Jazz journalism is alive and well, as JJA members are getting their news and views about the music out in every media platform — locally, nationally and internationally. We never sleep! See the most recent publications and other work reported by the extremely active members of the Jazz Journalists Association after the jump.
If you’re a JJA member and want your recent activities included in the next installment of Member Updates, send a brief paragraph beginning with your name to membernews@jazzjournalists.org by April 3, 2019.
David R. Adler wrote liner notes for bassist Avery Sharpe’s 400: An African American Musical Portrait and pianist Victor Gould’s Thoughts Become Things. He reviewed a recent Fresh Cut Orchestra performance in Asheville, NC for JazzTimes, and wrote features on pianist Rob Schneiderman and guitarist Trey Wright for Flagpole (Athens, GA).
Jim Anderson has recorded and mixed Patricia Barber’s new release “Higher,” remixed Jane Ira Bloom’s “Wild Lines” for 5.1 surround release and has recorded and mixed Franco Ambrosetti’s “Long Waves.”
Dan Bilawsky reviewed new albums from Ashley Daneman, Carlos Henriquez, Paul Jones, Jennifer Wharton, The Interplay Jazz Orchestra, and Scott Robinson for All About Jazz. Last month also saw the publication of his reviews of new albums from Yelena Eckemoff and Jessica Jones for JazzTimes. In addition, features on guitarist Matt Davis and ejazzlines were published at All About Jazz and JAZZed Magazine, respectively.
Marcela Breton served as judge in the 2018 edition of the International Online Contest for Jazz Musicians sponsored by 7 Virtual Jazz Club .
Ken Franckling covered the 39th annual Sarasota Jazz Festival for JazzTimes, as well as his Jazz Notes blog. He also posted blog coverage and photographs of Peter and Will Anderson’s trio and pianist Jim Roberts’ Saxtet in Port Charlotte FL, and West Coast trumpeter Chuck Findley’s guest appearance with the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra at the sextet’s Feb. 27 concert at Artis-Naples’ Daniels Pavilion.
James Hale profiled the winners of the 2019 DownBeat Jazz Education Achievement Award and wrote about the Becoming Quintet project from Michigan State University for DownBeat’s “Jazz On Campus” column. For SoundStageXperience.com, he wrote about previously unreleased recordings by the duo of Jeanne Lee and Ran Blake, and the deluxe reissue of Van Morrison’s “The Healing Game”.
Sheila Jordan will be performing on both the east and west coasts in April, including a performance on April 15 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. to honor Bob Dorough, recipient of the NEA Jazz Masters Award for 2019. She will be touring Spain April 23-May 3 with the Jimmy Weinstein Trio.
Robin Lloyd hosts “Mid Day Jazz”and “Jazz Caliente” on KNKX 88.5 FM in Seattle. In March, she welcomed Joey Alexander, Daymé Arocena, Omar Sosa and Antonio Sanchez and their bands to various venues in Seattle and Tacoma. Robin also wrote a review of the new documentary “Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes.”
Howard Mandel moderated two JJA/Jazz Institute of Chicago “Digging Our Roots” monthly free listening sessions at the downtown Cultural Center and produced hour-long “Jazz Chicago Revisited” radio shows for WDCB-FM. He also wrote a Q&A with Tomeka Reid, record review of Mimi Fox’s latest and an obituary for Ira Gitler for DownBeat, a review of Henry Threadgill in Minnesota for The Wire, and liner notes for Mike Harmon’s Quartet and accordionist Simone Zanchini with big band.
Eugene Marlow’s 12th book Jazz in China: From Dance Hall Music to Individual Freedom of Expression was published in August 2018 by the University Press of Mississippi. In January 2019 The New York City Jazz Record hailed the work as one of the five best books on jazz of 2018. In early February Dr. Marlow was interviewed on “Judy Carmichael’s Jazz Inspired,” a one-hour program distributed to 170 National Public Radio stations, plus Sirius/XM. Marlow will be talking about his research at the 20th Annual Conference of the Media Ecology Association in Toronto, Canada, in late June 2019.
Steve Monroe‘s March “Jazz Avenues for East of the River” print and capitalcommunitynews.com editions included a preview of the March Washington Women In Jazz Festival; a review of the book signing event for Washington, DC, Jazz (Images of America, by Regennia N. Williams and Rev. Sandra Butler-Truesdale, with a foreword by Willard Jenkins; a coda for Baltimore’s “First Lady of Song” Ethel Ennis; and news of DC Jazz Festival’s award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Allen Morrison wrote for the April 2019 issue of JazzTimes about his experience attending the weekly NYC jazz workshop of 89-year-old bebop master Barry Harris. For a recent piece on DownBeat.com, he interviewed bassist Chuck Israels and pianist Aaron Diehl and reviewed their joint show at Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Allen also wrote liner notes for the forthcoming new album by the Alan Broadbent Trio, “New York Notes” (Savant).
Christine Passarella‘s column is “Beauty, Love, and Justice: Living A Coltranian Life” for AllAboutJazz.com. Her articles are “American Descendants of Slaves Empowered Through the Arts, Social Media #ADOS, and Activist Preaching,” “Terence Blanchard: Music, Social Justice and Raising Awareness About Violence Against Black People,” “Preach Brother Preach: James Cone, Founder of Black Liberation Theology Lights Up The Lessons Taught By James Baldwin And Colin Kaepernick,” “Tender And Fierce Blessings: Malcolm, Coltrane and My Mentor Nat Hentoff,” “John Turturro: A Soulful Truth Teller,” and “Dr. Cornel West: A Real-Life Superhero.”
Margaret Moos Pick, a veteran jazz producer in public media (“Riverwalk Jazz”, “Fresh Air”, “Jazz at Lincoln Center”) announced the soft launch of an innovative online exhibit, produced in conjunction with Stanford University Libraries. The site opens the vast San Francisco Traditional Jazz Foundation archive to the general public, and documents the all-but-lost history of the rediscovery and revitalization of traditional jazz in San Francisco from the late 1930s onward.
J0hn Pietaro continues writing for the NYC Jazz Record, having moved to a columnist position in 2018 in addition to his roles as a features writer and critic. He’s been increasingly active as a poet/spoken word artist, with three poems published in the spring 2019 “Harbinger Asylum”. Performance with Flames of Discontent continues Apr 16 and 27.
Sammy Stein curated and produced some radio shows, recorded a podcast for “Jazz Matters” and completed her manuscript for her coming book Women In Jazz ( 8th House).
Carol Sudhalter is receiving positive reviews on her latest CD,”Carol Sudhalter Quartet Live at St Peter’s Church”, on which she plays baritone sax, flute, and sings. She hopes to hold a CD release party in the near future.
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.)
