Thursday, December 5, 1996
CONCERTS:
Event allows fans to sample broad range of L.A. clubsBy Claudia
Castro
Daily Bruin Contributor
Club-hopping in L.A. seems to be a marathon limited to those who
have the bucks and the nerves. The long distances between the
clubs, the cover charges, the $5-minimum parking fees and the
hassle to fight the traffic are not exactly what one would call
encouraging. But with the Jazz Caravan, sponsored by jazz station
KLON (88.1 FM), this marathon can become a pleasant reality.
The Fourth Annual Los Angeles Holiday Jazz Club Caravan takes
place Dec. 12. One ticket gives jazz lovers access to as many as 19
clubs, with unlimited transportation from club to club via
shuttles.
It is possible to go to several clubs  even three or four.
"But it’s quite impossible to do them all," says Gary Chiachi of
KLON’s concert production department.
The Jazz Caravan gives many an opportunity to hear music and
visit places they ordinarily would not, such as the clubs in the
Crenshaw area of South Central Los Angeles, which was once a "hot
bed for jazz."
In Crenshaw’s Leimert Park, jazz is a daily phenomenon, not
reserved just for Caravans. On Caravan nights, though, there are
hundreds of people of all ethnicities around clubs like 5th Dick’s,
World Stage, Shabazz and Gainsville.
"It’s a real opportunity for people to go to an area like this,
which might not be done on their own," says Chiachi. "The area
really embraces it. Record stores stay open, the whole area (stays
open)."
To many, the Jazz Caravan is still unknown, but its history goes
back to 1993. KLON concert director Ken Poston brought the idea
from Kansas City, where he organized a similar event called "Club
Crawl." In 1993, there were two Blues Caravans (in Los Angeles and
Long Beach) during the summer and the first Los Angeles Holiday
Jazz Club Caravan made its debut in winter.
The next two years followed with two Jazz Caravans (Holiday and
Spring) and two Blues Caravans. This year, a new event, the Los
Angeles Latin Jazz Caravan, was added in the fall in response to
the large Latin American listening audience. People constantly
called the station suggesting the idea, and the event brought in
close to 3,000 people.
Now there is a total of five events. Will there be more in the
future?
"Five is plenty," answers Chiachi. "They take a while to put
together." Chiachi gets calls from all over the U.S. asking about
the Caravans. Some want him to produce them in other cities, some
are entrepreneur types who want to produce them themselves. "They
think you just get a bunch of clubs and add a bunch of buses,"
Chiachi says. "There’s a lot more to it."
Everybody gains with the Caravans  the station, the
musicians, the clubs and the audience.
Charlie Chiarenza, manager of Miceli’s on North Las Palmas
Avenue in Hollywood, is looking forward to this Caravan. Ten
musicians will be playing at the two rooms of the Italian
restaurant and club, among them cornetist Bill Berry. Chiarenza
says the customers that come during the Caravans are not the usual
customers.
"People who have never been here get impressed with the
restaurant," he says. "Buses come from other clubs with more
people. Those already in our club miss their buses to stay here
longer and we keep piling up. We get 200 (or) 300 people. They’re
like sardines."
Club owners smile at the potential profit, but that is not the
ultimate goal of the Caravan.
"To give people access to jazz, that’s very much what it’s all
about," Chiachi says. "The more people we can expose to music, the
more people will listen to the station."
In fact, the audience of the jazz caravans has changed
drastically throughout the years. While blues music has a much
wider audience, jazz is a niche that tends to be filled by older
people. But the range is becoming younger  21 to 50.
But Chiachi also says there is a higher purpose in mind for the
event. "It’s to get a lot of people out, to get together for a
common thread, which is music. It crosses the boundaries between
colors, races and economic classes," he says.
MUSIC: KLON’s Jazz Caravan is Dec. 12 from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door and $10 for KLON
members. For more information call KLON’s Caravan hotline at (310)
985-1686.