Michael Ricci - Jazz & Technology   [ CONTACT ]

Lover of jazz and technology, Michael Ricci merged his two passions to create the world's largest jazz music website. He conducts lectures, workshops, and appears on J. Michael Harrison's The Bridge radio program on WRTI 90.1 FM (Phila). He presents "Leveraging the All About Jazz Network to Reach the Online Jazz Marketplace" as part of the Jazz Speakers Bureau.   more...

Jeff Fitzgerald, Genius - Jazz Humorist   [ CONTACT ]

Veteran stand-up comedian and humorist specializing in a unique brand of humor for more intelligent audiences. At 5'10", he is easily portable and perfect for almost any application. Built to run on alternative fuels such as relatively inexpensive beer and chicken wings, you'll find that he is perfect for almost any budget as well.   more...

C. Andrew Hovan - Jazz, Photography, and Drumming   [ CONTACT ]

Writer/photographer/musician C. Andrew Hovan has been active in the field of jazz since his days at the Berklee College of Music in the mid-'80s. A freelance musician and record collector, Hovan has been a contributor to the MusicHound album reference guides and is a regular contributor to All About Jazz, Down Beat, and Cleveland Scene. Hovan also regularly pens liner notes for the Criss Cross, Sharp Nine, and Mighty Quinn record labels. Hovan has photo-documented the jazz scene in Cleveland, nationally, and abroad. His photographs have appeared in Down Beat, The New York Times, and in Mark C. Gridley's jazz textbook Jazz Styles.   more...

C. Michael Bailey - Classical Music, Third Stream, Be Bop, Hard Bop   [ CONTACT ]

Michael is a conservative sort, preferring Classical Music (Ancient, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical: chamber, orchestral, choral, opera, 18th Century clarinet music) and mainstream jazz. He occasionally gets a wild hair and listens to polka, fusion, country & western, blues, whichever way the musical wind blows...the stranger and more esoteric, the better.   more...

Glenn Astarita - Modern/Free-Jazz and Progressive-Rock   [ CONTACT ]

A music journalist since 1996, Glenn also released a solo CD in 1998, and is the co-founder of jazzartcollection.com. He's contributed to Downbeat, All Music Guide, and New Orleans Gambit and has composed press releases and liner notes for Leo Records, Summit Records and several other labels. Glenn moved from New Orleans to Hermitage, TN after Hurricane Katrina.   more...

Chris M. Slawecki - Soul, Jazz, R&B, Miles, Monk, Stax & Funk   [ CONTACT ]

Chris' music writing has been published since the late 1970s. He has served for more than a decade as AAJ Senior Editor, and as the Jazz Voice for the ConcordMusicGroup since 2007. He previously served as Jazz-Blues editor for CustomDisc.com and as one of two featured contributors to the Stax Records 50th anniversary website, and he contributed biographies of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, and other jazz and blues legends, to Sharpe's Music in the 20th Century Reference Guide.   more...

Daniel Kassell - Jazz from the traditional and swing periods   [ CONTACT ]

Dan Kassell expands his curiosity by attending concerts, conventions, lectures and movies to take note of the History of Jazz from the Caribe's and Algier's to New Orleans, Chicago and New York. As a member of the Jersey Jazz Society since 1972 he's witnessed musicians who learned from jazz's founders. Performance reviews and book reviews have appeared in All About Jazz, Mississippi Rag, Jersey Jazz, Jazz Journalist's Jazz Notes and Amazon.com.   more...

Dr. Judith Schlesinger - The myth of the mad genius   [ CONTACT ]

PhD psychologist, educator, musician, and multi-published author reliably delivers clean, concise, sparkling prose for reviews, essays, bios, and liner notes. Dr. J. is known for her unusually in-depth, relaxed, and entertaining interviews that reveal the person behind the music. Author of "The Insanity Hoax: Exposing the myth of the mad genius" (published December 2011), as well as related articles in professional publications and textbooks, she is an internationally-recognized expert on the alleged link between talent, creativity, the creative process, and so-called "mental illness" (e.g., bipolar disorder).   more...

