Jazz journalism is alive and well, as JJA members are getting their news and views about the music out in every media platform — locally, nationally and internationally. We never sleep, we only listen and work! See the most recent publications and other work reported by the extremely active members of the Jazz Journalists Association after the jump.
This month’s new members is Bill Brownlee, veteran writer based in Kansas City — welcome!
The JJA relies on dues to support its programs — including the new JazzOnLockdown: Hear it Here series, the “Working the Beat” workspaces Slack.com and Loomio, the Jazz Heroes (to be announced April 1) and the 25th annual JJA Jazz Awards. Please encourage friends and colleagues to join our efforts.
David Adler wrote liner notes for the forthcoming Orrin Evans & Captain Black Big Band release The Intangible Between (Smoke Sessions).
Mirian Arbalejo wrote the liner notes for Claudio Jr de Rosa Jazz 4et (winner of the Getxo Internacional Jazz Festival contest, in which she had been a member of the jury). She also took part in the Madrid International Jazz Festival, as a speaker in the conference “Jazz in the media.” She has recently written a piece on the state of the arts in her country, in which she discusses the lack of institutional support.
Pengwen Chen just started her internship a month ago at The Jazz Gallery, New York. She’s meeting great people and some of her favorite musicians there. After attending JJA’s Meeting held during the Winter Jazz Fest and the Jazz Congress, she’s doing the AsienProjektet Panel invited by JazzDenmark, choosing Denmark musicians touring Asia.
Russ Davis has since 1999 been programming and presenting the only jazz program heard on the U.S. Government service The Voice of America. “Jazz America with Russ Davis” is a one-hour show that airs each weekend around the world and can be heard at any time at the Russ Davis MOJA website.
Ken Franckling reviewed reed player Byron Asher’s Skrontch Music in the December issue of Offbeat magazine, and reviewed the six college and university CDs in Jazz Times’ Jazz Education Guide in the magazine’s November issue. He wrote about singer Nora York’s legacy and posthumous release Swoon in his Jazz Notes blog. He also blogged about Southwest Florida performances by Roy Gerson’s Swingtet, singer Veronica Swift, guitarist Peter Bernstein, trombonist Michael Dease and pianist Johnny Varro’s Swing 7 classic jazz band.
Peter Gerler has published two pieces for NEH Humanities—one on the current hot jazz resurgence, the other on Joe “King” Oliver’s 1918 move from New Orleans to Chicago. He has also written three pieces for Syncopated Times, on Louis Armstrong, and on “Prohibition and the Rise of Jazz.” He continues with his “JazzTalks” lectures around the Boston area.
Sid Gribetz presented three-hour retrospective radio programs featuring lesser remembered but important vocalists Lorez Alexandria and Beverly Kenney on WKCR in New York City.
James Hale moderated two panel discussions—featuring music promoters, artists and publicists from Europe and Canada—at the TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival’s Digital Music Summit. He wrote about developments at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Roots, Jazz & American Music program for DownBeat, and reviewed recordings by Gordon Grdina and Lina Allemano for SoundStageXperience.com.
Doug Hall reviewed a performance of legendary female jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves for NPR’s WICN 90.5 in Worcester, MA. He also recently interviewed Charlie Rosen, who will be performing at Berklee Performance Center in Boston with his 30+ musician-rotating jazz orchestra (The 8-Bit Big Band), having arranged covers for video game themes. His special musical guest will be jazz prodigy saxophonist Grace Kelly. Doug’s performance review will appear in Allaboutjazz in early March.
C. Andrew Hovan has just completed the liner notes for an upcoming release from Bay Area pianist Adam Shulman West Meets East to be released on Cellar Music features an all-star septet including Steve Davis, Joe Magnarelli, Ian Hendrickson-Smith and Rodney Green. Hovan is also set to review Mosaic Records’ new boxed set featuring the 1963-1970 Blue Note Recordings of Hank Mobley for allaboutjazz.com.
Joe Maita published interviews on his website Jerry Jazz Musician with Con Chapman (“Johnny Hodges”) and Gerald Horne (“Jazz and Justice”), and interviewed authors Richard Crawford (George Gershwin) and James Kaplan (Irving Berlin) for future publication. Also published a Winter Collection of jazz poetry, which featured 32 poets and 41 poems.
Howard Mandel wrote about L’Ecole Fula Flute and Sylvain Leroux’s game-changing innovation on a simple folk instrument for DownBeat as well as a review of Wolfgang Muthspiel’s trio on ECM and an article on women who built the Jazz Institute of Chicago for the JIC’s JazzGram. He helped launch the JJA’s “Working the Beat: Jazz in Media Today” tutorials and workspaces, as well as the pop-up campaign “JazzOnLockdown: Hear It Hear” which is soliciting vlog posts. (See articles on JJANews.org). And he got the 2020 Jazz Heroes and 25th annual JJA Jazz Awards started.
Dom Minasi has a new release, Eight Hands One Mind, a guitar quartet playing his original through-composed. In April he is recording for Unseen Records his new Quartet, WIG (the Westside Improvisational Group) of original tunes with pianist Lewis Porter, bassist Ed Schuller, and drummer Jay Rosen. In March, DDT (guitarist Dom Minasi, bassist Dominic Duval Jr., and cellist Tomas Ulrich) begins rehearsals for an upcoming recording.
Dan Ouellette‘s feature on Eric Alexander and report on the Umbria Jazz Festival Orvieto appear in DownBeat’s March 2020 issue. Dan’s risen-from-the-dead monthly column, Jazz & Beyond Intel, at danouellette.net had a soft launch in February and its first new edition in early March on Thana Alexa and Catherine Russell. In an ongoing project, his audio-taped interviews dating back to the late ’80s are being archived at Cal State University Monterey Bay.
John Pietaro is having a wonderfully busy 2020 so far. He continues as critic/columnist for the NYC Jazz Record and contributor to The Wire. He’s been commissioned (with photographer Sherry Rubel) for a book, Shifting the Jazz Narrative, by Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.
Alex Rodríguez has continued to write reviews for DownBeat, including his first vinyl column on an excellent new Rashied Ali reissue series. He also hosted the first tutorial calls for the JJA’s new initiative, “Working the Beat: Jazz in Media Today.” Recordings from the calls are available on the JJA YouTube channel. The JJA is beginning a webinar series via Zoom in March, and welcomes you to join the conversation! To do so, send him an email at alex@jazzjournalists.org.
Jeffrey Siegel‘s “Straight No Chaser” was chosen Best Podcast of 2019 by the readers of JazzTimes. This was the fourth consecutive year the podcast has topped the poll. “Straight No Chaser” was also cited in the critic’s poll in the same issue.
Sammy Stein has been astounded at reaction to her book Women in Jazz: The Women, The Legends & Their Fight. She was awarded a distaff notation and included in the JazzTimes Best books poll. She is doing radio and magazine interviews and the book will be used by University students. She has a new book commissioned.
Denise Sullivan wrote a profile on composer and saxophonist Muriel Grossman and the leader’s latest spiritual jazz album, Reverence, in the February 2020 issue of DownBeat. She also covered the SFJAZZ Gala 2020, honoring the lifetime achievement of Mavis Staples, for the magazine.
Scott Thompson continues to expand his boundaries of clients, from Sandro Norton of Portugal to Myrddin of Belgium. He is publicist for Turkish pianist Fahir Atakoglu on his “The Music of Hope Tour” featuring multiple vocalists and a full string section. He is also working new releases by bassists Peter Slavov and George DeLancey, drummer Daniel Silva, as well as singer/songwriter/guitarist Greg Dayton, and continues to represent Cuban pianist Elio Villafranca.
