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Norwalk: Jazz Fest To Return


by turfgrrl


June 26th, 2007 · 47 Comments

Despite the anemic turnout at the inaugural Norwalk Jazz fest, Herb Grant plans to host the festival in 2008. From Matt “Mad Max” Breslow’s article:

Organizers had hoped for a crowd of several thousand, but only about 250 were in the audience at Veterans Memorial Park in the evening of the daylong festival.

Grant - a Norwalk Common Council member - said he believes the crowd grew later in the day because some people came only for the final acts, Grammy Award winner Michel Camilo and Grammy nominees Stefon Harris and Kenny Barron.

Though ticket sales still were being counted yesterday, Grant said he did not mind that the first festival didn’t attract 5,000 people.

“It’s the inaugural event,” he said.

Some people can be expected to hold off on attending an event the first year because they’re waiting to see the response it generates, Grant said.

Nonetheless, he said the festival attracted audience members from New Jersey, Massachusetts and Philadelphia.

“There was a couple there from St. Louis. How do you like that?” Grant said.

He called the event “extremely well-organized” and said committee chairmen worked hard and performed their duties well. DMG staff and volunteers, including Norwalk High School band parents, wore T-shirts making them easily recognizable to festivalgoers, Grant said.

He said the performers were “ecstatic” about the event, pleased with the way they were treated and the professionalism of crew members.

“From my perspective . . . the plan of action was implemented . . . extremely professionally by all connected with it,” Grant said.

He said he hopes to expand the festival to two days in 2009.

DMG’s executive board will meet next week to discuss whether anything should be done differently next year, Grant said.

There are many in Norwalk that aimed to detract from the jazz festival by accusing Herb Grant, a Common Council member, of using his position in office to “profit” from the festival. This barrage of negativity may in fact lead to Grant opting not to make a repeat run as common council member. I suppose that some can get an early start on complaining that former council members should not “profit” on a jazz festival either.


source: Norwalk Advocate, No crowds? No problem: Jazz fest promises to return in ‘08, By Matt Breslow, June 26 2007

Tags: In the News · Norwalk

47 Responses so far ↓ “Norwalk: Jazz Fest To Return”


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  • 1 Anonymous // Jun 26, 2007 at 9:03 am

    This quote is very misleading-there were many more throughout the day and correct, there were only about 250 at dusk and as the night went on there were only about 75-100 at last performance. The way this looks is as if there were only 250 all day. But as they say it was the first event and now its back to the drawing board to revamp and look at ways to improve for next year.

    Organizers had hoped for a crowd of several thousand, but only about “250″ were in the audience at Veterans Memorial Park in the “evening” of the daylong festival.

  • 2 Katie Shannon // Jun 26, 2007 at 9:03 am

    Forgetting for one moment about the Jazz Festival, here is a perfect example of what would have happened to the Miniature Golf that was planned in Vets Park. You are not going to see a lot of people bring 2 or 3 kids more then once a month (if that) when the average price would be around
    ————————————————————————-
    Captain’s Course Adults $9.95 — Children $8.95
    Blackbeard’s Challenge Adults $9.95 — Children $8.95
    36-Hole Adventure Adults $13.95 * Children $12.50
    ——————————————————-
    These are price for comparable mini golf course’s like the one that was planned in Vets park. That fiasco was not something that like the Jazz Festival, more people will keep coming every year. This was something that would have to produce big numbers EVERY DAY. In the winter months it would be earning ZERO. This is the main reason the only other interested party was the International Golf course builder

    http://www.harrisminigolf.com/

    AND THEY WERE NOT INTERESTED IN PARTNERING WITH THE CITY. Did this professional Miniature Golf Course builder with 40 years experience in this business REALIZE THAT THEY COULD NOT MAKE A PROFIT?

    In any case, this is a wake up call to anyone who thinks that if you “Build it and they will come”, to take note and see that by the time they do come you might just be out of business.

    In the case of the Jazz Festival, they have the future chance to build a following, and make the event a future success, but when you have to come up with a profit at the end of each of 365 days a year, it is a crushing nut to crack.

    I wish Herb Grant the best in his future plans. The Jazz Festival was bringing some class to the Park and was right in line with the improvement of the cultural theme of Veterans Park, not a honky tonk theme.

