Angel City Jazz Festival

#jazzlives weekend update: 12-day count of tweeting fans

September 7, 2009 by Howard Mandel

Buzz about who played live jazz where marked with the hashtage #jazzlives flew throughout cyberspace this weekend -- catch it all here. The impromptu campaign produced anecdotal evidence that a young and vigorous audience for America's modern vernacular creative music does indeed exist, spreading enthusiastic word via the social network Twitter of sets at Chicago, Tanglewood, Los Angeles (x2), Detroit and Stevens Point (Wisconsin) jazz festivals and gigs in New York, Tokyo, etc,. far and wide. … [Read more...]

Social networking does its #jazzlives stuff

August 28, 2009 by Howard Mandel

Start a Twitter campaign, and see what happens! Do as many people hear live jazz in a week as attended Woodstock, say? Using the hashtag #jazzlives, a rough count is underway, supported by independent jazz activists, musicians, festivals, journalists but most of all the listeners themselves. It's a lesson in how people participate in culture now, with encouraging findings. … [Read more...]

I'm a Chicago-born (and after 32 years in NYC, recently repatriated) writer, editor, author, arts reporter for National Public Radio, consultant and nascent videographer -- a veteran freelance journalist working on newspapers, magazines and websites, appearing on tv and radio, teaching at New York University and elsewhere, consulting on media, publishing and jazz-related issues. I'm president of the Jazz Journalists Association, a non-profit membership organization devoted to using all media to disseminate news and views about all kinds of jazz.
My books are Future Jazz (Oxford U Press, 1999) and Miles Ornette Cecil - Jazz Beyond Jazz (Routledge, 2008). I was general editor of the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz and Blues (Flame Tree 2005/Billboard Books 2006). Of course I'm working on something new. . . Read More…

Howard Mandel on Four months of jazz adaptation, resilience, response to epidemic: “glad of that, Heidi.” Jul 3, 12:19
Howard Mandel on Four months of jazz adaptation, resilience, response to epidemic: “thanks Peter, but I only scratched the surface. What I've written about here has multiplied manifold.” Jul 3, 12:18
Heidi Ann Fleming on Four months of jazz adaptation, resilience, response to epidemic: “Really enjoyed this article!” Jul 3, 12:02
Peter Gerler on Four months of jazz adaptation, resilience, response to epidemic: “Howard--Your research is remarkable! All best, Peter G” Jul 3, 10:54
Howard Mandel on Four months of jazz adaptation, resilience, response to epidemic: “Thanks a chris - oh, there’s soooo much to hear!” Jul 2, 21:25

ESP Disks — origins of jazz beyond jazz

Reviewing a sleeping giant, ESP Disks before its early '00s revival Howard Mandel c 1997, published in issue 157, The Wire It was a time before psychedelics. Following the seismic cultural disruptions of the mid '50s, rock 'n' roll had hit a … [Read More...]

William Parker, my DownBeat feature from 1998

Howard Mandel c 1998/published by DownBeat, July 1998, under headline Beneath the Underdog (the editor's reference to Charles Mingus's autobiography): There's an anchor for New York's downtown free jazz and improv "wild bunch": his name is William … [Read More...]

Matthew Shipp, my feature for The Wire, 1998

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="IFeXJPobvykRyuU4dU68FilRPv0EE8oC"] This is a complete version of the feature on pianist Matthew Shipp I wrote for The Wire, published in February, 1998 Is this the face of New York's jazz avant now? Pianist Matt … [Read More...]

Rashied Ali (1935 – 2009), multi-directional drummer, speaks

A 1990 interview with drummer Rashied Ali, about his relationship with John Coltrane. … [Read More...]

On The Corner program notes, Merkin Hall concert 5/25/09

Miles Davis intended On The Corner to be a personal statement, an esthetic breakthrough and a social provocation upon its release in fall of 1972. He could hardly have been more successful: the album was all that, though it has taken decades for its … [Read More...]