Ok, so here we go: just each and every media in France, including the major ones, talk about it: Prince and partners (his tour manager for the French concerts this summer and the director of the Because label who released the French version of Lotusflow3r last year) are officially candidates to become the new managers of Nice Jazz Festival. The practice is common in France: the local government wants to have a cultural event and are willing to pay for it but they don't want to manage it so they publicizely offer the project and various people and companies offer their services and fill forms and write down what they think they can do with the event, and the city/region's people decide who has the best profile to do it and they sign a "bail" for a few years with said company. When the bail ends, they decide to renew it or to offer it to the public market again if they're not satisfied with past results (which is the case here).

At this point the festival's management IS an open market again, and Prince IS officially a candidate and that's a FACT.

Now ,what we still DON'T know is WHAT Prince and his associates offered to be elected (in terms of what "their" festival would be, artistically and economically) and IF they'll be chosen or not by local authorities.

From an article : Christian Estrois, maire de Nice et ministre de l'industrie, salue, lui, une "candidature de qualité" (Christian Estrois, Mayor of Nice and French Minister of Industry, acknowledges that this is a "quality application".)

http://www.nicematin.com/...azz-a-nice

http://www.musiquemag.com...e-3065.htm
http://www.lepost.fr/arti...-nice.html
http://www.europe1.fr/Mus...view=print
http://www.news-de-stars....35809.html
http://www.lexpress.fr/cu...08659.html
http://www.infoconcert.co...-4062.html
http://mediterranee.franc...24579.html
http://www.starwizz.com/p...jazz-67221
http://www.97ruedurock.co...tival-968/
http://www.gala.fr/l_actu...val_206673
http://www.lalsace.fr/fr/...-Nice.html
http://www.jazzradio.fr/n...z-festival
http://www.actustar.com/A...z-festival
http://www.musicactu.com/...-festival/
http://www.leprogres.fr/f...tival.html
http://www.lepost.fr/arti...-nice.html
http://www.purepeople.com...e_a60619/1
http://teleobs.nouvelobs....z-festival
http://musique.portail.fr...-festival/

http://www.webtimemedias....267.fr.htm

http://www.lefigaro.fr/mu...itaine.php
http://www.voici.fr/potin...val-367257
http://www.allomusic.com/...z-festival

http://fr.news.yahoo.com/...967a9.html
http://www.leparisien.fr/...011620.php
http://www.france24.com/f...z-festival
http://www.lemonde.fr/cul..._3246.html
http://www.schkopi.com/fo...14185.html

And it goes on and on: http://www.google.fr/sear...0&sa=N

[Edited 8/9/10 6:44am]

How is Prince going to manage a jazz festival, when he can't even manage a website??

RealMusician said:

How is Prince going to manage a jazz festival, when he can't even manage a website??

He needs help.

RealMusician said:

How is Prince going to manage a jazz festival, when he can't even manage a website??

Excellent point my friend. His name alone is probably what got him into the running in the first place, but he's gotta have some kind of quality people around him if he's gonna pull this off...

one of the articles says that the previous organizer of the festival thinks this is just a publicity stunt.. but for what? Prince doesn't really NEED publicity does he?

if you ask me this is a perfect opportunity for him to move in another direction and solidify himself for the future IF he can pull t his off, from what I can tell he seems to have huge ideas, get them running, then bore of them quickly and move on to something else.

[Edited 8/9/10 9:23am]

jaybendy said:

if you ask me this is a perfect opportunity for him to move in another direction and solidify himself for the future IF he can pull t his off, from what I can tell he seems to have huge ideas, get them running, then bore of them quickly and move on to something else.

So if he has strong people that canhelp him produce the ideas into reality...

Maybe Encore can provide these strong minds? (internally or externally)

They need to be able to act quickly, act responsibly, be able to give solid feedback and of course be creative.

After the ideas phase, which has P's involvement, these people can work on the ideas and move with them. P's input is then needed less and P can be more free of the pressure of the ongoing project.

Would P fancy and/or allow such a proposal?

I dunno.

The past organizer talking shit about this is no surprise: after all, the guy basically got fired from a very lucrative job and has to go thru the shame that the authorities claim that he failed in his mission.

Obviously, if Prince gets the "bail", he will be involved for one year, maybe 2, and then get bored with it and move on to something else. I think his 2 partners are perfectly aware of this and that they both are able to manage the whole thing without Prince. But having Prince involved is a great asset for them, not only to get the deal but also because:

1) Prince can use his network for the 1st one or 2 years and start with a bang, i.e. they will have him play AND they can basically invite whoever they want to, from Common to Candy Dulfer to Maceo Parker, to George Clinton, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Larry Graham, Me'shell Ndegeocello, Chaka Khan, Q-Tip, Public Enemy... You name them! Prince has very interesting friends for a jazz festival that'd want to open itself to modern R&B the way Montreux did years ago (basically, our 3 huge jazz festivals, i.e. Vienne, Nice and Antibes, always were too conservative in their choices to attract a modern audience and that's why they failed to create the international hype that Montreux has).

2) Even when he's totally bored with it, Prince will probably remain the official festival's "godfather" for many years, it will probably be a contractual obligation that he officially supports it even if it just means having his name quoted as a "godfather" and having to say that it's a cool festival in interviews once in a while. This kind of "godfathership" is a very common practice in France and for some reason it seems to attract both artists and audiences even if it's nothing but a name on a poster.

So will it be a "Prince" festival the way the Paisley Park celebrations were? Probably not more than one or 2 years.

Will it help make it a better festival if the French partners manage it decently? Definitely!!! & believe me this festival NEEDS to move forward and create the hype!

