Catching Up with Roland's Notes - 28th Anniversary Newsletter
My friends:
Every June for the last several years I’ve taken extra time to write a special anniversary message to you – this is the 2021 version.
I have always known that you, those who purchase tickets and support our concerts and events, are the most important piece of the complex, and misunderstood world of producing and presenting concerts. This email, and the last 28 years of my career, is a tribute to you – the live music fan and ticket purchasers. Know I am grateful and give thanks daily for you.
2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic: Was it a dream? No…it was most definitely real. Shutting down 14 concerts within days was devastating. Having an event I created, and my staff and I nurtured, stolen from us certainly took its toll. Losing my assistant Amy and other staff members was heartbreaking. Having a 26-year relationship with Steve Janicki, the now retired Executive Director at the King Center, come to an end was sad and disheartening. Losing my hero, my mentor, my Dad is still painful.
I sat for many weeks during the last quarter of 2020 and first quarter of 2021 pondering. Asking myself if the time had finally come to retire from producing and presenting concerts and events. I came close to retiring the business. But one simple thought stopped me from closing my business – I am not done yet!
Our ever-changing industry, and BMG’s future:
What does “not done yet” mean? I have already achieved much more than I ever dreamed of. But how could I retire my business without paying the last 28 years forward? How could I say goodbye without doing my part to open new horizons and opportunities for the generation of artists and live music lovers that are knocking at our doors?
My future and my companies’ goals are exactly that – to offer opportunities and open doors that others in the industry are afraid to open, or maybe too selfish to do so.
This is such a crucial time to support those of us that are genuinely wanting to blaze trails for the future of live concerts, and future concert goers - especially with the Smooth Jazz genre. Please consider buying a pair of tickets to one or more of our concerts – maybe pick up another pair for a front line worker, or a young couple who has yet to experience live Smooth Jazz. Tell your Smooth Jazz family about our efforts. Share our emails, and give our new Stream a listen. When you support and share our concerts and events, you help us pay our 28 years of success forward.
A New Horizon At The King Center:
We all know nothing stays the same. That is the simple truth about the King Center. The Steve Janicki era has ended, we must be accepting of that fact and move forward.
After much discussion and negotiating with ASM Global, I am comfortable, for now, knowing that a national for-profit corporation is in control of the largest live music venue in Brevard County, and a non-profit entity.
What does all this mean and how does it directly effect Brevard’s live concert fans? The immediate effects are increased venue rental costs and additional fees for promoters like myself. It also means the ticketing agreement I had with the King Center for 26 years for BMG to sell as many tickets to our concerts as possible has now been revised. The new agreement allows BMG to sell a maximum of 50 tickets to each of our Smooth Jazz concerts only. The rest of the available tickets are sold directly via the King Center website or box office. Tickets to all other genres of music that BMG brings to the King Center will only be sold through the King Center box office.
Bottom line – these changes equate to increased expenses which ultimately means increased ticket prices. However, you have my word that ticket/entry prices for BMG produced concerts, at the King Center or other venues, will never increase unnecessarily.
Optimist is my middle name. I welcome our new relationship with ASM Global and the King Center, always reassessing along the way.
What can our friends and supporters expect in the coming years:
Our goal is simple and well defined. With your support we will continue what we began with Roland’s Intimate Smooth Jazz Getaway and our other concerts – to bring your favorite established Smooth Jazz artists, to open doors for talented and exciting emerging artists, and to pursue a new fan base for Smooth Jazz music!
Our non-profit, Regalitos Foundation, continues to assist the less fortunate in our community. This goal will never change. It is important and on-going work.
Although due to the pandemic we lost our strongest financial source – Regalitos Foundation presented concerts and events, that financial stream is slowly returning. Regalitos Foundation is committed to sharing the net proceeds from our Intimate Smooth Jazz Getaway in October to assist the American Nurses Foundation. More details on our efforts to help Covid-19 front line workers coming in the next few months.
We have a new commitment that compliments our Emerging Artists Series – The Smooth Jazz Stream!
Shannon West, the creator of The Stream defines her Smooth Jazz music stream in her own words:
First there was The Wave and The Breeze, now there's The Stream. Because in 2021 streaming is the best way to hear and discover music and it is becoming as easy to tune in to a streaming station as it is to turn on the radio. There is a difference though. Corporate radio stations and even satellite radio tend to stick with the safe and familiar. Indie streaming stations can be much more innovative and musically adventurous.
By the mid 90s a lot of excellent music was slashed from contemporary jazz radio playlists because it was "too exciting," or "not relaxing." Songs didn't make the cut if they were longer than 4 1/2 minutes, had a solo, were up-tempo, or had "brash guitars" or "screaming sax" - all the things that made contemporary jazz a fresh, exciting genre in the first place.
It's time to shift from that fear of music approach back to the joy of sharing, discovering, and enjoying it. There are a lot of rising stars - artists you may not have heard about yet who are just starting to break through. You will hear them here. Plus, real contemporary jazz vocalists, a little chill, some world music and classic tracks from the last four decades, including the ones that are too long, too fast, too exciting and too good to miss. Their blacklist is our playlist.
It's the New Sound of Smooth Jazz on the new way to listen - The Stream.
The Smooth Jazz Stream audio is commercial free. Plans for the Stream to be more listener interactive are in the works as I write this email. Tune in to The Smooth Jazz Stream by logging on to jazzseries.com, BrevardMusicGroup.com or SmoothJazzGetaway.com.
To listen while enjoying the rest of our newsletter, click here! By simply listening to The Stream you help us move this exciting new project forward. Make sure to tell your Smooth Jazz family to listen to The Stream as well - The New sound of Smooth Jazz!
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to any of our non-profit projects, including our Smooth Jazz Stream. Click here to visit the Regalitos Foundation website and donate. One hundred percent of all donations go to the projects of your choice.
At almost 63 years of age, and having spent the last 44 years in the music industry, I know my years in this business are numbered. I also understand first-hand how important music is in our lives and for our well-being. On my 28th anniversary I am making you a promise – support our efforts by purchasing tickets to our concerts and events. Tell your musical family and friends about our efforts. Make a small tax deductible donation to our causes, and I promise you that together we will continue to bring classic artists you love, and new artists you will fall in love with. We will open the doors wide for the next generation of artists and fans and continue to blaze new trails!
I thank each one of you for your friendship, support and gifting me a blessed life.
With much gratitude,