The Buzz: The JJA Podcast

Join host Michael Ambrosino as he speaks with three veteran jazz publicists—Ann Braithwaite (Braithwaite & Katz Communications), Lydia Liebman (Lydia Liebman Promotions), and Matt Merewitz (Fully Altered Media)—about the evolving nature of jazz promotion. The group discusses how they build relationships between artists and audiences, adapt to media fragmentation, create engaging content in the age of AI, and measure success in their campaigns. These industry insiders share candid insights about the challenges of breaking through the noise and connecting jazz artists with listeners in today's digital world, while revealing the passionate commitment that keeps them going in an increasingly complex promotional landscape.Don't miss new episodes of The Buzz. Make sure you follow us wherever you listen to podcasts. For more from the Jazz Journalists Association, go to JJANews.org.

The 2025 JJA Awards just dropped, and in this special episode The Buzz is breaking down the winners in some of the leading categories. Host Lawrence Peryer is joined by guests Neil Tesser and Mark Ruffin to discuss lifetime achievements, standout performers, and why some names keep winning year after year.Both guests bring unique perspectives - Mark from his years as a writer and radio programmer and personality, Neil from his work as a critic and broadcaster who's earned his own lifetime achievement award.The full list of 2025 JJA Awards is available online at jjajazzawards.org.Don't miss new episodes of The Buzz. Make sure you follow us wherever you listen to podcasts. For more from the Jazz Journalists Association, go to JJANews.org.

Three accomplished jazz authors share their journeys from traditional publishing to successful independent careers. Join host Lawrence Peryer as Debbie Burke, Steve Cerra, and Rick Mitchell reveal the tools, economics, and creative freedom they've found in self-publishing. Learn how these writers are reshaping the jazz book world by taking control of their work - from manuscript to marketing. Whether you are a jazz enthusiast or an aspiring author, this conversation offers valuable insights into turning passion projects into world-class publishing ventures.Topics include: creative control vs. traditional publishing, royalty structures, marketing strategies, production challenges, and the advantages of independence in specialized fields of writing.April is Jazz Appreciation Month the JJA Is honoring Jazz Heroes, the "activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz," in 27 localities across America, including US cities, the San Diego-Tijuana Borderland, and Guelph Canada. More information on Jazz Heroes -- and the annual JJA Jazz Awards -- at our website JJAJazzAwards.org. Don't miss new episodes of The Buzz. Make sure you follow us wherever you listen to podcasts. For more from the Jazz Journalists Association, go to JJANews.org.

This conversation between JJA members Bob Blumenthal, Ricky Ricciardi, and Fumi Tomita explores how jazz research has evolved through digital transformation. Ricciardi describes his journey researching Louis Armstrong's career, moving from physical archives and interviews for his first book to primarily digital resources like newspaper databases, digitized periodicals, and ancestry records for subsequent works. Tomita discusses researching early jazz by using both traditional sources and digital archives, explaining how this allowed him to rediscover overlooked musicians and challenge established narratives. Both authors share their detective work in reconciling conflicting historical accounts and discuss the revelations that emerged during their research—Ricciardi finding consistency in Armstrong's artistic approach throughout his career, and Tomita discovering early jazz's experimental nature and influence on free jazz.The conversation highlights valuable resources for jazz researchers, including newspaper and periodical databases, digitized oral histories from various institutions, and Archive.org's extensive collection. The guests discuss areas needing fresh research and emphasize how digital access has democratized jazz research, allowing deeper investigation into the music's complex evolution without leaving one's home.###Eight nominees for our 2025 Book of the Year Awards, and 15 Honorable Mentions, are posted at JJANews.org, along with other articles from our international membership. Please also take a look at The Jazz Omnibus: 21st Century Photos and Writings by Members of the Jazz Journalists Association, available online and wherever books are sold.Don't miss new episodes of The Buzz. Make sure you follow us wherever you listen to podcasts. For more from the Jazz Journalists Association, go to JJANews.org.

Tomas Peña, jazz journalist of breadth with unique ties to his Puerto Rican heritage, and José Massó, best known as a Boston broadcaster (and Jazz Hero) who takes a multi-media approach to full communication of the arts in life -- speak to JJA member Michael Ambrosino, producer of Los Olvidados, a radio documentary about Pan-Latin influences on jazz. 

Will Friedwald does it all -- books on Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole, jazz vocalists and the Great American Songbook; articles in publications including the Wall Street Journal; his own broadcasting platform and Substack, Slouching Towards Birdland. He speaks as winner of the 2024 JJA Jazz Award for Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism to Chicago-based writer, broadcaster and JJA board member and Neil Tesser.

