Publications
- This forthcoming Penguin Jazz Guide looks interesting. Listing 1000 "best jazz albums" hedges bets a bit against the inevitable broadsides that go out in response to "top 50 jazz albums of all-time," "top 100 jazz albums of all-time," etc. – though I'm sure there'll still be an outcry over one omission or another.
- Long-running Japanese jazz magazine Swing Journal, which started in 1947 and functioned for many years as an important part of Japanese jazz culture, is ceasing publication after its July issue.
The State Of Radio
- On NPR's A Blog Supreme there has been some discussion of a recent study of listeners to jazz on public radio. Who knew that we're three times as likely as the general public to be into cross-country skiing?
- WDUQ-Pittsburgh's jazz programming may be in danger of either disappearing or being drastically scaled back.
Hank Jones
As a last note, many excellent Hank Jones tributes have been published, posted and broadcast since news of the pianist's death last Sunday evening. Here are just a few:
- Detroit Free Press music critic Mark Stryker's Jones remembrance piece
- A moving New York Times report about how and where Jones lived in his final years
- Peter Keepnews's New York Times obituary
- Howard Mandel's 2009 interview with Jones
WGBH-Boston jazz host Steve Schwartz will devote his weekly four-hour Friday-night program Jazz From Studio Four to the late Hank Jones. The program includes several recordings that Jones made during a visit to the WGBH studios in 2005. The show starts at 8 p.m. EST on WGBH.