ALL JAZZED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO

Founder of A Safe Place to Play, Mario Guarneri, center, sits by the entrance to the practce zone. Behind him, from lef to right, are Joe Warner on piano, Aidan McCarthy on bass, Genius Wesley on drums, James Mahone on saxophone and Mike Olmos on trumpet. (Emily Trinh/Etc Magazine)

ALL JAZZED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO

Jazz cannot be created on Zoom. Mario Guarneri knows this. Carrying his black trumpet case, Guarneri walks past a loading dock, through two heavy metal doors and into a large warehouse where a jazz band is rehearsing. Neighborhood “Do you have your horn? Do you want to call the next tune?” asks Nancy Wright, a San Francisco-based jazz musician, stand- organizationing with her saxophone in hand. Positioned six feet apart from the others, Guarneri grabs his horn, and they all start to play. provides a safe It seems like a normal practice session, uid and relaxed. Not what one would expect during a pandemic. place for musicians ey are playing in a space that Guarneri created called “A Safe Place to Play,” and that is exactly what it is — a free rehearsal space for up to eight musicians to play music with established to practice COVID-19 safety procedures. A Safe Place to Play is across the Bay Bridge in West Oakland, within the Paul Dresher Ensemble’s studio, an industrial building Story by Megan Ogle Illustration by Bobby Ramirez

on a warehouse-lined street.

When shelter-in-place began suddenly in March, the music industry ground to a halt. Musicians could no longer play gigs and retreated to their homes as performance opportunities disappeared. ey were le to gure out other ways to support themselves. Guarneri recognized that it would be really important for musicians to have a safe space to collaborate in person during the pandemic.

Professor of Latin American, Caribbean and jazz music at City College of San Francisco, Rebeca MauleonSantana agrees. “Many of my colleagues are creating outdoor concerts in public spaces, garages, sports elds and public parks,” she says.

While playing outdoors has become more common, it presents its own set Joe Warner’s fngers fy on the piano keys during a socially distanced jam session at A Safe Place to Play in of challenges for particular performers the Paul Dresher Studio’s Ensemble room. (Emily Trinh/Etc Magazine) according to Mauleon-Santana. “Horns have turned to one-on-one music lessons would allow artists to still be able to come and vocals are essentially taboo instru- through Zoom and other conferencing together. He understands this is an acute ments right now,” she says, referring to platforms to replace lost income. need for jazz musicians. “One of the main possible increased exposure to COVID- While these are good options, none things that is di erent for jazz players 19 caused when a person heavily exhales address the need for collaboration and especially, and for any improvisational while blowing a horn or singing. improvisation that some genres, jazz in groups, is that we need to be with other Mauleon-Santana knows musicians who started to produce and release sinparticular, require. A professional trumpet player and an people to create our music. Our music is built on the interaction,” says Guarneri. gles, others who created DJ sets and live activist himself, Guarneri knew that if he “It’s very hard to interact when you solo concerts on social media. Some could gure out a way to rent a space, it don’t have the body language and the call and response and eye contact,” says Mauleon-Santana. Guarneri had an idea. He used his existing nonpro ts to make it work. Eight years ago he started an organization, Jazz in the Neighborhood, to advocate for fair wages for Bay Area jazz and blues musicians. Jazz in the Neighborhood works with local venues to guarantee musicians’ compensation regardless of ticket sales. When venues cannot cover the full cost, Jazz in the Neighborhood supplements the di erence with funding mostly obtained through donations and grants. ey count on the generosity of supporters. Just prior to the pandemic, Guarneri started another nonpro t, the Independent Musicians Alliance, a guild organization designed speci cally for jazz musicians. e organization helps them develop skills, market, organize and advocate for themselves as musicians. Genius Wesley plays the drums during a socially distanced jam session at A Safe Place to Play in the Paul While Jazz in the Neighborhood focuses Dresher Ensemble’s studio room. (Emily Trinh/Etc Magazine) on public performance, the Independent

Musicians Alliance is an organization for the musicians. rough his nonpro ts, Guarneri advo-

“I think the main idea right now is to keep everybody’s spirits alive with the idea that we can get back to playing.” — Mario Guarneri

cates for people without a safety net. He helps musicians unite and make a liveable wage. e conditions for jazz musicians preCOVID-19 were less than ideal, but their immediate needs shi ed once the pandemic hit. Artists o en had to supplement their careers with a second or third job. In a survey conducted by Jazz in the Neighborhood, it was revealed that a musician typically takes home $95 for a three- to four-hour performance.

