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 August 3, 2017.
Jane Ira Bloom appears with bassist Cameron Brown’s OC/ DC quartet performing the music of Ornette Coleman & Don Cherry with trumpeter Dave Ballou & drummer George Schuler at the Jazz in the Garden Series at the Edward Hopper House, 82 North Broadway, Nyack, NY on Thurs, July 20 at 7 pm.
Christopher Burnett has received a Kansas Publishers Association Award of Excellence (third place for best environmental article) writing for the Fort Leavenworth Lamp newspaper. He was recently featured by Jazz Ambassador Magazine for his work as one of the founders of the Kansas City-based Artists Recording Collective (ARC) label. He was recently named editor of the Association of Military Musicians’ newsletter, Sound Off. Burnett is writing a series of feature articles for his own publication, Jazz Artistry Now.
Stephanie J. Castillo, filmmaker of acclaimed biopic Night Bird Song: The Incandescent Life of Thomas Chapin is crafting distribution deals to get the film to worldwide audiences via streaming platforms and cable TV. One deal, if approved, includes streaming to more than 96 million Chinese. Thomas Chapin never played in China but a new audience there will learn about him through the film.
Tim Coakley and A Place for Jazz in Schenectady NY have announced their fall concert season: The Larry Willis Trio; The Chembo Corniel Quintet; The Shelly Berg-Jackie Ryan Duo; The Jeff Siegel Sextet and the Don Byron Quartet. Go to www.aplaceforjazz.org for info.
Noal Cohen‘s paper Herb Geller: The European Years was published in IAJRC Journal (Vol. 50, No. 1, Spring 2017, pp. 36-43).
Jeroen de Valk published his drastically revised, updated and expanded biography about Chet Baker (in English) with Uitgeverij Aspekt. Chet Baker/His life and Music was Baker’s first biography, published a year after Baker’s passing in 1988. De Valk spoke to Baker himself, his friends and colleagues, the police inspector who investigated his death and many others. He read virtually every relevant word that was ever published about Chet and listened to every recording, issued or unissued.
Paul Simeon Fingerote presented “Jazz on My Mind: Behind-the-Scenes Stories of the Stars of Jazz” in a multimedia show at the California Jazz Conservatory on June 24th. Fingerote shared stories, historic photos, album cover art and more from Bay Area jazz icon, the late Dr. Herb Wong, with multi-award-winning young vocalist, Jamie Zimmer, performing songs associated with artists featured in “Jazz on My Mind: Liner Notes, Anecdotes and Conversations from the 1940s to the 2000s.”
Ken Franckling profiled singer Giacomo Gates in the July issue of Hot House and previewed singer Melissa Morgan’s NYC appearances in the same edition. He blogged about musicians and fans in the San Francisco Bay area and beyond who are working to assist bassist Marc Van Wageningen, who was critically injured when struck by an Amtrak train near Yoshi’s in Oakland in January.
Patrick Hinely attended services at the Church of St. John Coltrane in San Francisco, and while in the Bay Area also met up with keyboard whiz David Pellicciaro, as well as visiting guitarist, composer and bandleader Cam Newton at his Back of Beyond Lodge, where he resides in splendid isolation at the edge of the Warner Mountains in the Oregon Outback above Lakeview.
C. Andrew Hovan has recently been busy on the jazz festival scene, having covered both Pittsburgh Jazz Live Festival and Tri-C Jazz Fest Cleveland. His photographs and reviews of both festivals can both be found at www.allaboutjazz.com. Furthermore, his photos from the Pittsburgh festival will be seen in Down Beat’s coverage of the event as well. Hovan also recently interviewed jazz organist Ronnie Foster for a profile posted at AAJ.
Reuben Jackson, host of Friday Night Jazz on Vermont Public Radio, conducted a preperformance interview with saxophonist Jane Bunnett during the Burlington, Vermont Discover Jazz Festival, and a postviewing discussion with Don Glanden, director of the Clifford Brown documentary entitled Brownie Speaks. He also did a Quincy Jones special on Friday Night Jazz that aired June 23rd.
Sheila Jordan is performing at the Jazz in July Workshop in Amherst, Massachusetts, July 10-21, followed by five nights (July 26-30) in Athens and Corful, Greece. In August she will be at the Vermont Jazz Center Workshop in Putney, VT (Aug. 6-11) and a Workshop and Festival in Mallorca, Spain (Aug. 17-23); at the Chicago Jazz Festival September 1-3; then touring Austria and Germany September 15-25.
Ralph Lampkin, Jr.; will be booking Jazz, featuring The Darrel Tidaback Duo, at the historical Tippecanoe Place restaurant Studebaker Patio in South Bend, Indiana starting Thursdays in July and August. He is also in the promotional stages of the 6th annual South Bend Jazz Festival which will be held at Century Center on September 23rd, 2017.
Robin Lloyd hosted live studio sessions for The Rumba Kings and for the LaVon Hardison Quartet, MC’d for the Bow Wow Film Festival, presented bassist Christian McBride his JJA Award at both shows he performed with the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, and welcomed the Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band to Seattle’s Jazz Alley. Robin continues to host Mid Day Jazz and Jazz Caliente on KNKX-FM.
Howard Mandel reviewed Chick Corea’s The Musician and Charnett Moffett’s Music From Our Soul for DownBeat, wrote a press release/bio for John Beasley’s Monk’estra Vol. 2, emcee’d the 2017 JJA Jazz Awards banquet in New York City, and worked on a marketing plan for the Jazz Institute of Chicago, besides starting a blog series of “Great new jazz photography.”
Rick Mitchell moved from Houston, Texas to Portland, Oregon, where he launched his career as a jazz journalist and radio programmer 40 years ago. Rick will continue to write about jazz for DaCamera of Houston and to produce his radio show, Jazz In the New Millennium, which is syndicated by the African American Public Radio Consortium.
W. Royal Stokes’ trilogy of novels Backwards Over was announced in his local newspaper.
Bert Vuijsje wrote liner notes for the booklet of the Bill Evans album Another Time: The Hilversum Concert, music from 1968 released by Resonance Records. He is also the author of the booklet with the CD Ella Fitzgerald: ‘s Wonderful, with 1957 and 1960 live recordings from the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. This is a production of the Dutch Jazz Archive on the occasion of Ella Fitzgerald’s centennial.
Jim Wilke recorded two concerts by The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra for his radio show Jazz Northwest on KNKX. One featured music of Louis Armstrong and the other had guest Christian McBride playing his big band arrangements. Other recent programs included a 3 Guitar Summit from the Ballard jazz Festival, and Alex Dugdale and Sam Boshnack groups from Seattle Art Museum concerts. Jazz Northwest air Sundays at 2 PM Pacific on 88.5 KNKX knkx.org. Archived programs are streaming at jazznw.org.
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.)
