Jazz Chronicles

It was a shock to learn today that Ajay Heble – founder and artistic director of the Guelph Jazz Festival & Colloquium – has suffered a...

If you're like me, you probably have chunks of your vinyl collection that you haven't gotten around to replacing with digital copies...

Time to reveal the full plans for three events at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival that I've been working on in my role as vice-p...

I'm currently pursuing a story about ECM Records, which involves a convoluted interview process with the globe-trotting Manfred Eicher, ...

Sad news that the great Jimmy Giuffre has died, just two days before his 87th birthday. One of the giants on the clarinet, Giuffre's ban...

Recently, I was engaged by a prominent Canadian musician in a spirited email exchange about the pros and cons of jazz festivals. His main po...

For those in the vicinity of Ottawa – my home base – it's easy to overlook the significant jazz content in this year's Bluesfest lin...

The International Association for Jazz Education officially filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, simultaneously announcing the cancellation of it...

What my friend and JJA colleague Willard Jenkins calls "a house of straw" is starting to blow away faster than I predicted. The fi...

Bennie Maupin is back... with a vengeance. Maupin was one of my favourite reed players in the '60s and early '70s – and remains at t...

It may be the low U.S. dollar, the ever-growing hassle of air travel, or just the luck of 2008 – whatever the reason, there is a larger-than...

Well, maybe not quite yet, but the news that Elvis Costello and Elton John will be collaborating on a new television show – Spectacle: Elvis...

The tough times just get tougher for the large institutions we traditionally associate with the jazz industry. The latest sign is a financia...

NPR's Fresh Air recently featured a lengthy interview with Wired.com writer Eliot Van Buskirk about the current trends in digital musi...

The Washington Post has a story today (free registration is required) about the death of the "smooth jazz" radio format. While I...

I know a lot of music reviewers who ignore the public relations material that accompanies new releases, but you never know what insights you...

Very sad news about the passing of bassist Dennis Irwin. John Scofield's group with Irwin and Bill Stewart was one of my very favourites...

I'm not sure what spurred this post, except perhaps my Portland discovery of Frank Tirro's Jazz: A History , mentioned earlier. My m...

Okay... enough winter! With more snow than these parts have seen in 17 years (it's official) and another 20 inches apparently on the way...

I don't often praise my native country's public broadcaster for its jazz coverage, which has shrivelled considerably over the years,...