[Edited 8/9/10 10:12am]

databank said:

The past organizer talking shit about this is no surprise: after all, the guy basically got fired from a very lucrative job and has to go thru the shame that the authorities claim that he failed in his mission.

Obviously, if Prince gets the "bail", he will be involved for one year, maybe 2, and then get bored with it and move on to something else. I think his 2 partners are perfectly aware of this and that they both are able to manage the whole thing without Prince. But having Prince involved is a great asset for them, not only to get the deal but also because:

1) Prince can use his network for the 1st one or 2 years and start with a bang, i.e. they will have him play AND they can basically invite whoever they want to, from Common to Candy Dulfer to Maceo Parker, to George Clinton, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Larry Graham, Me'shell Ndegeocello, Chaka Khan, Q-Tip, Public Enemy... You name them! Prince has very interesting friends for a jazz festival that'd want to open itself to modern R&B the way Montreux did years ago (basically, our 3 huge jazz festivals, i.e. Vienne, Nice and Antibes, always were too conservative in their choices to attract a modern audience and that's why they failed to create the international hype that Montreux has).

2) Even when he's totally bored with it, Prince will probably remain the official festival's "godfather" for many years, it will probably be a contractual obligation that he officially supports it even if it just means having his name quoted as a "godfather" and having to say that it's a cool festival in interviews once in a while. This kind of "godfathership" is a very common practice in France and for some reason it seems to attract both artists and audiences even if it's nothing but a name on a poster.

So will it be a "Prince" festival the way the Paisley Park celebrations were? Probably not more than one or 2 years.

Will it help make it a better festival if the French partners manage it decently? Definitely!!! & believe me this festival NEEDS to move forward and create the hype!

[Edited 8/9/10 10:12am]

I admire your enthusiasm.

I think he should definitely go through with it.

Do they have it on the same dates every year? Gotta start stacking paper now.

Oh, this is really cool. Sounds like a great opportunity, I hope he gets it.

databank said:

Prince has very interesting friends for a jazz festival that'd want to open itself to modern R&B the way Montreux did years ago (basically, our 3 huge jazz festivals, i.e. Vienne, Nice and Antibes, always were too conservative in their choices to attract a modern audience and that's why they failed to create the international hype that Montreux has).

I usually try to be open-minded, but in this case I'm definitely one of the conservative ones. I think it's terrible that jazz festivals all over the world have been forced to expand their repertoire to R&B, pop, or even metal.

It's not that I have anything against the music itself, I'm definitely not a jazz snob - but it's just so obvious that these things are done for commercial and economical reasons ONLY, and that really offends me. These producers and promotors are insulting the concept of jazz - not only by randomly re-writing it to include whatever they "need" to make their profit, but also by presenting it to us as culturally accurate. "You know, this is jazz too, really..."

See, had it been done for artistic reasons, I would love it! "We'd like to expand the concept of jazz, let's throw in this guy and see what he can do!" They could initiate unique collaborations between jazz and "non-jazz" artists, challenge pop and R&B acts to perform different material than they otherwise do (or their own material re-interpreted in a new musical setting), commission new pieces, etc.

But usually, there's none of that. The pop acts are free to perform their regular sets, jazz or not. Some of them, including Prince, might take it upon themselves to adjust their performance a little towards the "jazzy" side. But when people like Alice Cooper, Johnny Cash, or Status Quo (who have all played at Montreux) can go up and play their usual songs in their usual ways, and some promotor wants me to agree that's jazz...well... It might be justified economically, but artistically it's not. Even if I'm actually a fan of those artists as well.

RealMusician said:

databank said:

Prince has very interesting friends for a jazz festival that'd want to open itself to modern R&B the way Montreux did years ago (basically, our 3 huge jazz festivals, i.e. Vienne, Nice and Antibes, always were too conservative in their choices to attract a modern audience and that's why they failed to create the international hype that Montreux has).

I usually try to be open-minded, but in this case I'm definitely one of the conservative ones. I think it's terrible that jazz festivals all over the world have been forced to expand their repertoire to R&B, pop, or even metal.

It's not that I have anything against the music itself, I'm definitely not a jazz snob - but it's just so obvious that these things are done for commercial and economical reasons ONLY, and that really offends me. These producers and promotors are insulting the concept of jazz - not only by randomly re-writing it to include whatever they "need" to make their profit, but also by presenting it to us as culturally accurate. "You know, this is jazz too, really..."

See, had it been done for artistic reasons, I would love it! "We'd like to expand the concept of jazz, let's throw in this guy and see what he can do!" They could initiate unique collaborations between jazz and "non-jazz" artists, challenge pop and R&B acts to perform different material than they otherwise do (or their own material re-interpreted in a new musical setting), commission new pieces, etc.

But usually, there's none of that. The pop acts are free to perform their regular sets, jazz or not. Some of them, including Prince, might take it upon themselves to adjust their performance a little towards the "jazzy" side. But when people like Alice Cooper, Johnny Cash, or Status Quo (who have all played at Montreux) can go up and play their usual songs in their usual ways, and some promotor wants me to agree that's jazz...well... It might be justified economically, but artistically it's not. Even if I'm actually a fan of those artists as well.

I agree to some extent. When i saw thet Björk or Radiohead were playing in Montreux i was like WTF??? (Björk has done some jazz but that's not what she played there i guess). Now as long as it's Afro-American music i'm much more open-minded. That same way that bossanova isn't jazz but has something to do in a Jazz festival, i think it's fair game that a jazz festival acknowledge the evolution of Afro-American music: blues, funk, soul, hip-hop & modern R&B are all welcome as far as i'm concerned, and even reggae to some extent. Same goes with some electronic artists who have heavily incorporated jazz into their music. Except for that, i'll agree that pop-rock bands or purely electronic artists have nothing to do in a jazz festival.