| MOORE: | James Moore, owner of Jasman Record Company which is a music publishing company in Oakland. I am also associated with Dr. Ortiz Walton who heads a nonprofit organization, multiethnic institute for research in education and is the author of Music, Black, White, and Blue. In 1977, Dr. Walton put together a proposal for a museum and musical conservatory. At that time Dr. Walton conducted research and found that there was only one small room in New Orleans that had been dedicated to Louis Armstrong. We took the proposal to the Speaker of the Assembly Willie l. Brown, Jr. and were referred to the California Arts Commission where we attempted to apply for a grant. Somehow we didn't have the right information and were not able to get these funds. I have given copies of this proposal to Carmen McRae, Freddie Hubbard, and Billie Eckstine who are all interested. As a matter of fact, they would like to become board members once we get it started. The whole project became such a difficult task that Dr. Walton moved back to New York where, as Mr. Collette said, "things were happening", and kind of gave up on the idea. However, since then there seems to be some interest in the Bay Area, particularly in Oakland. We might apply again. Everything has been said by the other panelists and there have been some good things said. The only thing I would differ with is that I believe the blues is the mother of all American popular music and everything comes from the blues. I think one of the reasons we have a problem with both the blues and jazz is because of culture identity. When I managed Big Mama Thornton and Willie Mae Thorton, we toured Europe with John Lee Hooker and Buddy Guy and interviewed some of the Europeans. I asked them why the blues seemed to be appreciated more in Europe than in America. At the time Americans were chasing the Beetles, Europeans were chasing Big Mama Thornton anb John Lee Hooker. From these interviews I came away believing racism, unique to this country, plays a big part in it. Around that same time in the East Bay, there were ten nightclubs where musicians could play without traveling across the Bay or to San Jose. These clubs were all black and black owned. Musicians were able to support themselves and their families by playing these clubs. Sometimes a musician would play the Sportman's Club one week, and Sugarhill the next week. Today, its different. The entrepreneurs who control the music industry are not musicians, but they control the type of music presented to the public. I brought a tape that will probably tell the story better than I can. In it is a gentleman that just passed away, Mr. Bob Gettings, who is better known in Europe than he is here. Mr. Gettings is responsible for bringing the blues to the west coast. He's written many, many hits that have been recorded by the Beetles, the Rolling Stones, and lots of other rock groups. He's recorded over 200 tunes and owned the first black-owned record company in the East Bay. As a matter of fact, much of what I've learned about-recording in the studio, I learned from him. |
| MURRAY: | We don't have anyone here today representing any of the societies. From my reading, apparently they are playing a significant role in preserving jazz. Dr. Coffey (Dr. William Coffey, president and founder, International Association of Jazz Appreciation, Los Angeles) who heads one of those societies planned to be here but he had to cancel. |
| MOORE: | Those are the kinds of things we ought to be doing with blues and jazz. (He's referring to the idea of making video tapes of the artists.) I think somehow we have to get people involved who control marketing, who handle the money, who make the deals, and who really care about the music. Most of the ones I've met care nothing about the art; they are only interested in the money. |
| MURRAY: | You produce the records and distribute them? |
| MOORE: | Yes. I do both. |
| MURRAY: | Well, we've got somebody. You. |
| MOORE: | But I'm not big enough. They buy me out. This is what Mr. Gettings was talking about. He had up to 13 labels because each time he produced a record, the big companies would take it and the label. So he would set up another company, produce a tune, and they would take that and so on. Pretty soon you become broke. Basically, the big companies sit and wait for you to produce a hit and then they offer you less than a third of its worth. The other thing that the record companies do is deliberately change markets, change styles, and bring in new types of music since it creates a batch of new money. |
| MURRAY: | How is classical or opera produced and distributed? It's not as commercially viable as the more popular forms of music. |
| MOORE: | It's probably done the same way, but I think it's viable because it's subsidized; blues and jazz aren't. In every large city, every year, there's some kind of function to support the symphony. Every year. |