Playing The Changes: Jazz in An African University and On the Road is the account by Catherine and Darius Brubeck (daughter-in-law and son of Dave Brubeck) of their 25-year sojourn in South Africa, where they expanded the jazz landscape, establishing a music program at University of KwaZulu-Natal. Todd S. Jenkins interviews the couple in this latest Author's Series episode of The Buzz: The Podcast of the Jazz Journalists Association.

The Jazz Omnibus: 21st-Century Photos and Writings by Members of the Jazz Journalists Association is a 600-page anthology published in hardcover, paperback and ebook editions by Cymbal Press. In this edition of The Buzz, Lawrence Peryer interviews the team that put it together -- editor David Adler, copy chief Terri Hinte, editorial advisor and JJA president Howard Mandel, and Cymbal Press principal Gary Stager about the intentions and processes behind creation of a volume representing two decades of experts' jazz coverage, meant to endure and enlighten for years to come. 

Rayna Mathis has edited the monthly publication of Seattle's Earshot Jazz for four years; Chrys Roney became CEO and editor-in-chief of Hot House Jazz Guide, serving the New York metropolitan area, just five months ago -- and each of them enthuses about the community-serving aspects of their editorial project. Howard Mandel notes that its been rare for Black women to head jazz publications, and a gratifying development. 

Pianist, composer-improviser and educator Ann Tappan lives far from the madding crowd, outsize Bozeman, Montana, maintaining an active career including international forays. Having made the scene in NYC and San Francisco, she speaks with authority about the challenges and pleasures of making art and life outside the urban milieu commonly assumed for jazz.

Essayist Farah Jasmine Griffin, whose collection In Search of a Beautiful Freedom won the JJA's 2024 Jazz Book of the Year: History, Criticism and Culture,  talks about her focus on jazz and its relevance across many realms of thought, with Fiona Ross, member of the JJA's book committee and founder of Women in Jazz Media.

Music historian and author Ashley Kahn and producer Zev Feldman, "the Jazz Detective," speak with host Rick Mitchell on the journalism and historical importance of albums of historical jazz (those recorded more than 10? 20? 30? years ago?)  releases, and the particular value to them of liner notes. All pay homage to the legacy of Blue Note Records/Mosaic Records producer and writer Michael Cuscuna, who died in April at the age of 75. 

Dutch scholar Walter van de Leur is the author of Jazz and Death: Reception, Rituals, and Representations, a fascinating study that enlightens  the music from a unique angle. Fiona Ross, member of the Jazz Journalists Association's Book Committee, interviews Walter, touching on New Orleans funerals, Chet Baker, and the rumor that jazz itself is dead. 

Aaron Cohen is co-author of Gentleman of Jazz, the autobiography of pianist Ramsey Lewis, nominated for a Book of the Year award in the 29th annual JJA Jazz Awards. He speaks with Brad Stone. 

Philip Arneill is a Belfast-born photographer, long resident of Japan now living in Ireland. He discusses Tokyo Jazz Joints, his revealing photobook of a now-fading subculture, with Brad Stone, who himself visited some of these listening cafes.

Brad Stone speaks with Carmen Fields, Emmy Award-winning Boston television news anchor and author of a book about her father's long-touring jazz show, Going Back to T'Town: The Ernie Fields Territory Big Band

Con Chapman is author of "Kansas City Jazz: A Little Evil Will Do You Good," a nominee for Book of the Year in the 2024 Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards. He speaks with Bob Blumenthal, chair of the Book Awards committee and board member of the JJA. 

Easily Slip Into Another World is Pulitzer Prize-winning composer/reeds and winds instrumentalist/bandleader Henry Threadgill's vivid autobiography, co-authored by Brent Hayes Edwards, a literary scholar teaching at Columbia University. Edwards is interviewed by JJA board member Bob Blumenthal, chair of the nominating committee for JJA Jazz Books of the Year. 

Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat That Changed America is an in-depth look at  highly influential and popular, 'til now under-celebrated bandleader, by Ms. Crease, whose prior books are lively portraits of Duke Ellington and Gil Evans. Bob Blumenthal, critic, author (Saxophone Colossus: A Portrait of Sonny Rollins)  chairs the Jazz Journalists Association's Book Awards committee.

In an episode of The Buzz interviews with authors of 2024 nominees for Book of the Year Awards,  Los Angeles-based Steve Isoardi, author of The Dark Tree about pianist Horace Tapscotts unique musicians/community organition UGMAA, speaks with Bob Blumenthal, JJA board member and chair of the Book Awards committee.

