Modal Money

The economy stinks.

It's a fact. Still, I get tired of hearing prominent members of the jazz community use today's weak economy as an excuse for flagging support. It's not necessarily true.

I see quite a bit of live music. So do thousands of other people in the Kansas City area. Here's a recap of my last four nights out.

Last night I stood amid 8,000 people for Incubus' rock show at City Market. Tickets were $35. I witnessed a standing-room-only performance by a couple of Kansas City-based roots-rock acts Saturday afternoon at The Record Bar. About 125 people paid $6 each to attend. On Friday afternoon, approximately 600 people saw reggae artist Matisyahu perform at Crossroads. Tickets were $35. The previous day I caught Chris Isaak at the VooDoo. He hasn't had a hit in over a decade, but close to a 1,000 people paid $70 to sit or $55 to stand at his vintage rock show.

That's a lot of discretionary income being spent on four distinct flavors of music. And that's just my experience in 96 hours.

Here's an another example that hits close to home. Parking has been at a premium at a certain jazz club since a new upscale bar and restaurant opened up the block. I continually marvel at the throngs of people cavorting on the outdoor deck.

I wish I knew where all this money was coming from (and I wish more of it was mine.) It's deeply troubling, of course, that more of these funds aren't being spent on jazz.

(Original image of a Friday afternoon reggae performance by Plastic Sax.)