Rather than o ering a guaranteed fair wage to musicians, some venues provided musicians with a portion of pro t made from a cover charge at the door and allowed musicians to collect tips. O en, musicians ended up making less than minimum wage. Guarneri created the Guaranteed Fair Wage Fund which ensures musicians make $150 per person per gig, but now with venues closed, there are no more gigs.

In April, Guarneri’s two organizations sent out $30,000 of relief aid in the form of grants to local jazz musicians, but they needed more than just money. Jazz musicians needed a place to play together and thus, A Safe Place to Play was conceived.

With funding from Jazz in the Neighborhood, Guarneri’s newer organization, the Independent Musicians Alliance started renting a space from Paul Dresher, a multidisciplinary composer who creates chamber music as well as music for theater, contemporary opera, orchestras and dance performances. e Paul Dresher Ensemble has been in the Oakland warehouse space for 31 years. Before COVID-19, Dresher’s studio was a resource for contemporary musicians.

James Mahone plays the saxophone during a socially distanced jam session at at A Safe Place to Play in the Paul Dresher Ensemble’s studio room. (Emily Trinh/Etc Magazine) Dresher rented the warehouse for every- spread out comfortably and maintain a thing from live musical theater perfor- distance of six feet. mances to practice space. While most musicians bring their own

To make the practice area COVID-19 instruments, there is a drum set, grand compliant, Guarneri and the Paul Dresher studio designed a safety protocol which anyone using the space is required to follow. Upon entering, there is a rectangular pedestal with hand sanitizer, gloves piano, speakers and guitar and bass ampli ers set up for musicians to use. ere are three large plexi-glass shields for vocalists, brass, and wind players to and masks. Everyone must be masked use if they choose. at all times unless they are actively playing As soon as musicians pack up, Gabe a wind or brass instrument. e Lee, the marketing and media coordispace is large enough for musicians to nator for Jazz in the Neighborhood and

Independent Musicians Alliance, grabs the nearest bottle of sanitizer and gets to work disinfecting all chairs, keyboards, music stands, drum thrones and any other surfaces that may have been touched. Regarding the protocol, Gabe mentions that he is “trying to sanitize everything that was touched whether I saw it get touched or not … I’m trying to be as cautious as I can.” e studio ventilation system is constantly operating unless recording is in session. Between each rehearsal a highcapacity ceiling fan runs for a minimum of ve minutes to cycle fresh air through the studio.

Guarneri hopes more spaces like A Safe Place to Play will pop up around the Bay Area. If the pandemic starts to wane, he wants to eventually host small audiences in A Safe Place to Play. “I think the main idea right now is to keep everybody’s spirits alive with the idea that we can get back to playing,” says Guarneri.

As San Francisco anticipates reopening, the city is making an e ort to create avenues for live music. At the end of September, Mayor London Breed announced the Just Add Music permit which would allow musicians and other performers to play in speci c shared outdoor locations like sidewalks, parking lanes and closed o streets. e permit o ers a safe way for businesses to book a variety of live performances, with the exception of singing or playing wind and brass instruments.

While this was a step in the right direction, indoor performance spaces have no projected reopening date. As the cold weather approaches and cases are on the rise, there may be even fewer opportunities for live music going forward. Guarneri hopes that when musicians are able to play again for an audience they will be able to return to a more sustainable business model in which musicians make a livable wage. “We don’t want to go back to the same thing we were doing before. We actually want to go back and do something better,” says Guarneri.

Back at A Safe Place to Play, Guarneri and the other musicians nish their last song. ey smile as they put on their masks and pack up their instruments. e hum of the ventilation system kicks in. Lee sanitizMario Guarneri covers the mouth of his trumpet with a trumpet mask, without which he’d be unable to perform es everything le behind to prepare for the in public due to COVID-19 restrictons. next group. (Kevin Kelleher/Etc Magazine)

From lef to right, Warner, McCarthy, Wesley, Mahone and Olmos play. A sanitzing staton sits in the practce space, botom lef. (Emily Trinh/Etc Magazine)