Here are the most recent publications and other work reported by the extremely active members of the Jazz Journalists Association. We never sleep!
David R. Adler is teaching jazz history to 38 freshmen undergrads this semester at Queens College. He wrote about Nicholas Payton for JazzTimes and is currently writing a feature for the same magazine on Michael Feinstein. In addition, David wrote liner notes for Dick Oatts’s latest effort on SteepleChase, Lookin’ Up. He also reviewed Ben Allison’s Action-Refraction and Sonny Rollins’s Road Shows, Vol. 2 for Stereophile.
Nancy Barell just uploaded her 170th edition of “Jazz Spotlight On Sinatra” on Live365.com, now ranked 25th out of over 400 jazz stations. Sinatra provides the concept for the program however it is mostly jazz singers and instrumentalists who have recorded the great standards. Please tune in as it streams 24/7 , is 61/2 hours long and is changed regularly.
Bob Blumenthal will discuss “Saxophone Colossus: A Portrait of Sonny Rollins” (co-authored with JJA member John Abbott) in a panel on biographies of musical legends as part of the Boston Book Fair on Saturday, October 15 at 1:30 PM at the Boston Public Library.
Andrea Canter had three photos from the 2011 Twin Cities Jazz Festival published in the October issue of Down Beat and covered the Detroit Jazz Festival for Jazz Police.
Brett Delmage has just compiled and published part 1 of a survey of jazz listeners in Ottawa-Gatineau (Canada’s capital region). This is the first independent survey of listeners at the 2011 Ottawa International Jazz Festival, during a year of transition when many felt that the Ottawa festival was abandoning jazz to become yet another ‘music’ festival. He would be glad to connect with others doing or considering similar work. E-mail Brett.Delmage@OttawaJazzScene.ca.
Alex Dutilh has a new schedule (one hour earlier) for his daily broadcast on France Musique : 6-7pm. So, it’s lunch time in NYC if you want to listen live online. The program is also streams for 30 days. On october 6th, Alex will interview Carla Bley at home for a special long radio program (11 hours) to air in November about her life and music. It will be as well available online at francemusique.fr.
Pamela Espeland reported for NPR’s A Blog Supreme from the Monterey Jazz Festival, turning in several stories including interviews with pianists Helen Sung and Bill Carrothers. This was NPR’s first time at Monterey; radio station KUSP/Central Coast Public Radio was also there, streaming live and recording select performances now up on NPR’s website. Find complete coverage here.
Gary Giddins has been named Acting Director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the CUNY Graduate Center. The Center, which was established by a generous gift from The Leon Levy Foundation, is devoted to building connections between independent and university-affiliated biographers across the disciplines. The Center sponsors the Annual Biography Lecture in the fall, the Annual Conference on Biography in the spring, and a variety of public programs throughout the year. In addition, the Center hosts four resident biography fellows and provides two dissertation fellowships to Graduate Center students.
Steve Griggs wrote a review of Return to Forever IV for the Seattle Times, and concert previews of Gary Peacock with the Keith Jarrett Trio, Evan Flory-Barnes, Nelda Swiggett, Scrape with Jay Clayton, and the Jim Knapp Tribute for Earshot Jazz.
Marcia Hillman interviewed jazz guitar legend Johnny Smith for an Encore feature article in the October issue of New York City Jazz Record.
Geoffrey Himes wrote liner notes for the self-titled album by the New Orleans brass band the Soul Rebels, to be released by Rounder in Europe in October and in the U.S. in January. He also wrote liner notes for one of the last albums Willie Mitchell worked on at his Royal Studio in Memphis, Deering & Down’s Out There Somewhere, due in February. He has recently written feature stories on Dee Dee Bridgewater and Ollabelle for the Washington Post, Brad Mehldau and Horacee Arnold for Downbeat, the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey for Jazz Times, Todd Marcus for Baltimore City Paper, Nicholas Payton and Jonathan Batiste for Offbeat Magazine, and on Steve Earle for Texas Music Magazine. He continues to host a monthly concert series at An Die Musik in Baltimore.
Rui Horta Santos will be writing an article about Joe Farrell for Jazz.pt magazine. He will also be touring with the Diatribes duo, promoting the trio’s release Complaintes de marée basse. The tour will include concerts in Geneva, Basel, Strasbourg… In the last lap they will join the Insub Meta Orchestra (Switzerland) for a final concert.
Thomas Jacobsen published reviews of two recent CDs by jazz clarinetists, Evan Christopher and Dave Bennett, in the September issue of The Clarinet magazine. He continues to add daily to his website/blog, New Orleans Notes, now about 15 months old. Since the March release of his latest book, Traditional New Orleans Jazz… (LSU Press, 2011), he has begun work on a new book focusing on clarinet players of all styles and vintages, from the pioneers to Don Byron. He has yet to arrange for a publisher.