R.J. DeLuke - Jazz history, Miles, Monk, Sonny, mainstrem, bebop   [ CONTACT ]

An experienced with a degree in journalism and years of experience on staffs of newspapers and magazines, R.J. took that into his love for jazz. For over a decade he has been interviewing jazz and blues artists and biographic articles on them, as well as editing similar content. He's interviewed dozens of all-time greats and rising stars for AAJ and other publications (Downbeat, Strings, Albany (NY) Times Union).   more...

Mark F. Turner - Modern Jazz, Electronica, Urban, World, Ethnomusicology   [ CONTACT ]

Basically I'm a sponge, soaking up an appreciation of many forms... As an accomplished writer, researcher, and music journalist, I've created an impressive body of work (reviews, articles, liner notes, biographies, press releases) for artists, labels, print and online media (Jazziz, Jazz Improv, The Lamp, etc...) as well as my ongoing duties as senior contributor/editor at AAJ.   more...

Cyril Moshkow - Russian Jazz   [ CONTACT ]

Cyril runs Russia's Jazz magazine, Jazz.Ru, since 1998. Among his international activities were the Jazz Invades Europe conference at the University of Idaho in 2007, the Jazz from Afar panel discussion at the New School University in NYC the same year, and a few other professional conferences where he gave speeches on Jazz in Russia (most currently: The Jazz Summit, at the Library of Congress, D.C., 2009.)   more...

Raul d'Gama Rose - Ethnomusicologist (Focus on Afro Latin and Late American mus   [ CONTACT ]

Combined studies in Western Classical Music (History, Theory and Pianoforte) and late American music studies with the study of African music under the guidance of Michael Lemesre, Paris France. I have a Latin American background, have a Masters' Degree in the Romance Languages, read and write in English, Portuguese, French and now Spanish. I write liner notes for Douglas Music, France. A study of the Pound Era (and Ernest Fellanosa) is drawing me into fascinating world of Chinese culture.   more...

Doug Collette - True Improvisational Rock   [ CONTACT ]

With a writing history spanning forty years, I have a unique perspective on how new artists as well as veterans, have incorporated the jazz ethic into rock and roll and, to a lesser degree, pop music. To follow the evolution of the musicians and the music has been and continues to be a tremendous pleasure as well as an ongoing lesson in the workings of the creative process both short and long term,in the studio and on the stage.   more...

John Kelman - Scandinavian/European Jazz   [ CONTACT ]

Contributor to the book Horizons Touched: The Music of ECM (Granta, 2007), AAJ Managing Editor John Kelman is an expert on the the esteemed German label as well as the European jazz scene in general and the Scandinavian scene in particular. He is in the process of researching a monthly AAJ column tracing Norwegian jazz from the late 1960s forward. He also has particular expertise in fusion and progressive rock dating back to the late 1960s.   more...

Chris May - Jazz and African Music   [ CONTACT ]

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Alain Londes - Jazz Appreciation   [ CONTACT ]

As a review writer for AAJ and the Toronto Jazz Newsletter, I strive to describe what I see during shows and what I hear on CDs for a wider audience. I write daily updates as well as overall articles annually on the Toronto Jazz Festival. As an educator, amateur tenor saxophonist and public speaker, I have created workshops for general audience focusing on such topics as "jazz and improvisation." Being a native french speaker allows me to keep taps on European artists.   more...

Marcia Hillman - Jazz Storyteller and Historian   [ CONTACT ]

I have been in the music industry a long while and have met and broken bread with many of the jazz giants in the course of my career. Have a unique historical perspective on the genre and a knowledge of songs.   more...

Hrayr Attarian - Women instrumentalists from the beginnings of jazz till 1970   [ CONTACT ]

For a while I have had an interest in hearing and reading about women who eschewed the traditional role of singers (and rarely piano playing) and excelled on instruments like trumpet, trombone, saxophones, bass, guitar, organ etc. I have a collection of CDs by such artists, most of them relatively obscure or at least under recorded because of their gender. I also have read everything I could find on a particular few including Thelma Terry (bass), Melba Liston (trombone), Vi Redd (alto sax), Valaida Snow, Barbara Donald and Clora Bryant (trumpet), Rhoda Scott, Shirley Scott and Gloria Coleman (organ), Mary Osborne (guitar), Dorothy Ashby (harp) and Lovie Austin, Jutta Hipp and Beryl Booker (piano).   more...

Greg Thomas - Jazz educator, consultant, and broadcast and print journalis   [ CONTACT ]

I've written about jazz for 20+ years: features, reviews, previews, interviews, and even scholarship. I've interviewed hundreds, some in short interviews as for the online jazz series I hosted for 20 half-hour episodes over two seasons, Jazz it Up!, others in long-form discussions as for the Harlem Speaks interview series of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, for which I've served as co-producer for seven years. I try to cover jazz with what Ralph Ellison called a "complex double vision," from within the cultural complex of its creation and innovation, but also with stylistic and analytic references that frame the music within the discourse of art, culture, philosophy, and history.   more...

Greg Camphire - Writing About Jazz from a Musician's Perspective   [ CONTACT ]

Greg Camphire has been studying and performing music for more than 25 years, and writing for almost as long. While acknowledging Frank Zappa's quote that "writing about music is like dancing about architecture," Greg bridges the gap between these two artistic disciplines with fresh descriptions of music’s inner details. His love of sounds and words spans the history of jazz, as well as rock n’ roll, hip-hop, electronica, reggae, many Afican and Latin styles, and much more.   more...

Maxwell Chandler - Jazz columnist   [ CONTACT ]

A syndicated jazz columnist, my writing has appeared world wide on sites, journals and in liner notes. Everything which flows from my pen is meticulously researched whether it is liner notes for an album or an artist interview. It is all done with a distinctive literary panache which offers the reader something more than the usual shorthand of "sounds like so and so's horn".   more...

Warren Allen - Modern Jazz, Jewish, Avant-Garde, and World Music   [ CONTACT ]

From the fiery Klezmer trills of David Tarras to the plangent calls of Albert Ayler, Warren has played, studied, and written about music for the past 10 years. Exploring fresh sounds, the evolution of styles, and the link between spirituality and improvisation--all of it keeps him adding CDs to an already overloaded bookcase. He's written for AAJ.com, the Boston Herald, the Worcester Telegram-Gazette, and Performer Magazine.   more...

Wade Luquet - The Spirit of New Orleans   [ CONTACT ]

Dr. Wade Luquet, a native of New Orleans, founded The Institute for New Orleans History and Culture in the Lourdes Library at Gwynedd-Mercy College just outside of Philadelphia. The institute was established as a collection where the heritage of New Orleans can be preserved and studied. In addition to writing extensively about the Crescent City and its culture, Wade also organizes and oversees annual outings to the city where his students immerse themselves in local New Orleans culture and donate their time to specific civic activities.   more...

Esther Berlanga-Ryan - Vocal Jazz   [ CONTACT ]

In love with practically any form of Music and specially with any Vocal Jazz exercise that is capable of thrilling and enchanting the spirit. I understand voice as the ultimate instrument, and words as the humble way such vocal instrument has to take the shape of any given note. Vocal Jazz is nothing but love, life, loss and hope turned into a magnificent force of beauty.   more...

Chuck Anderson - Jazz Guitarist, Improvisation, Music Indusry   [ CONTACT ]

Chuck Anderson has had an amazingly diverse career in music. He has worked successfully as a professional jazz guitarist, composer, author, clinician and lecturer. He has owned and directed music schools, recorded a dozen CDs, written twenty books on music, run a production company, written for national magazines and currently maintains a busy music consulting business.   more...

Gregory H Martin - Drug Addiction and Jazz   [ CONTACT ]

I have done a great deal of research in an attempt to answer the question, "Why did so many great jazz musicians use and abuse heroin?" Research on the widespread heroin addiction among jazz musicians reveals connections between trends in the American cultural experience unique to drug subculture. For years, I have been complimented on what people call my uncanny ability for self-expression; that skill is what makes me a good musician and a good writer.   more...

Robert J. Robbins - Big Bands   [ CONTACT ]

I have been USA Secretary of Big Bands International for the past thirty years, and I feel that I possess a vast amount of expertise in this area.   more...

Jenn Chan Lyman - Shanghai Local Jazz Scene   [ CONTACT ]

I’m lucky to be in a city where the jazz scene has both historic roots and modern day buzz. More and more talented musicians are coming to Shanghai to push boundaries in their own art form as well as nurture the enthusiasm of a growing audience. If you're sick of the fossilized old, come check out the uninhibited new.   more...

David McLean - Experimental music, Electronica, Avant-Garde Jazz, Contempor   [ CONTACT ]

I have a background disimilar to alot of the other contributors on the website as Jazz is just one facet of my musical obsessions. I also write for experimusic.com, a diverse site dealing with a range of music that mirrors my overiding interest into contemporary music experimenting and pushing boundaries, whether that be minimal electronics from Berlin, intense and atmospheric metal from Norway, free improvisation from Japan on the angular guitar music from Chigago and New York. My experience of all this music is revealed in my desert island disk selections. If you or your artists shares a fascination with anything listed in either lists, do contact me.   more...

Mr. P.C. - Jazz Etiquette and Bandstand Decorum   [ CONTACT ]

I can be reached directly during bandstand emergencies, even after-hours. I also offer meditative tapes that re-instill a sense of self-worth and dignity to musicians who have been psychologically damaged by traumatic experiences on stage during their formative years.   more...

Dan Bilawsky - Jazz writer   [ CONTACT ]

I was a contributing writer with Jazz Improv Magazine from 2005 through 2009. During that period of time, I wrote hundreds of CD and performance reviews and numerous educational product reviews. I also wrote (Sonny Rollins and Wes Montgomery) or co-wrote (Frank Sinatra, Herbie Hancock, Stan Getz) 25, 000 word feature articles during that period of time. I have been a contributing writer with AllAboutJazz.com for two years. I am available for freelance writing.   more...

Guy Zinger - Vocal Jazz, Piano Jazz   [ CONTACT ]

I am both actively and passively involved in (vocal) jazz, being a singer/piano player, radio play-list programmer, and in a total jazz-daze for the better part of my life. I have a large collection of albums focusing on Vocal Jazz and Piano Jazz, yet I can usually recognize a rendition of a tune within 2-3 chords. same goes for an artists' voice and musical style.   more...

Jack Huntley - Jazz guitarists, guitar building & history   [ CONTACT ]

A reliable and widely-published music journalist writing freelance music and book reviews, biographical articles, and artist interviews for over twenty years. A musician himself, Jack's interest in music is endless and ever- expanding.   more...

Gordon Marshall - Where jazz splits like the atom   [ CONTACT ]

I am a strong interviewer and an acute reviewer, versed in critical theory and versatile. Howard Mandel wrote of my first review: "The images are many, word choices artful, concretization of abstract or elusive points well-realized." A published poet, I bring a corresponding sensibility to my analyses. A grasp of modal and free jazz, psychedelic rock and the "downtown school" highlights my solid knowledge of most postwar styles.   more...

Sean Dietrich - Vocalist/Pianist B.S. Music Theory   [ CONTACT ]

I seek to unite artistic sensitivity to my own music, and add the same to the music of others, when playing or singing. Rather than a hard driving discordant sound, I prefer introspection. I strive to treat each piece as if it were a painting, because this is the way I hear it. I work every day on technical facility, but care nothing for exhibitionist performance. I strive to connect with the average listener, and persist in maintaing the delicacy of my craft. I am separate from my peers, in that I take months learning a new tune, before unleashing it in public. I'll study an album for, sometimes, a year on end, to understand the subtleness of a particular artist's nuances. I believe that Jazz is, among many other things, a discipline. A way of life. A spouse. A religion almost. Bill Evans hung the moon. Ahmad Jamal saves lives. There's a reason Miles adored these two players. There's a lot going on inside the music.   more...

Learn about the Jazz Speakers Bureau.