Questions about jazz history

[Alon Marcus]

Few terms that I encounter quite often in literature about jazz and liner notes. It seems that the people who write about these topics look at them as an obvious common knowledge but I need more background in history.

1. What is (was) the union?

2. What is the famous recording ban from the mid-forties?

3. What is the union card (or the cabaret lisence or 802 for that matter)?

[garthsj]

Few terms that I encounter quite often in literature about jazz and liner notes. It seems that the people who write about these topics look at them as an obvious common knowledge but I need more background in history.

1. What is (was) the union?

2. What is the famous recording ban from the mid-forties?

3. What is the union card (or the cabaret lisence or 802 for that matter)?

You might want to check this site. It will answer some, but not all, of your questions.

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...ghlite=petrillo

Edited March 20, 2005 by garthsj

[JSngry]

Yeah, the ban was covered pretty thoroughly in that other thread. But as to #3, a "union card" is the card you get when you join a union. In this case, the union is the Amerfican Federation of Musicians (AFM). Local 802 was (and still is) the New York, NY chapter of that union. Each city/region has its own "local", to better, theoretically, address the issues confronting the musicians of said area. Membership in one local may or may not be "recognized" by another, depending on the nature of the situation. Generally speaking, the broader the issue, the more reciprocity there is, and the more it pertains to nuts-and-bolts giggage, teh more one needs to belong to a specific local in order to reap whatever benefits there are.

The cabaret card was a function of, iirc, the NYPD, and was nothing more than a "license" required of a performer in order for them to perform in clubs that sold alcohol. Needless to say, it was a source of constant corruption, fraud, extortion, and exploitation. The practice was discontinued somewhere in the mid-late 1960s, I believe, but perhaps not until the dawn of the 1970s.

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Two books -

Maxwell T. Cohen: The Police Card Discord (Scarecrow Press, 1993)

Paul Chevigny: Gigs: Jazz And The Cabaret Laws In New York City (Routledge, 1991)

One article -

Scott Deveaux: Bebop And The Recording Industry: The 1942 Recording Ban Reconsidered (Journal of the American Musicological Society, 1988)

Mike

[Alon Marcus]

Yeah, the ban was covered pretty thoroughly in that other thread. But as to #3, a "union card" is the card you get when you join a union. In this case, the union is the Amerfican Federation of Musicians (AFM). Local 802 was (and still is) the New York, NY chapter of that union. Each city/region has its own "local", to better, theoretically, address the issues confronting the musicians of said area. Membership in one local may or may not be "recognized" by another, depending on the nature of the situation. Generally speaking, the broader the issue, the more reciprocity there is, and the more it pertains to nuts-and-bolts giggage, teh more one needs to belong to a specific local in order to reap whatever benefits there are.

The cabaret card was a function of, iirc, the NYPD, and was nothing more than a "license" required of a performer in order for them to perform in clubs that sold alcohol. Needless to say, it was a source of constant corruption, fraud, extortion, and exploitation. The practice was discontinued somewhere in the mid-late 1960s, I believe, but perhaps not until the dawn of the 1970s.

Thanks.

So all three of these are the same? (union card, 802 card and cabaret card).

[Michael Fitzgerald]

The New York City branch of the AFM was (and is) Local 802. So if one were a member of the AFM in NYC you would be a card-carrying member of Local 802. Other localities had their own numbers and the union card for those would NOT be an 802 card.

Pretty sure that the cabaret card is different - one could be a member of the union and NOT have a cabaret card. So one could do AFM-sanctioned recording dates but NOT play in certain venues.

Mike

Edited March 20, 2005 by Michael Fitzgerald

[Chuck Nessa]

So all three of these are the same? (union card, 802 card and cabaret card).

Some confusion. A union card is issued to a member of the musicians union. An 802 card is issued to a union member belonging to union "branch" 802. A cabaret card was issued by the NYC police.

[Alon Marcus]

Thanks Mike, now things are clear.

[Alon Marcus]

So all three of these are the same? (union card, 802 card and cabaret card).

Some confusion. A union card is issued to a member of the musicians union. An 802 card is issued to a union member belonging to union "branch" 802. A cabaret card was issued by the NYC police.

So the union is ran by musicians?

What is its purpose and does it help musicians (and how)? Are people make a leaving out of working in the union?

Many questions I know, sorry, may seem stupid but it interests me.

[Chuck Nessa]

What is its purpose and does it help musicians (and how)? Are people make a leaving out of working in the union?

Many questions I know, sorry, may seem stupid but it interests me.

The American Federation of Musicians is a "traditional" labor union which negotiates fees, work conditions and wages for its members. Their national website is HERE and it may help with some questions.

[JSngry]

The musicians union is like any other trade union. It's comprised of practiotioners of the trade who then elect their own officers, who amy or may not be actual musicians. Usually the officers are, or have been, professional musicians, but not always. Depending on the location of the local, being a union official may or may not offer suffiicent income to be a full-time job.

As for benefits, the union negotiates/sets scale (the minimum acceptable wage) for different types of jobs, provides legal backing in case of a union-approved contract being broken, negotiates with major employers for things relating to working conditions, etc. Same as any other trade union.

And, like any otehr union, some locals are better (more honest and/or efficient) than others, and, yes, there's always politics involved. such is life.

Here's the link to the AFM website. Take a look around and see what it is: http://www.afm.org/public/home/index.php

[Alon Marcus]

Chuck, Jim, Mike and garthsj - thanks again.

I really appreciate you effort and patience!

[JamesJazz]

Might want to check out Robert D. Leiter, The Musicians And Petrillo (New York: Bookman, 1953).

It's basically a biography of the Appropriately-named James Caesar Petrillo that has mucho info about all of the Union's strikes, etc.

[ghost of miles]

Few terms that I encounter quite often in literature about jazz and liner notes. It seems that the people who write about these topics look at them as an obvious common knowledge but I need more background in history.

1. What is (was) the union?

2. What is the famous recording ban from the mid-forties?

3. What is the union card (or the cabaret lisence or 802 for that matter)?

You might want to check this site. It will answer some, but not all, of your questions.

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...ghlite=petrillo

Garth,

Couldn't get the link to work. This one, right?

Mike, I picked up the Chevigny book used recently and look forward to reading it. I also understand that there's some discussion of the NYC laws in Peter Pullman's Bud Powell to-be-published (crossing fingers) Bud Powell biography.

Petrillo is routinely villified in most jazz histories that I read, but, as Jim pointed out in the previous thread linked above, the initial recording ban was actually a victory for musicians.