Sid Gribetz produced a five-hour retrospective broadcast profiling Harold Mabern on WKCR-FM radio in New York. Recently Sid has established a podcast The Gone Sounds of Jazz to serve as an archive of his shows. Those wishing to listen to the Mabern program, the April show he did on Freddie Redd and other treasures can hear them there.
Doug Hall has recently written a profile of jazz vocalist Shirley Horn for WICN’s Artist of the Month series. He has also recorded another podcast for his “Talk About Jazz with Doug Hall” program with Frank Zappa aficionado Jay Danley, a Canadian jazz guitarist and composer, who has just released a tribute album dedicated to Zappa’s instrumental jazz contributions.
Patrick Hinely did the photographs for Vagabond, the new album by Royce Campbell and the Vosbein-Magee Big Band, on Max Frank Music, and was one of 50 writers whose submissions were chosen for the 13th edition of So It Goes, the annual journal of the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library.
Sanford Josephson gave a presentation on “Celebrating Jazz Icon Chick Corea” on June 11 at the Wayne, NJ, Library. In the June issue of Jersey Jazz Magazine, Josephson interviewed Dr. David Demsey, who is retiring after 33 years as William Paterson University Coordinator of Jazz Studies; and vocalist Clara Campbell, winner of the 2025 Blues Alley Ella Fitzgerald Competition.
Howard Mandel wrote a feature on the AACM — both NYC and Chicago chapters — at 60 for DownBeat, also reviewing Plunky and Oneness of Juju’s Made Through Ritual and Alchemy Sound Project Performs the Music of Sumi Tonooka, Under the Surface.
Michael Pronko has published A Guide to Jazz in Japan, which covers the jazz scene in Tokyo and Yokohama, offering recommendations and reflections, together with reviews of jazz clubs, musicians, jazz kissaten, jam sessions, and vinyl stores. The guide also contains articles on jazz culture and history in Japan. Pronko runs the website Jazz in Japan, which regularly reviews local shows, interviews with musicians, a calendar, and CD reviews.
Natalia Rikker organized the April 19 premiere of jazz suite “Fiesco” by flautist Georgy Anokhin within the International Spring Beat Festival. On May 17, she and the Uralskiy Dixieland ensemble organized the first jazz concert at the Arkaim Archaeological Museum Reserve. On April 28, she presented “The Jazz Soundtrack in the French Thriller of the Late 1950s: Noir in the Style of Hard Bop” at the International Conference on Popular Music at the Moscow State Institute of Art Studies.
Syd Schwartz wrote liner notes for On View at the Five Spot: The Complete Masters (Kenny Burrell/Art Blakey), Blue Serge (Serge Chaloff), Modern Art (Art Pepper), Blues in Trinity (Dizzy Reece), and Freedom Sound (The Jazz Crusaders) for Blue Note, Two Is One (Charles Rouse) for Strata-East, and Close to the Edge (Yes) for Rhino/Warner. His Jazz & Coffee Substack (a 2024 Substack Editor’s Pick) recently passed 5,000 subscribers; his @jazzandcoffee Instagram topped 20,000 followers.
Brad Stone continues to produce his radio program focusing on new jazz releases, “The Creative Source”, on SoulandJazz.com. He also writes a regular guest column for “Women in Jazz Media” magazine and continues to serve on the Book Award Committee for the JJA. He will once again be emceeing stages at the upcoming Monterey Jazz Festival and San Jose Jazz Summer Fest.
Nasari Vega recently got to photograph Samara Joy’s Performance in Orlando FL as well as photograph her soundcheck. Vega’s photo was posted on her social media! She’s also been working with local jazz organizations such as the Central Florida Jazz Society to photograph and support local jazz events and gigs.
