AAJ PRO
Michael Ricci: The Heart Of All About Jazz
by AAJ Staff
This AAJ @ 30 article by Juan Carlos Abelenda first appeared on Toma Jazz in 2006 and was translated from Spanish. During the 38th Barcelona Jazz Festival, a series of conferences complemented the main events, offering deeper insights into jazz-related topics. One standout session was led by Michael Ricci, titled “All About Jazz: An Adventure Bridging Jazz and New Technologies." Michael Ricci, the founder of the American jazz portal allaboutjazz.com, has created a website widely recognized as a ...
Continue ReadingUnder Review: The Not-So-Simple Art Of Book Reviewing
by Duncan Heining
Jazz books occupy a tiny sector of the publishing industry, within which any book selling between 500-1000 copies counts as a success. Biographies of major figures might command mid-four figure sales but even then come nowhere near troubling the best-seller tables in the New York Times or Guardian. On All About Jazz, between 900 book reviews appear on the site between 2010-2025. Think about that for a moment. That is around thirty reviews on this major jazz site per year. ...
Continue ReadingWorld Jazz Network Meets Polish Jazz
by Cheptoo Kositany
From March 12-15, 2025, Szczecin was not just a city but a vibrant hub for international exchange and collaboration in the jazz industry. The World Jazz Network Meets Polish Jazz conference, a key part of the 10th edition of Szczecin Jazz 2025, was a unique event that brought together leading institutions and experts promoting jazz worldwide. Organized by Szczecińska Agencja Artystyczna, in cooperation with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Jazz Forum magazine, and the World Jazz Network, the conference was graced ...
Continue ReadingSeven Free or Inexpensive Ways to Get Featured on All About Jazz
by Michael Ricci
All About Jazz & Jazz Near You offer a variety of promotional opportunities for music professionals. From musicians and publicists to venues, festivals and record labels, there are several ways to reach the largest network of jazz enthusiasts, jazz influencers, and industry professionals online. In this article, we list two free services and five inexpensive services to help you establish a presence at All About Jazz... a presence that will serve you for years to come. Standard Musician ...
Continue ReadingUploading Your Events to Jazz Near You: A How-To Guide
by Michael Ricci
Jazz Near You offers several methods to upload or export your events to our platform where we'll freely distribute them from our website, our weekly newsletter and our calendar plug-in. Submission Form Use our event submission form to upload a single event or up to 16 recurring events. You can also use our handy time-saving copy (event) feature. Just click the “Copy" button on an existing event detail page. Batch Upload Form Upload several events ...
Continue ReadingUploading Your Album Info To All About Jazz: A How-To Guide
by Michael Ricci
The All About Jazz staff, along with our community of musicians, record labels and publicists, upload new jazz albums to our database every day. You can read about the discography project backstory here. In this article, we'll explain how to add, update, and delete albums that become associated with a musician page. The GoalOur goal is to help musicians sell their music by presenting their discography from their musician page, from a dedicated discography page and ...
Continue ReadingGuide to Choosing a Band: Elements to Consider When Booking Jazz for an Event
by Vinson Valega
The most important element of jazz is the warm, natural sound of the acoustic instruments that comprise the ensemble. Most groups consist of either piano or guitar complemented by bass and drums (with additional horns or vocalists added when desired). The repertoire is wide-ranging and the musical language common to all Just Jazz musicians. No matter the size or make up of the group, the long heritage of our jazz vocabulary creates an elegant, smooth sound that enhances ...
Continue ReadingJazz vs. Classical Funding
by Nicholas Krolak
Throughout jazz history there has been a desire among the jazz community to see the music respected on the same level as western classical music. It is after all, jazz is America's classical music. As Dr. Billy Taylor explains, “Classical music must be time-tested; it must serve as a standard or model; it must have established value; and it must be indigenous to the culture for which it speaks. Jazz meets the criteria of classical music. Because it is particularly ...
Continue ReadingJazz Ear Training: The Best Ear Training Guide For Jazz Musicians
by Freek Just Rijna
You've heard the gospel: if you want to play jazz, you need to train your ears! That might be easier said than done though. Where do you start? And if you're a bit more advanced, how do you train your ears in a way that impacts your playing? In this article, I'll explain why ear training is important and how to do it. Introduction To Jazz Ear Training Ear training, why should I even bother? There are tons ...
Continue ReadingMedia and Industry Tips for the Accomplished Jazz Musician
by Kerilie McDowall
Are you releasing your next recording? Are you an independent artist? Is getting that crucial interview to further your music career on your bucket list?--A couple of key points: For reviews, interviews, or story coverage (generally speaking), print editors of magazines require a listen three months' notice BEFORE your release date. Newspapers need one month's notice (sometimes two months if it is a larger event) for story coverage. Major publications are able to jump online with publishing very ...
Continue Reading
