Monday, March 30, 2009

Contributor News: March 2009

Dear fellow AAJ contributor,

2009 is shaping up to be AAJ's most active year and we just topped 80,000 readers in a single day for the very first time! Stay current with our recent developments and please read on...


Editors Wanted

If you're looking to expand your role at AAJ and have a comfort level with how the website works, please consider joining our editorial staff. We're looking for six contributors to help us prepare daily CD reviews and weekly interviews. Familiarity with HTML basics is preferred. Contact John Kelman if you're interested.


Say Hello to Your Editor

The editorial staff works diligently in the background to make your articles and CD reviews the best they can be. If you notice an improvement in your submitted material, please don't hesitate to thank them for their efforts. We list the primary editor of your article at the very bottom of each article page. Click their link to access their profile page.


Join Our Knowledge Base

We're always looking for ways to raise your profile as a writer and we've developed a new section that allows publicists, record labels, radio people, and the media to tap into our considerable knowledge base. There are many, many experts at the site and our goal is to leverage AAJ's reach to market your talents as a radio guest or public speaker, or to help you land paid biography and liner note assignments.

If you would like us to market your jazz specialty or your specific area of interest, please fill in the expert title and expert text portion of your contributor profile edit form for consideration. View this page to get an idea of how we plan to promote your talents.


Track Your Activity and Rank at AAJ

You can now track how many CD reviews and articles you've submitted this year--you can also view your profile rank and its relation to your fellow contributors. We've added these new links to the Contributor Center page. For immediate reference:


Label Profiles: Looking for Writers

We're relaunching the Record Label Profile column and we're looking for writers to cover ObliqSound, Ubiquity Records, ZOHO Records, and Anzic Records. Jakob Baekgaard has already begun work on a profile of the Italian Auand Records label, and we arranged to have him receive their catalog in return. Sounds like a good deal! If you have an idea for a future profile, pitch us direct.


Looking for reviews of...

We're looking for reviews of the following two CDs for inclusion on the AAJ home page:


Tom Harrell
Prana Dance
HighNote Records

Bob Sneider & Joe Locke
Nocturne For Ava
Origin Records

If you've received a copy of either one, please place it on the top of your "to review" stack. Thank you!


AAJ: Mobile Launches

Readers can now enjoy daily All About Jazz content (articles, news, mp3 downloads, local calendar, venue directory, etc.) direct from their iPhone, Blackberry, or Palm. Click here to read all about this new and exciting project.


AAJ Partners with AOL

Great news! Thanks to our collective efforts, AAJ was accepted into the AOL Music Network. AOL loves our spirit and content, and will feature one weekly AAJ article at their website in the near future. We're excited about the opportunity to work with the leader in the online music space, and we look forward to expanded collaborations down the road. We're always working to maximize the reach of your articles and promote jazz in general, and the AOL partnership will certainly help our mission.


AAJ Newspapers and How We Work Together

We've received a few inquiries recently about the website and newspaper relationships--for instance, when they started, how they work with the website and if you can get your material published in print. At one time we had five AAJ print publications, now there are three. The New York and LA editions print monthly; the Seattle edition, quarterly. The New York team uses the AAJ content management system (our publishing system), and archives their content at the website. The LA team currently does not, but will soon. Both Laurence Donohue-Greene / Andrey Henkin (NY) and Fred Jung (LA) own and operate their respective publications. They have been affiliated with AAJ for well over seven years and visit the site often. If they have an interest in utilizing your services, they will contact you direct.

Equally, if newspaper contributors would like to submit interviews that are longer than the size limitations of print--or, for that matter, any additional articles beyond what the newspapers are interested in--feel free to do so; please contact John Kelman direct if you're interested.


Thanks again for your hard work and determination. Everyone who contributes time and energy--great or small--is a vital part of the collective difference that has positioned AAJ as the #1 jazz destination on the web.

