Home » Member Page

Dirk Sutro

Author of Jazz for Dummies, former host of

About Me

A high school friend introduced me to playing jazz (I was a drummer) and sussing live jazz. We heard Miles Davis at the U.C. Berkeley Jazz Festival; Miles, Dexter Gordon, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, McCoy Tyner, Bobby Hutcherson and man others at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco; and Anthony Braxton and Oliver Lake at small local clubs. I wrote a weekly jazz column and reviews for the San Diego edition of the L.A. Times from 1988 to 1992; authored the first version of Jazz for Dummies in 1998 (the second version was released in 2006). I like all kinds of music, from jazz to classical, rock, Indian, and 'new music' (Cage, Xenakis, and others). I am the publicity person for the Department of Music at U.C. San Diego, where our faculty includes Anthony Davis and Pulitzer composer Roger Reynolds. I also write about design and architecture, including two books: West Coast Wave: New California Houses, and From Missions to Modern (a guide to San Diego Architecture). I live in Encinitas, CA, with my wife Sally, and two daughters (with my first wife Berta).

Contact Me

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.