  • 3 Katie Shannon // Jun 26, 2007 at 9:06 am

    Turfgrrl, Sorry I wanted to post this in this thread, but also posted it in an earlier thread by accident. Please delete the one in “Jazz Fest going on today.”

    Thank You

    Katie

  • 4 Grant's folly // Jun 26, 2007 at 9:37 am

    Herb Grant is a piss-poor organizer. If he hand’t over-inlfated the numbers (20,000 was his original estimate), do you think all those cops would have been assigned to Vet’s Park? All those volunteers? All those sponsors hoping to get broad exposure? Hah! Advertising was nil…expect for what I assume was gratis through the Hour. The website was a joke…If the City wants a real jazz festival, they should go out and find a real music managment company with the contacts and the “chops” to get the job done. Why does Norwalk always sell itself short by dealing with amateurs?

  • 5 Anonymous // Jun 26, 2007 at 9:44 am

    Quick return on publicity while they’re still in office. In a word, politics.

    Anyone with a longer-term vision for this town would invest in its future by using the “principle of the highest first.”

    Until then, Norwalk’s civic leadership will continue to embrace the “hole in the donut” mentality by accepting freebies like the logo.

    Using stopgap methods to deal with chronic problems are also symptomatic of this backwards mentality.

  • 6 Anonymous // Jun 26, 2007 at 9:47 am

    #4-your comments are rude and downright nasty. The cops assigned were paid by the Jazz festival NOT the city and I would assume the volunteers were there because they wanted to be. Why don’t you try organizing an event and see how good you do the first time out? To make reference to Mr. Grant or anyone else in that manner just goes to show that you my friend have no boundries when it come to rudeness. When someone promotes a particular event they always reach for the stars but in all reality sometimes this just does not happen and there is always room for improvement. Personal attacks like that just serve to hurt others and are not condoned by many.

  • 7 Grant\'s folly // Jun 26, 2007 at 9:52 am

    If Grant were my employee running the “jazz project” I would have fired him for not delivering on what he proposed. Plain and simple. Not rude; just fact.

  • 8 Mr Greenpeace // Jun 26, 2007 at 10:04 am

    I trust as I was checking out the fire dept and the number of firemen fighting the fire in the lot accross from the marine division I saw a tan SUV with a distinguished gentleman in a black suit talking to an officer after dusk at the gate of the closed vets park,,I thought maybe it was the mayor,I could be wrong,I hope that wasn’t him taking time to check in on the fest on not his firefighters working well into the night till midnight fighting a fire.

    It wasn’t hard to see a fire dept car and a pickup with a large boat trailor was on one side by the ramps near vets park and two engine companies and a ladder truck in front of SoNo seafood backed up by a police car so yes visible to say the least, even for a untrained eye.

    I have to give the Advocate credit they in detail reported the fire and manpower,,I think the numbers were low at times seems like more than 20 men.

    Then the advocate also reported another assualt in the washington st area a woman walking to the Webster lot., I suppose the merchants in downtown SoNo will ask for more protection it made the police report, and the paper ,good job Advocate covering what was left of a mess by both papers by not reporting the news on Monday. Odd how the crime was reported long after the fest suppose no coincidence yet it was obvious sunday had its crime in South Norwalk just the same.

    I still have to thank Herb for a fest one way or the other , we do have to see if mistakes were made or police detail logs are given to the residents so we know without any doubt we as a city paid for nothing these were overtime slots correct?

    This is where we simply ask for accountability and see if we can get details on what just happened,,this here and now request should put an end to rumors so we can go on and say the taxpayers paid for nothing.Is it that hard to find out?

  • 9 Mr Greenpeace // Jun 26, 2007 at 10:08 am

    Perfect planning prevents piss poor performances when I worked for Don Law going thru colledge it was his Motto,

  • 10 Anonymous // Jun 26, 2007 at 10:23 am

    From the Advocate:

    “This is an out-of-the-box performance, and I think in nearly every sense of the word it was successful,” (Tad) Diesel said yesterday.

    What is this guy smoking? Does he apply this criteria to his overall marketing approach in promoting the City and its interests?

  • 11 Grant's folly // Jun 26, 2007 at 10:38 am

    Realistic projections would have helped. The responsibility for turnout not meeting Grant’s projections lies strictly with the management and the organization. Lack of advertising (except what they could get for free). No marketing plan. Poor publicity outside of Norwalk. Not enough talent to draw fans. And so on. If the city goes back to Grant for next year’s festival, they are fools. Sorry but trying to put a postive light on this with an A for effort does not wash. Grant claimed to be a professional and professionals have to be accountable.

