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 December 3, 2018.
Saul Addison attended the ceremony where the John and Alice Coltrane home was declared a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and was awarded a $75,000 grant by the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. The day was capped off by the evening event at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Where McCoy Tyner and Derek Trucks were made honorary board members of the Coltrane Home.
Mirian Arbalejo keeps celebrating Leonard Bernstein’s centenary: she has published a new chapter on her monograph (Leonard Bernstein and Jazz) and has been writing about musical events around this subject. She was also invited to participate in a segment on Leonard Bernstein broadcasted on Antena 3 Noticias (Spain’s #1 national newscast). She has started an interview series (conversations with Dave Liebman and Ethan Iverson have already been published).
Jane Ira Bloom performs her poetry inspired work “Wild Lines: Improvising Emily Dickinson” at Rizzoli Bookstore, 1133 Broadway (btw 25th & 26th St), NYC on Friday Nov 9 @ 6:00pm as part of the Rizzoli Music Aperitivo Series. She is joined by pianist Dawn Clement, bassist Mark Helias and actor Deborah Rush.
Noal Cohen wrote the liner notes for a new CD by saxophonist Chris Byars and his sextet entitled A Hundred Years from Today. It will be issued in 2019 by Steeplechase Records.
Paul de Barros has been researching his new book, working title, “After Jackson Street: Seattle Jazz in the Modern Era,” which mostly has meant locating and interviewing players who worked in the city’s surprisingly vibrant 1960s, and covering the Monterey Jazz Festival and the Earshot Jazz Festival for The Seattle Times.
Ken Franckling reviewed submissions from seven college and university bands for JazzTimes’ Jazz Education Guide, published in its November issue. More than 50 of Ken’s photographs were featured in a career-retrospective show, Jazz in the Key of Light, at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in Fort Myers, FL. Pianist Joe Delaney performed at the November 2 opening reception.
Ted Gioia has launched a YouTube channel and is presenting a series of video talks on music topics. His next video will focus on the legacy of John Coltrane.
Steve Griggs taught a class on grant-seeking for musicians at Cornish College of the Arts. He will be exploring the repertoire from Coltrane Plays the Blues with pianist John Hansen, bassist Chuck Deardorf, and drummer D’Vonne Lewis at Tula’s on November 11. His new recording Sound in Stone, featuring musical settings of poetry by stone sculptor James Washington, will be released in November.
Doug Hall joined the first Jazz Industry Conference held, organized and directed by AllaboutJazz website creator and founder Michael Ricci, which provided wonderful opportunity for musicians, publicists, journalists and media to talk and exchange ideas and thoughts about further exposing jazz to a wider audience. Also just reviewed Pat Metheny at The Cabot in Beverly, playing highlights from his songbook with exceptional quartet of younger players.
Patrick Hinely managed to miss Hurricane Michael by a couple of days and a hundred miles in attending the four-day Suwannee Roots Revival in Live Oak, Florida, catching up there with Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Mosier, Peter Rowan and Landon Walker, among others.
Sheila Jordan is touring Europe with Cameron Brown through November 19, including a celebration of her 90th birthday at London’s Pizza Express. She will also perform at the Blue Note in New York on November 26 (with the Steve Kuhn Trio) and at Monk Fish in Cambridge, Mass., on November 30.
Gloria Krolak is co-producing, with Rich Speer, the Jazz Vibes Showcase. Four of the world’s best vibraphone players will perform singly and together – Joe Locke, Warren Wolf, Tony Miceli, and David Friedman. The concert will be held at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, Hilton Head Island, 2-4 p.m. on January 6, 2019 – mark your calendars. Hotel info is available at the ACCC website.
Ralph Lampkin, Jr. continues as promotions manager for Chicago’s Blujazz Label and Promotions. We are working continued press for Jerry Vivino’s Coast to Coast and Marieann Meringolo’s Between Yesterday and Tomorrow; The Songs of Alan & Marilyn Bergman. Newly announced for Ralph’s own LMG company is a partnership with his longtime associate Chicago-based PR maven Lynn Orman Weiss. They are the PR/Promotions team for the critically acclaimed piano duo The Boogie Kings.
Robin Lloyd hosts “Mid Day Jazz” and “Jazz Caliente” on 88.5 KNKX-FM. In October, she previewed Seattle’s Earshot Jazz Festival, hosted a bunch of festival concerts and film screenings, and presented trumpeter Tom Harrell with his 2018 JJA Award.
Howard Mandel reviewed the 22nd annual Edgefest in Ann Arbor for DownBeat.com and Keith Jarrett’s La Fenice for the print magazine, served on the jury rating applicants for USArtists International grants, and continued consultation on Flame Tree Publications’ update of The Encyclopedia of Jazz and Blues, also working on projects of the JJA and the Jazz Institute of Chicago.
Eugenio Mirti has interviewed Al Di Meola, Jeremy Pelt, Franco Finucci, Mimmo Langella, Annie Chen, Jochen Becker and many others.
Fernando Rodriguez´s Jazz en Dominicana project and blog just celebrated its 12th anniversary. Recently published an interview with Cuban Jazz Pianist Harold Lopez-Nussa in All About Jazz titled “Harold Lopez-Nussa: From Havana to Indianapolis.” He also wrote the Liner Notes to Anthony Jefferson´s new album All I Am, and has been invited as a special guest to this year´s Dominican Republic Jazz Festival (November 1-5).
Fiona Ross has two articles published in the Winter edition of Jazz in Europe magazine: interviews with Eric Bibb and Maxine Gordon. Recent articles online for Jazz in Europe online include Roseanna Vitro. She also published an article in Jazz Quarterly, ‘The Power Behind the Song’ where she discussed protest music with Snow Owl, Eric Bibb and Roseanna Vitro.
Leonardo Schiavone worked at Grangia Fest. He photographed Nativo Estrangeiro Project, Alberto Varaldo’s Omnisphere and also interviewed Didier Jallais, Bruno Charavet, and Ferdinando Caretto.
Bert Vuijsje has co-produced and written the liner notes for the 13th Jazz at the Concertgebouw CD released by the Dutch Jazz Archive. It presents the Jazz at the Philharmonic concert of November 1960: a jam session with Coleman Hawkins, Don Byas, Roy Eldridge and Benny Carter, followed by the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet with Leo Wright and guests Stan Getz, J.J Johnson and Candido. This music is previously unreleased.
Jim Wilke recorded and produced concert broadcasts of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra playing music associated with The Village Vanguard, Russian saxophonist and singer Elena Maque in the Art of Jazz series at The Seattle Art Museum, and the Axiom Quartet featuring Alexey Nikolaev from Tula’s as part of the on-going series Jazz Northwest, broadcast Sundays at 2 PM on 88.5 KNKX and knkx.org. He also wrote booklet notes for Randy Halberstadt’s Open Heart.
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.)
