There's no way to be all things to all people, which is often hard to accept. Unfortunately. That's something we try to remember at All About Jazz, which has ballooned into a sprawling collection of thousands of pages in our eight years of existence. Perspective is important with this much momentum on our side.

In order to make sense of the thick stream of new music rolling off the presses, we publish CD reviews on a daily basis. That means you can search for an artist or title and retrieve detailed information on the spot. But nobody can see the big picture in these thousands of reviews without some help. That's where our Top Ten lists come in.

In the wake of 2003, over sixty AAJ contributors voted for their top discs of the past year, and ten select records out of more than 400 made the cut. At the top of the list: the Dave Holland Quintet , with a double live set that brought us to our collective feet. (Holland was also second on our list in both 2002 and 2001 .) The publisher and individual contributors also registered their picks, as well as writers for the AAJ: New York print paper and AAJ Bulletin Board members .

Bringing the archives of the music into the spotlight, Charlie Dahan launches his Straight From The Vault column. This series will provide you with information on a swarm of ongoing reissues dating back to 1933. Experts on bandleaders and sidemen alike will find a very serious challenge in January's jazz quiz , where you can pit your knowledge of jazz trivia against other readers. The relaunch of the jazz quiz takes advantage of a high-tech interface to keep things popping.

While most of our visitors are jazz fans, a significant number are musicians as well. We aim to serve both with our brand new Musician Center , where artists can create a profile complete with bio, discography, new release, and live performance information. If you're a player, sign up today , and if you're not, visit this section and learn more about the folks who create the music we love.

Which brings us back to the people who serve as the engine for this machine that connects ears on both sides of the microphone. Our new profiles provide you with an in-depth, personal look at AAJ contributors, who constitute a team of individuals with a impressive range of experience and tastes. Take a minute to get to know us. Start with the publisher and go from there...

Just visit the home page to get started with the rest of it. We've streamlined the landing zone, added a Quote of the Day, and placed a new writer in the spotlight every week. Onward!