The Jazz of Silence
March 23 2009

To talk or not to talk. To shush or not to shush.

The Pianobabbler is producing a new jazz series at Toronto's venerable Old Mill Inn. Upscaleish. Budget to book great players. A decent grand piano, tuned. Real marketing The Old Mill has taken a long-view approach. It's committing to make this series work. Kudos.

And thank goodness. For talent, Toronto is a world-class jazz city. But for performance venues, it is hinterland-no-class. There are no committed, listening jazz rooms in the city.

So this series means a lot to the community.

Needless to say, for the series to succeed, we need audiences. Talent and its music will not, by themselves, pay bills or musicians' fees. But with the welcome support audiences bring, comes a curse: chatter. Talking. Yakking. Schmoozing.

What's a jazz producer to do?

Last Friday night, the wonderful piano/bass duo of Joe Sealy and Paul Novotny were playing. Really beautiful work. At an especially sensitive moment, one couple decides it's time to talk. And since the music was in the way, they needed to talk loudly. In turn, the staff had to take an order, forcing them to talk over the music and the voluble couple.

What is a jazz producer to do?

One patron tried to shush the couple. That did nothing but raise ire. As for the staff- if they don't do their job, the series fails.

The Pianobabbler could demand silence before each set begins. But that might alienate the non-obtrusive patrons who sit in the back and talk quietly amongst themselves. They're as valuable as the true listeners.

Yet, if the talk is allowed to continue unchecked, like a weed infestation, it will grow beyond proportion, and smother the flowers slowly blossoming in the series' jazz garden.

It has been said that customers are the worst part of any business. Everything would be so much easier without them. The mind hearkens to that cynic's view when contemplating how to eliminate jazz chatter. Just eliminate the audience!

One wag joked: "We can hang a Star of David and a Cross over the piano. Create the church / synagogue aura. Put you into a robe of some sort. Then we'll not only get some serious listening going on, we can also pass around the collection plate."

Hmmmm.

There's no easy answer. Like social order in general, the stricter a policy we enforce, the more it harms the innocent; the looser a policy we allow, the more it penalizes the upright.

As I pondered this dilemma Friday night, a friend walked in and joined the Pianobabbler at the bar. I smiled. She sat next to me. Reflexively, the Pianobabbler leaned over, asked now she was, and explained what was going on in the room that evening.

At that moment, the Pianobbabler felt the sharp prick of a pointed gaze from across the room, whose message was unspoken but obvious. Would I please shut up.

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