Did you miss the “festivity” of June jazz concerts in major Manhattan venues — or did you find ways of coping without them? There’s so much fine music — jazz and beyond — in nearby festive settings, many of them out-of-doors, that the absence of a 38-year-old institution doesn’t seem to have made much stir. […]
Archives for June 2009
Zx1 pocket camera stars at 2009 Jazz Awards!
I love My Youtube! — now hosting video clips from my handy new Kodak go-anywhere device of jazz celebs, players and presenters at the Jazz Journalists Association’s 13th annual Jazz Awards party at the Jazz Standard (NYC) June 16, shot by debuting cinematographer R. Mandel. Brief bits of Hank Jones, the Charles Tolliver Big Band, Jane Bunnett‘s Spirits […]
Chicago’s quirky hero of blues and jazz in NYT
Bob Koester, owner-operator of Delmark Records and the Jazz Record Mart, is celebrated in the New York Times’ Arts & Leisure section today. He’s documented and marketed South and West Side soul, AACM innovation, trad jazz and the Mississippi Delta blues revival. I’m among the many music fans who grew up in his sway — and include […]
Furor over jazz sexism (continues)
Kitty Margolis, Bay Area jazz singer, Facebook and in-person friend, fired up followers re guest blogger Paul Lindemeyer’s comments on jazz’s historic bias towards men, which I contextualized with reference to Michelle Obama’s White House jazz night. Here’s what Kitty’s people wrote (names obscured except for her own and Alfonso’s — they ask to be id’d) […]
Michelle Obama refutes jazz as boys’ club
There are “powerful reasons . . .we ought to consider” for why musicians and listeners “tend to be a brotherhood,” according to a self-described “middle-aged white male swing-to-bopper.” He’s identifying, not justifying . . .Then the First Lady upsets the paradigm. She brings her daughters to the gig. I’ve got pressing deadlines, but luckily several […]
Jazz, that classy music
Saxophonist Steve Wilson and I talked about “Jazz and the Class Divide” at Dartmouth College, and here’s the entire half-hour clip on foratv.com. Wilson, a gentleman and a great player, was touring with the Blue Note 7, the band anchored by pianist Bill Charlap that’s been a big thing because Blue Note refers to the […]
Happy and sad news updates
Jazz Beyond Jazz was named Blog of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association at the Jazz Awards on Tuesday — and Tina Marsh, driving force of Austin creative music, died that day, too. I’m immersed in follow-up on both these and related issues, but details and new posts are guaranteed. As 91-year-old Hank Jones […]
2009 JJA Jazz Award Winners
The whole list is posted at http://www.jazzhouse.org, along with photos of the Jazz Journalists Association’s 13th Annual Jazz Awards presentation, held Tuesday in New York City. A full report, with video, very soon. howardmandel.com Subscribe by Email | Subscribe by RSS | Follow on Twitter All JBJ posts |
Jazz “bloat” gone? Phoenix rising from ashes?
Forecasts vary in the wake of collapses of Jazz Times and the JVC Jazz Festivals. Brilliant Corners exults that mid-brow music is so over and revels in New York’s Vision Fest, while Jazz Chronicles asks what comes next — possibly something good? I think it’s irresponsible and delusional to believe that the demise of successful […]
Tina Marsh, Austin’s avant-jazz leader, gravely ill
The founder of the Creative Opportunity Orchestra, a musicans’ cooperative of composer-improvisers on the model of Chicago’s AACM, is suffering late stage breast cancer. Beautiful Tina Marsh, age 55, whose disease was successfully treated in the ’90s but recurred in 2008, is resting in a private home, with friends close by. A pure-voiced vocalist who employs […]
JazzTimes “temporarily suspended,” staff “furloughed”
JazzTimes confirms rumors first reported here the 38-year-old monthly magazine’s deep financial distress requires it to stop publishing. Its management hopes for a brand-sale and re-emergence. But in a longer email to freelance contributors, those same managers adopt a can’t-help-you-pal shrug toward the brand’s freelance contributors. “The brand and operation will undergo reorganization and restructuring in […]
Jazz Times crisis confirmed
An associate editor of JazzTimes “until a couple of weeks ago when I was laid off” has confirmed that the magazine is in deep trouble. “There was some hope of a new buyer coming to the rescue,” he writes, “but as of my last contact with the guys it wasn’t looking good.” I’d heard previously […]
Domino effect of JVC Jazz Fest failure on Jazz Times?
New speculation on the jazz magazine crisis: Having no summer advertorial supplements for JVC Jazz Festivals (which aren’t happening) may have hugely hurt JT‘s seasonal revenues. How could the loss of three consecutive monthly multi-page inserts, all expenses paid for by the client, not shake a publication’s income stream? Complete disclosure: I edited the JVC […]