Re: Financially troubled jazz club at crossroads, by Dennis Slater, Sept 03-09, 2009.

Re: Daniel Molino's letter, Sept 10-17, 2009.

As the owners of Beat Niq Jazz Club and Bistro Piq Niq, I read Daniel Molino's letter in last week's Fast Forward Weekly with great interest. We certainly appreciate any feedback from Calgarians and I have been transparent with anyone who has asked about our current situation.

Any business, be it big or small, makes decisions that aren't always successful — this is the nature of any business. Have we made mistakes in the past — possibly. But we have always had the best interests of our clients and musicians in mind when making these decisions. Over the last 14 years we have paid close to $1.2 million in artist fees and have helped nurture the musical community. You only have to look at the support we've received from these musicians when we launched our membership drive this past month to see this.

Never have we asked musicians to waive their fees; in fact we keep a standard minimum that is much higher than any other live music venue in downtown Calgary. We were not asking for donations — we were selling memberships that give privileges to members that far outweigh the cost.

I am delighted to report that after the outpouring of support from the public and from the loyal community of musicians, we have come very close to reaching our targets and we look forward to a continued commitment from both our clients and the arts community. In return for this support we are committed to helping the arts community in any way we can.

Rob and Connie Young,

Owners, Beat Niq Jazz and Social Club