All the best,

Michael Ricci

Trombonist Clifton Anderson Interviewed at AAJ

Clifton Anderson has been on a lifelong journey of artistic evolution. From his start as a child surrounded by a musical family, to formal education mixed with the practical experience of live gigs, Clifton's odyssey is ever-unfolding. Whether playing as a long-standing member of his uncle Sonny Rollins' band, helping to run the Doxy label or leading sessions with his own band, Clifton's life is always happily connected to music.

AAJ contributor Maxwell Chandler spoke with Anderson about his lengthy career, working with uncle Sonny Rollins and running the tenor icon's Doxy label, and his own work, including the recently-released Decade (Doxy, 2008).

Check out Maxwell's in-depth interview, Clifton Anderson: Legacy, at AAJ today!

You can also read reviews of Decade, featured at AAJ, by contributors Ken Dryden and Paolo Arduini.

AAJ is committed to bringing you the most extensive coverage available on the artists you love, so be sure to check out ouur coverage of Clifton Anderson today!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Musicians: Enter your Calendar Dates at ArtistData and sync them up with All About Jazz, JamBase, Last.FM and Soon Facebook

Attention Musicians!

All About Jazz has joined the ArtistData network which allows musicians to submit calendar dates once and distribute them to over ten music websites.

"ArtistData is a free syndication service that allows musicians to save a tremendous amount of time entering calendar dates... Musicians enter shows at ArtistData.com and see them auto-posted to AAJ and other sites like MySpace, Twitter, PureVolume and Jambase," says Michael Ricci, Founder of All About Jazz. "AAJ's traffic is quickly approaching one million monthly readers and it's essential for musicians to have their calendar dates listed at AllAboutJazz.com. In addition to the website, their dates will be accessible through AllAboutJazz: Mobile and will appear in our monthly AllAboutJazz: New York print edition."

If you're a musician, record label, manager, or agency, learn more about ArtistData by signing up today.

How ArtistData works:

  1. Sign up for an ArtistData account.

  2. Import your shows or enter them manually. Also enter news and blog entries.

  3. ArtistData synchronizes your shows to you profile on MySpace, PureVolume, and soon Facebook.

  4. ArtistData updates your status on Twitter, Facebook, and Virb with shows, news, and blog info.

  5. ArtistData submits your shows to concert databases such as All About Jazz, Jambase, Last.fm, and many more.

  6. ArtistData updates your official news feed with shows, news, and blog info.

  7. ArtistData updates your official website through XML or a customizable calendar widget.

  8. ArtistData updates your desktop calendar (iCal, Outlook, Thunderbird, Google Calendar).

  9. ArtistData allows you to export formatted show lists for import to SonicBids and ReverbNation.

  10. ArtistData automates the submission of shows for listing in local publications. See the screencast below.


Related ArtistData Links

Monday, March 23, 2009

Guitar Legend-in-the-Making Julian Lage Interviewed at AAJ

A documentary film made in 1996 centers on an eight year-old guitarist who is already a professional and how he mixes that life with everything else, like family and being a kid. At one point, he's shown playing the guitar behind his neck, a la Jimi Hendrix, adroitly picking a melodic line. At another, he lays down some serious blues licks. A voice off camera inquires, "What'cha been listening to lately?" "Lots of Wes Montgomery. Coltrane," the articulate lad intones, matter-of-factly.

The film was Jules at Eight, a 24-minute short by then-fledgling documentary filmmaker Mark Becker, subsequently nominated for an Academy Award. The guitar prodigy was Julian Lage, who started playing professionally in the San Francisco Bay area at the age of seven and who, over the years to his ripe old current age of 21, has played with the likes of Gary Burton, Herbie Hancock, Christian McBride, Mark O'Connor, Frank Vignola and more, and has appeared on Grammy-nominated albums by classy vocalist Nnenna Freelon and his friend, pianist Taylor Eigsti.

