Out and About: The Super Fans

You've seen them around. They're at all the gigs, their attention focused deeply on the bandstand, as much a part of their local jazz scenes as the musicians and venues. They know and love the music, and musicians love them back. These passionate music-goers are The Super Fans, and they are an essential part of the concert experience. "Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force... When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand." (Karl A. Menninger) Each month, AAJ focuses the attention back on one of The Super Fans to find out what it is they love about live jazz. By Tessa Souter and Andrea Wolper.

Meet David Beckett

by Tessa Souter and Andrea Wolper
February 2, 2021

Not many of our Super Fans can claim a Harlem Globetrotters game as their introduction to jazz. But it was at a game that young David Beckett first heard the team's famously catchy theme song, “Sweet Georgia Brown," and it set him on the Super Fan path for life. David tried his hand at guitar and even sang for a hot minute, but listening--especially to live music--is his passion. A true friend-of-jazz, he's found multiple ways to indulge, from volunteering ...

Celebrating the 2019-2020 Super Fans

by Tessa Souter and Andrea Wolper
December 21, 2020

Meet The JazzTwins, Arnold and Donald Stanley

by Tessa Souter and Andrea Wolper
December 9, 2020

For our first two-for-one Super Fans column, we present the JazzTwins, Arnold Stanley and Donald Stanley, who got started pretty young (just wait till you see who played at their high school concerts). All jazz Super Fans are VIPs, but these two take things to another level. From invitations to musicians' family dinners to being the inspiration for a composition on a Grammy-nominated CD, the JazzTwins are, in the words of that Grammy-nominated artist, “Fans who become friends who become ...

Meet Jonathan Glass

by Tessa Souter and Andrea Wolper
October 5, 2020

New York, New York, we can't imagine our latest jazz Super Fan thriving anywhere else, inspired as he is by the sports teams, the museums, the art galleries, the theater, and the jazz clubs—-perhaps most of all, the jazz clubs. You might have spotted him, sketchbook in hand, capturing the spirit of the night's performance for posterity--except on the rare occasion that an artist objects. Read on to find out who did. Spoiler alert: it wasn't Henry Kissinger!

Meet Sal Capozucca

by Tessa Souter and Andrea Wolper
August 6, 2020

In memory of our good friend and our first Super Fan recipient, Sal Capozucca, who passed away at age 97 on August 4, 2020. This article was first published in June 2016. He came, he saw, he took a picture! Our first Super Fan, 94-year-old Sal Capozucca, has been going out to hear live jazz for more than 80 years, ever since getting hooked by a Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa concert in 1937. You name 'em, he ...

Meet Claiborne Ray

by Tessa Souter and Andrea Wolper
August 5, 2020

If you were a fan of the New York Times' long running Science Q&A column, you'll recognize the name of our latest Super Fan, who was its author for 31 years. And if you've been a frequenter of New York jazz clubs you'll surely recognize her from her ubiquitous presence on the scene, where she's rarely seen without her signature wide-brimmed topper. A night owl from infancy, according to her ex rodeo queen/classical musician mother, she was destined for a ...

Meet Don Swann

by Tessa Souter and Andrea Wolper
June 1, 2020

Raised near the Kentucky-Tennessee border, Don Swann grew up hearing church hymns and country songs. But, as with many Super Fans of his generation, radio exposed him to a wider world of music, and he soon developed a passion for R&B and blues (and, along with it, the habit of sneaking into the local roadhouse—a story that alone makes this interview worth reading!). But it was the youngster's passion for jazz, specifically, that played an important role in his stint ...