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ALEC CROW – RIDING THE WAVE IN ROMANBY
Alec Crow got his first taste of jazz promoting in the late-1970s when he booked Acker Bilk for a Round Table charity event. Since retiring from a career in business, he has used his flair in marketing to put on hundreds of concerts and create a lively jazz scene in a remote part of North Yorkshire. Remarkably, the Romanby Jazz and Swing Cabaret Club has come back strongly after the Lockdown and the future looks bright. Before we start, Alec, can you give me an idea of the range of your personal musical interests. Can you remember the first record you bought? That’s easily answered: my favourite type of music was Trad Jazz, my favourite band, Kenny Ball's Jazzmen and the first record was Bill Haley’s Rock Around the Clock. I must tell you, my all-time favourite tune is Frank Brooker's Happy Chappies' version of Count Basie's Jumpin' at the Woodside! When did you start promoting Jazz and why? I rediscovered live Jazz in 1996 at The Buck Inn, Thornton Watlass. After a 15-year break, I didn't realise it was still happening so I had a word with the band leader who advised me to get myself down to Boston Spa on a Saturday night to see more. I followed his advice, became a regular attender and involved myself in the Jazz Scene, going to festivals all over the country. As an avid golfer, I persuaded the local Golf Club in 2003 to allow me to put on a ‘Senior Section' Jazz Night. Aware that the most popular bands were those that were ‘entertainers’, the obvious choice at the time was Jim Wilkes’ Stompers, who I renamed for the evening the Jim Wilkes’ Showband. About 80 attended and Bedale Jazz Club was born. After 115 events at Bedale the numbers had far outstripped the size of the room, so in 2017 we moved to a larger and more palatial function suite at Romanby Golf and Country Club about 8 miles away. Tell me about this current venue and the part it plays in your success? What sort of numbers do you achieve? Our venue is something special and embraces and creates the perfect Cabaret atmosphere with dimming lighting, electric ‘candle-lit’ tables and red velvet stage backing - together with great support from the management team. The last event pre-Covid was on 6th March, 2020 at which point our attendances were averaging 125. We restarted in July 2021 and in October 2021 introduced Lunchtime Sessions which have been a great success showing a monthly average of around 80, whilst we are still maintaining a viable monthly average of around 100 for our Evening Events. Presumably your background in sales and marketing have enabled you to promote Jazz to maximum effect? Tell me about the marketing work that goes into it and the value of a good website? Our marketing team works very hard at promoting our venue and all events. Each of our 360 members receives a marketing email about 10 days prior to an event, also giving details of the next 3 events. This information is repeated in leaflets available on the tables at each event. All bands' websites and video performances are shown on our website: http://www.romanby.com/jazz Our clientele book via our website prior to the event and send a bacs payment to our account or a cheque to one of our committee. Their table is then reserved in an area of the auditorium of their choice. You obviously book bands that cover a wide range of Jazz, Swing and related music. How important is band selection and achieving this variety? Our main consideration in band selection is that they both entertain and appeal to the 60-85-year-old age range. We are clearly getting it right because we celebrated in style our 200th event in August with Jeff Hooper's Swing Band. Coming up in the rest of the year are tried and tested favourites like the Ralph Allin Quartet, The Jive Aces, Carl Sinclair, Dominic Halpin and the Honey Bees. How big a factor is the entrance fee? We believe our events are correctly priced and represent great value for money. All Lunchtime Events are priced at £15 which includes a quality buffet lunch - and ticket prices for Evening Events can vary from £20 - £27, which includes a light supper served to the table by smartly dressed waitresses. People expect quality and we give it. Give us a flavour of those hairy moments - that all promoters talk about - when bands for one reason or another are delayed or fail to turn up. I am pleased to say I’ve personally only suffered three hairy moments over the years. Kenny Ball's Jazzmen broke down on the way to gig in the 1970s but they managed to scramble on the stage five minutes before a 10pm cabaret spot at a charity event I was organising with 700 attending! The snows fell on Devon the night before a Hot Banana gig, in February 2009, and closed the M5 so only one band member could get through. Thankfully, he managed to recruit four musicians from Manchester and the gig went ahead. Four members of Peter Frank's Allstars crashed on the A1, in Jan 2015, but we recruited a banjo player from Leeds and the gig went ahead albeit as a 4-piece, only delayed by half an hour. So, for you, the immediate future of live Jazz and Jazz-influenced music is secure? Unlike some promoters, you remain optimistic? Based on what we are achieving, I have every reason to be optimistic for the future. The next really big night after the 200th celebration will be our 20th-Year Anniversary concert with The London Swing Orchestra, on Friday, April 14th 2023. You see, we are already planning for next year! Andrew Liddle |