[NewMusic] Jazzgalerie

[Jon Raskin]

				This was mentioned on the list a month or so ago but the Austrian court has made a ruling which went against Hans Falb.
Hans Falb has run the Jazzgalerie in Nickelsdorf Austria which is right
outside of Vienna for 30 years.  The government is accusing Hans
of running his establishment - which has championed improvised music
and musicians from all over the world - solely for his own personal
enrichment, thus charging him for years of back taxes.  Having just played there, the idea that he is getting rich off of this support is absurd.
This venue and festival has been a
vital supporter of creative music and a haven for musicians where they
could hang for a couple of days or weeks in some cases.   


			

			
			
		
		
		

(At the very end of these memos are email addresses - please try to
take the time to write an short letter in support of the jazzgalerie:
this place has been so supportive of improvised music and musicians for
so long that they really need a little help in return right now)



here is a letter he is circulating: 

THE FUTURE IS UNCERTAIN 

at the moment jazzgalerie nickelsdorf is in big trouble. it may not be possible to 

continue its work providing a home for and promoting contemporary improvised 

music, electronica, noise, underground, a lot of different folks are worrying about the 

present situation in nickelsdorf, which is characterised by serious financial problems 

because of old and current obligations, administrative concerns like taxes, social 

insurances, the wages for the workers, payments to the ministry of finance, bank 

interests, etc. now the nickelsdorf case is at court, the decision will come in the next 

days. because of this precarious circumstances the restaurant is close to the edge 

of being closed. the worst case scenario is that they will shut everything down and 

that could mean that they not even allow me to stay in my own house. 

i am very happy and proud to give a place and home to many fantastic musicians 

from all over the globe and a gallery for artists, troubadours, passengers, friends in 

troubles, etc. some people might think i am chaotic – but i would like to be called 

chaotic with a purpose. i never will or can think of my work as bureaucratic, you 

need a lot of craziness to do what i have done for more than 30 years. sun ra once 

stated that "space jobs don’t pay any money" – i agree and still i want to go on. 

t 

his has become more and more difficult during the past years, because subsidies 

from the regional and national authorities were missing. therefore i am asking for 

solidarity actions from friends who would like to see me continue my work and find a 

way to keep the annual festival and concerts alive for 2008 and beyond. 

a first step to help the jazzgalerie is to send e-mails to austrian institutions, persons 

and organisations which are dealing with cultural agendas in order to make them 

aware of the fact that this place has international reputation and relevance. please 

use the inserted addresses and take your time to comment the work of the 

jazzgalerie. 

for those who are in a position to support the jazzgalerie financially there will be a 

special account. people who are interested in transferring money can ask for this 

number directly or wait for further information. 

the whole financial crisis is like a gordian knot. not even for myself it is possible to 

draw a line between the private hans falb, the club, and the restaurant. 

the private hans falb was sued by the akm (in other countries known as buma, 

stemra, gema, ascap, sai, etc.) for unpaid fees. i was sentenced to 3 months of 

prison suspended for a period of 3 years. i tried to reach a consensus on this matter 

but was unsuccessful, so the same sentence was repeated this october. actually, i 

have been working illegally for the past 3 years and still would be for the next 3 

years whenever i organise concerts at the jazzgalerie. i am not allowed to turn a 

record player on, or play music on vinyl. in terms of the court i do this work for my 

own private enrichment. i must be a millionaire by now, mustn’t i? it was eric dolphy 

who said: when the music is gone in the air you can never capture it again, it is gone 

forever. 

please reply with all your questions and helping advices 

hans falb, december 16, 2007 



and info about an auction to help: 

a benefit auction to support the continuation of jazzgalerie nickelsdorf was held at the instigation 

of "Kultur in Nöten"(culture in trouble) on december 16. the auction items were generously 

donated by artists who are friends of jazzgalerie nickelsdorf; some of these works may still be 

purchased online until january 15, 2008. 



for further details please check: 

http://www.hans-paul-limbeck.info/auktion/auktion.htm 



you may also view the works in person at vereinskulturhaus, lindenstrasse 1a, 2425 nickelsdorf 

(80 metres from jazzgalerie). 



for further information about the auction please contact: jazzgalerie at konfrontationen.at 



the cut-off time and date for accepting bids will be january 15, 2008, 5:00 pm, at that time the 

artwork will become the property of the highest bidder. 



all bids will be handled confidentially. 



i, hans falb, warrant that the proceeds of the auction will be solely used for securing the 

continuation of jazzgalerie nickelsdorf and the konfrontationen festival, which has taken place for 

28 years. 



hans falb 

hans-paul limbeck 

harald michlits 



email addresses if you can take the time to offer support: 

province of Burgenland 

---------------------- 

hans.niessl at bgld.gv.at, helmut.bieler at bgld.gv.at, josef.tiefenbach at bgld.gv.at, margarethe.grass at bgld.gv.at, office at forschungsgesellschaft.at, vbw at volksbildungswerk-bgld.at, claudia.schmied at bmukk.gv.at, hildegard.siess at bmukk.gv.at, 

andrea.ecker at bmukk.gv.at, gabriele.kreidl-kala at bmukk.gv.at 



cultural organisations Burgenland 

--------------------------------- 

office at forschungsgesellschaft.at, vbw at volksbildungswerk-bgld.at 



federal government Austria 

-------------------------- 

claudia.schmied at bmukk.gv.at, hildegard.siess at bmukk.gv.at 

andrea.ecker at bmukk.gv.at, gabriele.kreidl-kala at bmukk.gv.at 



EC representative Burgenland 

---------------------------- 

cprets at europarl.eu.int
 
Jon Raskin