The overlapping interests and gulf of approaches between jazz journalism and jazz education is the topic of this episode of The Buzz: The Jazz Journalists Association podcast, featuring Seattle-based writer Paul de Barros, educator-pianist-writer Monika Herzig (formerly of Indiana University, now an academia in Vienna) and professor emeritus/biographer John Szwed. Howard Mandel, JJA president, is the host.

Host Michael Ambrosino speaks with music journalists Jordannah Elizabeth, Gene Seymour and educator-pianist-blogger Mark Lomanno about how they conceive and compile end-of-the-year Best lists. 

Ed Trefizger of JazzWeek, radio maven Scott Handley formerly with NPR, and Kayonne Riley of WUCF in Orlando discuss the mission and current state of jazz radio with Rick Mitchell, JJA board member and host of the syndicated KBOO broadcast Jazz In the New Millennium 

Alyn Shipton, Ken Poston and Steve Cerra -- authors, editors and publishers with recent books concerning the late, great baritone saxophonist/composer/arranger Gerry Mulligan -- speak with Rick Mitchell, JJA board member and radio program host, about their works on the complicated, compelling musician.

Veteran jazz journalists Bill Milkowski, Rick Mitchell and Howard Mandel talk about the first records they bought with their own $ -- decades back -- and how rock played a part in their early listening. Memories! The Buzz editor the Wiz said, unsolicited, "This one was very fun to listen to."

Bill Milkowski, author of books on Jaco Pastorius, Michael Brecker Keith Richards and jive as well as hundreds of articles for leading music magazines, discusses his career and how conditions facing freelancers have changed from the 1970s to today. Howard Mandel, president of the JJA, joins the episode towards its end. Rick Mitchell is host.

How does an interviewer approach their task? Ted Panken, author and journalist with extensive experience from his decades at WKCR (NYC) and Robin Lloyd,  radio host doing interviews more recently on KNKX (Seattle), share tips and stories of their encounters with musicians -- those eager to talk, and those who were reluctant. Host Rick Mitchell, too, adds insights gleaned from years of print and broadcast jazz jouralism. 

How is the main stream media in Jazz keeping up with the innovations Latin Jazz brings to this unique musical art form?Master percussionist, educator and activist John Santos, along with trombonist Chris Washburne, author of the book Latin Jazz - The Other Jazz, join The Buzz to explore whether Latin Jazz is "tokenized" by the mainstream media covering Jazz. Hosted by Michael Ambrosino, Jazz journalist and producer of the audio documentary Los Olvidados, The Forgotten Ones.

Latin Jazz has always had a curious relationship with the mainstream Jazz media. Master percussionist, educator and activist John Santos, along with trombonist Chris Washburne, author of the book Latin Jazz - The Other Jazz, join The Buzz to explore whether Latin Jazz is "tokenized" by the mainstream media covering Jazz. Hosted by Michael Ambrosino, Jazz journalist and producer of the audio documentary Los Olvidados, The Forgotten Ones.

After decades as one of the world's leading jazz magazines, JazzTimes was purchased last May by The BeBop Channel, which unceremoniously cancelled all assignments. Staff and writers owed for past work are still waiting to get paid, and the publication has devolved into something unrecognizable.  Host Andrew Gilbert discussed the distressing situation and the larger landscape for covering jazz in-depth with two brilliant colleagues, John Murph and James Gavin  Andrew Gilbert https://www.facebook.com/andrew.gilbert.319James Gavin http://www.jamesgavin.com/John Murph https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmurph/

After decades as one of the world's leading jazz magazines, JazzTimes was purchased last May by The BeBop Channel, which unceremoniously cancelled all assignments. Staff and writers owed for past work are still waiting to get paid, and the publication has devolved into something unrecognizable. I discussed the distressing situation and the larger landscape for covering jazz in-depth with two brilliant colleagues, John Murph and James Gavin  Andrew Gilbert https://www.facebook.com/andrew.gilbert.319James Gavin http://www.jamesgavin.com/John Murph https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnmurph/

From the JJA's March 26, 2023 online Book Bash, London-based media maven, impetus behind Women in Jazz Media and singer Fiona Ross, a member of the JJA's Book Committee, speaks with authors of two books nominated for 2023 Jazz Awards -- which later were announced winners in their categories!Willard Jenkins, editor of Ain't But a Few of Us: Black Music Writers Tell Their StoryAidan Levy, author of Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollinsdrop-in by Michael Wolff, author of On That Note: A Memoir of Jazz, Tics and Survivalintroduced by Howard Mandel, president of the Jazz Journalists Association.https://fionaross.co.uk/https://www.openskyjazz.com/about/willard-jenkins/https://aidan-levy.com/https://www.michaelwolff.com/https://news.jazzjournalists.org/

From the JJA's March 26, 2023 online Book Bash, Bay Area-based radio show host and educator Brad Stone, member of the JJA's Book Committee, speaks with authors of two books nominated for 2023 Jazz Awards -- Philip Watson of Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer: The Guitarist who Changed the Sound of American MusicKenny Werner, pianist and author of Becoming the Instrument: Lessons on Self-Master from Music to Life --introduced by Howard Mandel, president of the Jazz Journalists Association.

