BMG 27th Anniversary

BMG'S 27th ANNIVERSARY UPDATE

ROLAND SHARES HIS THOUGHTS

Friends & supporters of the Brevard Music Group & Regalitos Foundation:

While I write this email, I am sitting back in my original, small office at 1290 Highway A1A in Satellite Beach. Yes, Covid-19 has control of the industry I have been in for 27 years, wreaking havoc on my concerts and events, on my business plans, on my employees, on my friends and loved ones. You would think I would be worried, concerned that my business income has dwindled to virtually nothing. Instead, I write this 27th Anniversary email looking at a deep blue ocean just on the other side of A1A where my office is located, knowing that those around me are healthy and safe. Over the last 61 years I’ve been through many personal ordeals, and I’ve learned that for all the difficult and challenging times, opportunities and successes have not been far behind. For BMG, Regalitos, and myself, this pandemic is no different.

The past year was full of extreme highs, some lows, and reaffirmation that some people are not to be trusted. I met amazing guests and supporters. We made wonderful musical memories, and the striking dead, dark silence of Covid-19 encompassed every venue I know and silenced, for a little while, the music I love. 

CHANGES IN THE HORIZON

The King Center

During the past year, my relationship with the King Center continued to blossom, and it showed – Boney James, Pablo Cruise, Craig Chaquico, Mark Antoine, Alex Bugnon, Acoustic Alchemy, and Dave Koz and Friends blessed us with the magic of their music last year. In early 2020, the King Center and BMG collaborated on more concerts, including Anna Popovic, Tusk – A Fleetwood Mac Tribute, The Machine Plays Pink Floyd, and my favorite: the Battle of the Big Bands, with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra battling it out on one stage, performing all their amazing hits! We had more shows coming - Lao Tizer, Eric Marienthal, Chieli Minucci, Mindi Abair, Steve Oliver, Nils, Tim Bowman, Firefall, and POCO, to mention a few.

Like a dark storm, Covid-19 took over our lives, and jailed the essence of my business – we the people and artists who have a passion for live music.

The King Center management, artists’ agents, managers, and I struggled to postpone, to move around, to reschedule, and ultimately to cancel some of the twelve BMG dates at the King Center. Some of those dates had yet to be announced. 

On top of the havoc Covid-19 continues to create, the King Center has been dealing with an even more severe blow – the departure of Executive Director, Steve Janicki. Steve has been the heart and soul of the King Center since before the building was constructed. He had his hand in the design of the building, the construction and opening, the management and booking, and he and his staff have been the heart and lifeblood of the King Center until Thursday, May 28, when Steve worked his last day. Steve and I started working together in the summer of 1994. We co-presented our first concert on October 15, 1994. We have become friends and colleagues. We’ve shared ups and downs and many successes for almost 26 years.

Steve retired May 28 of this year. Covid-19 took a toll on his last few weeks at the King Center. I imagined a huge retirement party for Steve with his staff, board members, and co-presenters like myself and others cheering him on toward his new life as a retired executive director. Instead, my good friend and mentor had to deal with the nightmares of Covid-19 and with a board of directors that in my opinion, sat on its hands quite a while before making a decision on whom should replace Steve Janicki. 

It is now public knowledge that the King Center Board of Directors decided not to replace Steve Janicki with another independent minded, well rounded executive director. Rather, they are about to turn the building over to a national management company that is owned by an international concert promoting company. Think about that for a moment – Brevard's most respected non-profit concert and broadway theater venue will be managed by a national for-profit corporation owned by a for-profit international concert promoting company.

Will the King Center's mission, "To improve the quality of life for all residents of Brevard County through cultural, educational, recreational and community arts programs, by providing access to high quality, challenging and diverse touring and local performing arts events." be at the forefront of the new management company's objectives? Will they support Brevard County's diverse culture - Latinos, African Americans, retired Americans, etc? Where will this new relationship leave mom and pop presenters like Brevard Music Group? Will independent promoters presenting concerts at the King Center go the way of independently owned radio stations and record/music stores? The next few months will clearly offer the answers to those questions.  

