The JJA relies on dues to support its programs — including the JJA Jazz Awards (now in their 20th year), JJA Jazz Heroes presentations (see details elsewhere on JJANews); JazzOnLockdown, the international reports on responses to the coronavirus, the “Working the Beat” workspaces Slack.com and Loomio, and the 25th annual JJA Jazz Awards. Please encourage friends and colleagues to join our efforts.
Ken Franckling is keeping tabs on the coronavirus/COVID-19 impacts on jazz in his Jazz Notes blog. He also reviewed and photographed two Southwest Florida concerts by Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo, and a weekly Dan Miller-Lew Del Gatto quartet gig in Fort Myers that had two unexpected sitters-in: Japanese trumpeter Terumasa Hino and Boston-based saxophonist Arnie Krakowsky.
Eric Gagnon has been building a basic studio in his office to continue broadcasting his old-time and jazz radio show on Quebec’s CFOU-FM.
James Hale wrote about trumpeter Avishai Cohen and his new Big Vicious project for DownBeat. Also for DB, he profiled Dr. Robert Morgan, former music department chairman at Houston’s High School for Performing and Visual Arts, best known for teaching artists like Robert Glasper and Jason Moran. He also wrote about vocalist Kandace Springs’ new recording for SoundStageXperience.com.
James Harrod’s second book, Stars of Jazz – A Complete History of the Innovative Series 1956-1958, was recently published by McFarland Publishers. He has consolidated all of his jazz research that was formerly on several different Google platforms to his personal web site.
Sheila Jordan is staying home in upstate New York, on a mountain wild animals for friends and neighbors. She has had to cancel a lot of wonderful tours but would rather to be safe than dead. “I hope you and the folks are fine and staying healthy and safe. Sending you all love and hope for a vaccine real soon to fight this virus.”
Howard Mandel worked extensively on the JJA’s Jazz Heroes and Jazz Awards campaigns, besides soliciting and editing JazzOnLockdown articles from JJA members and correspondents in China, Madrid, British Columbia, Australia, New Zealand, and Indianapolis. He reviewed Fire! Orchestra’s Actions (by Krzysztof Penderecki) for DownBeat, and wrote an article for the Jazz Institute of Chicago’s monthly JazzGram on “What If It’s Jazz Appreciation Month and Nobody Comes?”
Dan Ouellette‘s feature on Aaron Diehl appears in DownBeat’s May issue along with a story on the Webber/Morris Big Band. For his April “Jazz & Beyond Intel” column, he caught powerhouse alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin at Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center on the opening night of her two-evening gig celebrating the prerelease of her new album, Pursuance: the Coltranes. He also weighed in with three New York guitarists—Liberty Ellman, Will Bernard and Joel Harrison.
Paul Rauch continues his profile series, “20 Seattle Jazz Musicians That You Should Know,” for All About Jazz. March included bassist Jeff Johnson, pianists Jovino Santos Neto and Brittany Anjou, and drummer/composer Xavier Lecouturier. He also reviewed trumpeter Thomas Marriott’s new quartet recording for AAJ. For Earshot Jazz, he previewed the upcoming EP release performance for Steve Tressler’s “Snowline Suite,” as well reviewing the EP of original compositions. He continues to be the main contributor to seattlejazzscene.com.
Cathy Segal-Garcia is hosting a free noontime (PST) Facebook Live hang/class with music professionals almost every day during this quarantine.
Lew Shaw’s second book, Jazz Beat Encore: More Notes on Classic Jazz, is now available on Amazon as an eBook and paperback. Like his first book, Jazz Beat, it is a compilation of interviews of 43 contemporary active musicians he has written and been published over the past seven years.
Sammy Stein is curating radio shows to help diffuse the blues of lock-down, she has also done an interview with Ivo Perelman for Free Jazz Collective and reviews for several columns. The lockdown has proved a creative time for Sammy and also musicians in the UK with many initiatives of support springing up for musicians, online lessons and several pay online gigs.