From the JJA's March 26 2023 online Book Bash, Bob Blumenthal, a dean of the field, board member and chair of the JJA's Book Committee, moderates a panel of authors of books nominated for 2023 JJA Jazz Awards:Richard Koloda, author of Holy Ghost: The Life and Death of Free Jazz Pioneer Albert Ayler; https://www.freejazzblog.org/2023/04/richard-koloda-holy-ghost-life-death-of.htmlMonika Herzig and James Reddan, editors of the Routledge Companion to Jazz and Gender, https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Jazz-and-Gender/Reddan-Herzig-Kahr/p/book/9780367534141Michael Wolff, On That Note: A Memoir of Jazz, Tics and Survival https://www.amazon.com/That-Note-Memoir-Jazz-Survival/dp/195647031XIntroduced by Howard Mandel, president of the Jazz Journalists Association

Host Rick Mitchell discusses Jazz Polls with journalists Geoffrey Himes and Tom Hull.Geoffrey Himes:  https://codacollection.co/authors/geoffrey-himesTom Hull: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Hull_(critic)

In the first of a series of conversations with journalists covering jazz, host Andrew Gilbert talks with Chicago writer Hannah Edgar, who contributes to the Chicago Tribune as part of a program funded by the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism. Edgar also writes for the Chicago Reader.Hannah Edgar: https://hannah-edgar.com/ Andrew Gilbert: https://www.facebook.com/andrew.gilbert.319

Host Rick Mitchell talks with jazz journalists Eugene Holley Jr. and Aaron Cohen on the subject of white critics writing about black music, an issue that dates back to birth of jazz. Eugene Holley Jr.: https://muckrack.com/eugene-holley-jr/articlesAaron Cohen: https://muckrack.com/aaron-cohen-5

"Free jazz" as presented in a dozen films collected and presented by the Criterion Channel incorporate unusual ways of telling unusual musical stories, including portraits of Alice Coltrane and Milford Graves; Cecil Taylor, Bill Dixon, Archie Shepp and Paul Bley in Imagine the Sound, and evocative experimental films such as Dream City and Promises: Through Congress. Panelists Kevin Whitehead (author of Play The Way You Feel: The Essential Guide to Jazz Stories on Film, jazz critic on Fresh Air with Terry Gross), Gretchen Carlson (author of Improvising the Score: Rethinking Modern Film Music Through Jazz), and Don Palmer (arts journalist, former grant officer for New York State Council on the Arts) discuss these films and others with host Howard Mandel, JJA president, in the second of a two-part podcast.

Are films about "free jazz," featured in a collection on the Criterion Channel, a genre -- and if so, what are their common traits? Panelists Kevin Whitehead (author of Play The Way You Feel: The Essential Guide to Jazz Stories on Film, jazz critic on Fresh Air with Terry Gross), Gretchen Carlson (author of Improvising the Score: Rethinking Modern Film Music Through Jazz), and Don Palmer (arts journalist, former grant officer for New York State Council on the Arts) explore Space Is the Place, Les Stances á Sophie, Ornette: Made in America, The Cry of Jazz and others with host Howard Mandel, JJA president, in the first of a two-part podcast.

Jason Miles discusses his book The Extraordinary Journey of Jason Miles: A musical biography with host Susan Brink.  Miles, a Grammy award winning producer, keyboardist, composer, arranger and synthesist has worked with the best: Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, Marcus Miller (who wrote the introduction), Mike and Randy Brecker, the list goes on.https://www.jasonmilesmusic.com/Amazon link to book: https://a.co/d/gkF2WaR

Host Susan Brink speaks with Aidan Levy, author of the first comprehensive biography of the legendary musician and composer Sonny Rollins.  "Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins" at 784 pages is comprehensive, but very readable.  To learn more about Aidan Levy or purchase the book: https://aidan-levy.com/https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/aidan-levy/saxophone-colossus/9780306902796/

