Tips for the Jazz Professional; Jazz Photo Spreads; Hugo Blouin Interview; Songs of the Week and more

In today's newsletter, we explore two perspectives that ultimately arrive at the same essential truth about building a professional life in jazz: enduring careers are shaped over time through vision, adaptability, and a deep commitment to the craft. Our profile of music supervisor Gary Calamar reveals how taste, trust, and collaboration can open unexpected pathways, while "Grit, Discipline, Guts: A 25-Year Blueprint for the Modern Music Career" frames the artist's journey as a long game defined by persistence and continuous growth. Read both, as they offer a cohesive blueprint—one that reminds us that success in jazz is not a single moment, but a sustained process that evolves within both the music and the world around it.

Also, in a long list of firsts, count All About Jazz as the first jazz website to prominently feature a photo of a messy kitchen and a Pro Football Hall of Famer on its home page. :-)

Album Reviews

The album reviews below represent our most popular from the past week. View more recent reviews.

In My Dreams Bill Frisell	Polish Radio Sessions 1970-91 Tomasz Stańko	The Guesthouse Shai Maestro	Circadia Mammal Hands
Danny Gatton and Funhouse—Live at the Holiday Inn 1987 Danny Gatton	Twio Vol. 2 Walter Smith III	Knucklebox Dave Mattock	Mezzo Tim Garland, Geoffrey Keezer

Looking for an album review?

If you're a musician, publicist, or record label seeking album review coverage on All About Jazz, please read our review submission guide, then complete the coverage request form here. When submitting your request, include up to five AAJ album reviewers who best align with your music. For example, if it's a big band or large ensemble recording, select Jack Bowers. You can familiarize yourself with our staff, here.

Grit. Discipline. Guts: A 25-Year Blueprint for the Modern Music Career

I didn't start playing guitar until I was 21. No prodigy pipeline, no major-label safety net. Just a long runway of trial, failure, and forced problem-solving. Over 25 years in San Francisco, I built a career combining performance, composition, education, and production—not as separate identities, but as a single ecosystem. The model is brutally hard to execute. In the AI/streaming era, it might be one of the only models that works. The music industry that existed in 2001 doesn't exist anymore. Record labels consolidated. Physical sales collapsed. Streaming pays fractions of pennies. COVID decimated touring. AI threatens to automate composition itself. Most working musicians face an existential crisis: How do you build a sustainable career when every traditional revenue stream has been gutted? For many, the answer is brutal: You don't. Continue reading...

The Music Supervisor: Gary Calamar

For most musicians, the idea of hearing their music in a film or television show feels like hitting the lottery. One day, you're writing and recording in your basement studio, and the next, your song is underscoring a pivotal scene on a major television program. Behind those moments, though, is someone whose job it is to find exactly the right music for the right moment: the music supervisor. Music supervisors sit at the crossroads of art and logistics. They search for songs, work with composers and artists, negotiate licenses, and help shape the musical identity of a film or series. When it works well, their choices become inseparable from the scenes. Few supervisors have done this more effectively than Gary Calamar. Continue reading...

Hugo Blouin: Jazz Sérieux, Jazz Fun

Growing up in southern Québec, not far from the US border, Hugo Blouin studied music from an early age in school. Both parents were writers, so creative work came naturally. "It was normal to do art," as he put it. As a bassist, Blouin describes himself as an "auto-didact," but he studied piano in primary and secondary school, wrapping his head and fingers around Schumann and Debussy, practicing seriously. In his first round of college, he studied and worked in communications, but it did not stick. After spending time in Canada's Yukon territory, he turned to the bass for the more "jam-ful" bluegrass and folk music circles it allowed him to enter. He then went back to school in Québec, at the University of Sherbrooke, where he studied jazz and composition for a couple of years. Continue reading...

Songs of the Week

From modern jazz-tinged Americana to a stride workout with some slap bass for good measure. Enjoy.

Top Songs

The songs below represent the most heard in the past four weeks. View the Song of the Day archive.

