The Buzz: The JJA Podcast

Howard Mandel is an author, educator, journalist, and, since 1993, president of the Jazz Journalists Association. Howard's career crosses more than five decades of music journalism, from his early days writing for the Chicago Daily News to his current work as a contributor to publications worldwide.

As Howard prepares to step down from his role as JJA president at year's end, we found time to explore the story of the birth...

This conversation is hosted by JJA Board Member and Chair of our Book Committee, Bob Blumenthal. Bob, along with JJA members Fiona Ross, Todd Jenkins and Katch Cartwright, share some of their book recommendations for you to consider for those on your 2025 holiday nice list. Maybe a few of the naughty people deserve some of these, too. 

The JJA’s book committee votes on Book Award nominees everyJanuary and February. The recommendatio...

In fall 2023, three veteran jazz journalists, Bill Milkowski, Rick Mitchell, and Howard Mandel, sat down for a wide-ranging conversation, a portion of which is collected here to remind us all why we fell in love with music in the first place.

From first album purchases to legendary festival moments, they share the records and live performances that impacted them. Whether it's Howard's early attraction to Bill Evans, Rick&a...

Michelle Zeto, Geoffrey Himes, and Rob Shepherd have each built careers in music journalism and broadcasting. They discuss how genre categories shape both criticism and listening, the difference between being a savant and a polymath, and whether the post-genre world is liberating or limiting. The conversation explores the role of critics as translators, the rise of playlist culture, and why attention spans may not be as new a probl...

Today we have JJA president Howard Mandel hosting a compelling discussion on political activism in jazz with three remarkable musicians who have dedicated their careers to both artistic excellence and social change.

Our first guest is Terri Lyne Carrington, the four-time Grammy-winning drummer, composer, and producer who serves as Founder and Artistic Director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice. As an NEA Jazz Maste...

Michael Ambrosino hosts this episode of The Buzz, a discussion with Josh Antonuccio, Matt Powers, and Jon Irabagon as they explore the effects of AI on journalism, music, production, education, and jazz. 

Josh is an associate professor within the media production and recording industry major in the School of Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University. He's worked extensively within higher education since 2007, establishing innov...

In this episode of The Buzz, JJA board member Bob Blumenthal speaks with two 2025 book award winners: Jonathan Grasse and Elijah Wald.

Jonathan Grasse teaches music at California State University, Dominguez Hills, focusing on world music, theory, and composition. He wrote the definitive English-language study of Brazilian regional music in Hearing Brazil: Music and Histories, and Minas Gerais and examined Milton Nascimento and Lô Bo...

Join host Michael Ambrosino as he speaks with three veteran jazz publicists—Ann Braithwaite (Braithwaite & Katz Communications), Lydia Liebman (Lydia Liebman Promotions), and Matt Merewitz (Fully Altered Media)—about the evolving nature of jazz promotion. 

The group discusses how they build relationships between artists and audiences, adapt to media fragmentation, create engaging content in the age of AI, and measure success in ...

The 2025 JJA Awards just dropped, and in this special episode The Buzz is breaking down the winners in some of the leading categories. 

Host Lawrence Peryer is joined by guests Neil Tesser and Mark Ruffin to discuss lifetime achievements, standout performers, and why some names keep winning year after year.

Both guests bring unique perspectives - Mark from his years as a writer and radio programmer and personality, Neil from his work...

Three accomplished jazz authors share their journeys from traditional publishing to successful independent careers. Join host Lawrence Peryer as Debbie Burke, Steve Cerra, and Rick Mitchell reveal the tools, economics, and creative freedom they've found in self-publishing. Learn how these writers are reshaping the jazz book world by taking control of their work - from manuscript to marketing. 

Whether you are a jazz enthusiast ...

This conversation between JJA members Bob Blumenthal, Ricky Ricciardi, and Fumi Tomita explores how jazz research has evolved through digital transformation. 

Ricciardi describes his journey researching Louis Armstrong's career, moving from physical archives and interviews for his first book to primarily digital resources like newspaper databases, digitized periodicals, and ancestry records for subsequent works. 

Tomita discusse...

Tomas Peña, jazz journalist of breadth with unique ties to his Puerto Rican heritage, and José Massó, best known as a Boston broadcaster (and Jazz Hero) who takes a multi-media approach to full communication of the arts in life -- speak to JJA member Michael Ambrosino, producer of Los Olvidados, a radio documentary about Pan-Latin influences on jazz. 

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Will Friedwald does it all -- books on Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole, jazz vocalists and the Great American Songbook; articles in publications including the Wall Street Journal; his own broadcasting platform and Substack, Slouching Towards Birdland. He speaks as winner of the 2024 JJA Jazz Award for Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism to Chicago-based writer, broadcaster and JJA board member and Neil Tesser.

Don’t miss new ...

Playing The Changes: Jazz in An African University and On the Road is the account by Catherine and Darius Brubeck (daughter-in-law and son of Dave Brubeck) of their 25-year sojourn in South Africa, where they expanded the jazz landscape, establishing a music program at University of KwaZulu-Natal. Todd S. Jenkins interviews the couple in this latest Author's Series episode of The Buzz: The Podcast of the Jazz Journalists Assoc...

The Jazz Omnibus: 21st-Century Photos and Writings by Members of the Jazz Journalists Association is a 600-page anthology published in hardcover, paperback and ebook editions by Cymbal Press. In this edition of The Buzz, Lawrence Peryer interviews the team that put it together -- editor David Adler, copy chief Terri Hinte, editorial advisor and JJA president Howard Mandel, and Cymbal Press principal Gary Stager about the intentions...

Rayna Mathis has edited the monthly publication of Seattle's Earshot Jazz for four years; Chrys Roney became CEO and editor-in-chief of Hot House Jazz Guide, serving the New York metropolitan area, just five months ago -- and each of them enthuses about the community-serving aspects of their editorial project. Howard Mandel notes that its been rare for Black women to head jazz publications, and a gratifying development. 

Don’t ...

Pianist, composer-improviser and educator Ann Tappan lives far from the madding crowd, outsize Bozeman, Montana, maintaining an active career including international forays. Having made the scene in NYC and San Francisco, she speaks with authority about the challenges and pleasures of making art and life outside the urban milieu commonly assumed for jazz.

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Essayist Farah Jasmine Griffin, whose collection In Search of a Beautiful Freedom won the JJA's 2024 Jazz Book of the Year: History, Criticism and Culture,  talks about her focus on jazz and its relevance across many realms of thought, with Fiona Ross, member of the JJA's book committee and founder of Women in Jazz Media.

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Music historian and author Ashley Kahn and producer Zev Feldman, "the Jazz Detective," speak with host Rick Mitchell on the journalism and historical importance of albums of historical jazz (those recorded more than 10? 20? 30? years ago?)  releases, and the particular value to them of liner notes. All pay homage to the legacy of Blue Note Records/Mosaic Records producer and writer Michael Cuscuna, who died in April at th...