Posted under Jazz Writing & Podcast & Site Updates
My year-in-review article for All About Jazz is now available online. It’s a look at some of the interesting places at which I recorded episodes of the show in 2009. These spots include:
Read: The Jazz Session: Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
Posted under Podcast & Site Updates
What a way to end 2009! Thank you so much for your support. You make it all worthwhile.
Stay tuned in 2010 for many more interviews, including Sonny Rollins, Marty Ehrlich, Amy Cervini, Matthew Shipp, Lee Shaw, Tyshawn Sorey, Chad Taylor, James Wiedman, Mike Reed, Linda Oh, Hiromi, Jason Parker, Erik Deutsch, Harris Eisenstadt, Roger Kellaway, Sam Sadigursky and many more!
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:
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.
Posted under Site Updates
Less than four months ago, The Jazz Session hit 200,000 downloads. Today, I’m thrilled to announce (drumroll, please):
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!
Posted under Site Updates & Tanglewood Jazz Festival
Thanks for visiting The Jazz Session! I recorded interviews at Tanglewood with:
Those interview will be available in the weeks ahead. I’ve recently interviewed several players who were at Tanglewood this weekend, including:
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.)
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:
Tony Bennett/Bill Evans CD giveaway
The following folks won a copy of The Complete Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Reordings:
Stay tuned for more free music!
Posted under Site Updates
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.)
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.â€
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.â€
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!
Posted under Jazz News & Site Updates & TJS In The News
Blogger David Hill has posted a very nice review of The Jazz Session on his blog, Hot House. Thanks, David!
Posted under Site Updates
The Jazz Session has been on a short hiatus while I’ve been (a) working way too much and (b) finishing the final semester of my 17-year undergrad degree.
Have no fear, though. The show will return in 2009 with Marilyn Crispell, followed by interviews with David Sanborn, the Wee Trio, Henry Grimes, Barbara Dennerlein, Mike Melito and more!
Posted under Contest & Site Updates
A hearty congratulations to the latest batch of CD winners. (The CDs went out today.)
As you can see, people listen to The Jazz Session all over the country … and all over the world!
Posted under Contest & Site Updates
I’ve been giving away CDs each week for the past several weeks, and I’d like to congratulate all the winners thus far:
As you can see, people listen to The Jazz Session all over the world!
YOU CAN STILL WIN: I’ve got two copies of the Javon Jackson CD and one copy of the Jo Lawry CD. To win, send an e-mail with the first name of the artist you’d like to contest@thejazzsession.com.
Coming up: Listen for your chance to win CDs by Kate McGarry and Kenny Garrett. And coming up in the weeks ahead — a treasure trove of reissued LPs! (That’s right, LPs!)
Read my poetry at jasoncrane.org.
