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 June 3, 2014.
Ed Berger‘s book Softly, With Feeling: Joe Wilder and the Breaking of Barriers in American Music has just been published by Temple University Press. Also, the new issue of the online, open access Journal of Jazz Studies is now available. The Journal is published by the Institute of Jazz Studies and is edited by Ed Berger, Dan Faulk, Jeff McMillan, Henry Martin, and Dan Morgenstern.
Alex Dutilh celebrates 75th anniversary of Blue Note Records with a 10 hours program on France Musique. 5 hours using his recent interview with Ashley Kahn about the “golden years” of the label (April 28th – May 2nd), plus 5 hours with Michael Cuscuna about the “treasure hunt” (May 12th-16th). His Open Jazz broadcast is available on line, live, streaming or podcast.
John Fenton has had a busy month helping to promote JazzApril events. The jazz gigs in Auckland have been varied and plentiful as visiting artists and many of New Zealand’s best musicians gigged around town. This kept him extremely busy photographing, videoing and interviewing these artists for his jazz blog JazzLocal32.com. He has also written liner notes for an album by Wellington Jazz Guitarist Nick Granville and provided some publicity photographs for the soon-to-be-released Australian-recorded groove album by Roger Manins.
Ken Franckling had nine of his 2013 Newport Jazz Festival images featured on the cover of the JazzTimes 2014-2015 International Jazz Festival Guide inside the magazine’s May issue. His Jazz Notes blogging in April included coverage of southwest Florida concerts by Howard Alden and Lenore Raphael, Giacomo Gates and Allan Vaché.
Andrew Gilbert wrote the Bobby Hutcherson cover story for the May issue of JazzTimes; contributed stories on Kendra Shank/John Stowell, Regina Carter, and Sylvia Cuenca/Jared Gold/Paul Bollenback for the San Jose Mercury News; reviewed Jeff Denson and Joshua White’s I’ll Fly Away for KQED’s California Report; and profiled The Bad Plus for the San Francisco Chronicle.
James Hale wrote about Mary Halvorson as one of the “80 Coolest Things In Jazz” for the 80th anniversary edition of DownBeat.
Rusty Hassan published an article, “Jazz Radio In Washington, A Personal Retrospective,” in Washington History, the journal of the Historical Society of Washington, DC. The entire issue is devoted to jazz in Washington. Other contributors include Willard Jenkins, William Brower, John Hasse, Michael Fitzgerald, Maurice Jackson and Blair Ruble. The journal is available from the society at www.historydc.org.
Patrick Hinely ‘s 1985 portrait of Jaki Byard, shot at Spoleto Festival USA, appears on the inside of the digipak for the band Yard Byard’s new album on GM Recordings, Inch by Inch.
Kelle Jolly, a musician and entertainer, is the host of WUOT’s new Friday night segment: Jazz Jam with Kelle Jolly. Knoxville, TN’s newest jazz radio show features local, national and international jazz vocalists.
Wolfram Knauer will participate in a panel discussion at the Goethe-Institut Washington, D.C. on May 28 about “The Role of Music in Cultural Diplomacy”. Moderated by Larry Appelbaum, Penny von Eschen will look at some of the American attempts at using jazz as a political tool and Knauer will explain some of changes within Germany’s Goethe-Institut policies in respect to jazz concerts and tours over the years.
Robin Lloyd celebrated JazzApril by featuring the music of major jazz artists on their birthdays on-air at KPLU-FM, organized the award party for Jim Wilke, Seattle’s 2014 JJA Jazz Hero, and presented Regina Carter’s 2014 JJA Award for Violinist of the Year at Jazz Alley in Seattle. Robin also worked with the planning committee for Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra’s 20th anniversary season, and is working on a presentation about KPLU’s School of Jazz Program for the Jazz Education Network.
Rudy Lu was the lead artist for an exhibition entitled ” Hudson Celebration” benefiting the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. In addition he photographed Chick Corea, the Holmes Brothers and the Ed Palermo Big Band for nippertown.com.
Howard Mandel, JJA president, spent JazzApril working with organizations and activists presenting Jazz Hero Awards in 22 cities. Downbeat published his article on Newport at 60; The Wire published his review of Bern Nix’, Rob Brown’s and Daniel Carter’s bands at the Evolving Music Series. He blogged about the Doris Duke Foundation Artist Award jazz recipients, and the Celebrate Ornette! concert featuring Denardo Coleman’s quintet and Jamaaladeen Tacuma’s quartet at the Painted Bride in Philadelphia.
Fran Morris-Rosman, Executive Director at the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation (in Los Angeles), was blown away by the 309,028 jazz fans who saw Ella’s birthday (4/25). Over 500 folks left heartfelt comments about how much Ella’s music means to them. What would have been Ella’s 97th birthday was celebrated at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, at UCLA, and so many other places – real and virtual – all around the world.
Jennifer Odell previewed New Orleans Jazz Fest for DownBeat, edited the OffBeat Jazz Fest Bible’s A – Z festival guide and profiled festival acts including Gregory Porter; the Young Men Olympian Jr. Benevolent Association (OffBeat); Baritone Bliss; Jesse McBride presents the Next Generation; Butler, Bernstein and the Hot 9 and A Tribe Called Red (Gambit). During the Fest she wrote reviews for those publications and presented Harold Battiste with a JJA Jazz Hero Award.
Dan Ouellette has been active marketing his biography, Bruce Lundvall: Playing by Ear, with a salon event (featuring guest speakers Kurt Elling, Tom Evered, Mark Ruffin) and working with the Jazz Foundation of America to present Bruce with its Lifetime Achievement Award (an evening featuring Norah Jones, Dianne Reeves, Wynton Marsalis). He also wrote the Playbill article and the script for Kennedy Center’s Blue Note @ 75 concert on May 11. His cover story on Jimmy Heath is in the May issue of DownBeat which also includes his Players piece on British saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, leader of the Sons of Kemet.
Scott Thompson this month interviewed Bill Frisell for the JALC May Playbill. Thus far, Thompson has written every lead Playbill feature (about 100) for JALC since opening its doors at Columbus Circle in 2004. He also wrote the June feature which includes contributions from Joe Locke and Russell Malone. Thompson brought Bobby Sanabria to NBC – News 4 New York – for an in-studio interview (April 25) to promote the new CD Que Viva Harlem!
Deanna Witkowski celebrated JazzApril with her trio in performances at Park Avenue Church in NYC, the Bar Next Door in NYC; and at the Peninsula Public Library in Long Island with a program entitled Crossing Musical Boundaries from Chopin to Cole Porter. She slso played Brazilian jazz with Monika Oliveira at Zinc Bar in NYC.
Libby York‘s new CD Memoir charted in the Jazz Week Top 40. She appeared at The Kitano Jazz Room, Park Ave at 38th St, New York with Warren Vache on May 7.
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.)