Crystal Silence From the album Crystal Silence—Tribute to Chick Corea By Selma Boragian	Inner Drive From the album Inner Drive By Joseph Quiles	Walkside From the album While I Was Away By Julia Hulsmann	Gravity From the album Convergence By Björn Meyer
Mumbo Jumbo From the album Dream Archives By Craig Taborn	Shifty Paradigms From the album Shifty Paradigms By Dave Slonaker	Late night jump From the album Dancing flamingos By Jacob Munk Nielsen	Vacation From the Blues (feat. Russell Malone) From the album Reach for Tomorrow By Anna Kolchina

Choice Content

Meet Guitarist Miles Mindlin (read); Chad Taylor Quartet at Solar Myth (read); Joe Magnarelli & Kirk MacDonald Quintet Dolomiti Ski Jazz 2026 (view photos); Listening To Prestige (read); John Santos Sextet at The Freight (read); Jon Irabagon: Self-Motivated And Inner-Directed (read); KTU: Sumu (listen); The Danish Radio Big Band featuring Cecile McLorin Salvant at the Attucks Theater (view photos); Too Many Zooz at the Metro in Chicago (view photos).

Radio & Podcasts

Tune into our extensive collection of quality programs every week.

The Outer View: Glenn Makos, Serge Chaloff, and Tord Gustavsen (listen); Allston Boylston: Jon Irabagon, Yelena Eckemoff, Walter Smith III and Eric Mingus with Catherine Sikora (listen); Exploration: Classic jazz from Ted Curson, Johnny Griffin, and others along with currents from Corcoran Holt, Louis Stewart, and more (listen); Mondo Jazz: Bill Frisell, Francesco Bigoni, Zeno De Rossi, Norma Winstone & More (listen); Liner Notes: Emilio Solla: Keeping the Human Connection (listen); A Broad Spectrum: International Women's Day Celebration With John Pizzarelli, Champian Fulton, Ana Hoffman (The BLCK Madonna), Kristen Mather de Andrade, Claire Dickson & More (listen); The Jazz Disturbance: Meredith Bates, Vesna Duo, Soft Machine, Oná Ensemble (listen); Neon Jazz: Pat Bianchi, Kurt Elling, Melissa Errico, Corcoran Holt & Alex Robinson (listen); Bitches Brew: New music from Shob, Mike Gotthard and Soft Machine, old favourites with Teymur Phell, Mike Prigoditch and Alberto Rigoni (listen); North Star Sounds: Stop, Reset and Consider: Listening to Women Jazz Artists (listen); Mondo Jazz: Trish Clowes, Louise McMonagle, The Messthetics, Noah Garabedian & More (listen); The Tonearm: Michael Graves: The Patient Philosophy Of Audio Restoration (listen); Jazz Connections: The Symphonic Ellington (listen); Live At The Bop Stop: Alex Anest Organ Trio (listen); Jazz Backstory: Women in Jazz (listen); World of Jazz: New Music From Robinson, Emmer, Irabagon And More (listen); Ben Boddie On Jazz: Jeremy Pelt, Corcoran Holt, Dan West, Cynthia Scott and more (listen); The Stereo Image: Eric Mingus: You Had To Be In The Room To Really Appreciate That Bass... (listen).

News Announcements

Timely announcements covering new album releases, tours, special events and more. View all recent announcements.

Kathy Ingraham Evokes Jazz Dreams In Her New Release (read); All About Jazz Publishes Peer Reviewed Long-form Feature On Andy Wasserman And George Russell's Lydian Chromatic Concept (read); Long-Lost Orchestral Work By Earth, Wind & Fire's Leader Maurice White Receives World Premiere 23 Years After Its Creation (read); Uriel Pascucci Receives Double Recognition At The Clouzine International Music Awards Spring 2026 (read); Ted Rosenthal Caps His 4-part Piano Trio Cycle With 'The Good Old Days,' Set For May 1 Release On TMR Music (read); Manhattan's Smoke Jazz Club Announces Line-up For April 2026 Including Steve Wilson Album Release Celebration, Vijay Iyer, Joel Ross, And More (read).

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Posted to All About Jazz Newsletter IN THE All About Jazz GROUP
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