Allegro

Currently Browsing: February, 2008

Finally, performers have a chance at getting paid when their music is heard on the radio. The Performance Rights Act (H.R. 4789, S. 5200), introduced in mid-December, would give musicians the same right that songwriters and publishers now enjoy. Most

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Contract may be template for other freelance orchestras
Jay Blumenthal
Photo by Steve J. Sherman On Dec. 21, a tentative agreement for a new contract was reached with the management of the New York Pops. Negotiations were long and laborious, having begun last spring. Traditionally, it has been the agreement

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Karen Fisher
Musicians, beware of bad tours! Once you leave U.S. soil, all bets are off. This poster is real. It advertises a performance of the “New Kersey Phioharmonic Orchestra” in Korea. Shoddy promotion can be the least of your problems on

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802 makes good on recording contract for New School students
Todd Bryant Weeks
Twenty-four-year-old Colin Dean is an 802 member, jazz bassist, bandleader, composer, and a recent graduate of the New School’s Jazz and Contemporary Music program. And now he can add one more title to that list of accomplishments: Advocate for Fair

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Organizing Matters
Joel LeFevre
Today, the right to form a union — one of the fundamental conditions behind the economic progress that created the middle class — is being brazenly trashed. From now on if employees win their union by signing everybody up, the

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Labor Solidarity
BREAKING NEWS As Allegro went to press, the following letter had just been posted on the Web site of the Writers Guild of America, East (www.WGAeast.org), dated Jan. 23, 2008. To Our Fellow Members, We have responded favorably to the

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The Legacy of Jerry Ashby: Lessons From a Loss
Mary Landolfi
Jerry Ashby passed away on Dec. 26. He’s pictured above on French horn, along with David Finlayson (trombone), Warren Deck (tuba), Carl Sakofsky (trumpet, left) and Wilmer Wise (trumpet, right). See Wilmer Wise’s letter remembering Jerry Ashby and Jerry Ashby’s

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Recording Vice-President's Report
Bill Dennison
There is encouraging news to report regarding the Local 802 Health Benefits Fund. For the first full benefit period following the Broadway contract settlement last March, most of the members who were on the union health plan have seen a

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A Chapter in the Life of Trumpeter Hot Lips Page
Todd Bryant Weeks
Oran “Hot Lips” Page, pictured above around 1944. Page, an unsung trumpet legend, was known as “Mr. After Hours” for his ubiquitous presence at jam sessions in Harlem between 1937 and 1954. Local 802 jazz rep Todd Weeks has written

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Music & Politics
Jay Schaffner and Joel LeFevre
Arts and politics can work together. Cornell University’s Industrial Labor Relations program recently organized meetings and seminars with state legislators and aides to Gov. Spitzer about the nature, role and impact of the arts and entertainment industry. 802 Recording Supervisor

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Views from the Board
Executive Board members Ethan Fein, Andy Schwartz and Maxine Roach are in the process of attending a two-year program in union leadership from the Cornell Industrial and Labor Relations School. Below, Fein and Schwartz give their impressions of one of

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Julia Smith
In 2005, the Local 802 Executive Board contracted with the Labor Relations and Research Center at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) to survey the Local 802 membership. The aim of the survey was to assess the state of our union

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Musicians' Assistance Program
Janet Becker, LCSW, Ph.D.
Sooner or later, many adults are faced with the complex and overwhelming responsibility of caring for an elderly parent, spouse, or other close relative or friend. Unfortunately, most people are unaware of the magnitude of this challenge until there is

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Member to Member
Leo Ball
The first time I came to Las Vegas was back in the early 50’s as a member of the Xavier Cugat Orchestra. We were the hottest Latin Band in the country, and many musicians referred to us as the Latin

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Legal Corner
Harvey Mars, Esq.
When it comes to the Supreme Court, justice is often dependent upon one vote. Sometimes the swing vote will herald enlightened and progressive results. For instance, in 1937, despite strong political resistance, the Supreme Court said that the National Labor

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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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Mary Donovan
With the conclusion of 2007, Local 802 wrapped up several contracts for Off Broadway and Off Off Broadway productions. Producers for MAKE ME A SONG and FRANKENSTEIN agreed to the terms of Local 802’s Commercial Off Broadway Area Standards. (This

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Joseph Aglialoro – Saxophone Jerome Ashby – French Horn Leo Ball – Trumpet Evelyn Blakey – Vocalist Henry F. Bloch – Bass/Conductor Arthur A. Bloom – Clarinet/Copyist George J. Gaber – Drums/Conductor May K. Harrow – Piano Roger Hartman –

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December 4, 2007 -- December 18, 2007
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2007 Meeting called to order at 11:05 a.m. Present: President Landolfi, Recording Vice President Dennison, Financial Vice President Blumenthal, Executive Board members Burridge Fein, Johansen, Rizzo, Roach and Schwartz. Recording Vice President Dennison distributed the minutes of

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Single Engagement Club Dates $27/engagement ($28 1/1/08) Freelance Classical Concert $41.73/ performance* Freelance Opera and Ballet $42.38 / performance Sound Recording $22/first session of the day, $16.50 ea addl. Motion Picture and TV Film $20.34/ day TV/Radio Jingle $17 +3% of

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Crossword and Sight-Sing Challenge
SIGHT-SING CHALLENGE:“Jesus Christ Superstar” (the Broadway musical) CROSSWORD PUZZLE: Across 1- Lowers the light DIMS  5- A stupor? ACOMA  10- Well informed about UPON  14- ____ Code AREA  15- “____ In the Sky” CABIN  16- Auto parts chain NAPA  17-

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Bill Crow
Len Dobbin, up in Montreal, told me about one of the last record dates Pepper Adams did before he passed away. The date was with the Denny Christianson big band, at Montreal’s old Victor studios. Pepper, already suffering from terminal

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