Jazz Around Town
Biography

Jazz caught my ear from the time I was 15. I first heard Dixieland in the Danny Kaye movie The Five
Pennies   and on a daily radio show hosted by the late Benson Curtis. I discovered Swing when I ran across  
Chuck Cecil's Swinging Years on the radio.

At college, roommates thought I had a huge record collection when they saw my 25 Lps, but were dismayed
to find out that it was all dixieland and swing. One day at a used record store, I ran across a $1.99 Charlie
Parker LP that, among other songs, included "White Christmas." I had never heard of "Groovin’ High" or
"A Night In Tunisia" but at least I had heard "White Christmas" somewhere! I played the album two or
three times each day for a week. It took about five days for my ears to be opened and then I became quite   
anxious to learn about all eras of jazz. Within two months I was into John Coltrane's 1966 explorations with
Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis' Live/Evil, quite a jump from Pete Fountain. My desire to own and hear
every jazz recording is still my goal.

After I graduated college with an accounting degree, rather than get a real job, I became the jazz editor for
Record Review, a now-legendary music magazine that lasted for 44 issues. That experience and its
publisher Brian Ashley started me in the jazz writing business.

Since then, I have been involved in many projects. Being the Senior Editor for the 3rd edition of the All    
Music Guide For Jazz resulted in a countless number of my CD reviews and biographies being utilized
throughout the internet including Pandora Radio.  In addition to having written ten books so far (most
recently The Jazz Singers) and writing for the Jazz Heritage Club, I am currently writing for the  
popular jazz radio series Jim Cullum's Riverwalk - Live At The Landing.  

I have written over 600 liner notes, hundreds of press biographies and press releases, and it has been
said that I have reviewed more jazz recordings than anyone in history.  I have contributed to virtually all of
the major jazz magazines including Downbeat, Jazz Times, Jazziz, Cadence, Coda, The Mississippi Rag, Jazz
Forum, Jazz News, The Jazz Report, Planet Jazz, Jazz Now and Jazz Improv. These days I write regularly
for Jazz Times, Jazziz and The Los Angeles Jazz Scene.

In addition, I offer a variety of services for jazz and blues performers. Check out the Musicians' Corner for
more information.

I have also written for several jazz festival programs. The biographies and discographies that I wrote for the
Playboy Jazz Festival and the San Francisco Jazz Festival programs can be found at Festival Program
Guides.






I was recently interviewed for a ten-part 10-hour special BBC Radio series called Jazz Junctions. The     
programs, which will be airing in the fall of 2010, deal with the turning points in jazz history, from the 1920s
to the present. Produced by Graham Pass and Russell Davies with important assistance from Patrick Johns,
the programs will feature interviews and music covering the history of jazz. It should be great fun to hear
and I will tell you when it is streaming online.



For the past 20 years Jim Cullum and his jazz band's "Live from he Landing" radio series which is nationally
syndicated, has presented hundreds of programs that focus on vintage jazz with a different topic each
week.  I have contributed writing for their various scripts. A few of these programs include clarinetists
Johnny Dodds, trumpeter Henry "Red" Allen and cornetist Red Nichols.  

The "Jazz from the Movies" show focused on my book  Jazz On Film.  It was aired in January and included
a lot of fine music from Jim Cullum and his guests including trumpeter Bob Barnard.  To hear the show,
click on this LINK.    



In early 2009, the fine singer Solitaire Miles interviewed me for her Internet radio show. If you'd like to
hear me gab with her about various jazz-related topics, the show can be found at:
www.blogtalkradio.com/Solitaire-Miles/2008/10/22/Tones.     



The great stride pianist Judy Carmichael interviewed me several years ago for one of the early editions of
her Jazz Inspired radio series. Click this link to hear the show. It is a good hour-long interview with music.
JUDY CARMICHAEL'S JAZZ INSPIRED
BBC Radio's Jazz Junctions
Judy Carmichael's Jazz Inspired
Riverwalk Jazz
Radio Interviews
Solitare Miles