Lage's EmArcy debut as a leader, Sounding Point, is being released on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 and AAJ has a number of features today to celebrate Lage's disc hitting the streets.

First, veteran AAJ contributor R.J. DeLuke spoke at length with Lage about how he managed to get to where he is at such a young age. R.J. also spoke with Gary Burton - whose admiration for Lage, and a belief that the guitarist has a particularly bright future, comes through loud and clear. Check out Julian Lage: Stepping Into the Limelight at AAJ today!

You can also read one of the first reviews about Sounding Point, by AAJ Managing Editor John Kelman, also published today at AAJ.

AAJ is featuring "Motor Minder," a complete track from Sounding Point, as today's AAJ Daily Download.

Lastly, you can watch Lage in action, performing solo, today's AAJ Daily Video.

AAJ continues to provide the most exhaustive coverage surrounding new jazz releases. Be sure to check out all our coverage on Julian Lage and Sounding Point at AAJ today!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Musicians: "Take Five" or "In Ten" with... You!


Attn Musicians:

Take Five and In Ten are two free ways for you to further raise the awareness of your music and yourself at All About Jazz. They also allow you the flexibility to select and answer questions and give readers an opportunity to learn more about you.

We'll promote your Take Five and In Ten questions and answers on the AAJ home page and link to it from your AAJ musician profile.

Submit your answers today!

Play it straight: Submit your Take Five Answers
Make it personal: Submit your In Ten Answers

Read a few...

Take Five With Jim Hession
Take Five With Hadar Noiberg
In 10 With Sunna Gunnlaugs
Take Five With Marc Sabatella
Take Five With Jerry Tachoir
Take Five With Oscar Utterstrom
Take Five With Ondrej Pivec
Take Five With Kerry Politzer
Take Five With Benito Gonzalez
Take Five With Geoff Cleveland
Take Five With Mike Baggetta
Take Five With Dana Leong
Take Five With Sam Sadigursky
Take Five With Craig Pilo
Take Five With Jimmy Bennington
Take Five With Paul Kendall
Take Five With Rick Gallagher
Take Five With Jessica Medina
Take Five With Nick Manson
Take Five With Jason Campbell
Take Five With Billy Fox
Take Five With Walter Smith III
Take Five With Brian Adler
Take Five With Michael Wolff
Take Five With David Bixler
Take Five With Neil Cowley
Take Five With Mika Pohjola
Take Five With Jerome Sabbagh
Take Five With Miles Okazaki
Take Five With Marcus Goldhaber
Take Five With Dom Minasi
Take Five With Phil Kelly

Monday, March 16, 2009

All About Jazz Has Gone Mobile!


Access All About Jazz from your smart phone

Readers can now enjoy daily All About Jazz content direct from their iPhone, Blackberry, or Palm.

Download a free MP3 of the day, view local calendar information, and access reviews, articles, interviews, news, musician profiles and more.

AAJ:Mobile is the perfect companion to the website and allows readers to access content in a phone-friendly format. A streamlined version of the website, AAJ:Mobile loads fast and updates every 15 minutes.

"Business travelers will appreciate our calendar and the convenience of finding shows to attend when they're on the road," says Michael Ricci, Founder of All About Jazz. "They can also peruse our new articles as well as our extensive archive right from their phone."

Visit From Your Phone's Browser:

  1. Open your mobile phone's web browser.
  2. Choose the menu option that lets you enter a web address
    ("Go to," "Go to URL," "Enter URL," etc.)
  3. Enter mobile.allaboutjazz.com or
    allaboutjazz.com/m/ as the web address

Fast Info:
  • Local Calendar of Events with geo search
  • Free MP3 Download of the Day
  • Venue, Radio Station, Record Store directory and search
  • Daily CD reviews and searchable archive
  • Daily articles/interviews and searchable archive
  • Daily news and searchable archive
  • Musician directory and search
  • Daily birthdays

More info