JJA Members spread their wings to share good news from around the world. Festival Field Reports continue cycling on JJA News with reportage coming in from North Sea to shining sea!
All this while journalistic jam sessions continue at JJA’s Award-winning podcast, The Buzz:
https://thebuzzthejjapodcast.buzzsprout.com
Our newest (professional and voting level) members are in step:
Steve Bowie, host, writer, researcher and producer of the podcast “Ellington Reflections” is also author of the 2025 book, Concerto for Cootie, the Life and Times of Cootie Williams. Bowie presented papers on Williams and Kenny Burrell for conferences held by the Duke Ellington Society of Sweden, and his articles have appeared in DownBeat and Jazz Improv magazines. He’s a musician himself, playing saxophone and joins us from Pasadena, California!
Deborah Eastwood is an educator and jazz historian, based in Kentucky; She has toured and recorded as a member of the Athena Brass Band, Lexington Brass Band, SymbiosisDuo, and the Horizon Brass Quintet and is now also serving on the Board of Directors for the Athena Brass Band.
We look forward to hearing more jazz news and views from them, and here’s more good news from our members based “around the corner and around the world:”
Matty Bannond reviewed albums by Juli Deák, Andrea Motis, and Mark Turner for Jazz Journal in July. His interview and profile of bassist Linda May Han Oh will appear on the front cover of the August issue of The New York City Jazz Record. Matty has also written a creative nonfiction feature for the upcoming edition of The Philly Jazz Voice.
Jane Ira Bloom, with drummer/percussionist Brian Shankar Adler and bassist Ken Filiano perform selections from their recent recording “once like a spark” at Greene Block Studios/Colby College, 14 Main Street, Waterville, Maine at 4 p.m. on Sunday, August 7.
Bob Blumenthal spoke with winners of the two 2026 JJA Jazz Awards’ Book of the Year categories: pianist Matthew Shipp, honored for Black Mystery School Pianists and Other Writings (Autonomedia), and pianist and critic Ethan Iverson, honored as the writer behind Oceans of Time: The Musical Autobiography of Billy Hart (Cymbal Press) for this episode of The Buzz; “We Should Talk About Music.” As JJA Book Committee chair, Bob and his team are currently meeting to share the next must-read Jazz picks!
Steve Braunginn, host/producer of the Strictly Jazz Sounds podcast, published two more episodes in June and July 2026. Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt was Steve’s guest in June with L.A. Jazz Festival organizer Martin Ludlow spending time with Steve in July. Steve attended A Tribe for Jazz presentation of the trio GTO, which includes Gadi Lehavi on piano, Tal Mashiach was on bass, and Ofri Nehemya on drums.
Katchie Cartwright in June and July hosted-produced weekly broadcasts of Caminhos do Jazz for Trinity University’s KRTU San Antonio and edited scores of reviews for All About Jazz, where she also published a handful of her own, covering albums by Helen Sung, Lucy Yeghiazaryan, Sara Serpa & Matt Mitchell, Neves e Silva, Ella & The Bossa Beat, Stephen Guerra, and Antonio Adolfo.
Steven Cerra’s Jean Goldkette Companion is now available in both paperback and eBook exclusively via Amazon. Having received a special JJA citation in 2025 for Historical Writing, Cerra continues to do his part in this regard, especially during this decade, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of many significant events in Early Jazz.
Con Chapman was on hand on Saturday, July 25th, the anniversary of Johnny Hodges’ birthday, when a memorial plaque was installed along Putnam Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was born. Funds were raised for the plaque by the Johnny Hodges Appreciation Society, a non-profit formed to honor his memory and support musical instruction in the region’s schools. Local musicians performed songs associated with him, and the City of Cambridge declared it “Johnny Hodges Appreciation Day.”
Stephanie Stein Crease is teaching a workshop online this fall for the Hudson Valley Writers Center, “Telling Stories: The Art of Biography,” Wednesdays, 6-8pm, Sept. 16, 23, 30 and Oct. 7, 2026. I know her last workshop became a big success and space was limited, so plan to sign up now.
Doug Hall has just interviewed jazz pianist Kris Davis, Grammy-award winner & Voted Pianist of the Year in the annual DownBeat Critics Poll (2020, 2022, 2025, 2026). They discussed her upcoming September release Lost in Geneva and her jazz trio and musical explorations.
David Haney, composer, pianist and publisher of Cadence Magazine signed a contract with ESP – disk to release a new album next year that was recorded in Brooklyn in 2025 with Daniel Carter, Jimmy, Bennington and Adam Lane. Two upcoming DH concerts announced – August 16 in Olympia, Washington at Dr. Wheelzs pad which is the house of the late great Bert Wilson. His wife Nancy runs a performance series there. September 25 concert with Julian Priester and Jimmy Bennington at the Jazz Fellowship foundation. September 25 is officially Julian Priester day in the city of Seattle. Cadence Magazine and Free Weekly Newsletter on Substack.