  • 12 Grant\'s folly // Jun 26, 2007 at 10:50 am

    I suggest (based on his Don Law experience)that Mr. Greenpeace run next year’s festival. Of course, he’d have to run for Common Council first…

  • 13 Anonymous // Jun 26, 2007 at 11:13 am

    The crap that gets said on this site is unbelievable. THe city did not hire Grant to put on a jazz festival. Grant produced it.

  • 14 Grant's folly // Jun 26, 2007 at 11:30 am

    It was promoted as the “Norwalk Jazz Festival”; not the “Herb Grant Jazz Festival”. By letting the organizer use the City’s name and having the marketing director endorse it on publicity materials, the city was (by implicaton) involved and supporting the event.

  • 15 Looking for Ethics // Jun 26, 2007 at 11:33 am

    The Jazz Festival is a case of a councilman attempting to use his office and city contacts for his own family’s personal profit. There is no accountability required for the public to know which businesses were solicited that deal with the city (this is the second obvious conflict of interest.) There is no accountability required for the public to know how much the Grant family profited, or how much was donated to the charity. If the festival was put on by a non-profit, transparency would have been required by law. No transparency required for a business.
    These problems all may have been reviewed by an ethics complaint, but the proposed ethics ordinance (to be voted on tonight) left several wide loopholes so that no one will be held accoutable.
    Herb Grant is an embarassment to the Democrats, who are hoping he won’t run again. AT the DTC meeting last night, a Democrat from District A (Grant’s district) said he was ashamed to be associated with Grant. This statement was met with a round of applause by dozens of people.

  • 16 Watchdog // Jun 26, 2007 at 11:39 am

    Thank you, Anonymous. Perhaps it is necessary to set the record straight once and for all that Herb Grant followed the necessary procedures to ensure there would be no improprieties or violations on his part as a member of the council.

    The Jazz Fest should have present a loss to taxpayers, since taxpayers did not fund it. It would be interesting to know whether the Jazz Fest rented the park for a fee, much like Gallagher’s Park. In this case, the taxpayers have benefitted. Can anyone provide the logistics so we can put this issue to rest?

  • 17 Watchdog // Jun 26, 2007 at 11:40 am

    Whoa..that last paragraph should have read..

    The Jazz Fest should have NOT presented a loss to taxpayers…

  • 18 Mr Greenpeace // Jun 26, 2007 at 11:49 am

    good one Grant/’s folly,,in school we had a place called Johnathon Swifts ,,from J geils to Muddy Waters was the headlines in Cambridge square, it was a way to travel and see bands like the Allmans bros with our own Dickey Betts from Ct and the Dead for nothing, James Taylor and Livingston Taylor and lets not forget Kate were managed by Don Law,all ,it was those recreational years hanging around Berklee in Boston , burning all the brain cells and attending great outdoor performances at Great woods aka Tweeter center that makes it impossible to run anymore except for lunch.

    Just the same where do we find just the facts , what did it cost for security, that would seem like way to put out one fire out here and show us that the info is available.This is a classic example of accountability and helps future planners plan on a price tag for police enforcment..

    oddly enough what I did see was a Norwalk patrolman escorting employees out to their cars at Klaffs on water st. yesterday at 5 its not the first time and I could be wrong but I thought the patch was Norwalk’s is this something of interest? Could i be wrong?

    would that be a special detail or overtime if I was right..?

  • 19 MGeake // Jun 26, 2007 at 11:53 am

    I was told by a member of the Parks & Rec Committee that no fee was charged for using the park, which is consistent with how all requests to use the park are handled. I was also told that, since there was no prohibition in the Ethics Code or in any city ordinance, that there would have been no basis for denying Councilman Grant’s company use of the park for this event.

    Which brings us to an interesting question: why don’t we charge for-profit entities for having exclusive use of OUR park and then charging US to enter? I vaguely remember this council instituting fees for using space in city hall; isn’t it time to do the same for our valuable park land?

