Pepper Adams Society?

© Gary Carner. Copyright Protected. All rights reserved.

Does anybody think that establishing a Pepper Adams Society is a good idea? I'm trying to democratize work on Pepper. There's only so much I can bring to the table. My forthcoming Pepper Adams anthology is one such attempt to present differing viewpoints.

Does anyone have experience with The Duke Ellington Society or other groups, even outside of jazz? I've looked at some of the Duke Ellington Society monthly mailings and I know that they've had monthly meetings, summarized in their mailings, in which members get together to listen to recordings of, say, a member's handful of favorites of a particular Ellington musician. It helps that a number of Ellington devotees live in New York but the same could go for Pepper. It used to be that once a year TDES has a conference, either in the US or Europe. Papers are presented and concerts are given. I think it also includes the attendent vendors--books, CDs, etc--that you'd expect.

With Skype and video teleconferencing, maybe travel isn't as imperative? Maybe a virtual meeting could take place quarterly where members could tune in on their computers? What would be the mission of the Pepper Adams Society? What would dues be used to accomplish? Establishing a non-profit takes an attorney and a considerable amount of paperwork. A Pepper Adams Society sounds good in theory, but do enough people care?