EDIT ORIA L
Imagine the following: The telephone rings at 6:30 in the morning and a guy from Minnesota is on the line, trying to book a table at Porgy for New Years Eve 1999. To avoid such a scenario from actually happening, we would like to officially announce that the Club will be closed for the evening on 31 December 1999. We ask for your understanding.

You may have noticed that for some time now we have been inviting guest writers to contribute to the Monthly Program. This month, as in the past few, Klaus Peham has contributed texts, as has Ljubisa Tosic, who is writing for us for the first time. In principle, the list of guest commentators will change every month. Including guest commentaries has several advantages: On the one hand, this helps to remove our blinders and places us in a more objective frame of reference; on the other, outside critics present new and welcome vantage points vis-a-vis the club and the musicians appearing here. Furthermore, since writers always complain about the lack of available outlets for self-expression in their own medium, here at least they will be given the chance to speak their minds.

In addition, we are currently working on a global monthly program of jazz events (in the widest sense). The calendar is quite modest for this month, but practically every single events' organizer has been contacted and the majority have expressed interest in being represented, although at present, many do not feel they have suitable concerts for our listing or prefer to wait and see how the calendar will develop. (Scepticism runs high, as we all know, in the jazz field.) With time, we hope everyone will understand that this project is meant to provide a service and that it has no ulterior political or cultural motives.

As for the music: Who could possibly offer a better kick-off for the New Year than Sir Karl Ratzer? Hardly anyone and that's why he's been invited to provide the jazz follow-up to our 1997 New Year's Concert.

Moving on to this month's Portrait, since Linda Sharrock's original profession was in the fine arts, this month she will be featured both musically and as a visual artist. The opening of the exhibit, in which she will present some of her photos and paintings, will be on 5 January at 19:00. After hearing the concerts in this Portrait series, you will have a chance to attend the first GuitarNightLine, which will serve only as a sort of a preview since the series will only really begin in February, with a concert by Alex Machacek & Co. As the evenings wear on, lovely voices at the Midnight Hour will exert an irresistable charm on our audiences. These late-night concerts, which begin at 24:00, will feature Melanie Bong (in December), followed by Cornelia Giese, Monika Trotz and Anna Lauvergnac.

This month, the spotlight will fall more than once on the guitarist Frank Schwinn: First, in the series "A Focus On", with the violonist Andy Schreiber, a.o., in which F.S. will assume the role of a cautious bandleader. Next, he will lead the Jimi Hendrix Songbook Session, at which time he will be able to display his virtuosity as a soloist. And finally, in two NightLines, he will reveal his sensitivity as an accompanist.

Once again, Renald Deppe's resurrected Unstolen Moments (a.o. with Yuko Gulda, Riders Digest, Christoph Herndler and a full Salon Orchestra), will serve up contemporary/un-serious music which stands in contrast to the serious/up-to-date musical approach practiced by Messrs. Grndler/Herbert/Klammer/Koch/Schtz/Studer/Hautzinger/Manndorff/Reisinger/Hub er/Schreiber/Kratzig. (mea culpa: the last gentleman is actually a lady). Top notch American musicians -- such as Graham Haynes, Peter Erskine, Enrico Rava (mea culpa again: Rava isactually Italian, but a top-notch musician nonetheless) -- will also be coming with their top-notch American bands. Also on the bill are Steve Grossman and David Gilmore (no relation to Pink Floyd). Equally prominent are this month's home-grown bands -- such as Deepend, Bruckners Unlimited, Hankin`, Criss Cross, Terra Firma, etc.etc.etc.

All in all, we hope you agree that this program is pluralistic enough, stylistically, for everyone! In any case, we wish you (and ourselves) a month full of excitement. Renald Deppe, Christoph Huber and mathias regg PS: To conclude, a few statistics: As of 14.12, we have held 274 concerts (in 1996), not counting the NightLine. Exactly 23,930 paying customers visited P&B over this period, which works out to an average of 87 per concert. It is safe to assume that 25,000 people will have visited P&B by the end of 1996. Many thanks.

PORGY & BESS, SPIEGELGASSE 2, 1010 WIEN, TEL: 512 84 38