[Ottawamusicians] OJM Co-op/Coopérative MJO

Greetings, 25 musicians have now contributed to what has been a spirited and fascinating debate about the creation of a local jazz musicians' cooperative that would either collaborate with an existing venue or operate its own venue with a music policy of jazz,in all manifestations of the art form,52 weeks of the year.The co-op would engage its members to perform,at decent rates of pay,while the members would determine direction and policies according to the principles of co-operative democracy, whereby each member gets an equal vote. At our third meeting on November 16,the leadership group of the Co-op directed me to launch serious discussions with local co-operative organizations to obtain technical help and financing to undertake preliminary studies of the viability of the co-op idea.I am to report about progress to meetings in January of the leadership group. Please contact me should you wish to obtain more information and participate in discussions about this exciting initiative which,if succesful,would help improve the economic and artistic conditions of local jazz musicians. Thank you for your time and interest. Michel Martin,singer Gatineau eq164(a)ncf.ca 819-771-9859