Four days of jazz, thousands of visitors, in a city of millions that never sleeps. Eight dollar shots, fifty dollar covers, and $180 "budget" hotel rooms. Sheer masses of record labels and jazz schools. It's all about the music. The Annual Conference of the International Association for Jazz Education is the single biggest event in the jazz world, and this time it was truly enormous. I stayed two nights in the midtown Manhattan Sheraton (Janyuary 21-22), then two nights in Brooklyn (January 23-24). Here's a quick look at some people I met along the way.

Weds, 6pm: the Sheraton concierge
Not quite crusty, but most certainly cranky. I wanted to buy food, he told me the deli two doors down. I wanted a grocery store of some kind, he told me the deli two doors down. Okay, man. I'm going the other way. Welcome to New York. Just the first of many people too busy to spend time talking with me.

Weds, 8pm: Michael Ricci
The esteemed Publisher of All About Jazz showed up around eight and dropped off his stuff in our room at the Sheraton. It's always great to see Mike, something that happens way too rarely. We doodled on the laptop (hooked up to a high bandwidth connection in the room), checked out the web site, and visited a few jazz clubs around the city as a cheap excuse to test AAJ's Club Guide . Spent half an hour screwing around with digital cameras and just generally shot the shit. Eventually we set out for the 55 Bar in the Village, our venue of choice. (Photo: AAJ mobile command center.)

Weds, 10:30 pm: Queva Lutz
At the 55 Bar , which was a pleasantly intimate discovery, Mike Stern was playing in a hard-jamming quartet with Chris Potter and Francois Moutin. (The drummer was unremarkable and my memory is miserable.) Unfortunately there were no seats left and no place to stand, so Queva (the owner of the club) guided us out shortly after the first set started. She is a very grounded, very intelligent woman—friendly and accommodating, just what's called for in that situation. We went out for Thai food, came back for the second set, and stayed till 2 am.

Weds, 12 am: Trucker hero
We met Kurt (last name unknown) in the line at the 55 Bar. He had piloted a truck from Manhattan, KS (IAJE HQ) to Manhattan, NY carrying all-essential T shirts, guide books, and hardware. Apparently the rental truck wasn't working quite right, which meant its lights blinked out almost randomly for several long seconds at a time on the road. Just imagine driving a truckload of jazz paraphernalia through the mountains at night with no lights. Our new friend operates a string sales/repair place in Kansas, plays the bass, follows the music. Good chats.

Thurs, 2 pm: Brian Lynch
At the clave workshop the next day, Brian Lynch led a very friendly, accessible introduction to the clave, rumba and other Latin jazz rhythms. Lynch understood that he had to start simple (everyone clapping the basic five-note beat) and build up (to two renderings of the Miles Davis tune "Solar," before and after the imposition of clave). Given the heterogeneity of the audience, his approach worked perfectly.

Thurs, 4 pm: Ken Hatfield
Sirius is one of two satellite radio giants in the US, a subscriber-only service with 100 channels, five of which are devoted to jazz. They have a huge midtown headquarters full of glass and metal, 45 recording studios, a massive satellite control center, and DJs scattered everywhere doing announcements. In fact, Jason Moran's Bandwagon was in the front studio going nuts. Ken Hatfield—jazz guitarist and savvy businessman, leader of the well-received Phoenix Rising—joined the group of 40 or so that went on the tour. He's sharp, he's direct, he's not afraid to get down to nuts and bolts. There are a lot of nuts and bolts in the music business, but Ken Hatfield isn't afraid to twist them all. (Photo: Sirius satellite nerve center.)

Thurs, 6 pm: the brothers Moutin
Bassist Francois and drummer Louis Moutin form half of the Moutin Reunion Quartet , which just released a second record, Red Moon . Sunnyside Records hosted a private party at the Iridium , and it was hard not to home in on the rhythm section. The brothers Moutin share an active, intelligent, and warm approach to the music, and they lock in like tongue in groove. It was nice to be in a relatively open space with few people. The Iridium made an excellent first impression. (Photo: Jean-Michel Pilc, piano; Francois Moutin, bass.)

Thurs, 8pm: Ted Panken
Mike Ricci and I went to a Thai place for dinner with writers: Howard Mandel, AAJ's David Adler , Ted Panken, and Ashley Kahn. This was my first introduction to Howard , who is a very cool, open, friendly, and honest guy. He's an excellent ambassador for the music, and he understands writers. Ted, on the other hand, had a problem. As he most tactfully explained, he didn't like me. And he didn't like to be touched. He didn't want to sit next to me. Mike and I left before I hit the idiot. He can touch himself all he wants.