Episode 50: Brice Rosenbloom

Speaking of the Arts

Hello everyone and welcome to Speaking of the Arts. I hope you are staying safe and healthy right now as we enter the second half of April 2020. This is a tough time to be in the arts and there is a lot of uncertainty as to when live music will be allowed to function again. I hope to offer something of value for all of the musicians and presenters listening who are wondering what opportunities may be available to them right now. My guest is Brice Rosenbloom, whom many of you may know from his work as producer and founder of the annual Winter Jazzfest in NYC. Brice has just launched what he is calling the Jazz Coalition Commission Fund (http://www.jazzcoalition.org/). Here is the official description: A collective of industry professionals, musicians, and supporters, the Jazz Coalition identifies global needs affecting the jazz and improvised music community, and strategizes response solutions and opportunities. In this immediate reality of live performance hiatus there is a need to keep artists in our jazz community active and compensated to create new work. United behind the goal to support deserving artists and boost overall morale, we are launching the Jazz Coalition Commission Fund. With an initial silent funding goal of $40K - $50K, deserving recipients will receive $1,000 micro-grants through a nomination and jury process among coalition members. The funding pool will have a secondary stage with a public GoFundMe campaign and additional outreach to grow the fund and increase the number of overall recipients. Recipients will live-stream their works-in-progress and will eventually premiere their music at partner venues when public assembly is safe and possible again. Coalition members support the Commission financially by contributing to the fund directly and/or by attracting new donors. Coalition members will participate in the nomination and juried selection process of recipients. Presenter coalition members will offer recipients opportunities to premiere the new works at their venues. My conversation with Brice goes in depth into the fund and you will learn more about it including how to participate or apply for a grant. Presenting an eclectic mix of concerts and festivals for over twenty years in New York City, Brice Rosenbloom is proud to utilize his extensive booking experience and resources towards live music projects that align with messages of progress and social justice. For over a decade Brice led the programming team as Senior Music Director at the West Village music venue Le Poisson Rouge (LPR) where he presented the likes of Andrew Bird, Anthony Braxton, Beck, Brad Mehldau, David Byrne, Erykah Badu, Esperanza Spalding, Flying Lotus, Four Tet, John Zorn, Kamasi Washington, Little Dragon, Lou Reed, Meshell Ndegeocello, Mos Def, Mumford & Sons, Nils Frahm, Norah Jones, Rufus Wainwright, St. Vincent, Tegan and Sara and many more. Prior to LPR, Rosenbloom launched and is currently running the NYC Winter Jazzfest. Now in its 16th year, it is praised by the NY Times as “the city’s most renowned jazz festival”. From its early years at the Knitting Factory in Tribeca, Winter Jazzfest has grown into a 10-day, multi venue, citywide festival that featured over 700 musicians, 170 groups, and welcomed more than 18,000 attendees in January 2020. Recognized for its three-fold mission of supporting new artists, continually expanding audiences, and amplifying messages of social justice, Winter Jazzfest redeems jazz as a musical beacon towards progress both on stage and off. Brice's early programming aesthetic was developed while working at Jazz at Lincoln Center, 92nd Street Y, The Knitting Factory, Central Park SummerStage, and at MAKOR, where he presented a residency featuring Norah Jones just before her Grammy takeover. In 2016, Rosenbloom received the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award for extraordinary leadership and vision in expanding the audience for jazz.