Allegro

Currently Browsing: December, 2007

During the stagehands’ strike, performed on picket lines. Photo by Claire Houston. This November, two strikes have affected musicians in profound ways. The stagehands of IATSE Local 1 and the writers of the Writers Guild of America both took a

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Photo by Claire Houston. This November, writers and stagehands took to the streets, and musicians performed on picket lines in solidarity. This is the first time the stagehands have struck in the union’s 121-year existence. “Stagehands never get any direct appreciation

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Musicians who play on jingles will perform under a new two-year agreement, which became effective Oct. 17. And for the first time, jingles that are produced for podcasts, cell phones, iPods, MP3 players and other digital media will be covered

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802 has Strong Presence at Jazz Improv Live Convention
Todd Bryant Weeks
Jamming are Local 802’s Bob Cranshaw (bass), Fred Taylor (drums) and Dr. Frank DiBussolo (guitar). Bob Cranshaw walked up to his old friend Barrie Kolstein, a man who had been supplying him with new instruments for many years. No words

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Musicians who work for Shloime Dachs will now be covered
In late October, the Shloime Dachs Orchestra became the latest signatory to the Jewish Club Date Agreement. As reported in the April 2005 issue of Allegro, Dachs signed a recognition agreement with Local 802, agreeing to negotiate. He participated in

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President's Report
Mary Landolfi
In ancient times, the Romans worshipped Janus, the two-faced deity who looked both toward the past and the future. From that root came our name for the month of January, but somehow we do not do as the Romans do,

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Recording Vice President's Report
Bill Dennison
Not long ago at a meeting of our Jazz Advisory Committee, a member described what unfortunately is a common situation. He had been working for a well-known artist and that work accounted for a large part of his yearly income.

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Supporting Musicians by Grasping the Power of the Liquor License
Rebecca Moore
THE NEW GENTRIFICATION: Images of the new Lower East Side, by Clarke Harstern. A proliferation of bars has meant that the neighborhood has turned into a miniature Times Square. But more bars has not meant more venues for live music.

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Music and Politics
Julia Smith
As announced in the last issue, Local 802 participated in a march and rally against the Iraq War at the end of October. A band hired by Local 802 received great reviews from fellow unionists for their performance at the

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Legal Corner
Harvey Mars, Esq.
The labor movement was dealt a major blow in late September, when the Bush-appointed majority on the National Labor Relations Board decided to weaken rules surrounding union organizing. For decades, there have been two basic ways employees could form a

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Organizing Matters
Joel LeFevre
Turning nonunion gigs into union ones is made possible by the willingness of members – you, dear reader – to care about retirement income, medical benefits and scale payments. It’s about seeing working union as the right way to work.

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Give the gift of love this holiday season. Local 802 is collecting toys, clothes and food for charity. Every person who donates will receive a free raffle ticket. The winner and prize will be announced at the Local 802 holiday

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How it Affects You as a Participant
Gary Thayer, Esq.
Many of us may be approaching the age where we’re eligible to apply for Medicare. If you fall into this category, you may be wondering how this affects your health benefits if you’re already on the Local 802 Health Plan.

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AFM Pension Fund
Maureen Kilkelly
If you play union gigs, you build up union pension. Each October, you receive a statement from the AFM Pension Fund. Local 802 asked the fund’s executive director, Maureen Kilkelly, to tell members what to do if there’s a mistake

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Joel LeFevre was recently promoted to the position of organizing director and assistant to the president. He succeeds Joe Eisman, who left Local 802 this fall to organize with the union that represents janitors and security guards (32BJ). In 2005,

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The Musicians’ Voice is an open forum for discussion about the state of union affairs. The letters published here do not necessarily express the views of Local 802. Letters must be 300 words or less. Send them to Allegro, c/o

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Membership Alert
Change is in the air. If you’ve applied for Music Performance Fund money in the past, reduced funding is making it critical that you apply much earlier than ever before. It’s important that you’re aware of the changes so that

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PATRICK APPELLO Agreement was reached between Local 802 and Patrick Appello for all work performed by the longtime Local 802 member and classical guitarist, as well as other musicians employed. The contract covers all single and steady engagements and is

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Cabiria P. Accarino – Piano Angelo E. Brucklier – Drums Gerald R. Chamberlain – Trombone Frank Dallas – Bass Claude Garreau Jr – Piano Charles W. Geiger Jr – Drums Sanford Green – Piano Merv Griffin – Piano Bob Kross

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September 11, 2007 -- October 23, 2007
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2007 Meeting called to order at 11:10 a.m. Present: Recording Vice President Dennison, Financial Vice President Blumenthal, Executive Board members Fein, Johansen, Rizzo, Giannini, Schaffner, Schwartz and Jazz Advisory Committee Liaison Owens. President Landolfi excused on union

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Crossword and Sight-Sing Challenge
SIGHTSINGING ANSWERExcerpt from “The Nutcracker” CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS Across 1- Bassist Ephron or actor Noveck FIMA 5- Action word VERB 9- Emulates Mirren ACTS 13- Emulate Leo ROAR 14- Ancient Troy ILIUM 16- Folk Tales LORE 17- Auricular OTIC 18-

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Bill Crow
For a couple of years around the turn of the last century, I played with a bebop trio in the restaurant portion of a club called Scores, on East 60th Street. Their main feature was a showroom filled with dozens

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