Happy Birthday! Jazzwax Turns 3

On August 3, 2007, I started JazzWax on a dare. I vowed not to make the site about me but about the recordings and the artists, keeping myself in the background as much as possible. Rather than e-yammer about what I did each day, I decided to tap into my background as a journalist and historian and simply write about the jazz albums and legends I admire most. I also vowed to post daily—giving myself just one day off each week. So far so good.

What has been most gratifying is that this recipe—keeping the focus on the music, particularly jazz of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s—has attracted a good-sized global audience and several superb sponsors (JazzFM.91, The Jazz Cruise and Smarter.com, among others). What's amazing to me is that all of this was done without paper, ink, mailings, marketing and fulfillment departments, or delivery trucks. It just is, and the result has become something of an e-meeting place for those who feel passionately about the music. Hopefully JazzWax enriches and enlightens along the way, and makes visitors feel good for a few minutes before or after their work day.

Today's column marks my 1,019th post, with a total of 567,000 page views. What's more, JazzWax remains ranked No. 1 by Invesp.com, an independent blog ranking service (click to enlarge):

Thanks to all of you—for the emails, for the encouragement, for the praise, for the criticism, for the suggestions and for the gripes. As always, JazzWax will remain home to the great global dialogue about the music we love—its past, its musicians, its recordings and its future. 

And now, I'm giving myself the rest of the day off. Back tomorrow.