Here are the most recent publications and other work reported by the extremely active members of the Jazz Journalists Association. We never sleep!
Nancy Barell‘s 190th Edition of “Jazz Spotlight On Sinatra ” is airing now. We are doing very well attracting new listeners daily after being on the air for 6 1/2 years. The program is ranked 25 out of over 4oo jazz stations on Live365.com Frank Sinatra is featured along with jazz singers and instrumentalists who have recorded the great standards and some originals in a theme music environment.
Jane Ira Bloom and her Wingwalker project perform at the Cornelia St.Café in the West Village in NYC on Sun, Sept 2nd at 8:30pm. Jane is joined by long-time bandmates Dawn Clement on piano, Mark Helias on bass and Bobby Previte on drums.
Philip Booth recently profiled Stanley Clarke for Bass Player magazine, and did concert reviews on the Montreal Jazz Fest, Suwannee Springfest, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, and Gregg Allman for Relix magazine. He continues to review CDs for JazzTimes, Jazziz, and Relix, blog at Between the Grooves and Tweet @pboothmusic. He also plays upright and electric bass for the bands Acme Jazz Garage and Trio Vibe, frequently seen playing Tampa Bay area festivals, nightclubs and restaurants.
Suzanne Cloud will be reporting on the Jazz Town Meeting on July 31st at the Philadelphia Clef Club sponsored by the newly formed Philadelphia Jazz Coalition in her “Philly Jazz Journal” at the JazzTimes web site.
Sharonne Cohen covered the Montreal International Jazz Festival for JazzTimes, and published reviews of the Elio Villafranca/Arturo Stable recording Dos y Mas and Andy Statman’s Old Brooklyn. Sharonne also caught FELA! — a musical production inspired by the life and music of legendary Nigerian musician and political activist Fela Kuti — and wrote about for DownBeat.
Michele Drayton interviewed drummer Winard Harper about his engagements on the big stage, as well as a small one in a neighborhood lounge in Jersey City, on WHPK radio (Chicago) in July.
John Fenton of Auckland, New Zealand, has been busy since hosting the first JJA Awards satellite party. The JJA Awards and local jazz hero Roger Manins were highlighted on NZ national radio (and TV). In consequence he has received additional review work . His ‘Jazz Local 32‘ blog has been active in videoing, photographing and recording the activities of the Auckland Jazz scene. JJA News published his article on ‘Sharing Jazz Across Oceans, JJA style’.
J. Scott Fugate is serving as the new jazz writer for Artsatl.com, is producing weekly video content for BestofAtlantaConcerts.com, and likewise produces weekly jazz radio podcast for Soulandjazz.com.
Andrew Gilbert profiled Jenny Scheinman for JazzTimes, covers Etienne Charles, Darol Anger and the Furies, and Joey DeFrancesco/Larry Coryell/Jimmy Cobb for the San Jose Mercury News, and reviews Tin Hat’s new CD The Rain Is A Handsome Animal for KQED’s “California Report.”
Steve Griggs wrote a preview of Seattle’s North City Jazz Walk for Earshot Jazz. He also created mash-ups from sampling Cannonball Adderley, Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, and McCoy Tyner.
Marcia Hillman has written liner notes for Lenore Raphael/Howard Alden’s CD “Loverly” released last month and has just finished writing the liner for LaVerne Butler’s album “Love Lost and Found Again” slated for release in September.
Thomas Jacobsen spent the month of July moving from Uptown to Mid-City New Orleans. There was time for little else, apart from attending the celebration at Sweet Lorraine’s for late “Uncle Lionel” Batiste and the 101st (!) birthday party for Lionel Ferbos at the Palm Court Jazz Cafe. Still much to do in getting new digs habitable, but looking forward to having some time for the annual Satchmo SummerFest (August 3-5).
Matthew Kassel went to Montreal in early July to meet with Canadian pianist Oliver Jones, of whom he published a profile on NPR’s “A Blog Supreme.” He wrote CD reviews of the Hot Club of Detroit for The New York City Jazz Record, and another, for The Forward, of pianist Joe Alterman. He also wrote a performance review of the first installment of Ecstatic Summer, part of the River to River Festival, in New York.
Howard Mandel‘s article on the James Blood Ulmer-David Murray Big Blues Band was published in DownBeat, and he covered the Newport Jazz Festival for CityArts-New York, also writing liner notes for composer-drummer Doug Hammond’s 13th record release, Rose, and a piece on the album John Coltrane-Johnny Hartman for the UK-based online publication The Rake.
Frances Miano has added a post on bassist Boris Koslov to his blog at http://www.jazzsaints.blogspot.com/.
Steve Monroe‘s July “Jazz Avenues” for the Mid-City DC edition of capitalcommunitynews.com featured a review of the final days of the DC Jazz Festival, including Paul Carr’s Jazz Academy Youth Orchestra, Elijah Balbed, Lenny Robinson and Marc Cary’s Cosmic Indigenous playing at CapitalBop.com’s MegaFest. Monroe also reviewed the Joe Chambers Moving Pictures Orchestra performance at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, and blogged on D.C. performances in July by Donvonte McCoy, Romain Collin and Mashall Keys.
Tony Mottola and Mitchell Seidel, along with co-editor/art director Linda Lobdell, received a 2011 First-Place “Excellence in Journalism” award from the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for their work producing Jersey Jazz, the monthly journal of the New Jersey Jazz Society. Now in its 40th year of publication the journal was lauded by NJCSPJ judging panel as “a quality newsletter with special attention paid to design, writing and variety.”
Patricia Myers of Scottsdale, AZ, is in Paris for her 15th consecutive summer to review the abundant jazz scene for AllAboutJazz.com. She again was a guest speaker for Paris Soirees, a weekly arts salon, on the topic “Jazz Goes to the Movies,” illustrated by CD tracks. Her previous summer talk-topics have included “Jazz and the French Connection” and “Four Great Ladies of Jazz.”
Leslie Pintchik wrote the liner notes for Bruce Barth’s new CD Three Things of Beauty, recently released on the Savant record label.
Carol Sudhalter has been chosen as a nominee for best international jazz musician in the flute category of Down Beat Magazine’s 77th Jazz Readers’ Poll. Carol toured Italy and UK for six weeks in June and July, playing clubs, festivals and piazzas with local bands in Lombardy, Piemonte, Lazio, London, Birmingham, Coventry, Devon, and finally 5 nights in Sardinia.
Lars Westin has just completed his weekly “Summertime” radio series (for Swedish National Broadcasting) for 2012; this show has run each summer since 2000. This fall he will continue his “Jazz Archive” series of programs with music and interviews from the vaults of the same Swedish Radio Company. He has, in collaboration with researcher and writer Martin Westin, completed over 100 biographies on deceased Swedish jazz musicians for the website of jazz mag Orkester Journalen.
Joyce M. Wilson will be attending upcoming Jazz Festivals starting with the San Jose Jazz Festival and will share some of the highlight of the events.
Use our JJA Member Directories to find JJA members qualified to contribute to your publication or production or to assist you with your jazz-related project. The directories can be searched by name, area of expertise and geographic location.
If you are a JJA Member and want your update to be included in next month’s roundup, send it to membernews@jazzjournalists.org by September 1, 2012.
If you aren’t a JJA Member yet, consider joining us. Membership is open to both Professional Journalists (writers, bloggers, photographers, videographers, web producers and others who cover jazz) and Industry Associates (musicians, educators, presenters, promoters and others who work in the industry and support our work.)
