NEW YORK, July 12, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Its lilts and grooves can feel like
nostalgic rhythms from a bygone era, but jazz remains a thriving contemporary
art form — and its proponents still flock to New York hoping to catch a
break.
Despite a booming rents that have left few affordable bases for struggling
artists of all stripes, jazz musicians tend to consider the American cultural
metropolis the premier petri dish for cultivating their craft.
“There’s a long history,” said Clovis Nicolas, a bassist who grew up near
Marseille and has called New York home for 16 years.
After a few visits in his late 20s he decided to move there from Paris.
“I was getting so much information and inspiration from the music scene
that it would make me play better,” he recalled.
“The standards are pretty high. It’s a place where all the best musicians
from the US and the world come to meet,” the 46-year-old told AFP at a diner
a few neighborhoods south of his home in Harlem.
Jazz pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, like Nicolas, took part in the recent France
Rocks concert series highlighting the strong presence of French musicians
stateside.
The sheer number of hopefuls vying to be the next Count Basie, Dizzy
Gillespie or Billie Holiday have helped maintain the city’s status as a jazz
capital, he says.
“There is a mythology to New York,” he said, adding that shortly after he
arrived in 1994 “all of the French musicians were coming here… it became a
little bit of a gimmick.”
– ‘Something sweet’ –
Pilc lived in New York nearly two decades, becoming an American citizen
before moving to Montreal in 2015 to teach his craft at McGill University.
“I think musicians need energy, and there is a particular type of energy in
this place,” Pilc, who recently played at New York’s historic Blue Note club
in Greenwich Village, said of his old stomping ground.
“You step in a club in New York and you’ll hear people playing bass and
drums in such a way — there is something sweet, idiomatic about it, that
sometimes is more difficult to find in Europe,” he said.
“That sense of time, that sense of sound: there’s a tradition here, like it
or not.”
So how does a city that is increasingly prohibitive for the young and
aspirational — New York is consistently in the top 10 of the world’s most
expensive municipalities — remain a center of musical iconoclasm?
Monthly rent for an average two-bedroom apartment in New York increased
from $1,938 in January 2011 to $2,831 eight years later, according to
industry data analysis from Rainmaker Insights.
“It’s a rough situation,” said Nicolas. “Some musicians manage to do
Broadway shows, some maybe have money in the family, some teach, some do a
lot of gigs. My choice was to do everything I could to do a lot of
performances.”
– Money worries –
The financial stress is exacerbated by the fact that the United States
offers very little aid to artists in contrast with France, where
comparatively generous government financial assistance includes payments and
benefits during periods of unemployment.
Vincent Peirani, a Paris-based jazz accordionist who often tours in New
York and also participated in the France Rocks festival, said the notion of
starting over stateside is daunting, especially considering the financial
hit.
“We have a lot of support in France… even if you play the accordion,” the
39-year-old laughed.
Peirani noted that the internet has opened avenues for discovering new
music and inspiration, a sort of digital scene that can connect musicians
from all over the world.
“You start out with one guy, and if you like this one, you can try this one
or that one,” he said. “You can spend all night and discover many new things.
It’s just amazing.”
But despite financial barriers New York still boasts more artists than
ever, topping 55,000, according to a 2017 study from the New York-based
Center for an Urban Future.
And more work is available thanks to a large network of musicians in New
York, Nicolas said, with veteran performers willing to lend a hand to
struggling up-and-comers and make the hustle possible.
“This city is a lot about survival and about business and being
professional. In France, it can be seen as a bad thing,” he said.
“But here, we all need to work. We don’t have help from the government.
When you really have a passion, you’ll figure it out.”