The annual Molde Jazz festival gets underway this week but without any big-name artists on the program. They risk drawing too many people to the small city of Molde, and have also gotten too expensive.
One of the goals of this year’s Molde Jazz, festival chief Jan Ole Otnæs told newspaper Aftenposten, is to keep tickets sales under 30,000. Any more than that can ruin the festival because, combined with all the visitors who come for the free concerts, the crowds can become too big.
Otnæs said that international stars like Paul Simon, Sting or Leonard Cohen can also overshadow the core jazz musicians playing at the festival. Plus, the big names that were available were “very expensive,” he said. “Artists aren’t earning much anymore off record sales, so they demanding more for live performances.”
“We’re a jazz festival and jazz artists will come forward better this year,” Otnæs said.
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