Jane Ira Bloom performs with the keyboard-percussion duo Air Space (Mike Effenberger and Brian Shankar Adler) at The Space, 538 Congress St, Portland, Maine on Thursday, July 25 at 7 p.m.
Steve Braunginn, Strictly Jazz Sounds Podcast host/producer, interviewed Canadian award-winning jazz guitarist Jocelyn Gould. The interview subsequently was published on Strictly Jazz Sounds in May. Steve also spent time with her and introduced her on May 31 as she performed at A Tribe for Jazz’s International Jazz Series at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio to an excited audience, many of whom were CCAD students and first-time jazz concert attendees.
Jim Brock was a featured artist with the Just Jazz Foundation at Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival, providing an exhibit of his prints from the Just Jazz concert series performances over the years.
Paul de Barros, as part of the Jackson Street Jazz Trail Committee, has commissioned a signal box wrap, “The Women of the Jackson Street Jazz District,” and (along with the Friends of I-5 CID) a large-scale mural on the underside of the I-5 freeway that depicts musicians of the Jackson Street jazz era (Quincy Jones, Dick Wilson, Ray Charles, et al.) In April, he reviewed Jazzkaar, a delightful festival in Tallinn, Estonia, for DownBeat.
Patrick Hinely has an extended photographs-and-text feature on Carla Bley in the July/ August/ September issue of Cadence, as well as a farewell to Palle Danielsson, also featuring both photographs and text.
Ellen Johnson recently served on the faculty of the Sierra Jazz Society jazz camp and performed in their fundraising concert. She is currently working on a series of original compositions focused on music for healing and meditation. She produced the video “Whispers of Solitude” with her most recent composition featuring photographic images by Seán Duggan.
Sanford Josephson interviewed trombonist Wycliffe Gordon and trumpeter Bruce Harris in the July/August issue of Jersey Jazz Magazine.
Howard Mandel hosted two episodes of The Buzz: The Podcast of the JJA — with Montana Jazz Hero Ann Tappan and with publication editors Rayna Mathis (Earshot Jazz) and Chrys Roney (Hot House Jazz Guide). He reviewed Tarbaby’s You Think This America for DownBeat, and posted his 1980 Musician mag article about Chicago stalwart Fred Anderson with updates at Mandel’s Media Diet. With JJA board member Terri Hinte and David Adler, Mandel proofed The Jazz Omnibus: 21st Century Photos and Writings by Members of the Jazz Journalists Association, scheduled for Oct 1 publication by Cymbal Press – 90 contributors in approx 600 pages — more details to come!
Ian Mackenzie commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Bill Evans Trio concert at Camp Fortune in Canada (the Blue In Green: the Canadian Concert) on July 3. He also attended the Ottawa Jazz Festival and did some programming related to the artists who appeared.
Siphiwe Mhlambi is currently the second place winner of the World Jazz Photo 2024.
Chuck Obuchowski is leading the WWUH team’s live broadcasts of the 57th Annual Paul Brown Monday Night Jazz Series in Hartford, CT’s Bushnell Park, July 8 – August 12. WWUH has broadcast the series for nearly five decades. Obuchowski joined the Bushnell broadcasts in 1994. View his article, “57th Annual Hartford Jazz Series Remains a Celebration of Unity in The Community,” in July’s WWUH Program Guide at wwuh.org, where you may also stream each concert.
Natalia Rikker received a Fulbright scholarship, thanks to which she created a new course on the history of Soviet jazz and taught it during spring semester 2024 at North Texas University. Her article dedicated to her American experience became her debut on the JJA website. She also published a study on jazz in Soviet movies, published in the Russian e-journal Art & Culture Studies.
Luciano Rossetti has covered several recent festivals in Italy and Europe: Soundscapes #4 in Berlin, Germany; Unlimited Music 37 in Wels, Austria; Sons d’Hiver in Paris, France; Artacts ’24 in St.Johann, Tirol, Austria; Rob Mazurek Projects in Padua, Italy; and We Insist! Festival in Cernusco sul Naviglio, Italy.
Lew Shaw profiles drummer Arthur Vint, general manager of the Celebrity Jazz Room in Tucson’s Hotel Congress (which was the site of gangster John Dillinger’s capture in 1934), in the July issue of The Syncopated Times. Vint is the JJA’s 2024 Tucson Jazz Hero.
Rob Shepherd interviewed Steph Richards, Molly Miller, Elliott Sharp, James Blood Ulmer, Alfredo Colon, Janel Leppin, Deron Johnson, and Lakecia Benjamin in June. He also had a special conversation with Bill Frisell and filmmaker Bill Morrison. All were for his website Postgenre.org. Rob is also ramping up for PostGenre’s annual extensive Newport coverage in July.