  • 20 unafiliated and disgusted // Jun 26, 2007 at 11:54 am

    Gee,#15 sounds like a disgruntled member of the DTC elite!
    Herb has done excellent things on the council but because he doesn’t cow tow to the chosen few you all want to trash him. Thankfully we as voters have the opportunity to split our tickets in Nov. Lets just see who comes out standing. As an unafiliated voter I have to tell you that the infighting on the DTC has certainly changed my view on all of you. I will be voting for the Dems that work for the taxpayers and as well the Rep’s that do the same. Those of you who only have personal agenda’s need not apply. As for the jazz festival, I think it was a good idea and should be continued with a few changes that can make it a success. More participation by locals and and less grand expectations will give the festival committee a greater insight into how it should be run next year. My personal opinion was that it ran for too many hours and people who got there early left too soon to make it the success it could have been. there was nothing wrong with the entertainment it was just spread out over a very long day. As for Mr. Grant, I can’t imagine why he would want to be associated with the likes of his own party who do nothing but criticise and belittle their own people. The ethics code as I read it is good and those on the council should readily adopt it with the knowledge that changes can be made in the future.

  • 21 Anonymous // Jun 26, 2007 at 12:05 pm

    Not sure where Mr. Geak gets his info from but yes there is a fee and yes whomever uses the park must pay that fee no matter who it is. they are also required to put up an insurance bond, pay for police, pay for clean up, pay for setup etc. at no cost to the city. I would like to know who Mr. Geake spoke to because it definately wasn’t someone who sits on Parks and Rec. I suggest that all of you call Mike Mocciae and request information with regards to the fees and obligations of anyone who rents space at any park and as to someone charging Norwalkers to get into an event I seem to remember paying to get into the Oyster Festival and spending hundreds of dollars in a day to accomodate my kids with food, games and rides so this is not any different.

  • 22 turfgrrl // Jun 26, 2007 at 12:06 pm

    Looking for Ethics: I’d be more ashamed of the BOE Dems who have squandered the opportunity to hold Corda and Opdahl accountable to a transparent and open accounting of the BOE budget. In the end, whatever you think of the festival, allowing money to be wasted by sheer mismanagement and questionable practices in the millions seems the far more important issue.

    Grant’s Folly: Please provide any detail on how the use of the city name becomes an economic endorsement to the event rather than the other way around.

    Here’s a hint. Quinipiac does routine economic impact studies on how arts events benefit New Haven. I have never seen one go the other way. The folly here is the wasted effort on this issue in the first place. The city will not come to a screeching halt over this, but surely the city becomes more a fun place to live and visit and in turn economically vibrant place if these types of events happen more frequently. That in turn tends to lift all boats (non profit and for profit activities alike) because there are more people to participate.

    That being said, in New Haven, when a group of local artists were excluded by the official arts festival (International Festival of Arts and Ideas) they formed IDEAT village, a protest festival within the festival. A much better way of demonstrating displeasure, and you know what, New Haven benefits by having both,

  • 23 Grant's folly // Jun 26, 2007 at 12:14 pm

    Sunshine, turf, sunshine. You’re blowing smoke again and you know it. The way this festival was born and delivered is a conflict of interest. And the ethics code as it is being presented to Council excised the parts of the model code that would specifically have dealt with this kind of flim-flam.

  • 24 Anonymous // Jun 26, 2007 at 12:20 pm

    unafilliated and disgusted: You obviously don’t have Grant representing your district. I have spoke to many people in his district unafilliated and dems who are disgusted with his performance as their councilmember.

    They say he has done nothing for the district. I myself have called and sent him emails with no response. Can we get him to run on the Replubican ticket? Of course, I will be voting for Diana Pallidino, not “do nothing” Herb. He is only in office to promote himself, meanwhile his constituents are really suffering and sick of his self indulgence. The Jazz fest is the only thing he has done while in office.

    #23 I agree. Norwalk has no ethics for the politically connected!

  • 25 Grant's folly // Jun 26, 2007 at 12:28 pm

    I wonder if Grant registered the name “Norwalk Jazz Festival”? If he did, he now has exclusive rights to the Norwalk Jazz Festival and the city has given up the option to open it up to other management companies. Maybe he’s smarter than I originally thought.

  • 26 Anonymous // Jun 26, 2007 at 12:28 pm

    And you have to wonder why there are
    Missing: enthusiastic candidates for both parties
    as turf said in her headline today? Who the hell would want to run in this town? The only running that that makes sense here is running away from this madhouse!

