Karl Ackermann published “The Word from Johannesburg, Part II: Brenda Sisane and The Art of Sunday” at All About Jazz. Ms. Sisane hosts a popular jazz radio program in Johannesburg and is an expert on the South African jazz scene.
Debbie Burke has two exciting WIPs coming this October 2021: a book about klezmer and the second in her series of personal jazz interviews, Tasty Jazz Jams for Our Times, Vol. 2. Debbie has also recently published “Icarus Flies Home,” a fascinating novel about a jazz bassist who learns his enslaved great-great uncle had written a song that appears to have been stolen by a high-profile Broadway mogul. Visit her Amazon page for more info!
Ken Franckling reviewed alto saxophonist Randal Despommier’s recording debut as a leader, Dio C’e (Outside in Music) in the February issue of Offbeat, Louisiana’s music magazine. Ken also wrote about and photographed alto saxophonist Vincent Herring’s and guitarist Pasquale Grasso’s appearances with the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra in the Southwest Florida sextet’s safely distanced January and February concerts at Artis-Naples for his Jazz Notes blog.
Doug Hall, having moved to Taiwan in January for six months for family reasons, is beginning to explore the Blue Note jazz club in the capital city of Taipei and Asian jazz musicians. He looks forward to publishing an article in March. Also, sadly with the passing of jazz giant Chick Corea, he wrote a tribute review for Allaboutjazz.
Sanford Josephson will be doing a 30-minute virtual workshop on New Jersey Jazz History at Ocean County, NJ, Teen Arts Festival to be held from March 22-26 at Ocean County College in Toms River, NJ. The theme of the festival is “Jazz and New Jersey.” Sponsors are Ocean County College and the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts.
Howard Mandel‘s feature on veteran reeds and winds player James Spaulding was published in The Wire; he moderated Zoom panels on issues around live-streaming performance, production and media coverage for the Jazz Institute of Chicago and the JJA (embedded and analyzed on his blog ArtsJournal.com/JazzBeyondJazz); he reviewed Russell Ferrante Trio’s Inflexion for DownBeat, adjudicated entries in the 7 Virtual Jazz Club’s Global Online Competition, and wrote the obituary of Christian Broecking for JJANews.
Eugene Marlow is in the home stretch of editing a feature-length documentary dealing with jazz in China (based on his 2018 book). For more information, go to the film’s website.
Dan Ouellette’s monthly “Jazz & Beyond Intel” column is well into its second year with interviews/portraits in December (Sonny Rollins, Susan Alcorn), January (a conversation with Dave Douglas and Seth Abramson from Jazz Standard on the state of jazz in 2021), February (Denmark-based guitarist Jakob Bro, Greece-based pianist Tania Giannouli) and March (Omar Sosa). He wrote the liner notes for Benito Gonzalez’s new album, Sing to the World, for Rainy Days Records based in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Fiona Ross was the guest Editor-in-Chief for the latest edition of Jazz Quarterly magazine, which includes articles about the Oscar-nominated film Round Midnight, the new ‘Billie’ documentary, and interviews with Cèline Peterson, Ola Onabule, and Camille Thurman. The Women in Jazz Media organisation, of which Fiona is the founder, is gaining recognition in the industry with new official supporters announced including JazzTimes, Cèline Peterson, Citizen Jazz, Jazz North, and All About Jazz.
Lew Shaw has profiled Massachusetts-based bandleader Dan Gabel for the March issue of The Syncopated Times. Gabel also serves as president of the American Big Band Preservation Society, an organization whose purpose is to serve as a repository for Big Band historical materials, currently involving over 10,000 song titles; to make the various arrangements available for educational purposes; and to produce in-school programs designed to educate the next generation about the Big Bands in a fun, educational, and exciting way.
Scott Thompson’s new PR clients include Janis Mann & Kenny Werner’s Dreams of Flying, Clifton Anderson Been Down This Road Before, Richard Howell’s Moon Over Tiburon,and most recently, Valentina Marion’s Quarantine Covers. Previous client Uptown Jazz Tentet’s What’s Next was reviewed in February’s London Jazz News. Thompson continues to serve as Public Relations for Redwood Entertainment Inc. and to assist Todd Barkan at Keystone Korner Baltimore with press.
