The Jazzmann Gigs and Events Listings – Statement regarding Covid-19 restrictions.

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Ian Mann shares his thoughts on the role of the Jazzmann site during the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.

The Jazzmann Gigs and Events Listings – Statement regarding Covid-19 restrictions.

Saturday March 21st 2020

Yesterday’s government decision to close ALL places of entertainment effectively makes our ‘Gigs & Events’ pages irrelevant for the foreseeable future.

However as all the entries would have to be removed individually I have decided to keep them in place. I intend to dedicate the time that would have been spent in taking them down to reviewing recorded music instead.

Similarly, several new stories that have already been published will include tour dates that will now not happen. For similar reasons these will stay in place, and like the gig listings will automatically drop off the system when they reach their expiry date.

I think that everybody knows by now that live music is on hold indefinitely and I don’t envisage myself reviewing another live show for some quite some time.

As I have intimated I will spend this period of enforced isolation by reviewing more recorded music and tackling some of the backlog of CDs at Jazzmann Towers.

I feel desperately sorry for all my friends in the jazz community – performers, promoters, venue owners, record label owners, publicists, photographers and everybody else affected by this unprecedented crisis. The whole thing is a disaster for the music industry and for the economy as a whole.

All I can realistically do is to keep well, keep the site going and to review as many albums as possible. I’d urge everybody reading this to support the artists by buying their music and merchandise on line and by subscribing to the numerous livestream performances that the ever enterprising musicians are putting out on the web for our entertainment as we ride out this crisis.

Jazz will survive. It always does.

Stay safe and stay sane everybody. See you on the other side of all this.

Best wishes to you all.

IAN MANN.