Have you heard about the boom on Mizar5?
First, I'd like to say a few words about being an editor for All About Jazz. Even though realtime life had me step back as an editor for a while, this can perhaps inspire others to sign up! The job description is simple, to edit incoming reviews by various contributors. You never know what will be next, what artist or style you'll be reading about. This is a nice surprising element I enjoy very much. And it's also very handy to learn about new music this way!
The work itself requires a sense for the English/American language, of course. And has a few basic and often practical or technical guidelines. In general, contributors are free to write in their own style and voice. As such, editing is never the same, never boring and always a challenge in the most positive meaning of the word. Another nice aspect is the opportunity to communicate and become friends with other people.
Contributors as well as editors hail from different backgrounds, with one main thing they share: commitment to spread the word about music. Good music. So, if you happen to be reading this and feel an itch to join the editorial staff, please do. Visit the AAJ Contributor Center and click the appropriate links. Thank you!
My dayjob. Am a freelance (copy)writer/journalist/editor/publicist in the Netherlands since 2000. I mainly work for a Dutch publishing company in the city of Maastricht and write, edit and translate (Dutch - English) books about cities and regions in the Netherlands and Belgium. In between the book projects there's all kinds of writing and editing: websites, soccer magazines, children's stories, brochures and regional/local rags. I also wrote (in English) for Crossroads Magazine, an initiative of the European Journalism Centre in Maastricht.
Crossroads was for expatriates living in Maastricht.
In 2004, I started Mizar5 (www.mizar5.net) a formerly Steely Dan related website about music people, trivia and 'stuff'. I'm passionate about good music and jazzy 'stuff'. Mizar5 now continues as Mizar6 since I abandoned the Steely Dan theme (although we stray not far from it apparently.......)
Although it's not music or jazzy 'stuff', there's also a passionate involvement with Scooby Medina, an animal shelter in Medina del Campo, Spain. They mainly rescue and take care of neglected and abused Galgo's, a Spanish breed of sighthounds used for hunting, also known as Spanish greyhounds. The animal shelter also serves as a refuge for other animals and arranges adoption of the Galgo's. Besides being a home for animals, they function as an educational center to where veterinarians travel during their studies to help out and further their medical training. Those who want to help, can also virtually adopt a dog.
And then there is Music for Gaza, a project of the Dutch composer-musician Merlijn Twaalfhoven. I am involved in this since the beginning of 2009, when Israel was bombarding the Gaza Strip. I know that politics can kill conversation or keep from enjoying what started out as a pleasant dinner party among friends... That is why I decided to participate from cultural and humanitarian angles which perhaps can reach more hearts and minds than politics does. This was all triggered by reading an interesting discussion in the All About Jazz forum, by the way! A place where people meet and can exchange their visions, views or differences in opinion. Respectfully, that is.
Should you be interested to learn about his projects (creating options for music therapy and music projects with western musicians and Palestinian children in Gaza and the refugee camps), you can visit www.musicforgaza.net, our international weblog at Blogger or join
us in Facebook!
Since 2010, I'm involved in the organization of the JekerJazz Maastricht festival which celebrated its 20th edition from 14-17 october. The goal is to offer free concerts and a wide range of music to the audience in a number of pubs, grand cafes, small diners and theaters: www.jekerjazz.com.
Want to hear me sing? Then here's Can't Cut You Loose (Amsterdam version), a duet with Skinnie, a Dutch singer-songwriter. I was pretty active in music until the age of 23 and now, half my lifetime later, I pick up where I left off. Ish.
All About Jazz has been a friendly and vibrant place ever since I found it and it's a
pleasure to see it grow and blossom in just a click & scroll.
