ON STAGE
What: Hermann鈥檚 Jazz Club鈥檚 Virtual Christmas
Where:
When: Thursday, Dec. 24, 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Dec. 25, 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Admission: Free
Hermann鈥檚 Jazz Club is something of an aberration at the moment. Not only is the longest-running jazz club in the country surviving COVID-19, thanks to an average of five livestreamed concerts each week, the View Street club is actually thriving, with more than 200 concerts in the books since March and upwards of $85,000 raised through livestream donations from viewers for its stable of musicians.
鈥淲e are rocking it,鈥� said manager Nichola Walkden. 鈥淲hen we look at other venues, and what鈥檚 being done, we鈥檙e really proud.鈥�
Hermann鈥檚 has been raising money through its online and socially-distanced YouTube concerts since March 30, the most consistent run of any live music venue in the city. To celebrate the year that was, the club is offering a free four-hour concert 鈥� featuring more than 50 artists, including Pablo Cardenas, David Vest, and Maureen Washington 鈥� for those who have supported its efforts over the past several months.
鈥淭his is, 鈥楾hank you.鈥� This is not, 鈥榃e need more,鈥� because our supporters have already given so much,鈥� Walkden said.
Donations from the upcoming concerts will go directly to national music therapy charity Music Heals, which funds programs at Mount St. Mary Hospital on Fairfield Road, among other institutions.
When the popular jazz and blues club made the switch in March from in-person events to online ones, the transition was tough; the first few livestreams were filmed on smartphones and with poor audio equipment, Walkden said. The four-hour concert, which will be broadcast at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Chrismas Eve and Christmas Day, will be evidence of how far Hermann鈥檚 has come in its production values, she added.
Her hope is that the compilation of highlights taken from the club鈥檚 livestreams in December will expose those who normally would attend a show in person, but have stayed home out of health concerns, to the programming. They might be surprised with what they encounter during a livestream, Walkden said.
鈥淵ouTube chat has just been this wonderful thing between people. As you watch it, our audience is communicating with one another. And so at Christmas for people to be able to tune in, everybody is going to be staying home but our viewers can still meet together as an audience online, see each other, and take in a show.鈥�
Hermann鈥檚 began offering 50-person concerts at its View Street location in addition to the livestreams once concerts were permitted by the provincial health authority in July. It was a boon to Hermann鈥檚 as the club began offering two in-person and two livestreams daily, to meet demand. When the provincial health authority shut down performances of any kind on Nov. 18, the livestreams continued, keeping both staff and musicians employed.
The club has received feedback from audiences across the world, pledging their support for the YouTube concerts to continue when the ban is lifted in the coming months. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a venue in a very small city that鈥檚 actually been able to grow,鈥� Walkden said.
The health of their livestream presence is certainly worth fighting for. The audience who signed on to watch some of their online shows topped 3,000 people 鈥� a number far above the club鈥檚 140-person capacity. That has given the staff and musicians the momentum needed to move forward in this difficult environment, Walkden said.
鈥淚f we are to be closed until March there鈥檚 a lot of rent to be paid. We survived the first wave. But we need to expand our audience and expand the number of people who appreciate Herman鈥檚 Jazz club.鈥�
