With the realization that there will always be more music coming at him than he can keep up with, AAJ Managing Editor John Kelman wonders why anyone would think that jazz is dead or dying.
I was born in Winnipeg, Canada and stayed there until the age of three, when the kiddie train in McKellar Park closed up and the only reason left for staying was the tropical climate. Relocated against my wishes to Ottawa, where I have lived ever since, I now bask in the balmy winters, where temperatures often reach -40C (that's -40F for you non-metric folks), and the temperate summers, where temperatures often reach a humid 35C (that's 95F).
Living in a government town that is known as a hotseat of jazz culture (?) I have spent much of the past thirty years or so as a freelance guitarist backing up numerous singer/songwriters, some good, others, well...what do you get when you add an “e” to the word “artist”? Answer: someone who takes themselves way too seriously.
Realizing that my CD buying habit was about to put myself, my wife, and two dogs (Posey, the intrepid Jack Russell Terrier and Toby, the ever-cheerful Shih Tzu; sadly, with Posey passing in the spring of 2009, it's just the venerable Toby) out of house and home, I realized that the trick was to start writing about what I'd been listening to so passionately since my first guitar teacher introduced me to Wes, Charlie Christian, Miles and Johnny Winter, amongst so many others. Nearly six years into it I am now reviewing upwards of thirty CDs a month, and am in the position of taking up so much space with review copies that I am, yet again, threatening to push my wife and dogs out of house and home.
In 2005 I was asked, by Steve Lake (of ECM) and writer Paul Griffiths, to contribute to a book they were putting together about the label. It's a privilege to have been a part of Horizons Touched: The Music of ECM, which is now available in Canada and Europe, and will be available in September, 2007, from Granta Books. With 21 contributions from writers around the world covering the entire breadth of the label and also including bios/testimonials from artists, graphic designers and many others, a wealth of colour and B&W photos, a comprehensive discography and more, it's a remarkable book and I'm honoured to have been a small part of it.
In recent times I've become more intimately involved in the Norwegian scene - to my mind the most vibrant scene at the moment, with simplu a remarkable amount of music being made by so many people in a country with such a small population. Plans are to start a monthly column in 2010 that will trace Norwegian music from 1970, when ECM first raised international profile of artists like Garbarek, Andersen and Rypdal, through to now.
Editorial duties occupy an increasing amount of my time, so the writing has taken something of a hit, but I'm still trying to balance things, as the writing will always be paramount. And finding new ways to store the mounds of cds coming my way, either promotionally or purchased!
Home
United States
My Desert Island Picks
- NOTE: In Need of Updating:
- Bill Frisell - This Land / Have a Little Faith
- Lyle Mays - S/T
- Tomasz Stanko - Leosia/Lontano
- Bobo Stenson - :rarum VIII Selected Recordings
- Keith Jarrett - Still Live / Belonging / Personal Mountains
- Miles Davis - Complete Quintet Studio Sessions '65-'68
- John Abercrombie - Tactics/Class Trip/Arcade
- Eberhard Weber - Fluid Rustle/Later That Evening
- Ralph Towner - Sound and Shadows/Solo Concert
- Terje Rypdal - What Comes After / Vossabryg
- Dave Douglas - The Infinite/Parallel Worlds/Bow River Falls
- Brian Eno / David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
- John Scofield - Live (1977)/ En Route
- Pat Metheny - Travels / Trio 99>00 / Imaginary Day
- Kurt Rosenwinkel - The Remedy: Live at the Village Vanguard / Heartcore
- Masada String Trio - 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 1
- Bar Kokhba Sextet - 50th Birthday Celebration Vol. 11
- Alex Cline - The Constant Flame
- Kenny Wheeler - Deer Wan/Angel Song/What Now?
- Oregon - In Concert/In Performance/Winter Light
- Louis Sclavis - Napoli's Walls
- Tim Berne - Science Friction
- Miroslav Vitous - First Meeting
- Mike Nock Quartet - In Out and Around
- Joe Locke - Four Walls of Freedom/Dear Life
- Marc Johnson - Shades of Jade
- Nels Cline Singers - Giant Pin / Destroy All Nels Cline / New Monastery
- King Crimson - The Young Person's Guide to King Crimson, vol.1 and 2
- Bill Bruford - Feels Good to Me/One of a Kind/Earthworks/Random Acts of Happiness / Earthworks Underground Orchestra
- Tim Garland - Storms/Nocturnes, If the Sea Replied
- David Binney - South / Cities and Desire
- The Claudia Quintet - I, Claudia
- John Hollenbeck Large Enesemble - A Blessing
- Clogs - Lullaby for Sue / Lantern
- Soft Machine - Third, Grides, Bundles, Floating World Live
- Hatfield and the North - The Rotter's Club
- National Health - Complete
- Iro Haarla - Northbound
- Bill Carrothers - Armistice 1918 / Shine Ball
- Marc Copland - Time Within Time
- David Liebman - Conversations
- Allan Holdsworth -= Around the Clock
- Mark Feldman - What Exit
- Francois Couturier - Nostalghia
- Trio Beyond - Saudades
- John McLaughlin - Inner Mounting Flame / Heart of Things Live in Paris
- Weather Report - Live in Tokyo / Mysterious Traveler
- Joe Zawinul - Zawinul
- John Taylor - Angel of the Presence
- So Percussion - Amid the Noise
- Dominic Frasca - Deviations
- Brian Eno - Music for Airports
- Gavin Bryars - Requiem; A Man in a Room, Gambling
- Harold Budd - Plateau of Mirrors/The Pearl
- Arve Henriksen - Chiaroscuro
- Henry Cow - Unrest / In Praise of Learning
- Zbigniew Seifert - Man of the Light / Passion
Favorite Web Sites
Favorite Artists
Adam Rogers
Adrian Belew
Andrew Cheshire
Anthony Braxton
Asaf Sirkis
Benny Powell
Bobo Stenson
Brian Blade
Christine Tobin
Claudio Roditi
Dave Brubeck
David Binney
Derek Trucks Band
Enrico Rava
Esbjorn Svensson
FLY: Jeff Ballard, Larry Grenadier, Mark Turner
Gary Husband
Genesis
Grady Tate
Han Bennink
Herb Robertson
Jan Lundgren
John Coltrane
John Geggie
Jon Hassell
Lama
Lester Young
Mark Turner
Markus Stockhausen
Matt Penman
McCoy Tyner
Michael Stephans
Mike Mainieri
Miles Davis
Nils Petter Molvaer
Ola Kvernberg
Oscar Peterson
Pat Metheny
Paul Motian
Portico Quartet
Randy Brecker
Return to Forever
Sha's Banryu
Splashgirl
Stefano Bollani
The Beatles
Ukz
Wayne Krantz
Favorite Columns
Artist Profile
Book Review
CD/LP Review
Contributor News
Download Review
DVD/Video/Film Review
Editor's Choice
Extended Analysis
General Articles
Genius Guide to Jazz
Interview
Live Review
Multiple Reviews
Reassessing
Record Label Profiles
Website News
Wide Open Jazz and Beyond
Favorite Contributors
Bev Stapleton
C. Andrew Hovan
Chris M. Slawecki
Chris May
Clifford Allen
Dan McClenaghan
David Adler
David Miller
Derek Taylor
Dr. Judith Schlesinger
Eyal Hareuveni
Forrest Dylan Bryant
Franz A. Matzner
Glenn Astarita
Greg Camphire
Ian Patterson
Jack Gold-Molina
Jason Crane
Javier AQ Ortiz
Jeff Fitzgerald, Genius
Jim Santella
Joao Moreira dos Santos
Joel Roberts
John Barron
John Dworkin
John Eyles
John Kelman
John Sharpe
John Taylor
Ken Kase
Kurt Gottschalk
Laurence Donohue-Greene
Mark Corroto
Mark F. Turner
Matt Cibula
Nenad Georgievski
Nic Jones
Paul Olson
Peter Madsen
Phil DiPietro
R.J. DeLuke
Rex Butters
Russ Musto
Samuel Chell
Terrell Kent Holmes
Todd S. Jenkins
Trevor MacLaren
Troy Collins
Victor L. Schermer
Victor Verney
Woodrow Wilkins
Favorite Jazz Genres
Ambient
Beyond Jazz
Classical
Electronica
Free Improvisation/Avant-Garde
Fringes of Jazz
Funk/Groove
Fusion/Progressive Rock
Jam Band
Latin/World
Modern Jazz
Straightahead/Mainstream/Bop/Hard Bop/Cool
