Steve Braunginn has had an active month. He’s interviewed Grammy-winning pianist Kris Davis, saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, and vibraphonist Yuhan Su. He published two episodes of his Strictly Jazz Sounds Podcast: episodes 20 (“Roni Eytan: Jazz Harmonica Colossus”) and 21 (“Wayne Escoffery: Fostering Pride in Black American Music-Jazz”). Braunginn also presented the Tyrone Allen Quartet and the Miki Yamanaka Trio in concert at A Tribe for Jazz International Jazz Series shows.
Jon Garelick presented Bonnie Johnson — longtime WICN jazz host and community activist — with the JJA’s Jazz Hero Award at the second annual Cambridge (MA) Jazz Festival. Earlier this summer, he was fortunate to be able to talk to and write about (for The Boston Globe) saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Charlie Kohlhase regarding his latest album, A Second Life, which he was moved to record after discovering in his 60s that he was HIV positive.
Sanford Josephson interviewed Russell Malone on August 6, just 17 days before he passed away while on tour with Ron Carter in Japan. The interview was in connection with Malone’s scheduled September 28th concert at the Middlesex County Jazz Festival in Metuchen, NJ. It appears in the September issue of Jersey Jazz Magazine.
Kitty Margolis previewed Monterey Jazz Festival 2024 for the San Francisco monthly Nob Hill Gazette. The piecefeatures a brief historic overview and highlights the inaugural program of the new artistic director, Baltimore pianist/composer/conductor Darin Atwater. Music historian/journalist Ashley Kahn and trumpeter Keyon Harold offer insights alongside Margolis’ own “Festival Pro Tips.”
Dee Dee McNeil has been invited to contribute to Contemporary Fusion Reviews. They have accepted four CD reviews for publication. Her article on pianist/singer John Ambrosini published in Ambassador Magazine’s Autumn Quarterly. The Musical Memoirs blog published “Big Bands & Orchestras Wrap Arrangements Around Jazz” and “Saxophones Sing Like Wild Birds,” also “Imaginative Albums by Incredible Pianists” and a column called “Strings & Things.” Dee Dee’s continuing CD reviews appear in http://makingascene.org and http://LAJazzScene.buzz.
Howard Mandel presented and participated fully in the Guelph Jazz Colloquium (theme: “Sheets of Sound: Jazz, Improvisation and Liner Notes”) and jazz festival, reviewed Six Words by Rahsaan Barber and Everyday Magic in DownBeat – an attended the Monterey Jazz Festival for a DownBeat article. He’s also been working on The Jazz Omnibus: 21st-Century Photos and Writings by Members of the Jazz Journalists Association — coming Oct 15 from Cymbal Press, available now for pre-publication order!
Bill Milkowski wrote liner notes for seven new releases. He also wrote a cover story on Al Di Meola and features on Mike Stern and Jim Campilongo for Guitar Player magazine, BEAT pieces on saxophonist Javon Jackson and poet-activist Nikki Giovanni and on trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and drummer Jim Black for Downbeat. In addition, he wrote separate tributes to guitar greats Stevie Ray Vaughan and Allan Holdsworth, bassist-composer Stanley Clarke and ambient music pioneer Brian Eno on his Substack.
China Moses is glad to report that, in addition to her radio shows “Late Night China Moses” on Jazz FM in the UK and “Made In China,” on TSF Jazz in France, she has started a new monthly show called “Jazz Adjacent,” airing the first Monday of each month on the rebirthed East Village Radio, broadcasting from the historic booth on 1st Ave in NYC. Additionally, she had the honor of hosting the 76th edition of the Nice Jazz Festival.
Lawrence Peryer has been named to the Evaluation Committee for the Jazz Forward Award, a new initiative from All About Jazz that honors and celebrates industry trailblazers who actively promote jazz awareness, discovery, and culture. Full program details and nomination information here.
Shauna Stuart covered bassist Ron Carter’s induction into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame for AL.com. The Alabama Jazz Hall inducted Carter during a ceremony at the historic Carver Theatre in Birmingham on August 3. The program, dubbed “A Cool Jazz Afternoon” was also a grand reopening celebration for the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. The story includes quotes from a brief interview with Carter after the ceremony.
Scott Thompson PR has been busy with guitarist/composer Strat Andriotis’s January 17 release of Exits. He is also working with clarinetist/vocalist Rick Bogart as well as the Robin Simone Hollywood Orchestra. Matt Dwonszyk & Friends’ Donny Time – The Music of Don DePalma are also on the list, along with Steckler/Ikawa/Plaxico/Lewis’ Old Friends Beckoned/New Sounds Reckoned.
Michael J. West wrote Album of the Day pieces on Nubya Garcia and Ezra Collective for Bandcamp. He wrote an appreciation of Benny Golson for the Washington Post and an appraisal of D.C. saxophonist BJ Simmons for Washington City Paper.
Deanna Witkowski completed her PhD in jazz studies from the University of Pittsburgh and moved to Chicago in August. She is currently transforming her dissertation, “Jazz in the Pews: ‘Experiments in Sunday Worship’ in the 1960s,” into a book and is teaching as adjunct professor of jazz piano at Elmhurst University.
