I’m starting to do a bit more traditional blogging about jazz on this site, rather than just using it to post shows and links to my articles. To make it easier to just find the episodes of The Jazz Session, please note that you can click the SHOW ARCHIVE link at the top of the page or at the left side of the page for a list of all the episodes. You can also scroll down to the CATEGORIES section on the left side of the page and select PODCAST.

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Today, The Jazz Session hit 100,000 downloads! Thanks to everyone for supporting the show! And thank you to all these fine musicians for appearing on the show:

John Abercrombie, Peter Asplund, Gene Bertoncini, Don Byron, Avishai Cohen (trumpet), Dapp Theory, Toru Dodo, John Ellis, Wayne Escoffery, Robin Eubanks, Joel Frahm, Terry Gibbs, Victor Goines, Brian Groder, Tord Gustavsen, Chico Hamilton, Mel Henderson, Francis Jacob, Christine Jensen, Saskia Laroo, Dino Losita, Donny McCaslin, Kate McGarry, Mike Melito, Midaircondo, Jason Moran, Mr. Something Something, Rick Parker, Aaron Parks, Brian Patneaude, Laurie Pepper, Luis Perdomo, Misha Piatigorsky, Doug Ramsey, Bobby Sanabria, Kendrick Scott, Matt Shulman, Cecilia Smith, Grant Stewart, David Torn, Miroslav Vitous, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Eberhard Weber, Matt Wilson, David Witham, Zanussi Five, and Pete Zimmer.

Coming Up: Donny McCaslin returns, Joel Harrison, Henry Grimes, Brian Blade, David Sanborn, Satoko Fujii, Erin Bode … and more!

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Thanks to everyone who supports this show! My family and I have completed our move to Albany. We’re in our new house. The studio is 95% rebuilt, and the show will be back in full swing very soon. On our way to 100,000 downloads!

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On February 9, I was thrilled to report that The Jazz Session passed 50,000 downloads. Well, here we are just five weeks later, and let’s go to the big board:

60,000!

That’s right, folks — 10,000 downloads in 5 weeks. Not bad at all. Thank for your support!

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On Feb. 25, The Jazz Session celebrates its first anniversary. One year ago, I sat down with saxophonist Grant Stewart to record show #1. It’s been a great ride since then.

As a matter of fact, TJS hit its 50,000th download today! Thank you very much to all of you for the amazing support you’ve given me. That goes out to all the artists, labels, PR folks, jazz broadcasters and writers, and especially the listeners.

As you know, TJS has been on a hiatus recently because of my ongoing relocation to Albany, NY. I’m still working in Albany five days a week and commuting back to Rochester on the weekends as we get our house ready to sell and look for a new home in Albany. New shows will be on a less-than-regular schedule until that gets straightened out.

But never fear, a new show is here! Trumpeter Avishai Cohen joined me to talk about his album After The Big Rain. The interview is available right now, so check it out!

I’m also getting back into the swing of things with All About Jazz. I’ll have several interviews out soon (I promise, John K!), so look for those at AllAboutJazz.com.

Thanks again for all your support, and for making The Jazz Session more successful than I ever imagined. Onward into 2008!

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For those of you who’ve wondered why there have been so few recent episodes of The Jazz Session, the answer is simple. I’m moving. I work for UNITE HERE, a labor union. About a month ago, I was transferred from the Rochester office to the Saratoga Springs office, just north of Albany, NY. I’ve been working in Saratoga Springs since the beginning of December and commuting back to Rochester on the weekends. Until my wife and kids and I have a new home, it’s a bit challenging (read: just about impossible) to schedule and record new interviews. So the show has slowed down a wee bit.

But never fear — The Jazz Session will be back at full speed shortly. In fact, I hope the show will be bigger and better than ever, thanks in part to a partnership will All About Jazz.

So stay tuned, and thanks again for your support!

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Happy Holidays from all (one) of us here at The Jazz Session. Where, by the way, we’ve just hit 40,000 downloads!

See you in ’08!

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The headline says it all — the show passed 30,000 downloads, which means I owe a huge debt of gratitude to all the listeners, artists, record labels and promotional folks who make The Jazz Session possible. Thank you!

