I am skeptical about corporate sponsorship--for one thing, it tends to go for artists that satisfy the image requirements of the promotions department of the corporation that fronts the money--

There was an interesting promotion connected with the Kool Jazz Festivals that tells the story--the slogan was. "There's only one way to play it, Kool"

Of course, the whole point of jazz is that every artist has his or her own way of playing--but as far as the cigarette company was concerned, they paid the money, and they were going to decide how it was going to be--

The problem with this arrangement is that the decisions area made by people who have no real concern about music--they could just as easily dump the whole thing and go for a "Free travel coupons" promotion--

They want to be able to buy something that is a promotional package, use it for thirteen weeks, and move on to the Fall promotion--

Another thing about commercial sponsorships, they want the entertainment to appeal to their middle American target market--forget anything avant-garde, and especially anything traditional--