What people think about jazz workshops;
We carried out a small scale study in the South as a prelude to drawing up a marketing plan for a new professional band. (Cubana Bop, led by Terry Seabrook) It was properly conducted used a random sample of 184 respondents but biased towards the local area.
Go out to hear this type of music specifically
Sometimes Often
Jazz 19% 18%
Blues 20% 5%
The main reason for going out to hear this kind of music is:
Jazz Blues
To listen to a big name/band 18% 12%
Just follow this music generally 23% 10%
Doing something different with friends 19% 12%
(more than one answer could be given)
Where do you go to hear this type of music generally?
Public house, hotel or restaurant 34%
Club 10%
Special event or theatre venue 18%
(more than one answer could be given)
What do you dislike most about this kind of event?
Smoky atmosphere 39%
Drum solos 17%
Long intervals, breaks 13%
Playing too loudly 13%
Solos too long 9%
Audience too noisy 9%
All answers 100%
The days of the smoky, loud basement club, and ten chorus solos are over. Drum solos look dodgy.
Workshops
Those who say they are “Keen” or “Very Keen” on jazz were asked if they could play an instrument. 89% said they could (most learnt their instrument at school) 26% of those who can play say they are still playing now. This seems a very high figure, but the hard core of jazz followers is active musically in some way. 80% of the players, however, say they have never attended a music workshop.
The sample of those who have attended a workshop was supplemented with extra respondents at one jazz workshop series to provide the following likes/dislikes about workshops. This data must be taken very cautiously because it would be influenced by their immediate experience. But for some straw indicators we proffer the following.
Advantages of attending a workshop
Chance to learn 52%
Chance to play 11%
Both equally 37%
Dislikes about workshops
