The Twin Cities arts community, and beyond, lost one its most ardent supporters and promoters with the unexpected passing of journalist Pamela Espeland, who died of a stroke on September 26, at age 70.
“Pamela not only loved the arts, she loved the people who created that art, and was as invested in their human stories as she was in the stories they told through their work.” –Actor and Artistic Director Sara Marsh.
A longtime member of JJA, Pamela expanded her career in general editing to jazz journalism with the launch of the Jazz Police e-zine in 2004, quickly expanding her scope beyond the Twin Cities, and later beyond jazz, covering the greater arts scene. Bebop, theater, ballet, visual arts — Pamela wrote engaging previews, reviews and especially interviews from the perspective of an informed consumer, free of the jargon of many “arts critics” and in a style that both informed the reader and created the future audience. Pamela’s writings not only put readers in the audience figuratively — her words propelled us to go to the next performance.
Among her exhaustive resume of activities in recent years, Pamela wrote over 1700 columns for MinnPost’s Artscape (a widely read Twin Cities online newspaper). She also was a frequent freelance contributor to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, in the form of interviews that promoted an upcoming jazz event. Her most recent published interview was a stellar article about husband/wife composing team of JC Sanford and Asuka Kakitani. She was at work on an interview with Dave King. Her jazz credits also included a number of years editing the program for the Monterey Jazz Festival and, of course, her contributions to the early years of Jazz Police.com.
I first met Pamela in the Twin Cities about 17 years ago, after months crossing paths with her and husband/photographer John Whiting at the Dakota Jazz Club and Artists Quarter. It was clear that we had similar tastes in music, particularly jazz, and, as it turned out, we also shared a strong desire to promote the music that we loved through writing.
Pamela, who was an English major at Carleton College, already was well established as an editor, working for Free Spirit Publishing at that time as well as freelancing as a catalog editor. My journalistic background was far more casual. In the next few years, as we both wrote for Jazz Police, I learned a lot more about grammar and writing from Pamela. Her contributions to Jazz Police included annual promotions and reviews of the Monterey Jazz Festival, illustrated by John’s photos. But soon the greater arts community became Pamela’s beat.
Pamela arguably had the most impact on the local arts scene through her long-time affiliation with MinnPost, starting her work when the publication launched in 2007. Turning what was anticipated as a relatively simple promotion of local arts events into a wide-ranging bevy of articles and interviews that reached into every corner of “the arts”, her writing was fueled by her personal attendance at (often) multiple events, seven days per week. As noted Minn Post Managing Editor Susan Albright in her tribute to Pamela, “Now we are in shock and feeling her loss deeply, realizing that we will no longer be illuminated by the radiant, effervescent light she brought to her work on the arts — and to everything she did.”
Pamela’s writing and advocacy touched many in the arts. “Witty, sly, knowledgeable, intellectual, fun, and kind Pamela! The person who single-handedly altered the Minnesota arts scene with coverage that was deeper and more consistent than you could find anywhere else, in this era of declining local coverage — the ultimate arts booster,” wrote local vocalist Maria Jette on Facebook. “Pamela was a force. An incredible writer. Such thorough research! She was always so good to us and our music. An avid supporter of the arts,” added vocalist and former Twin Citian Jana Nyberg. And Dakota owner Lowell Pickett told the Star Tribune, “Pamela was a wonderful spirit, a wonderful presence throughout the Twin Cities cultural community.”
Pamela often steered me (and I’m sure many others) to the latest CD release from or an upcoming gig by the most innovative musicians. She was a big fan of vocalist Kurt Elling, the late pianist Esbjorn Svensson (E.S.T.), Twin Cities native pianist-composer Craig Taborn, and many others on the local and national scene. In my last conversation with Pamela, we shared our enjoyment of a new project from Taborn, 60 x Sixty (60 improvisations of 60 seconds each) and our anticipation of his new release, Shadow Play. Taborn had just seen her in the audience at the Icehouse in Minneapolis. “It was always such a joy to see her,” he noted on Facebook. “She was a light in the community of music lovers.”
Make that the guiding light of our entire arts community. Here in Minnesota, we mourn the passing of one of our first, and our most astute, writers, and the head cheerleader of Twin Cities arts. Our condolences to her family and friends.
A Celebration of Life for Pamela Espeland will be held on October 26 at Minnesota Orchestra Hall. Portions of this tribute first appeared on Jazz Police.com.