Willard Jenkins‘ blog The Independent Ear has begun a weekly series of dialogues with jazz musicians which asks the question: When you read music journalism and criticism what qualities are you looking for in the writer and the writing? Initially this dialogue began as research for a forthcoming presentation, however the responses proved in some cases provocative, and in all cases thoughtful enough to run as a series. The first four respondents were Ben Allison, Bill Anschell, TK Blue, and John Clayton. Upcoming are two full essay responses from an NEA Jazz Master. Also forthcoming: a series of interviews with some of New Orleans’ finest on passing down the legacy. Stay tuned…
Howard Mandel, JJA president, spoke to three classes (in music journalism, creativity and identity, and music and travel) taught by JJA member Fred Bouchard at Berklee College of Music in Boston on September 22, then co-hosted with Pauline Bilsky of Jazz Boston a “Music Media Meet and Greet” at Darryl’s restaurant and jazz club at which about three dozen JJA members (including Bouchard, Bob Blumenthal, Gordon Marshall, Steve Schwartz, Michael Quinlin) and colleagues showed up. On September 24, Mandel attended Berklee’s Beantown Jazz Festival, and interviewed musicians publicly at the Jazz Boston exhibit tent. Look for his eyeJAZZ videos of the Beantown Fest and a Berklee student jam at Wally’s Jazz Café.
Eugene Marlow‘s article “The Influence of Technology on Jazz in China” appears in the September-October 2011 issue of Chamber Music America magazine. His article on high school jazz bands at JALC appears in the September issue of JAZZed magazine. His big band version of “Broken Heart” (an original) was recently recorded by Bobby Sanabria’s Big Band for Multiverse, a CD for 2012 release. His Latin-jazz arrangement of the theme from “The Odd Couple” will be performed by the Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra on October 21, 2011 (7 p.m.). Marlow’s Heritage Ensemble will offer two FREE concerts at the Brooklyn Heights Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library October 22 and 29 (2 p.m.). Marlow is also teaching an honors course on “Jazz: Cultural Touchstone of the 20th Century” at Baruch College this semester.
Matt Merewitz began his 3rd year at the helm of Fully Altered Media with new clients for Summer & Fall including saxophonist and 2009 MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón, trumpeter Dave Douglas and his Greenleaf Music label, vibraphonist Chris Dingman, multireedist Jeff Lederer, cellist Erik Friedlander, guitarist Gilad Hekselman, pianist Fabian Almazan, indie rock band In One Wind and The Le Boeuf Brothers, among others. Returning clients this Fall include saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa, John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet (with special guests Kurt Elling & Theo Bleckmann), pianists Dan Tepfer, Helen Sung and Vijay Iyer, guitarist Marco Cappelli and violinist Jeff Gauthier’s Cryptogramophone Records, who will curate The Stone in NYC the first two weeks of November. Matt also welcomed staffers Will Martina and Jasmine Lovell-Smith to the Fully Altered team, and congratulate Will and his wife Amy on the birth of their first child, Miiko Kym Martina.
Peter Pullman announces that his website, which can be reached at www.BudPowellBio.com (official title: www.WailTheLifeofBudPowell.com), has gone live. The site previews the forthcoming book, which will soon be available on Kindle and as a direct download to laptops. The site also contains a generous excerpt from the biography, an annotated chronology, the book’s introduction, and previously unseen photos of Powell. Discussion of Powell and bebop has also commenced.
Doug Ramsey wrote an essay on the melding of Spanish, African, Caribbean and New Orleans influences in jazz for Bob Belden’s Miles Espanol: New Sketches of Spain video and audio project. He wrote notes for By Myself, Meredith d’Ambrosio’s forthcoming album of songs by Arthur Schwartz. On the receiving end of questions for a change, he was the subject of a lengthy interview on Steve Cerra’s Jazz Profiles blog. He is at work on a new book of collected pieces that he says is “a long way from completion.”
Jim Rice shot the cover for Ted Rosenthal’s Out Of This World, to be released in October. He is also doing a show at The Falcon, titled “Music In The Hudson Valley,” featuring photos of Cyro Baptista, Joe Lovano, Steven Bernstein, John Medeski, and more jazz greats as well as musicians from the Blues and Rock world too. The show runs for the months of October and November, with a reception on October 9 from 5:00pm to 7:00 pm.
Mitchell Seidel‘s written and photographic observations of the 2011 Newport Jazz Festival can be seen in the October issue of Jersey Jazz Journal, the magazine of the New Jersey Jazz Society.
Michal Shapiro spent ten days covering the Sharq Taronalari Festival in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Video of duduk maestro Jivan Gasparyan Jr. will be shown on National Geographic’s World Music site. Vlogged on “Jadu” an Indian/Jazz fusion group for Link TV. More on the festival to follow on Huffington Post and elsewhere.
Daniel Smith will be appearing at the Kitano in NYC on Wednesday, Oct. 26th after performing two nights at Twins Jazz Club in Washington, DC. with his quartet ‘Bassoon and Beyond’, (receiving a standing ovation at the first set Saturday evening). Along with his quartet, augmented by guitarist Ron Jackson, legendary clarinetist Sol Yaged will be featured in musical selections associated with Benny Goodman. Daniel will be accompanied by Daniel Kelly on piano, Gaku Takanashi on bass, Vincent Ector on drums, and Ron Jackson on guitar. The Kitano is located at Park Ave. and E. 68 St…sets are 8 and 10 PM…..Complimentary CD for everyone who attends the 10 PM performance!
Joan Watson-Jones interviewed Michael Feinstein, Eddie Palmieri and Anat Cohen at the 2011 Newport Jazz Festival for internet radio station “The Jazz Room.” These inteviews will air starting Wednesday Oct. 5 on www.cyberstationlive.com at 10:30PM ET. Information about the interviews and photos can be found at www.joanwatsonjones.com/jazz_room_page.html,
as well as a link to past programs that are archived on the station’s website.
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 are a JJA Member and want your update to be included in next month’s roundup, send it to membernews@jazzjournalists.org by November 1, 2011.
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.)
