There is a new article on Ken Vandermark posted on All About Jazz today.
I really dig Ken Vandermark’s work. I like the way he surrounds himself with great musicians, and then constantly works the music so it can develop.
“It’s all been motivated by the fact that I really, really love to play the concerts and want to play as often as I can, A) because I enjoy it – actually, that’s the main thing, is that I just love doing it and B) It’s necessary to developing the music I want to play.”
I also like the fact that he is interested in figuring out a way to make creative music economically sustainable. I think he is still searching for answers on this front, but it is definitely valuable research.
Continuing to work as he’s done before means continuing to learn how to “have the work sustain itself through concert attendance or record sales or whatever it is that’s connected directly to the music… how to get the music to succeed economically on its own terms.” Early experience began with hanging posters in clubs. He then discovered, in a pre-Internet world, the power of mailing lists. Now that he is more established, he can concentrate on the traditional currency of the jazz musician: making recordings and getting people to come to performances as he feels that “the music itself explains itself when it’s seen live. The problem is getting people into the room.”