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Seems like it was just a month ago that The Jazz Session passed 15,000 downloads. And now here we are, one month later, and 5,000 more folks have downloaded episodes of the show. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The show keeps getting better! Coming up in the weeks ahead: Avishai Cohen, Anat Cohen, Tord Gustavsen, Matt Shulman, Joan Stiles, Laurie Pepper (wife of Art Pepper), Ben Sidran, Ingrid Jensen, Brian Groder, Hector Martignon, the Stryker-Slagle Band, Chris Jentsch, Kahil El’Zabar, and more!

Thanks for listening — and please tell a friend about The Jazz Session.

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I’m very excited to report that some time today, August 14, The Jazz Session passed 15,000 downloads. Thank you to all the artists, promoters, writers, and — most importantly — listeners who’ve made this show a success. On we go! Coming up in the weeks ahead:

• Laurie Pepper (wife of Art Pepper)
• Joel Frahm
• Eberhard Weber
• Ben Sidran
• Ingrid Jensen
• … and many, many more!

If you’re not yet a subscriber to the show, please take a minute to subscribe. It’s completely free! You can subscribe in two easy ways:

• via iTunes, or
• using any RSS reader.

Thanks!

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A few weeks ago, I posted a link to Bloggers For A Cure, an attempt by several music bloggers to raise money for cystic fibrosis research. Now I’m asking you again to kick in some dough. When you donate, you’ll be entered to win one of many great prizes. The grand prize is a 250GB hard drive stuffed full of music by the wonderful madman behind JefitoBlog. And here’s a message from Scott Malchus, the man at the center of Bloggers For A Cure.

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The Jazz Session is now proud to offer direct links to buy artists’ CDs via Amazon.com. Buying the CDs this way helps keep The Jazz Session going. Thanks in advance! To buy CDs, please check out:

The Jazz Session Store

You can also see what folks are saying about The Jazz Session by visiting … wait for it …

What Folks Are Saying

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A group of music bloggers have come together to raise money for a good cause. You can win cool prizes and do a good deed all at the same time. To find out more, visit bloggersforacure.com or click the image below:

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We’re just a week or so away from the launch of The Jazz Session, a new jazz interview podcast. The show is hosted by Jason Crane — that’s me. In case you’re wondering who I am, here’s the quick sketch:

I was born 1973 in Lenox, Massachusetts, home of Tanglewood and former home of the famed Music Inn and the Lenox School of Jazz. My professional career has covered a lot of bases — and a lot of the world. I began as a full-time soprano sax player in jazz, latin jazz and funk bands in Arizona, South Carolina and Pennsylvania. I’ve worked as an on-air host for KUAT (classical) and KUAZ (jazz) in Tucson; as a news announcer for Bloomberg Radio in Tokyo; and as Tokyo business correspondent for NPR’s Morning Edition.

From 2001-2004, I was station manager and jazz host at Jazz90.1 in Rochester, NY, where I interviewed more than 200 jazz artists, including: Claudia Acuna, Ben Allison, Karrin Allyson, Billy Bang, David Berkman, Gene Bertoncini, Bill Bruford, Jack DeJohnette, Kahil El’Zabar, Marty Erlich, Wycliffe Gordon, Benny Green, Fred Hersch, Bill Holman, Charlie Hunter, Norah Jones, Don Lanphere, Joe Locke, Les McCann, Bobby McFerrin, Ben Monder, Jane Monheit, David “Fathead” Newman, Houston Person, Bobby Previte, David Sanborn, John Scofield, Curtis Steigers, Tierney Sutton, Cuong Vu, Bobby Watson, Fred Wesley, Matt Wilson, and Nancy Wilson.

Since then, I’ve hosted The Jason Crane Show, a broadcast/podcast show about the arts and activism. Now, however, I’m turning to jazz exclusively.

While you’re waiting for the first show to “air,” you might enjoy checking out some of my interviews at All About Jazz.

Thanks so much for visiting. Please subscribe to the RSS feed and stay tuned for the first show! Upcoming guests include:

• Grant Stewart
• Pat LaBarbera
• The Respect Sextet
• Bob Sneider
• …and many more!

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