John Stevenson

Member Since: 2021 | Position: Contributor | Location: London | Page Views: 2,270

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About Me

I am a father, husband and lover of art and culture, with a fascination for jazz.

I have spent 25 years in journalism and communications and 8 years in higher education communicating the research and expert commentary of legal educators, computer scientists, mathematicians and engineers. My international professional experience spans working as a correspondence processor in Israel, preparing advertising and promotional copy for blue-chip clients (including Virgin Atlantic and Texaco) in Barbados, to free-lancing with Voice of Barbados (as host of a weekly jazz radio programme for five years) the BBC World Service, The Guardian, The Independent, The Express, and Caribbean Intelligence. I am motivated by excellent fiction, non-fiction and poetry – books like James Baldwin’s ‘The Fire Next Time’, Kamau Brathwaite’s Black + Blues, Yaa Gyasi’s ‘Homegoing’ and William Faulkner’s ‘The Sound and the Fury’. The artistry of Romare Bearden, Roy De Carava, Sultan Stevenson (my son), Florestine Perrault Collins, Agenda Brown, John Coltrane and Billie Holiday also inspires me and acts as a creative spur.

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My Jazz Story

I love jazz because its at core African-American but is globe-girdling, peace-inducing and gathers so many cultures in its embrace. I was first exposed to jazz as a 12 year old by my Dad I met Oscar Peterson several times in Barbados The best show I ever attended was Ray Charles at the Barbados Jazz Festival in 1996 The first jazz record I bought was Herb Alpert / Hugh Masekela (1978) My advice to new listeners is to have an open mind. Jazz is a very broad church - with many pews