely hope that others will soon follow suit.

There are a number of other important options, including monthly, quarterly or annual gifts of lesser amounts.  And, we know that some individuals have already implemented an extra voluntary payment for every event, which works well as long as the extra amount is clearly segregated for Bruce’s use.

Other gifts can be very important.  Unused airline miles or reward points certainly could help with Bruce’s travel needs, but it our experience is reflective of the norm, those donated miles should come with a time commitment on someone’s part to help arrange the effective use of them.  And Bruce can always use gifts of quality food and/or drink as long as this remains a part of his offering.

The bottom line is that Bruce needs to receive your personal response to his letter.  He needs to know with certainty how much money or other resources he will have available to him. This means that it is imperative that each of us decide what we are capable of and willing to do; commit to do it; and unequivocally deliver! This requires getting out the check book and/or signing and delivering to Bruce your personally created pledge card letting him know what he can count on you to do.

We know that this level of giving may be difficult or impossible for some individuals, particularly those who are retired, who live on fixed incomes or who may have other constraints on their monthly budgets. Bruce’s goal has always been to keep Daly Jazz affordable for all who desire to attend and to extend that opportunity to students. We applaud and respect that goal. And, it we all make a concerted effort to do our legitimate part, there is absolutely no reason these admirable objectives should fall by the wayside!  No one wants or intends that consequence and everyone will remain welcome.

At this point, the absence of Daly Jazz, in the mode and manner in which it has been created by Bruce would leave a huge void in our lives.  We are confident that many others share that same attitude and feeling.  We intend to do everything reasonably within our power to help Bruce achieve his dream of making Daly Jazz thrive as an integral part of our wonderful community.  We believe others share the same enthusiasm and willingness to make this happen through the most generous gifts they are capable of making.

Finally, our deepest thanks and appreciation to Bruce for the incredible person that he is and for bringing extraordinary jazz performances to Missoula.  We feel so fortunate.

Best personal regards,

Bob and Ellen Knight

PS:  We also asked Bruce not to change our letter.  Asking for help, particularly financial help, is really hard.  So if anyone is upset by the content or tone of this letter, please blame us, not Bruce.  He didn’t write one word.

Also, Bruce is right when he says that he wants to pass on “management, board meetings, administration and reams of paper”. I told Bruce in September that trying to make this a charitable endeavor and/or to operate with a Board of Directors was an unwarranted and unnecessary encumbrance upon his time and talent.  This has been his program and he should run it as he sees fit.  Besides who can do it better?!! Each of us should be totally satisfied to let him do his thing and to rejoice in the fact that he shares. Bob

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