What's been going on with the cancelled gigs? What we can tell you, and an ask for some help…
We’re sorry for the recent disruption of of cancelled events. Here’s what’s been going on…
Anthology, and Cotto and the Leigh Sawmill, all closed their doors suddenly 2 weeks ago. We don’t have much more firm information than what is in the public domain - but right now we can’t access the venue, even to get our piano out. We were aware there was an impending change in the ownership of the venue with new investors coming in, and that appears not to have happened as planned, precipitating whatever is happening now.
We’re hoping Anthology pulls through the crunch they’re obviously in… but also, we may have to find another spot. It’s all up in the air.
And this year has been tight for us. Between the weather events and un-ending rain, the cost-of-living crunch, and the uncertainty leading up to the election, things were quieter than normal all year, and we’ve run down our cash reserves a bit trying to avoid raising prices further or having to pay the bands less of what they bring in.
We’re committed to continuing our mission in 2024 and beyond. We will find the right venue, we’re sure. We hope that’s where we are - but if we have to move, we’ll have to move our piano. At least once. Possibly twice.
That means finding about $1000-$2000 on short notice - and right now our cupboard is looking pretty bare. It’s just caught us at the worst time.
So we’re asking for your help! With money. And also bright ideas/contacts. But mostly money.
How can you help? Let us count the ways…
Join or renew your membership now, for 2024.
The influx of memberships we usually get in February/March would be immensely valuable now and help get us through our immediate cashflow crunch. And you were going to renew anyway, right?
And having a committed audience helps us make a good case to any new venues we’re talking with.
Buy some merch
This is a little less direct, but still great - you can show support and build awareness by buying and wearing a tee shirt or carrying a tote bag. We make a bit of profit on these, and you get some good looking clothes, or Xmas presents for the whanau.
Donate directly
We’re not a registered charity, so you can’t claim a tax deduction, but if you’d like to support us on top of your membership (and some of you have already asked how), here’s our bank account :
CREATIVE JAZZ CLUB LIMITED
38-9020-0573421-00
Put “piano” somewhere in the reference. Every bit helps, and we will ring-fence that for the piano move/tuning.
Or you can donate via credit card here:
Share any good ideas/contacts
If you know of a great venue we might not have considered, that could work for us, we’d love to know. In an ideal world, we need to accomodate audiences of 60-120 on a Wednesday, and we would love to take our piano with us. Email us at cjc@creativejazzclub.co.nz if you know off anything.
We can’t promise an in-depth response to everything, but we promise we’ll read and consider what comes in.
If this all blows over, the extra support from the community we get now will help us with gear maintenance and perhaps some upgrades. It won’t go to waste!
We’ve got the beginnings of a great programme for next year already locked in. Watch this space, you won’t want to miss it!
And this isn’t the first time we’ve had to move. With your help and the support of the community, we’ll get through this, and we hope you’ll continue to support us and our mission for the next phase.
Nga mihi nui ki a koe!
Roger and Ben