OpenLetter

Open Letter No. 1

Can Vienna be the Headquarters of the International Jazz Federation again?

The Constitutional Congress of the IJF held in March 1969 in Venice, Italy elected Vienna, Austria as its seat and the English edition of magazine (published in Warsaw, Poland) as the official mouthpiece of the organization.

As Secretary General and head of the organization I had the privilege of running the IJF office in Vienna from January 1972 to May 1979.

In May, 1977 I went to New York City to establish the IJF’s Branch Office in America. Located at the Ed Sullivan Theater Building on Broadway and 53rd Street, IJF was incorporated with John Lewis as president, and Willis Conover and John Hammons as vice-presidents of the Board.

Its membership list swelled to include dozens of prominent musicians, such as Dave Brubeck, Benny Carter, Reggie Workman, Dave Liebman, Paul Blay, Howard McGhee, Andrew White, Dorothy Donegan, Andrew Cyrille, Harold Ousley, Illinois Jacquet, Helen Merrill, Maurice Waller, Lou Donaldson, Leon Thomas, Lucky Thompson, Gene Perla, and Ted Curson to name just a few.

After a successful and promising start though, disaster came from an unexpected, but not altogether uncommon place - The Communist Authorities in Warsaw, Poland. They refused to renew my passport in New York, making it impossible for me to travel to Europe to attend IJF Board Meetings and later, the General Assembly in Yugoslavia in 1999. Absent, I could not be re-elected as Secretary General. Soon after, without so much as a reason or explanation I lost my post as Editor-in-Chief of , which I founded in Warsaw in 1966.

The IJF with a new Board became a different organization. The headquarters moved from Vienna to Denmark, to London. Activity diminished, coming finally to a standstill.

Now, in 2006 everything has changed. What was difficult and impossible then is now alive and possible.

There is the European Union, the Internet and Open Market. Yet for the jazz artists, problems remain much the same as thirty years ago. They need a large AUDIENCE and direct access to the jazz industry.

Taking into consideration new realities, the following question is alive and open to all interested in the international jazz scene:

Can Vienna, whose government now holds the EU presidency, again be the headquarters of the International Jazz Federation?

Is it possible to find jazz individuals interested in the recreation of such an organization?

I believe it is and would be a complement to the common policies across the EU.

I invite all to share their comments on the project. The results will be distributed in the next IJF Newsletter.

I wish you every success in 2006.

Jan Byrczek
JazzWorldDatabase.com