Posted under Jazz News & Podcast
Coming up on The Jazz Session over the next couple months: Jason Parker, Chris Kelsey, Harris Eisenstadt, Erik Deutsch, Chad Taylor, John Hollenbeck, Roger Kellaway, Sam Sadigursky, Brandon Seabrook, Lionel Loueke, Dave Rempis & Frank Rosaly, Frank Kimbrough, John Ellis, Orrin Evans, Joe Locke, Tyshawn Sorey, Fred Ho, …Erik Telford, Stanton Moore, Matt Lavelle … and more!
Crazy, right?
Posted under Jazz News & Podcast
Many thanks to Chris Rich of the blog Brilliant Corners for including The Jazz Session right at the top of his site.
If you’re not familiar with Chris, you should be. He blogs frequently and fearlessly about jazz as an art form and as a business, and I always find his take on the music refreshing and original. Chris also goes out of his way to build a community of jazz fans, musicians and writers, and that’s important work.
Back in November, Chris asked me to participate in his occasional profile series. Here are the results.
So thanks, Chris. The jazz world is better with you in it.
UPDATE: This short post prompted some nasty comments, which is too bad. But it also prompted an interesting post from Chris Rich, which is good.
Posted under Jazz News & Podcast
Congratulations to all the folks who won Grammy awards during the afternoon ceremony today, including the following former guests on The Jazz Session:
Here’s the rest of the list of the awards given out thus far in the jazz category.
Posted under Jazz News & Jazz Writing & Podcast
These lists are always a bit ridiculous to compile, given the near impossibility of rating art and the sheer number of CDs released each year. That said, I compiled the list below for the 2009 Village Voice Jazz Critics Poll.
TOP 10
Artist – Album (Label)
TOP 3 REISSUES
BEST VOCAL ALBUM
Fay Victor – The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue)
BEST DEBUT CD
Darius Jones – Man’ish Boy (AUM Fidelity)
BEST LATIN JAZZ CD
– not voting —
Posted under Jazz News & Site Updates & Tanglewood Jazz Festival
You may remember that last year I recorded several interviews at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival in my hometown of Lenox, MA: Eddie Daniels, Jo Lawry and Spencer Day. This year I’m going back in a much bigger way. Here’s the press release that the Tanglewood Jazz Festival organizers put out today:
Tanglewood Jazz Festival and The Jazz Session Partner
For the first time, the Tanglewood Jazz Festival welcomes Jason Crane and The Jazz Session to the Jazz Shop Tent where Jason will conduct live interviews with artists, ticket holders and others that will be taped for broadcast on his popular interview program (thejazzsession.com).
What’s more, The Jazz Session just announced a new partnership with Allabout jazz.com that will feature the broadcasts on its home page. Allaboutjazz.com is the leading and longest running jazz music website, attracting both enthusiasts and industry professionals while reaching nearly one million unique visitors per month.
“Jason Crane and I have worked together for several years and closely aligning our two properties makes perfect sense as we move forward,” said Allaboutjazz founder and publisher, Michael Ricci. “AAJ already publishes weekly interviews and including The Jazz Session on our roster will raise the entertainment value at the website and further add to our already impressive coverage of jazz.”
Crane said “on The Jazz Session, we focus on the music and the stories behind the music and we let the musicians do most of the talking.” Crane has taped interviews for later broadcast at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival in the past, but this is the first time he will have a dedicated spot in the Jazz Shop Tent and the public is invited to listen in.
“I’m thrilled to be returning to the Tanglewood Jazz Festival,” said Crane. “This is a top-notch festival in one of the most beautiful settings on the East Coast. It’s a very intimate festival, too, which is perfect for getting to know — and interact with — the artists.”
The Jazz Shop Tent is located near the Hawthorne Tent where the Jazz Café artists perform. Jason will be there throughout the day conducting interviews and there will be a small seating area for people to observe.
“I’m really looking forward to having The Jazz Session with us throughout the weekend,” said Dawn Singh, Senior Project Coordinator of the jazz festival. “Jason is a real professional, he’s great to work with, has enormous expertise and is well regarded by the musicians. It’s an excellent partnership all the way around.”
The Tanglewood Jazz Festival kicks off on Friday, September 4, at 6:30 with alto saxophonist, Benny Reid, followed at 8:00 by “An Evening with Paquito d’Rivera.” For more info, go to tanglewoodjazzfestival.org.
For tickets and information, visit the Tanglewood Web site. And here’s the link to my coverage of last year’s festival.
Posted under Jazz News & Site Updates
I’m thrilled to announce the launch of a new partnership with All About Jazz, the world’s most visited jazz Web site. AAJ founder Michael Ricci and I have been working together for several years now, with AAJ hosting transcriptions of the interviews that appear on The Jazz Session.
Now we’ve decided to combine forces. That means The Jazz Session will be featured on the home page at allaboutjazz.com. We’ll also be working together to visit festivals on behalf the new TJS/AAJ partnership, starting this summer with the Tanglewood Jazz Festival and others. The idea is to conduct interviews right in front of the crowds who come to see the artists. Then we’ll bring these interviews to you after the festivals.
We’re also launching a widget for The Jazz Session that will allow you to display the latest episode right on your blog or Web site. I’ll be mentioning the blogs and sites that do this on episodes of the show, and also linking to them from this site. So if you decide to link to The Jazz Session, please let me know at jason@thejazzsession.com.
For more information on the new partnership, and for instructions on adding the widget to your site, please read the press release.
The Jazz Session hits 200,000 downloads
On the very same day that The Jazz Session announced its new partnership with All About Jazz, the show hit 200,000 downloads. I’m so proud of the show and grateful to all of you for supporting it. This is a true labor of love for me, and I hope it shows in the interviews.
Posted under Jazz News & Site Updates
On the very same day that The Jazz Session announced its new partnership with All About Jazz, the show hit 200,000 downloads. I’m so proud of the show and grateful to all of you for supporting it. This is a true labor of love for me, and I hope it shows in the interviews.
And trust me — this is just the beginning. TJS and AAJ have big plans for the future, so stay tuned and tell a friend.
Thanks again for making The Jazz Session a success!