THE PARTNERSHIP COMES TO AN END

The Florida Smooth Jazz Weekend

In March of this year the Brevard Music Group and I walked away from The Florida Smooth Jazz Weekend event in Daytona Beach. 

Many are asking me why exactly did I “separate” from the Florida Smooth Jazz Weekend and stop working with Cathy and Mark Powers and the Florida Smooth Jazz Foundation? 

The most important and very telling reason is quite simple and a truth that no one can deny, hide, or change – a few weeks after the end of the November 2019 Florida Smooth Jazz Weekend I hired an attorney to investigate the Florida Smooth Jazz Foundation. That investigation yielded the one fact that would end my ten year relationship with the Powers and their foundations – in January 2017, without my knowledge or consent, Cathy and Mark Powers incorporated the Florida Smooth Jazz Weekend as a Florida 501 c3 non-profit corporation with themselves and Cathy’s brother as officers, leaving me completely out of that corporation. By doing so without offering me a position in this non-profit corporation, I effectively became an employee or a contractor of the Florida Smooth Jazz Weekend, rather than the partner I was always led to believe I was. When I confronted Cathy Powers regarding this fact, she had nothing to say. The investigation also showed that Cathy Powers is also president of or associated with several others Florida non-profit corporations including The Florida Smooth Jazz Cruise, inc., Florida Jazz Festival, Inc., The Florida Smooth Jazz Festival, Inc., The Jazz Weekend, Inc., The Florida Jazz Weekend, inc., and The Florida Smooth Jazz Foundation, Inc. The investigation continues.

Although my office continued to process renewals and new sales in the months following this surprising discovery, the writing was on the wall. Through attorneys we tried to negotiate an amicable separation. After several weeks of negotiations, I realized what I cherish most about self-employment is the freedom it allows us to follow dreams, create concepts, and make them the reality that was the Florida Smooth Jazz Weekend. With the support of my close friends and my girlfriend I walked away from the event and its owners. I feel blessed I made that decision and for having the freedom to move the Smooth Jazz genre forward in an unselfish, positive way together with others that also share that vision.

To read more about Florida Smooth Jazz Weekend history while I was associated with that event, click here.

I’m not in the business of predicting the future. But I am a parent – to my son Justin and to the smooth jazz weekend concept I shared with Cathy Powers in 2014. Parents know well that once our children know who we are, surrogate parents will never replace us.

To read the original “cruise on land” document I created in 2003 that became the Florida Smooth Jazz Weekend, click here.

I began my business 27 years ago mainly because I wanted the freedom to follow my visions. It takes a village to raise a child; it takes many, many good people to shape a vision into a reality. But once selfishness, ego, and greed enter relationships, failure is bound to follow. 

BEHIND THE DARK CLOUDS

Looking Forward

As I look forward to my 27th year promoting concerts and events, I see distinct shifts for BMG. Its independent spirit will once again be at the forefront of my company’s future. The departure from the Jazz Weekend event and the changes at the King Center may seem like more dark clouds crossing my company’s horizons; yet, my vision is much different. Although uncertainty due to the world pandemic continues to wreak havoc on our personal and business lives, I also see new and fresh opportunities ahead. As I get a bit older, I sense BMG will do less of the concert-after-concert routine, and more special events like our Emerging Artists Series and Intimate Smooth Jazz Getaways. I also envision my company's involvement in other businesses unrelated to concert promotions. I envision Regalitos Foundation becoming a stronger non-profit and helping the less fortunate in our community while bringing new, exciting artists to Brevard’s venues. 

In life there is no turning back. We live with the choices we make and the consequences those choices come with. My savior has always been the knowledge that when we as individuals live our lives with honest, kind, considerate, empathetic, and positive intentions, life returns the favor. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has forever changed our lives and the businesses around us. What will never change is my gratitude to you for supporting Record Hut for 11 years and BJS/BMG for another 27 years. I am committed to staying an independent small business and to keeping live national entertainment coming to Brevard County! My hope is that you continue to support that vision.

I send my deepest gratitude, appreciation, and thankfulness to each of you. No matter what the next year brings I will always be indebted to you for your support these last 27 years.

Many blessings,

Roland