About 20 jazz journalists and friends gathered for breakfast on Sunday, September 18th, the last day of the 54th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival. This annual gathering, organized by Bay Area photographer Stuart Brinin and writer Bill Minor (both lapsed JJA members), was a chance to socialize and to compare notes on the festival performances.
JJA member-in-good-standing Patrick Jarenwattananon of NPR’s A Blog Supreme was there, webstreaming from the “Jazz Club” all weekend. Pamela Espeland, a Minneapolis-based JJA member, was there to write copy for the blog. Beth Peerless, the entertainment writer for the Monterey Herald, was there celebrating her birthday. Other Bay Area folks included photographer James Knox and journalist Yoshi Kato. Author Scott Yanow came up from Los Angeles with his fiancé and Dan Oulette, who did the public Monterey Downbeat Blindfold test with Donny McCaslin, flew in from NYC. Seattle Time jazz critic Paul DeBarros, was there, too, and put in a plug for hosting a satellite party for the JJA Jazz Awards.
This reporter flew in from Tucson to interview record producer Orrin Keepnews onstage at the fest, and as JJA vice-president made a pitch for membership. The breakfast at the Melting Pot, near the festival’s main gate, was delicious but the best part was that Downbeat’s Frank Alkyer 
picked up the tab for all!
