Archive for the 'Site Updates' Category

September 29th 2009
Please take The Jazz Session’s listener survey

Posted under Site Updates

Thanks so much for visiting this site and listening to the show. If you’ve got a few minutes, please take this brief, 10-question survey and help me make The Jazz Session even better:

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September 21st 2009
Free music from Dave Holland

Posted under Site Updates

Please note that the content of this widget is the property of Dave Holland Intergalactic Enterprises or something like that, and The Jazz Session is completely weaseling out of any responsibility for, well, anything.

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September 16th 2009
The Jazz Session hits 300,000 downloads!

Posted under Site Updates

Less than four months ago, The Jazz Session hit 200,000 downloads. Today, I’m thrilled to announce (drumroll, please):

fireworks copy

That’s right, gang. The 84 episodes of The Jazz Session have been downloaded more than 300,000 times. I’m truly amazed at — and grateful for — the support you’ve all shown for this show. TJS has come a long way since Grant Stewart agreed to sit down with an unknown interviewer to talk about his life back in February of 2007. (Thanks, Grant!) Very soon, I’ll be posting the 100th episode of the show. That’s just 80 fewer episodes than Seinfeld! (I’ll take my Emmy, please.)

Again, thank you for everything you’ve done to make this show a success. Onward and upward!

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September 6th 2009
Welcome Tanglewood Jazz Fest fans!

Posted under Site Updates & Tanglewood Jazz Festival

Thanks for visiting The Jazz Session! I recorded interviews at Tanglewood with:

  • Nnenna Freelon
  • Harolyn Blackwell
  • Mike Garson
  • Kat Edmonson
  • Michael Kaeshammer
  • Benny Reid
  • Regina Carter
  • Paquito D’Rivera
  • Chris Potter
  • Vanguard Jazz Orchestra: Douglas Purviance, John Mosca, Dick Oatts
  • Ben Powell

Those interview will be available in the weeks ahead. I’ve recently interviewed several players who were at Tanglewood this weekend, including:

  • John Ellis (played on Sunday with Kat Edmonson)
  • Kurt Elling (sang on Saturday on Radio Deluxe)
  • Dan Loomis (played Friday night with Benny Reid, and is heard in this interview with his band The Wee Trio)

You can also read reviews by my colleague Greg Haymes at his excellent site, Nippertown.com. I met Greg this weekend and he’s a great guy who’s passionate about the music. Read his reviews:

I also recorded interviews and wrote reviews of the last year’s jazz festival (2008). Those are archived here.

You’ll also find many other interviews here with jazz musicians from several generations, including established masters such as Sonny Rollins, Chico Hamilton, Steve Kuhn and Eberhard Weber. There are also interviews with musicians who’ve been making a mark during the past decade or two, including Donny McCaslin, Arturo O’Farrill, and Terence Blanchard. And you’ll hear from the next generation of musicians — folks whose names you’ll be hearing for years to come, such as Jo Lawry, Christine Jensen and Miles Okazaki.

Visit the Show Archive for all the past episodes of the show. And come back often! (Or subscribe for free using the links at the left.)

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August 20th 2009
Winners!

Posted under Contest & Site Updates

I’m happy to announce a big gang o’ winners from various contests. Congrats to all!

Meet The Stricklands

Ken from Albany won the Meet The Stricklands package for his donation to my Livestrong Challenge Ride. The package includes tickets to the double-CD release party this Friday featuring Marcus and E.J. Strickland, two autographed CDs, and a meet-and-greet after the show. (Because Ken can’t make the show, his fellow jazzhead Scott will attend. Ken, though, will be enjoying the signed CDs.)

Gary Burton “Past and Present”

The following folks won a copy of Gary Burton’s new CD, Quartet Live, along with a copy of the recently reissued ECM recording, Dreams So Real:

  • Brian in Albany, NY
  • Foluwaso in Lagos, Nigeria
  • Devon in Denver, CO
  • Dano in Boulder, CO
  • Scott in Newington, CT

Tony Bennett/Bill Evans CD giveaway

The following folks won a copy of The Complete Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Reordings:

  • Marisa in Glen Mills, PA
  • John in Syracuse, NY
  • Eddie in Cudahy, WI
  • Eric in Charenton-le-Pont, France
  • Rick in State College, PA

Stay tuned for more free music!

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August 14th 2009
Win a meet-and-greet with E.J. and Marcus Strickland!

Posted under Site Updates

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Want to meet Marcus and E.J. Strickland and see some great music? For every $5 you donate to help me fight cancer, you’ll receive a raffle ticket for a special drawing to win tickets the Strickland’s CD release party at Joe’s Pub in NYC on Friday, August 21. All donations must be made by 10 p.m. ET this Monday, August 17. The winner will get two tickets to the show, an autographed copy of the two new CDs by the Stricklands, and a chance to meet and talk with them at the show. Donate here: http://philly09.livestrong.org/jasoncrane

(I’m enormously grateful to Jason Paul Harman Byrne at Red Cat Publicity for making this happen.)

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May 28th 2009
TJS teams up with the Tanglewood Jazz Festival

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.

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