  • 27 turfgrrl // Jun 26, 2007 at 12:44 pm

    Grant’s folly: I’m all for sunshine, but you didn’t answer my points. I don’t think the public has to know anything about a private business btw. But the public does have the right to know what public funds/assets are used. So no, the public has no right to know how much advertising/sponsor dollars were received or expended. Nor does the public have any right to know who was solicited and declined.

    But here’s where that issue becomes interesting. If a company X is before the council on business, on what grounds in any ethics code can anyone find that it would cause a council person to have to recuse themselves? There’s no financial interest there.

    If company X had bought a sponsorship, then there is, and so Grant, having received funds on behalf of his employer, should recuse himself. Not a big deal, and not much different for any council person receiving funds for any enterprise they work for.

    It is an interesting issue, and worthy of discussion, but the incessant accusations of all sorts of improprieties without identifying specifics does no one any good.

  • 28 Grant\'s folly // Jun 26, 2007 at 12:53 pm

    From the press release by Herb Grant’s company:

    “The Norwalk Jazz Festival is a very prominent event that draws a huge crowd from around the region. Reaching out to the community and being involved is very important to us at Webster Bank”, stated Fred Wilms, Vice President at Webster Bank. He also adds, “This is an event that will be very good for the city in 2007 and in future years”. Swisher International, Patriot Bank, Cox Radio, Stanley Seligson Properties and Fairfield County Bank are also among the founding sponsors.

    Business sponsorship of the Norwalk Jazz Festival helps bring a premiere cultural event to the city that will attract 15K+ shoppers and restaurant goers, increasing local revenue and helping make Norwalk a destination spot for visitors.

    With the trend in supporting community events growing nationwide, it is not hard to see why companies like Bank One, Pepsi, Kroger and local banks, hospitals and colleges get value from providing sponsorship to jazz events throughout the country. While they can spend 100s of thousands on those sponsorships, supporters of the Norwalk Jazz Festival can become sponsors with opportunities ranging from $5,000 to $50,000. Platinum, Gold and Silver sponsors can opt for the same sponsorship benefits for the 2008 Norwalk Jazz Festival.

  • 29 Mr Greenpeace // Jun 26, 2007 at 12:55 pm

    didn’t a couple of us simply ask for accountability?

    Its that hard to find out what what the city billed for,,I’m afraid to ask who did the trash,

    I don’t care about Herb or the council I simply wanted like others to see the figures,,they are public records or are they sealed per Homeland Security.

    was the fire dept involved at all did they inspect the food vendors and their gas grills, was the health agent covered under the rental ,,is the electric on a seperate meter or was that a base figure estimated years ago for the other festival? (rates have gone up over the years) Where was the contract maybe we would see there is room for improvement beyond this one fest,,portable bathrooms did they dump in Norwalk what was their fee..it all needs to be asked

    Its odd when others call for accountability no one can honestly say I can get those figures,,I’m sure the next round of red herrings will tell me where I can find it at city hall ,,I’ll go home to my water, phone, electric and gas being shut off and I’ll have to take my trash on the sidewalk to the transfer station and get stopped a dozen times before I am off Woodward ave for suspicious persons in the hummer,,so yes we wait for what I would of thought was a simple request and turn it into a major paper trail,

    The busses at vets park for the Aquarium is a direct slam towards the business that make money from tourism

    I hope the city realizes what they are promoting by this action as well,,suppose we have a bus full of vets going to the aquarium ,we should charge those busses double and send the type of message we are reading here on this thread,,we are run by a ship full of fools,,please deduct some of the mix that do care about the city their voice is not heard..I like many see we are ruled by few and are heard by even less!

    paradise in a parking lot

    Mr Greenpeace

  • 30 Katie (not shannon) // Jun 26, 2007 at 1:00 pm

    I’m with turfgirl. Despite all the political complaints, this will certainly be a boost for SoNo and the whole concept fits in with the area. This was the first year and while their audience projections were ambitious, people did attend and no doubt had a great time. This festival should absolutely continue every year in some format. Each year will certainly improve and will see higher attendance as more people are aware.

    I am sure that the SoNo Arts Festival, 30 years ago, had paltry attendance compared to recent festivals as did the Oyster Festival when they started. Because of the creativity and motivation of people who get involved with these type of events such as the Jazz Festival, the City of Norwalk is a better place to live and work and the Sono Area just keeps getting better.

    Let’s try to direct our energy on things that really need discussing and fixing.

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