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 September 3, 2016.
Saul Addison attended three great shows on Long Island in August. First off was Tom Manuel and his Blue Devils at The Jazz Loft, playing two great sets of standards. This was followed mid-month by John M. Restrepo Quartet playing an afternoon gig at the scenic Bayard Cutting Arboretum then holding court at Treme Islip in Islip New York later that evening. August was closed out by the Holli Ross Trio at Grasso’s in Cold Spring Harbor.
Jane Ira Bloom performs with the SLM Ensemble directed by Sarah Weaver at the Interpretation Series at Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY on Thursday, September 22, 8 pm. The program includes Sarah Weaver’s Works for Mark Dresser & the SLM Ensemble performing “Resonance Synthesis” w/ Jane Ira Bloom, soprano saxophone, Min Xiao-Fen, pipa and sanxian, Ellery Eskelin, tenor saxophone, David Taylor, bass trombone, Samir Chatterjee, tabla, Satoshi Takeishi, percussion, Denman Maroney, hyperpiano, Mark Dresser, bass, Sarah Weaver, conductor
Brita Brookes covered Gregory Porter at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival, Joshua Redman and the Bad at Michigan Theater and Diego Figueiredo at Cliff Bells for her photography internship with the Detroit Metro Times. She continues to cover music in the Metro Detroit and Ontario regions. She is seeking Jazz or Folk publications to photograph/write for and can be contacted here.
Stephanie J. Castillo, Emmy-winning filmmaker and former newspaper journalist, shows her acclaimed film Thomas Chapin, Night Bird Song at the Monterey Jazz Festival on Sept. 18 to bring Thomas Chapin full circle. He was booked to pay there in the fall of 1997 when he had to cancel due to a leukemia diagnosis. Now he’ll “play” Monterey through the film! That screening will be followed by another, and a Thomas Chapin music concert, at the University of Kentucky Sept. 20-21.
Paul Simeon Fingerote returns to the grounds of the Monterey Jazz Festival (September 16 – 18), where he served as Marketing Director for 30 years. Fingerote is co-author with Dr. Herb Wong of Jazz on My Mind: Liner Notes, Anecdotes and Conversations from the 1940s to the 2000s, which will be featured and sold in the festival’s on-site merchandise store, with Fingerote signing copies for fans.
Ken Franckling, on his trip back to New England to cover his 35th Newport Jazz Festival, was able to catch trumpeter John Allmark’s fine big band three times in late July and early August. He wrote about the band in its new home, and Rhode Island’s 49-year big band tradition, for JazzTimes.
Steve Griggs profiled trumpeter Nathan Breedlove for Earshot Jazz. His memoir piece Quiet Bonds, Silent Boundaries was accepted in the upcoming print anthology by Creative Colloquy. He will continue performances of his site-specific stories and music at Seattle’s historic Panama Hotel through a six-month extension of a grant from the National Park Service. He will perform Listen to Seattle, his program of stories and music about broken treaty promises to the Duwamish Tribe, at Seattle’s Town Hall on October 10.
James Hale caught up with the electro-acoustic quartet Metalwood for SoundStageXperience.com. Before the group—arguably the most successful jazz group to come from Canada—disbanded in 2003, Hale wrote frequently about them. His new piece picks up the story, focusing on the group’s new recording. For DownBeat, Hale reviewed new recordings by the Tierney Sutton Band and Joey Alexander.
Robin Lloyd interviewed saxophonist Chico Freeman prior to his Seattle appearance at the Triple Door, and hosted a live radio studio session with Chico’s band. Robin also celebrated the successful conclusion of the Save KPLU campaign, with the sale of the radio station to the community group Friends of 88.5 FM, who now operate the station as KNKX, connecting the community to Jazz, Blues and NPR News.
Howard Mandel interviewed Stephanie J. Castillo via Skype about her film Thomas Chapin: Night Bird Song at a public screening and performance of Glenn Wilson-Jim Pugh’s band TromBari in Normal IL, and also trumpeter Orbert Davis for his blog artsjournal.com/
Steve Monroe‘s August Jazz Avenues for the East of the River print and capitalcommunitynews.com online editions included previews of shows featuring Paul Carr, Sin Miedo and The Moonshine Society and a review of the Carl Grubbs Jazz/String Ensemble concert at Artscape. Monroe also blogged on bassist Jeff Denson and his CD Concentric Circles, alto saxophonist Carl Grubbs’ new CD Inner Harbor Suite Revisited: A Tribute to Baltimore and saxophonist Jordan Dixon’s CD A Conversation Among Friends.
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.)
