Home » Member Page

Michael Cala

Blues journalist and media producer

About Me

Michael Cala has been writing and photographing professionally for most of his adult life. For the past 10, he has been a writer-producer and photographer for Internet content and multimedia for ad agencies, nonprofits, and a major New York City medical center. He also co- produces traditional music concerts.

This past year has involved managing a self-initiated fundraising project to buy and maintain a headstone for jazz and blues pioneer Mamie Smith, who had lain in an unmarked grave on Staten Island since her death in 1946 -- 68 years ago! Mamie's wild success with her ”Crazy Blues” in 1920 -- the first-ever recorded blues by an African American woman -- encouraged record companies to break the race barrier and start recording African American blues and jazz singers. Thanks to Mamie, by 1926 hundreds of now-famous blues and jazz artists -- from Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong to Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson -- were recorded by companies who would not have done so had Mamie not sold over 75,000 copies of “Crazy Blues” in a single month.

I've raised money to put a down payment on a headstone for Mamie, and now we need additional funds to shore up her grave and establish a maintenance fund at the African American cemetery where she is buried.

The Mamie Smith crowdfunding project is live on Indiegogo right now (until July 12, 2014) at http://igg.me/at/mamie3

In addition, on July 20, we're having a day-into-evening live blues event that's really got some buzz on social media. To find out more, go to https://www.facebook.com/mamiespage and click on the “BLUES FOR MAMIE” poster.

Conbtributing on INDIEGOGO, coming to the event, and sharing this information with friends is a great way to support this cause.

In addition to the Mamie project, I've also been writing for the newly constituted Blues Music Magazine, which arose, phoenix-like, from the conflagration of its former iteration as Blues Revue (for which I wrote from 2000-2012). Two recent features I wrote are a longish profile of blues pianist Marcia Ball and her bass player Don Bennett, and a look at the youngest blues band ever, the Homemade Jamz Blues Band.



Contact Me

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because...it moves me. I was first exposed to jazz through my father when I was a toddler. I met [musician name]... The best show I ever attended was... The first jazz record I bought was "Holloway" My advice to new listeners...keep listening and turn that radio dial Or whatever else you have in mind.

Get more of a good thing!

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