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 November 3, 2015.
Jane Ira Bloom is the recipient of a 2015 Chamber Music America/ Doris Duke New Jazz Works Grant. She plans to premiere her new work Wild Lines inspired by poet Emily Dickinson in spring 2015. She’ll be performing some movements from the project at the Cornelia Street Café (29 Cornelia St, NYC) on Sunday, Oct 11, 8:30pm with her quartet featuring bassist Mark Helias, drummer Matt Wilson, and pianist Dominic Fallacaro.
Andrea Brachfeld won the award for the “Best Jazz Flute” at the Hot House Magazine Fan- Based Awards on September 16 at the Metropolitan Room in NYC. She also has a new CD out named “Lotus Blossom” released on Jazzheads on October 13 featuring Bill O’ Connell, Rufus Reid, Winard Harper, Wycliffe Gordon, Chembo Corniel, and Nancy Harms. The CD Release party will be held at Zeb’s located at 223 West 28th Street at 8 PM on October 28th. Everyone who recorded will be playing the CD Release party except Nancy Harms.
Jon Burr‘s Quintet has release events for their new CD “Very Good Year” (itunes, cdbaby) at Birdland Oct 22 6 & 7:30 PM and the Union Arts Center in Sparkill NY Oct 23 8PM. JJA Members free admission! Call or txt (917) 861-1242.
Andrea Canter covered the Detroit Jazz Festival for Jazz Police.com and JazzINK.com. In August she began a brief weekly broadcast on Minneapolis’s jazz radio station, KBEM (88.5). Her segment is “The Lead Sheet,” an on-the-air version of her weekly blog about Twin Cities live jazz.
Karen Fox had a month of exciting performances in the Detroit area, beginning with the Detroit International Jazz Festival. She was able to photograph the likes of The Ron Carter Trio, The Mack Avenue Super Band, Pat Metheny and many others. Also in September, she shot Ramsey Lewis, performed with a quartet that included guitarist Henry Johnson at The Steinway Store in Commerce Charter Township, MI ; and pianist Donal Fox, performing at The Detroit Institute of The Arts.
Steve Griggs wrote about the 50th anniversary of John Coltrane Live in Seattle for Seattle Weekly. His Earshot Jazz profiles of Ahamafule Oluo and D’Vonne Lewis will be reprinted in the upcoming book Rhythm in the Rain: Jazz in the Pacific Northwest. Griggs premiered Listen to Seattle, a collection of stories and original music about Chief Seattle. He performed his arrangement of Japan’s National Anthem for Robert Shimabukuro to honor his publication Born in Seattle: The Campaign for Japanese American Redress.
Marcia Hillman‘s song “The Blues Are Out Of Town” recorded by jazz vocalist Carol Welsman has been submitted for the Grammy awards in the Best Song Category and the Best Jazz Instrumental Solo Category (solo by bassist Rufus Reid).
Sanford Josephson‘s new book, Jeru’s Journey: The Life and Music of Gerry Mulligan, published October 13.
Wolfram Knauer will talk about Charlie Parker in his public talk “Bird’s View: Blues, Bebop & Beyond” at Columbia University’s Main Campus (Buell Hall, East Gallery) in New York on 22 October, 7pm. The talk will be followed by a performance of the Leroy Williams Quartet featuring Charles Davis.
Rick Mitchell‘s radio program, Jazz In the New Millennium, has been picked up for national syndication by the African-American Public Radio Consortium, NPR Distribution and the Public Radio Satellite System. The weekly, one-hour show focuses on living jazz artists keeping this great music alive and passing it forward in the 21st Century. The first shows available through syndication feature the music of Robert Glasper, Roy Haynes, and Joshua Redman. For more information, contact Loretta Rucker at lrucker@aaprc.org or rick@rickmitchell.us.
Doug Ramsey will narrate and Bill Mays will play their History of Jazz Piano in concert at The Seasons in Yakima, Washington, on October 10. It is part of the hall’s revived commitment to jazz. The series kicked off with Louis Hayes and his Cannonball Adderley Legacy. It will also include Mays’ Inventions Trio and the Dan Brubeck Quartet.
Daniel Smith, jazz/classical bassoonist, recently recorded Big Band Bassoon: A Tribute to the Great Swing Bands, showcasing pieces associated with legendary swing bands. His recent release of ‘Jazz Suite for Bassoon’ on the Summit label received 15 outstanding reviews to date with more on the way, while a two-CD compilation box set of selections from his earlier albums ranging from concertos to crossover and jazz will be released on a major label in 2016.
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.)
