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 October 3, 2014.
David R. Adler has taken a freelance position with Entertainment Cruise Productions, writing and editing content for a monthly straightahead jazz newsletter. He conducted a Before & After listening session for JazzTimes with drummer Nasheet Waits; wrote liner notes for alto saxophonist Christopher Burnett’s forthcoming Firebird (ARC); and reviewed CDs by Orrin Evans, Eric Harland, Noah Garabedian and Steve Cardenas for Stereophile and The New York City Jazz Record.
Jane Ira Bloom brings her NightSkywriting Trio to the Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia St in Greenwich Village on Sun, Sept 14, at 8:30pm. She’s joined by long-time bandmates Mark Dresser on bass and drummer & elektro acoustic percussionist Jerry Granelli. The trio’s collaboration dates back to Bloom’s 1993 Art & Aviation recording project following her commission for the NASA Art Program.
Andrea Canter covered the Twin Cities, Iowa City and Detroit Jazz Festivals for Jazz Police.com, and coordinated photography, artists’ bios, and social media publicity for the Twin Cities festival. Her photo of pianist Fred Hersch appeared in Downbeat’s 80th Anniversary Issue (“80 Coolest Things in Jazz Today,” July). Her photos have also appeared on CD/LP artwork for recent Twin Cities’ releases from Chris Bates, Steve Kenny, and Irv Williams.
Stephanie J. Castillo, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker working on her documentary Thomas Chapin, Night Bird Song, has based herself in England to work on interviews needed in Europe. She continues to work on the film’s script as she lines up important interviewees in The Netherlands, Germany, France and Italy. Thomas Chapin had his largest fan base in Europe and played all over the continent with the Knitting Factory Tours, JVC Festival Productions and Ned Rothenberg’s Double Band, among others.
Steve Griggs continues his residency at the Seattle Public Library with support from Chamber Music America. The Steve Griggs Ensemble presents “Panama Hotel Jazz” and “A Cup of Joe Brazil” at nine library branches over the next five months. “Panama” explores the Japanese-American incarceration during WWII and “Brazil” examines the relationship of the Detroit-born saxophonist (1927 – 2008) with John Coltrane. Vashon Allied Arts will host a performance of “Panama” through a King County Community Engagement Grant.
James Hale is participating in a panel discussion with Howard Mandel and Kurt Gottschalk as part of the Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium. He is also co-ordinating a panel discussion on New Orleans’ jazz heritage at the Quebec City Jazz Festival with panelists Ellis Marsalis, Jennifer Odell and Larry Blumenfeld. He wrote a “Jazz On Campus” profile of the University of Central Oklahoma’s jazz program for DownBeat.
Kiyoshi Koyama‘s weekly two hours NHK-FM Jazz Tonight show will have producer Zev Feldman of Resonance Records. Zev will talk about their future project including Wes Montgomery’s upcoming 2CD set: In The Beginning 1949-1956.
Patricia Myers is in Paris to review the summer jazz scene for AllAboutJazz.com, and was a guest speaker for a French arts salon. Her theme for Paris Soirees was “How Jazz Makes Woody Allen’s Movies Memorable.” Her previous talks for this salon were “Four Great Ladies of Jazz,” “Jazz and the French Connection,” “Jazz Goes to the Movies” and “Aphrodisiacs, Past and Present.”
Dan Ouellette has a feature on Jason Moran in the October issue of DownBeat and is currently working on a DownBeat cover story on Miguel Zenon for the December issue. In addition, he recently filed an expansive Q&A piece on folk/alt.country singer Pieta Brown for eMusic’s online magazine, Wondering Sound.
Gene Seymour, as with everybody else in the known universe, weighed in on the Django Gold foofawraw on his blog site. “Wanna see? Didn’t think so, but here you are anyway.”
Daniel Smith is set to resume his unique career with several new projects. His recent album Smokin’ Hot Bassoon Blues, was submitted for Grammy consideration in four categories, as well as receiving over 30 outstanding reviews worldwide. His latest album, Jazz Suite for Bassoon, is scheduled for release on the Summit label for March of 2015. A new bassoon concerto, dedicated to him by British composer Simon Proctor, will see a premiere in the UK sometime in 2015.
Karl Stober is working now on a 5-part article series on the Chitlin Circuit whose the first installment will be in the upcoming issue of Cadence Magazine. Being published now is a feature for Couluers Jazz in Paris about Taj Mahal and Pura Fe’. Right now he’s looking for anyone who has had experience or played in the Chitlin Circuit. If interested contact him at waxtrenzz@me.com.
Jeff Tamarkin is writing program notes for upcoming Carnegie Hall concerts by Abdullah Ibrahim and Ryan Truesdell’s Gil Evans Project.
Bert Vuijsje has co-produced, and written the text in the booklet of volume 9 in the CD series Jazz at the Concertgebouw of the Dutch Jazz Archive. It’s the never-before-released May 20, 1961 Amsterdam concert by the Thelonious Monk Quartet with Charlie Rouse, John Ore, and Frankie Dunlop, plus 6 bonus tracks recorded by the quartet for Dutch televison on April 15, 1961.
Jim Wilke produced radio broadcasts of three concerts recorded at this summer’s Jazz Port Townsend. The concerts aired on Jim’s Jazz Northwest show on KPLU and featured a Wycliffe Gordon Sextet, Christine and Ingrid Jensen Quintet with Geoffrey Keezer, and an all-star big band directed by Bill Holman in his music. The broadcasts are available as podcasts at jazznw.org. Jim also recorded The Westerlies for a future broadcast.
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.)
