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Christopher Hoard
Member Since: 2026 | Location: Irvine | Page Views: 12 
About Me
Music journalist, jazz record producer, retired cloud computing consultant
I'm originally from Seattle, WA. At age 5 my family moved to central CA (Lompoc), and a year later we moved to Southern California. I grew up in West Los Angeles. I spent my college years at UCLA and wrote music reviews , reported campus news, and took a jazz history class taught by a jazz musician who performed with the Glenn Miller orchestra, professor Paul Tanner. Through that class I was exposed to and educated about many great jazz musicians and historical changes in the jazz idiom. As the arts editor for the UCLA Daily Bruin I started interviewing jazz artists, attending concerts, and later became a columnist for Jazziz magazine. My first cover story was an in-depth interview with Herbie Hancock. I also free-lanced for a number of LA based publications including Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, the LA Weekly and others. Along the way I interviewed many of my favorite jazz and some rock musicians which were published in various publications with jazz and rock luminaries, including: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Pat Metheny, Freddie Hubbard, Chick Corea, George Duke, The Crusaders, Charlie Haden, Larry Carlton, Oregon, Soft Machine, Mose Allison, Allan Holdsworth, Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Brand X, Robert Fripp, Peter Hammill and others. During the 80s, I'd became a close friend of guitarist Allan Holdsworth, who would often ask me to come to his home studio and listen to his latest studio mixes. Allan would teach me about his unique perspective on music theory--he recorded a cover album of his favorite jazz artists, “None Too Soon,” which featured covers of some jazz greats--Joe Henderson, Bill Evans, Django Reinhardt, and John Coltrane. In the 90s I started my own “indy” label, Alernity Records, and released a double-CD retrospective of Holdsworth's recordings, a live records “Then!,” and pianist/drummer Gary Husband, guitarist Jane Getter, among others. I also wrote liner notes for Holdsworth's career Box Set as well. I support live local jazz music in Southern California whenever possible. With All About Jazz, I look forward to writing some features and reviews of record releases and some outstanding live shows.
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Michael RicciFAVORITE RADIO SHOW / PODCAST
Jazz Odyssey
Title
New Releases From Linda Sikhakhane, Elias Haslanger, Skinny Hightower, Plus Classics From Willie Bobo, Weldon Irvine, Gilberto Gil And Eddie HendersonRun Date
August 26, 2026Theme Song
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KUDO
I think providing this platform as a guide, reference, and exposure to new jazz music is one of the best online jazz portals available. Author Nate Chinen wrote "Playing Changes," a seminal book about jazz. He should be on your writer list.SUGGESTION
Perhaps promotion or booths at various US jazz festivals, and/or local instances of jazz festivals or series in major US cities. I can't find the "Favorite Musicians" link now on my page.This page was last updated on 2026-11-09.
