Will Zachmann

I love jazz because it's endlessly inventive, spiritually & soulfully expressive, and because it's the uniquely indigenous American art form I was first exposed to jazz... not sure when, but I started listening more seriously & "with intent" when I was in college, and fellow DJs on WWUH-FM (U. Hartford public radio) were doing shows. It was around that time I saw Ornette Coleman, and then there was no turning back! I met Jackie McLean when I took a jazz appreciation course he taught at the University of Hartford. As you might imagine, he was one very cool guy, and shared stories of his time with fellow jazz greats that were just amazing. The best show I ever attended was, in terms of jazz, an early 1980s Miles Davis show at Smith College in Northampton, MA. Unlike the 89th St. Piers (NYC) show I caught a year or two prior (when he played 45 minutes -- hey, it was broiling hot out in full sun, but hey... Star People), Miles was in great spirits & fine form. He played for well over 2 hours, and even smiled at and faced the audience. I was in the 7th row, and will never forget it.. The first jazz record I bought was quite awhile ago, but I think it may have been either John Coltrane or Lionel Hampton. My advice to new listeners is to go out and support the musicians. Buy (don't stream) their albums and merch, attend their shows, and support radio stations that play this amazing stuff. In the greater DC area, we have WPFW-FM, which has the amazing Tom Cole doing his long-running show G Strings (string-based jazz) on Sunday mornings from 9:00 - 12:00 eastern. It's rare that I get through one of his shows without buying something from an artist I'd never heard of before. DRP8 (commercial free Internet jazz radio from Denmark) is also pretty great, with some very knowledgeable DJs spinning a fairly broad spectrum of jazz. Or whatever else you have in mind.