#IWD2024 – Lisa Buck

In addition to her role as an artist manager, Lisa Buck is the driving force behind an impressive grassroots jazz movement growing in Calgary, Canada, with aims for musicians including fair pay, sustainability and gender-balance.

When the only jazz club in the city of Calgary closed, instead of saying ‘Oh that’s too bad,’ BuckingJam Palace founder Lisa Buck “decided to light a candle rather than curse the darkness,” and opened up her home with husband Tom for a series of house concerts in 2015. Nine years on, BuckingJam Palace host a concert series, has a registered charity foundation and membership program, and recently created a documentary called “Change the Tune,” now touring film festivals worldwide. In addition, Lisa Buck’s artists’ management agency focuses on “supporting women and others from under-represented communities, including emerging artists.” 

“I am a great example of how to stumble into a career,” Lisa says. “Our son was bitten by the jazz bug in school and our house became filled with the sounds of rehearsals and jams. My husband, Tom, and I came to realise Calgary lacked the infrastructure to host touring jazz artists so we decided to hold concerts and provide musicians with accommodation. Truthfully, I knew very little about jazz in the beginning and it has been an incredibly rewarding journey learning to love the music and to connect with the gifted artists who play it.” 

“It’s easy to picture a patron of the arts as a member of a wealthy elite. The truth is that many of us have assets that we can leverage to be grass-roots supporters. In my case, it was a living room and dining room that were a reasonable size and had great acoustics—and extra bedrooms that we could offer to touring artists. At some point, you just jump in: book a concert, take cash at the door, build a mailing list one person at a time. Tom and I knew we had created something sustainable when we no longer had to buy a ticket for a concert in our own living room!”

Initially started as a concert series, BuckingJam Palace has evolved to include a foundation and advocacy group for musicians. “Artists are our culture creators and it’s weird that we value their art while being unconcerned that many cannot earn a living wage.  We established a non-profit in 2019 and were granted charitable status in 2022. This has allowed us to access grants for projects such as our documentary ‘Change The Tune’ and our animated video,’Toones.’ The idea of jazz can be intimidating—and that’s a shame because it keeps people from exploring the music. So it’s part of our approach to educate the audience we want to attract by finding creative ways to introduce people to jazz. The process of establishing the charity really helped define what BJP is all about. During a strategic planning session, our board members surprised themselves by realising that our passion had less to do with jazz and more to do with helping shape a culture where musicians are paid fairly and treated with love and respect. We have an incredibly enthusiastic community in Calgary that realises there is a direct relationship between the ticket prices we charge and our ability to pay artists properly and they are happy to be part of that effort.”

“The other advocacy work BJP does is around gender equity and diversity in music. It dawned on me one day that if I booked only the artists who were contacting me, our entire season would be white men. Representation is key: you have to “see it to be it” so we work hard to book female bandleaders and performers and support educational initiatives that encourage women.” 

“We have hit capacity in our current venue so have started a “BJP in the Wild” series where we host jazz in other spaces. Our concerts sell out and tickets are hard to get so we want to better serve the community by presenting in slightly bigger spaces and offering more concerts. That’s a challenge in Calgary: there just aren’t affordable, intimate spaces with a decent piano and good acoustics. I get a lot of requests from musicians from all genres asking to record or rehearse in our space so we’d love to have a venue we could share with the wider community. A collaborative space to host the creative energy of many artistic practices: that’s the dream.”

As well as their sold-out concert series, BJP have begun to host a variety of collaborations including JazzCamp for Girls in association with JazzDanmark, the first cooperative session of its kind in Canada, with the aim of creating confidence around improvising. “JazzDanmark has been presenting these workshops across Europe since 2014 and this was the first time they came to North America. The whole experience was amazing,” Lisa continues. “I have huge respect for JazzDanmark for funding this program to help not just their own youth, but aspiring musicians in other countries. We intend to continue this collaboration along with another annual workshop which involves the Calgary chapter of Women Band Directors International.” 

Having spoken in 2022 with LJN about The Ostara Project (link below) , Lisa reports that this “super-group of Canadian female jazz musicians is thriving. Their debut album was nominated for a JUNO in 2022 and the group undertook a cross-Canada festival tour in 2023. A tour to the Yukon and British Columbia in March 2024 includes three days in Vancouver to record an instrumental album—Roots— and a vocal album—Wings. As the band manager, I am in the midst of the joy and challenge of planning a tour to Europe for 2025.”

The documentary “Change the Tune,” about gender equality in jazz, is currently finishing the rounds of film festivals. “We are starting a push to get it into classrooms. At thirty minutes long, it is a nice length to present in a class session with time for discussion. Anyone with an interest in seeing or showing the documentary can contact me by email via our website and I will be happy to send the link,” Lisa says. 

Lisa Buck became a passionate advocate for women in music following a personal experience of gender-based harassment during the early years of their concert series. “I was concerned that speaking out could have an impact on our foundation and our ability to book musicians, but realised  if I, who had essentially nothing to lose (don’t want to play our venue because we won’t put up with predatory behaviour? NO problem) was feeling conflicted, imagine how female musicians feel whose livelihoods might be severely compromised if they speak out. So that’s part of how I see my role in the music industry: speaking up because I have nothing to lose.”

“I believe it is an exciting time to be a woman in the music industry. Finally, FINALLY we are talking about systemic barriers and creating initiatives to address them. Women are going to continue to claim the space that is rightfully theirs and that is going to benefit everyone. Because it’s not just about fairness: it’s also about quality. It’s great to have a day that celebrates women and spotlights female creativity, but I look forward to when we don’t need a day dedicated to this, when it’s a given that women’s voices are fairly represented in our culture.”

“The music industry is just better when there is a diversity of voices. One of the most powerful tools you can have is a network, so build that with people whose values and spirits resonate with your own. If you are  struggling to get a seat at the table, then build your own table and make it fabulous.”