All About Jazz Highlights

News from allaboutjazz.com | October 26, 2004

Boost your website traffic with AAJ Live Content

This month's update details some of the latest changes to All About Jazz, so please read on...

PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE
CONTENT SUPREME! CD REVIEWS & INTERVIEWS
FESTIVAL COVERAGE
SUBMIT A MUSIC QUOTE!
COMING SOON: VISUAL ARTS CENTER, PERSONALS, FUND DRIVE...
MOST READ ARTICLES & REVIEWS

PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

AAJ published three beefy articles examining Jazz's foremost progenitors. We also celebrated the release of Seven Steps: The Complete Miles Davis Columbia Recordings, 1963-1964 (featuring Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams) with three reviews, a discussion topic and a poll.

With regards to the here and now, we've got jazz covered top to bottom, east to west and everywhere in between. From Reykjavik to Monterey with a rest stop in Telluride, AAJ kept pedal to metal with our global coverage.

Our immediate and long-term future looks bright with several new features coming before the end of the year. We're on the verge of launching our Visual Arts Center, we're prepping to launch a fund drive (details below), were working on a spiffy new redesign, and we're just about to bring a personals section to the site (that's right! "Single jazz-lovin' male looking for female who enjoys moonlit walks on the beach, snuggling, and John Coltrane's Interstellar Space").

Keep an eye on our News Center and the AAJ home page for details.

A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS...

AAJ is proud to showcase the following CDs:

Mainstream Releases
Ecumenics's Jazz Psalms, Sai Ghose's E-Motion, Tiemann-Belzer's Crypto, Ron Levy's B-3 Organic Grooves, Sheryl Bailey's Bull's Eye!, Jon Weber's Simple Complex, Tony Monaco's Fiery Blues, and Don Byron's Ivey-Divey.

Vocal Releases
Ana Caram's Hollywood Rio, Sofia Laiti's You Don't Know Me, and Siora's Vis-a-Vis.

Show your support of AAJ by clicking through to these artists' websites and listening to music from their latest releases.

Jazz musician or label? Click here for more information about promoting your new CD.

CD REVIEWS AND ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS

Like clockwork, AAJ continues to deliver the goods. We've already eclipsed 200+ CD reviews for the month, as many contributors stepped up and chipped in with extended analysis reviews and multiple reviews.

If you haven't visited the site recently, chances are you missed some exceptional articles. We strongly recommend Raul d'Gama Rose's From Be-Bop To Hip-Hop - The Cry Of Freedom, John Ballon's Blues Legacies And Black Feminism, Gilles Laheurte's Steve Lacy and Japan, Chris M. Slawecki's special DVD review of the 30th Anniversary of Wattstax, and Dr. Judith Schlesinger's "Shrinktunes" interview with Taylor Eigsti.

As always, AAJ brings you up close and personal with today's (and tomorrow's) musicians of note. This month, in addition to Taylor Eigsti, we chatted with Pucho Brown, Femi Kuti Marshall Allen, vocalists Mary Ellen Desmond & Meg Clifton, Mulgrew Miller, Rebecca Martin, Christian McBride and Anders Jormin.

So long "Ask Ken", hello "Not for Sale"
After four great years we bid a fond farewell to Ken Dryden's column "Ask Ken". Ken answered countless reader questions, but the column took its natural course and it was time to put it to bed. Ken's new baby "Not for Sale" is off to a terrific start and we wish it the best of luck. Check it out.

WIDE WORLD OF JAZZ

AAJ contributors spent the last few months spanning the globe covering jazz festivals hither and yon. This month, AAJ's wayfarer extraordinaire Mark Sabbatini made a jet-lagged journey from Juneau, Alaska to Reykjavik, Iceland. When he wasn't catching up on sleep, Mark was out and about reporting from the field. Read about his six-day festival excursion here.

Craig Jolley did a splendid job covering the Monterey Jazz Festival, while Sandy Ingham filed his annual report from the Chicago Jazz Festival, Ken Franckling attended the Tanglewood Jazz Festival in Boston, and David Lott enjoyed a Rocky Mountain high at the Telluride Jazz Celebration.

SUBMIT A MUSIC QUOTE!

AAJ displays a music quote on our home page every day and we're always looking to add new quotes. If you have a favorite music quote, please submit it here.

We'll eventually develop a system of searchable quotes and would like to have a few hundred in the database to make it worthwhile.

VISUAL ARTS CENTER, JAZZ PERSONALS AND FUND DRIVE

Coming soon to All About Jazz...

Visual Arts Center
We're on the verge of launching the new AAJ Visual Arts Center, the future home to hundreds of jazz photographs and paintings. This system will allow readers to view exhibits and search for images based on a keyword (ex: "Miles Davis"). On the flip side, photographers and painters will have an opportunity to upload their work at any time--continually refreshing their exhibits.

Jazz Personals
Thanks to the Spring Street Network (the company that powers The Onion, Salon.com, and the New York Times personals), AAJ readers will soon have an opportunity to connect with others regionally. The trial is free, so if you're unattached and looking to get (re)attached, try AAJ Personals.

Fund Drive
AAJ is looking to raise funds to finance the development of several new systems that will benefit jazz musicians as well as jazz enthusiasts and industry professionals. Simply purchase our cool t-shirt and as a token of thanks, we'll include a free jazz CD with your order. Your help will ensure the future prosperity of All About Jazz.

MOST READ ARTICLES & CD REVIEWS

Picking up from last month, here are our seven most read articles in October...

And the seven most read CD reviews...

Land of the Sun by Charlie Haden
Live in Tokyo by Brad Mehldau
Prototype by Wallace Roney
The Complete Prestige Sessions by Dexter Gordon
Still Smokin' by Ian Hendrickson-Smith
Chiaroscuro by Arve Henriksen
Elements of Style by Vandermark 5

Till next month,

Mike, Chris, Nils and the entire All About Jazz Staff