Let’s Talk About Green

A panel presented by Europe Jazz Network (EJN)

How can we make the music industry work together to become more sustainable? Who will lead the way towards a greener future? In the panel session Let’s Talk About Green three seasoned speakers explored the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing environment. Read more to discover the key takeaways from drummer, composer and bandleader Guy Salamon, artist manager and booking agent Rosa Galbany, and General Manager of Europe Jazz Network (EJN) Giambattista Tofoni on sustainable touring and fair practices in the music sector. The talk centered around the first two rounds of the Green Pilot Tour, an initiative by EJN supported by Creative Europe.

EJN has been involved in the research of green initiatives since 2014, when Take the Green Train was established. This is, according to the EJN website, ‘an on-going consultative process with the jazz community to understand priorities, outline challenges, and find the opportunities in new, more environmentally sustainable ways of working.’

Giambattista Tofoni started the talk by explaining why the idea of green touring is so urgent: ‘Ecological transition is one of the most important topics within the European Commission and the next generation of the European Union after the pandemic. We started to think about these matters years ago. The question was: how can we make touring sustainable for both the artists and the promoters?’ Tofoni pointed out that, yes, EJN members organize around 40,000 concerts a year, but that becoming more sustainable is by no means the responsibility of artists or programmers alone. ‘Based on research by the European Commission, 85% of the carbon footprint is created by the audience, which means our output is 15%. Still, we believe that if we stimulate the ecosystem and the market, others will follow in our footsteps. That doesn’t stop at the environmental challenges; we also tried to put together a new approach to gender balance. We believe that if we share our best practices with the community of producers, artists, and the audience, we can change society.’

A beautiful learning experience

The Amsterdam-based Guy Salamon Group completed a Green Pilot Tour through Catalonia in March 2023, with support of inJazz and Barcelona-based music academy Taller de Músics. EJN provided extra funding, thus contributing to ‘green’ travel options and lodging. Salamon shares his experiences: ‘I can tell you for sure that it’s very cool – but also very challenging. We also used the Green Rider, a concept developed by EJN to make the preparations of touring more sustainable.’ Besides the usual pre-tour communication with venues and promoters, the eight-piece group sorted out their travel options. Flights to Barcelona were compensated with the planting of trees through Reforesta.org. Taking the train to the venues in Catalonia turned out to be unrealistic because of their location, and renting electric cars seemed to be a good second option. The band learned they were early adapters by Spanish standards, and charging became somewhat of a nightmare.

Luckily, saving on accommodation was less challenging. Salamon: ‘Hotels aren’t sustainable, so we requested an apartment in Barcelona from which we would travel to the gigs. We could cook our own food and clean up after ourselves. Another example of touring green being a challenge is that some venues still gave us water in plastic bottles despite them having received the Green Rider. We poured the water into glasses to take on stage, because we told the audience we were doing a green tour. At least we were honest about it… The tour was a beautiful learning experience for me. One of the key takeaways is the awareness of how much we take for granted when we’re usually touring.’

Sharing the knowledge

Rosa Galbany has been the head of the Internationalisation team at Taller de Músics since 2017. She shared her experiences of applying for the Green Pilot Tour of the Tal Gamlieli Quartet in late 2022. ‘It’s easier to organize a tour in venues closer to each other. I didn’t have a hard time booking Guy Salamon because I am from Catalonia. Booking Tal Gamlieli Quartet’s tour was more difficult because of the war in Europe.’ The Israel-based quartet toured three European countries by train for five weeks; not easy to organize, but it worked out. Galbany: ‘One of the other ways we made the tour more sustainable: we didn’t sell merchandise but had recycled cards with QR codes. The cards’ paper contained plant seeds, which means you could put them in the ground.’ Galbany recommended that everyone in the business share their knowledge with neighboring countries, festivals, clubs, ‘because we can help each other. For instance, you might see new talent from the countries near you, so they don’t have to travel as far. That way, you can be more sustainable in programming from the start.’

Giambattista Tofoni agreed: ‘There should be a sustainable approach from both sides, the artists, but also the promoters and the bookers.’ Green Pilot Tours are proving this point until 2024. From the Netherlands, again supported by inJazz and in cooperation with Swedish association of jazz venues Knutpunkt, the North Sea String Quartet will embark on their green tour of West Sweden this fall. The third and last call for the Green Pilot Tour is open until October 2023. Tofoni: ‘It’s a message to all EJN members; we need each other. Without you, we can’t help the environment.’

InJazz has promoted Dutch jazz and its composers on both a national and international level for years. The initiative by Buma/Stemra hosted the foremost showcase, conference, and networking event for jazz music created in the Netherlands on the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd of June, both in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Many well-known and respected composers and industry professionals participated in panel discussions and talks. Two panel sessions at inJazz 2023 were presented by Europe Jazz Network: Creative Connections and Let’s Talk About Green.

Read more on the Green Pilot Tours here.
Find the Green Rider here.

Pictures by Karen van Gilst
Text by Meike Jentjens