Owner of metro Atlanta jazz club says she didn’t pay some of her musicians on time

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Some musicians who played at a metro Atlanta jazz club say it took months for them to get paid what they were supposed to.

In an exclusive interview, the owner of the Velvet Note in Alpharetta told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington she’s to blame for not paying some artists on time.

“It’s unfortunate and it’s completely my responsibility,” said Tamara Fuller, the owner of the Velvet Note.

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Fuller said the COVID-19 pandemic left her financially strained.

“It’s been difficult for small clubs, particularly jazz clubs to survive,” Fuller explained.

Billy Harper of the Billy Harper Quintet and his manager spoke with Washington from their New York City office on Thursday afternoon.

They said Harper and his bandmates played the venue in June. But said the check Fuller wrote for the performance bounced.

“When we went to cash it, it said no good,” said Harper.

They said it took constant calls to Fuller to get the full $3,000 payment to them.

“The band was actually paid in full almost two months after the show,” said manager Morana Mesic.

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“[We were] sending them digital payments until they were paid in full,” Fuller explained.

Washington spoke with several musicians and Velvet Note staff members who all said it takes weeks, sometimes months to get paid.

“It’s just the false promises of, ‘You’ll get paid, you’ll get paid by the end of the night,’ and then it’s the end of the night and she’s like, ‘Give me a couple of days,’” said one musician.

Fuller said she plans to hold a collective artist fundraiser to help pay back the artists and to keep the Velvet Note alive.

“To dig ourselves out of this situation and return to a situation where we can always pay people on time again,” Fuller explained.

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