JJA Member News: April 2017

Looking for proof that jazz is alive and well? You’ll find the most recent publications and other work reported by the extremely active members of the Jazz Journalists Association after the jump. We never sleep! If you are a JJA member and would like your recent activities included in the next installment of Member Updates, send a brief paragraph beginning with your name to membernews@jazzjournalists.org by May 3, 2017.

David R. Adler interviewed guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel for an upcoming Q&A feature in JazzTimes. He’ll soon write about trumpeter David Weiss’s Point of Departure band for the magazine as well. David also wrote liner notes for trumpeter Alex Sipiagin’s forthcoming Criss Cross release Moments Captured and drummer Raffaele Califano’s Horizontal Dialogues (featuring Seamus Blake on tenor sax).

Stephanie J. Castillo continues sharing her acclaimed documentary NIGHT BIRD SONG: THE INCANDESCENT LIFE OF THOMAS CHAPIN with a special screening at Flushing Town Hall in Flushing, Queens on April 1. The film screened on March 10 at Jazz at Lincoln Center with an excellent reception at the Jazz Academy. Next:  May 6, her extended trailer will be shown at a tribute concert at Brooklyn Music Conservatory featuring musicians who played with Thomas Chapin. Distribution deals are in the works.
Paul Simeon Fingerote, co-author with the late Dr. Herb Wong of Jazz on My Mind, has joined The California Jazz Conservatory as their new Marketing and PR Director. Fingerote will guide the iconic Berkeley educational institution, which began in 1997 as the Jazzschool, through its 20th anniversary year, including the introduction of new degree programs and new partnerships and a major facilities expansion to include a second campus building on Addison Street in the heart of Berkeley’s Downtown Arts District.
Ken Franckling covered the 37th annual Sarasota Jazz Festival’s premiere concert March 7 honoring pianist Dick Hyman on the eve of his 90th birthday for JazzTimes. He also wrote about and photographed Southwest Florida concerts by saxophonist Jeff Rupert & Friends featuring singer Veronica Swift in Venice (South County Jazz Club), singer Lisa Kelly and trumpeter JB Scott in Port Charlotte (Charlotte County Jazz Society), and trombonist Wycliffe Gordon in Fort Myers for his Jazz Notes blog.
Patrick Hinely wrote liner notes for David Friesen’s forthcoming trio album, Another Time, Another Place, on New Zealand’s Rattle label, and caught up with Carla Bley and Steve Swallow at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee, documenting their rehearsals and concerts with the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra and trio with Andy Sheppard.
Janice Jarrett, musician, former professor and longtime scholar with the Arizona Humanities Council (AHC) Speakers Bureau (AZ Speaks) is once again including her talk “Jazz and the American identity,” along with “Music and the Brain.” If the NEA and NEH are not slashed, it will be available to Arizona communities beyond the end of 2017. These talks are public events and always lead to lively and productive Q & A with audiences all over the state.
Beverly Korenwaser announces that the extraordinary JazzArt paintings of Master Artist E.J. Gold, represented by Heidelberg Editions International, will be displayed at the California Jazz Foundation’s Annual Gala, April 8, 2017 in Los Angeles at The L.A. Hotel Downtown. Honorees include NEA Jazz Masters Kenny Burrell, receiving the Nica Award, and Gerald Wilson receiving The Jazz Heritage Award posthumously. Russell Malone will MC. Produced by Steve Baker Productions.  Proceeds benefit the CJF mission assisting CA jazz artists in crises.

Kiyoshi Koyama’s popular weekly Jazz Tonight show at NHK-FM will celebrate “ The First Lady of Jazz” Ella Fitzgerald’s 100th birthday on his April 15th show. Mr. Koyama will feature Ella’s well known albums recorded live in Rome, Berlin and Hollywood. Also there will be a  special preview of Ella’s newly discovered live performances from “Ella in Amsterdam” recorded 2 weeks after her famous Berlin concert in 1960.

Aidan Levy published an interview with Cecil McBee in the March issue of JazzTimes. He is presenting on Ralph Ellison, jazz discography, and historiography at Columbia University’s upcoming “Future of Jazz Discography” conference at the Center for Jazz Studies from April 28-29, with featured speakers Tom Lord and Michael Cuscuna. He is doing research for a forthcoming biography of Sonny Rollins, under contract with Da Capo Press for publication in 2019.

Robin Lloyd continues her daily jazz show on 88.5 KNKX (knkx.org); is hosting some live studio sessions; and is producing, hosting and blogging the weekly Latin Jazz show, Jazz Caliente.  She’s also busy coordinating the award presentation party for the 2017 JJA Seattle Jazz Hero.

Howard Mandel organized the JJA’s Jazz Heroes campaign with 26 new heroes in 19 US cities and got Jazz Awards nominations off the group. He is also writing bios for Ottawa Jazz Fest performers and working on Jazz Institute of Chicago promotional materials for its April Jazz Education Day summit and summer Straightahead Jazz Camp.

Allen Morrison wrote the cover story about pianist and bandleader Jon Batiste for the April 2017 DownBeat.  He recently interviewed pianist-singer Eliane Elias about her new album Dance of Time for an upcoming Q&A feature in DownBeat; reviewed new releases by the singer-songwriters Becca Stevens, Sarah Siskind and Hiromi Suda for the “Beyond” column in the magazine’s May issue; and reviewed a concert by the singing group Duchess at NYC’s 55 Bar forDownBeat.com.

Michael J. West wrote a feature for the March issue of JazzTimes exploring the impact of Donald Trump’s election on the jazz community. He also wrote a piece for Slate (his first) about the complicated legacy of Nick LaRocca and the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. A short article on the 30 years of Washington D.C.’s Twins Jazz club will appear in a forthcoming edition of the Washington Post.

Doug Ramsey is working on notes for a Mosaic box set of Art Pepper’s 1956-1960 Contemporary Records output, for release in summer, 2017.

Lew Shaw covered the 69-year history of The Four Freshmen in a 1303-word feature story that ran in the April issue of The Syncopated Times and that included an interview with the current leader of the group.

Jim Wilke was live broadcast producer and engineer for Smokin’ In Seattle – The Wynton Kelly Trio with Wes Montgomery (1966) being issued on limited edition vinyl on April 22 by Resonance Records.  Jim also contributed booklet notes, along with Pat Metheny and Paul de Barros. Jim’s Jazz Northwest show on KNKX recently featured his location recordings of Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra with Carmen Bradford celebrating Ella’s 100th, and Cuban music with Kiki Valera’s septet at Seattle Art Museum.

Member Updates are edited by Michael J. West. 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 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.)

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