Patrick Hinely wrote a farewell salute to Sheila Jordan, with vintage photographs, for Cadence magazine.
C. Andrew Hovan covered Sheila E. and Ron Carter at the Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland in June for All About Jazz. In addition, he penned liner notes for Matt Panayides’ “Present Echoes” on Steeplechase. He is currently working on notes for an upcoming Jim Snidero project for Savant as well as contributing to a new reissue program for Chesky Records.
Richard Kamins is having a great summer writing his Substack blog, “Step Tempest Steps Out,” as well as his Thursday afternoon radio show on WESU-FM in Middletown, Connecticut. So far, since he started in May, he has conversed with Marty Ehrlich, Virginia MacDonald, Dida Pellid, Migiwa “Miggy” Miyajima, Joe Fiedler, Brad Goode, Jon Schapiro, and Gaia Wilmer.
Yuki Kimura featured Huang Rui-Feng, the “Drum King of Taiwan,” in his book Echoes of Swing, which led to a recent reunion with his longtime Japanese friend Hiro Tsunoda after 25 years. Huang has recorded over 100,000 works, an extraordinary legacy. Tsunoda, chosen at 20 as drummer for Sadao Watanabe’s group, later played with Terumasa Hino, Shigeru Narumo, Masayoshi Takanaka, Gladys Knight, Rufus, and the Doobie Brothers. Yuki plans to write about these two “Drum Kings” later this year.
Rebecca Klobucher attended the 60th edition of the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and presented the 2026 JJA Jazz Flutist of the Year Award to Charles Lloyd, who performed with Gerald Clayton, piano; Harish Raghavan, bass, and Kweku Sumbry, drums. Lloyd returned to play a special concert at this anniversary celebration, after being the first headliner for the Festival in 1967.
Kelly Korzun, jazz journalist and visionary behind METAL & DVST, wrapped up the spring season in conversation with Samora Pinderhughes in support of the Winter Jazz Festival’s 30th edition Still We RISE, themed and anchored in Maya Angelou’s poetry. On Juneteenth, she attended the Take 6 opening night at Blue Note in NYC on behalf of JJA and personally congratulated Claude McKnight and the Kibble brothers on winning the 2026 JJA Jazz Awards Vocal Group of the Year.
Howard Mandel reviewed Convergence: Life in China by drummer William Hooker (featuring guitarist John King) for DownBeat, posted about James “Blood” Ulmer and also the Klezmatics on Substack, and interviewed Andrew Cyrille, Jerome Harris and Billy Grant about their collaborations with Oliver Lake.
Kenneth K. Martinez Burgmaier is producing his next Maui Jazz and Blues Festival August 31–September 6 at the Ritz Carlton Maui Kapalua, celebrating his production of more than 75 festivals in Hawaii over 25 years. The festival includes Eddie Henderson, Steve Turre, Javon Jackson, The Iguanas, Bruce SunPie Barnes, Michael Doucet BeauSolis, and Joanna Conner.
Bill Milkowski is interviewed in an upcoming issue of The Absolute Sound, one of his primary freelance outlets, about his winning the Jazz Journalists Association’s Robert Palmer-Helen Oakley Dance Award for Excellence in Writing as well as celebrating his 20th year with the magazine as of July 25, 2026. His cover stories on the John Coltrane Centennial, Joni Mitchell, and John Scofield will appear in forthcoming issues of Downbeat, UK’s Jazzwise, and Switzerland’s Jazz ‘N’ More magazines, respectively.
Danica Pantovic reported from the 50th edition of NN North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, for JJA News. In April Danica reported about Jazzahead! from Bremen, Germany for JJA News.
Wildstyle Paschall and Leslie Lynnton Fuller have a busy summer! Wildstyle photographed JJA Indianapolis 2021 Jazz Hero Rob Dixon at the city’s iconic “Jazz Masters of Indiana Avenue” Mural. Additionally, his work is featured in a current photography exhibit at the Indiana State Museum. Leslie created an electronic press kit for Dixon and assisted the saxophonist with applications to international festivals. She also presented Indianapolis Jazz Hero Brandon Meeks with his award.
Natalia Rikker took part in the Moscow Jazz Festival, the biggest jazz festival in Europe. She performed as a host for the Uralskiy Dixieland Jazz Ensemble’s concert on the Zaryadye Park Open Stage and became one of the speakers and moderators of the large professional jazz industry conference “Jazz Across Borders,” which was held as a part of the Moscow Jazz Festival. Natalia presented a report on her method of jazz education in a music college.
Jeff Schwartz published a review of Harald Kisiedu’s European Echoes in issue 17:1 of Critical Studies in Improvisation and performed in Carole Kim’s “SQRM” at the Daredevil Arts Festival in Venice, CA.
Michael J. West’s book Time Lines: The Life and Music of Andrew Hill is available for preorder from Backbeat/Bloomsbury. The official publication date is January 21, 2027, but don’t wait!
