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! See the most recent publications and other work reported by the extremely active members of the Jazz Journalists Association after the jump.
If you’re a JJA member and want your recent activities included in the next installment of Member Updates, send a brief paragraph beginning with your name to membernews@jazzjournalists.org by January 3, 2019.
David R. Adler wrote liner notes for Episodes by guitarist Teriver Cheung and Ensemble Transience, as well as Open Sesame by trombonist Joe Fiedler. He also published a Q&A with bandleader Michael Leonhart regarding The Painted Lady Suite, as well as reviews of The Savory Collection and Teddy Wilson (both on Mosaic), for the Kansas City-based online publication Jazz Artistry Now.
Alex Dutilh is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Open Jazz, his daily jazz broadcast at a peak hour (6-7pm) on France Musique, the French national public radio. It will include a 2-hour concert broadcast on Radio France, on December 19, with 9 different French bands playing their own music plus an arrangement of Michel Petrucciani’s compositions. He will also broadcast a 10-hour special series, a portrait of Gary Burton, for the holidays (Dec. 17-31).
Ken Franckling is pulling together the voluminous material for his annual year-in-review for All About Jazz, which will be online in early January. He covered a wide range of concerts for his Jazz Notes blog in November: a solo concert in Venice FL by pianist Bobby van Deusen; Dan Mitler and Lew Del Gatto’s Art Blakey/Jazz Messengers legacy tribute featuring 12-year-old pianist Brandon Goldberg; and a Bill Allred Classic Jazz Band concert in Port Charlotte featuring Randy Sandke.
James Hale wrote about the jazz program at George Mason University for DownBeat, the summer camp operated by the University of Central Oklahoma, and also contributed a short feature on the Montreal International Jazz Festival for DownBeat’s look at great jazz cities. For SoundStageXperience.com, he reviewed a Kenny Wheeler tribute by Ingrid Jensen and Steve Treseler, and Musical Prophet by Eric Dolphy.
Andrew Hovan recently penned the liner notes for trombonist and composer Steve Davis’ upcoming Smoke Sessions release, The Correlations Sextet. He also contributed to Down Beat his photograph of Marcus Miller and writer Paul de Barros at a live Blindfold Test during the Detroit Jazz Festival. During December, Hovan spent time in Michigan covering the Detroit Groove Society’s presentation of Joe Locke and the University Musical Society’s show featuring Charles Lloyd and the Marvels.
Joe Maita interviewed Gary Giddins about his new Bing Crosby biography and published it on his website Jerry Jazz Musician.
Howard Mandel continued consultation on the updated revision of the Encyclopedia of Jazz and Blues (from Flame Tree Press, UK), writing about Western Swing and Latin Jazz, and reviewed James Brandon Lewis’s An Unruly Manifesto for DownBeat.
Steve Monroe‘s November Jazz Avenues for East of the River print and capitalcommunitynews.com editions included a remembrance and review of the memorial program for the recently departed saxophonist Ron Sutton Jr., a preview of the Anacostia Arts Center show featuring drummer Mark Prince, and news of the Mayor’s Arts Awards event honoring University of the District of Columbia Jazz Studies Director Allyn Johnson and the DC Jazz Festival.
Fiona Ross has had two interviews published in Jazz in Europe recently, first article discussing life as a Bahrani female trumpet player with Yazz Ahmed and secondly with the experimental female Jazz group J Frisco, entitled ‘Bras, Peanut Butter and Jazz.’ Fiona also attended Maxine Gordon’s London book launch at Honest Jon’s Record store (which was the first record store specialising in Jazz to open in London, in 1974) for her new book about Dexter Gordon.
Lew Shaw has written two stories on the Harlem Renaissance and the great jazz clubs of the 1920s and ’30s in Harlem for The Syncopated Times.
Jim Wilke recorded and broadcast Maria Schneider with The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra for his Jazz Northwest heard Sunday afternoons on 88.5 KNKX jazznw.org. Other November shows included an all-star Celebration of George Cables playing his music at Jazz Port Townsend, and D’Vonne Lewis Passage at Seattle Art Museum. Cannonball Adderley Swingin’ in Seattle was issued on 2 LPs drawn from Jim’s live radio shows in 1966-67. A CD version will follow in January.
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.)
