5.7.09

National Jazz Museum of Harlem Jul 25

The Pen is Mightier Than The Sword: Jazz Journalists in Conversation with Musicians/Writers, National Jazz Museum of Harlem Visitors Center
104 E. 126th Street, Suite 2C
New York City
Saturday July 25, 10 am - 4 p.m.
I'll be taking part in this day-long panel discussion with composer Steve Coleman, John Gennari (author of Blowing Hot and Cold: Jazz and its Critics) and moderator Greg Thomas. For more information: 212-348-8300

At the 2009 Jazz Journalists Association Award ceremony many musicians thanked the writers and critics present for connecting their work for and to a larger public. While the music and the musicians who play it are the best exemplars of the art form in action, jazz journalists play a key role in the mass and niche media by way of bridging the art and artists with consumers and listeners. But do journalists and musicians see eye-to-eye on a vision of a jazz future? What role does race and cultural background play into the often contentious discourse between and among musicians and journalists and critics? What is the present state of jazz journalism and the music?