Demo

The Lindenfeld Courier

Regulars save the Blue Lock jazz cellar

When the landlord raised the rent by 60 percent in the spring, the oldest jazz club in the city looked finished. Six months later, 1,100 members own the building together.

By

Felix Brandt

Reading time

1 minute
A black record with a red label next to ochre bars of a sound wave on blue

A cooperative of listeners

The regulars founded a cooperative in April and sold shares at 250 euros each. With a loan from a regional ethical bank, they raised the 1.4 million euros needed to buy the house on Schleusengasse in August.

Same stage, new rules

The programme stays as it was, with five concerts a week and a free jam session on Tuesdays. What changes is that members vote on the budget once a year, and musicians now get a fixed fee in addition to the door money.

We did not buy a building. We bought the right to keep playing here.

Jonah Pietsch, double bassist and chair of the cooperative

The next steps

The cellar needs a new ventilation system before next summer. The cooperative is looking for another 200 members to pay for it without a second loan.