Host Susan Brink speaks with author Rick Lopez, who has just self published "The Sam Rivers Sessionography: A Work In Progress".  With 768 pages and over 500 illustrations, this comprehensive and meticulously researched sessionography/biography was 25 years in the making.To purchase the book: https://www.gofundme.com/f/sam-rivers-sessionographySam River's obituary, written by Nate Chinen, in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/arts/music/sam-rivers-jazz-musician-dies-at-88.htmlArts for Art is hosting Studio Rivbea Revisited 2023, January 4 - 8, 2023 in New York City.  This will be both live and streamed.  For information/tickets : https://www.artsforart.org/rivbea.html

Host Rick Mitchell  and Neil Tesser,  discuss the differences between professional and casual listening.Rick Mitchell is a longtime music journalist and radio programmer living in Portland Oregon.Neil Tesser is a Grammy Award–winning American journalist, radio host, music critic, and author. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Tesser

Willard Jenkins discussed his new book "Ain't But a Few of Us: Black Music Writers Tell Their Story" with host Susan Brink. The title will be released on December 2, 2022 on Duke University Press.Willard Jenkins is an independent arts consultant, concerts and festivals artistic director/curator, producer, writer and editor under his Open Sky banner.  Willard Jenkins' current activity includes festival, and concert series planning/development, artistic direction/curating, arts organization and artist consulting, music journalism/editing, teaching, and broadcast work. https://www.openskyjazz.com/about/willard-jenkins/

Host Rick Mitchell discusses websites with Joe Maita of Jerry Jazz Musician and Dee Dee McNeilhttps://jerryjazzmusician.com/author/joe-maita/https://tinyurl.com/bddz7rm2

Veteran journalists on the real deal working in print and internet media.  Host Andrew Gilbert in a lively discussion with  Mike West  and Marcus J Moore Mr. Moore has been a contributing writer with The Nation and a contributing editor with Bandcamp Daily. His coverage of soul, jazz, rap, and rock can be found at The New York Times, Pitchfork, TIME, Entertainment Weekly, GQ, The Washington Post, NPR, Rolling Stone, and The Atlantic, among other outlets. He also operates The Liner Notes newsletter, where he writes about his favorite music of all genres and eras. Mike West is a regular contributor and review editor to JazzTimes , The Washington Post, Washington City Paper, and Down Beat.  His byline has also appeared in Jazziz, Bandcamp Daily, NPR Music, and Slate, among others.Andrew Gilbert writes about jazz, roots & international music for the San Jose Mercury News, SF Chronicle, San Francisco Classical Voice, http://Berkeleyside.com, and others.https://www.marcusjmoore.mediahttps://www.michael-j-west.comhttps://www.kqed.org/author/agilbert

Wayne Winborne and Ashley Kahn continue their discussion.  Felix A. Grant Archivist Reuben Jackson on the ABC's of Archives.

Wayne Winborne and Ashley Kahn have an animated, in-depth discussion about jazz archives with host Susan Brink.  Winborne is the Executive Director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University - Newark.  Kahn is an author, educator, music journalist, and concert producer.  https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/newark/visit-study/institute-jazz-studieshttps://tisch.nyu.edu/about/directory/clive-davis-institute/1417614318

Host Rick Mitchell talks with Larry Blumenfeld, jazz writer for the Wall Street Journal, and Carolyn McClair, President of Carolyn McClair Public Relations and longtime festival and entertainment publicist.

Host Susan Brink talks with Richard Conde,  a NYC based photographer.. He currently serves as Senior Staff Photographer for the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, and is the official photographer for the Newport, Exit 0, and Jazz Mobile jazz festivals, as well as New York's famed Birdland Jazz Club.  Conde's much in-demand work which has been praised as "making the invisible visible" has appeared in numerous publications, including the New York Times, NPR Radio, Down Beat, Jazz Times and National Geographic magazines. National Geographic recently added his work to their permanent stock collection. He has also shot many album covers, the latest for Verve Records. His camera of choice is the Nikon D5. He is currently represented by H.P Garcia gallery in New York City. www.richardcondephotos.comSusan's second guest, Jazz Journalist Association President Howard Mandel,  discusses “Seeing Jazz: JJA Photographers Master Classes,” a new monthly series, which goes live at 1 pm ET on Saturday, June 25,as Award-winning Argentine-born/New York-based Adriana Mateo discusses her work with Hrayr Attarian, chair of the JJA's Photo of the Year committee, in an interactive Zoom session.Registration is free for JJA members, $10 to the public.

On the latest episode of The Buzz: The JJA Podcast, host Rick Mitchell talks with longtime jazz radio programmers Linda Yohn and Cheryl K Symister-Masterson and jazz radio promo-man Mark Rini on the joys and challenges of doing what they do. The good news is, the music -- new and old -- is being played and heard.