{"id":272,"date":"2009-11-19T14:03:33","date_gmt":"2009-11-19T19:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/2009\/11\/trouble_-_or_transition_-_at\/"},"modified":"2011-04-28T16:33:23","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T20:33:23","slug":"trouble_-_or_transition_-_at","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/11\/trouble_-_or_transition_-_at.html","title":{"rendered":"Trouble — or transition — at Jazz.com?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stepping down<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0from presiding over Jazz.com<\/a> two years after its launch, editor, author<\/a> and pianist<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0Ted Gioia<\/span> isn’t saying much about what’s up with the site that has become a major web resource and destination. Naturally, this leads to wondering what has become of the promise and potential of jazz on the web.<\/p>\n


\nWe have many bloggers about the music, yes (see my blogroll) — some well informed, some less so — and large dedicated websites including AllAboutJazz.com<\/a> and JazzCorner.com<\/a>, which serve the informational and promotional needs of the greater jazz community each in their unique ways. But under Gioia, Jazz.com has succeeded in laying a foundation for a living online center concerning the music, through commissioned blog posts and articles, track reviews and the inclusion of Lewis Porter’s Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

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One of the features we enjoyed most has been Jazz.com’s aggregation of “news and views,” in which provocative postings from across the jazz-specific blogosphere could be quickly and easily scanned in one place, viewed as screenshots. Not to be modest, Jazz Beyond Jazz bits often have turned up there, and I’ve been glad to have them rubbing shoulders with news from Peter Hum<\/a>, Patrick Jarwarttananon of A Blog Supreme<\/a>, James Hale,<\/a> Doug Ramsey<\/a>, Don Heckman<\/a>, JazzWax<\/a>, and many of the other colleagues I try to keep up with. Jazz.com provided an easy way to do it.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
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I’ve asked Ted directly what’s up with Jazz.com, and he is observing a diplomatic silence. The site, without advertising OR subscriptions to generate revenue, has from the start been financed by a silent partner, rumored to be a Las Vegas-based media entrepreneur. The url “jazz.com” is reputed to be a highly valuable property, though jazz online mavens have never explained why; without great content, no url can really be worth much. Not to be too worried about Ted — he’s been stalwart, judicious and productive:\u00c2\u00a0The Birth (and Death) of the Cool<\/a> is his just-out-now book, after volumes on Delta Blues<\/a>, Healing Songs<\/a>, Work Songs<\/a>, The History of Jazz<\/a> and West Coast Jazz<\/a>. And jazz readers will hope that whatever transition is occurring at Jazz.com is one of those things, a bump not a breakdown. Stay tuned, keep reading. . .\u00c2\u00a0<\/div>\n
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