A couple of weeks back our ongoing dialogue with black music writers, Ain’t But a Few of Us, included the young writer Anthony Dean-Harris. In addition to detailing how he came to write about jazz, Anthony spoke in very positive tones about a jazz presenting organization called The Art of Cool that he had recently become affiliated with as correspondent to their web site. That somewhat audacious name certainly piqued the curiosity, so based on Dean-Harris’ enthusiastic referral I sought out Art of Cool mover & shaker Cecily Mitchell for some insights into this developing organization devoted to bringing jazz to the Durham, North Carolina area.

Cicely Mitchell & Al Strong of the Art of Cool

In the vernacular we – at least some of us – know what one might mean by the art of cool. But please tell us your mission with this organization, why you chose that name, and how Art of Cool stands for what you’re trying to do in your part of the country.
Art of Cool is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to presenting, preserving and promoting jazz-influenced music. Our goal is to expand the audience for jazz and improvised music. The name evolved from the venues where we originally started presenting jazz which were small local art galleries in the Raleigh-Durham area. We wanted to give reference to jazz without actually saying the word “jazz’ which to be honest can be a barrier for some people. I thumbed through some old albums that my partner, Al Strong, had and picked out “Birth of the Cool”. Art of Cool just made sense and stuck.

How did Cicely Mitchell become a jazz enthusiast?
I met Al Strong, a local trumpeter and professor at St. Augustine’s and North Carolina Central. He turned me on to jazz. I loved soul music and good old-school hip hop before we met. The elements of what I loved about those genres I later realized were the essence of jazz. Al seemed to help me connect all the dots. It was almost instant that jazz was my link to African American tradition and culture.

It’s weird. All through undergrad I kept saying…”I’m going to get into jazz…like Miles and Coltrane.” Yet I always felt a little intimidated. I just didn’t know where to start. Al listens to all the greats all the time so it was simple to just jump in head first. Of course, he’s got quite a collection.

Why Durham, NC and how did you determine that this was a niche in your community that you needed to fill?
Durham, NC has a rich tradition of Black American Music mostly in the blues and soul music. North Carolina in general has a very big jazz connection. The most obvious are John Coltrane, Nina Simone and Thelonious Monk. Aside from the history Durham currently is very strong in arts performance culture. It is home to 2 performance theatres that are currently in the top 100 in box office sales. Durham is home to Duke University as well as North Carolina Central University both schools boast residencies by Branford Marsalis. Nnenna Freelon is a downtown Durham resident. The students and faculty at both schools play around town and make the scene extremely strong. People come to Durham for school or jobs in Research Triangle Park. The population is highly educated and more adept for arts culture like jazz, classical music or plays. So all the pieces are in place in Durham: the players, the audience and the institutions. Art of Cool is here simply to connect them all.

Talk about some of the activities you’ve presented thus far, and be candid about both successes and the not so successful – including some sense of why/how some things may have been successful, and others less so.
We mainly present jazz and soul music in club venues and outdoor stages now. We successfully filled the earlier art galleries that we presented jazz in the first year. We attribute success to the strength of the players on the scene.

We tried to launch the series in art galleries in Raleigh; however, we’ve found that it hasn’t taken off as quickly as Durham. We think it is because Raleigh is more of a rock and bluegrass type of town. Durham is known as the place in the Triangle to go hear jazz or soul music. It is rich in Black American Music offerings.

As an organization, besides the obvious funding, what are some things your organization could use going forward?
Art of Cool would love to build a strong blog community. We hope to reach more people outside of the Triangle by writing more about the resurgence of jazz. Please help spread the word. We also could use visitors to our first annual Art of Cool festival which will be held downtown at 8 venues with over 20+ world-class jazz/soul musicians over two days (April 25-26, 2014). Maceo Parker and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson are the headliners. We announce the full lineup Nov. 15th, 2013.

What kind of future do you foresee for Art of Cool?
– Art of Cool’s future includes: Art of Cool Festival, which will be held each April.
– Start of Cool, which is our jazz education program that we seek to launch next year.
– Launch of a more active blog featuring content about the next generation of jazz musicians which will be led by Anthony Dean-Harris of Nextbop.com.

Art of Cool is the kind of DIY effort on behalf of the music that has some measure of precedence in history; jazz support organizations have been hatched in numerous communities around the country, to varying degrees of success. No question Art of Cool could certainly be replicated in other communities. To get a better sense of the impact Art of Cool has made on the culture of the Durham, NC community thus far I sought out the impressions of two Durham area residents whose instincts where the music is concerned are impeccable, including vocalist-educator Lenora Zenzalai Helm (whose recent efforts were profiled earlier this year in the Independent Ear), and staunch jazz supporter Aminifu Harvey, a DC-area transplant who has expressed great appreciation for the jazz scene in Durham.

Lenora Zenzalai Helm: Yes, Art of Cool is definitely making a huge impact here in the NC Triangle (Raleigh/Durham/Cary) area. They are putting together a jazz festival – the first one outside of a university-connected event that I know of. They created a groundswell of support, had an impressive marketing strategy of community forums, open meetings with stakeholders (musicians, presenters, businesses, potential funders, etc.) and seemed to include everyone in the decision to “bring a festival to Durham.” A couple of years before this effort, they created a concert series that they used Reverbnation for to audition internationally. The brains behind the whole deal is a musician colleague from NCCU – trumpeter Al Strong, and Cicely Mitchell.

I was on their first concert series last year, and they are in the 2nd season of that series. They also kind of attach their name to any artist coming to town and do an after hours set near that artist’s concert to draw attention to that performance, and create and continue the branding, so that they seem to be ubiquitous. Very clever indeed. I love them (Al and Cicely), and think they are an example of how to “get it done” in a locale where the intersection of small town folk and big ideas meet. Durham is an interesting place with a very particular slice of black history – did you know there was a section of town called “black wall street”? Plus, the success of DPAC (Durham Performing Arts Center – the #1 grossing PAC in the country I’m told) was helpful to the AOCP’s venture toward a festival.

Aminifu Harvey: The Art of Cool. Man this organization has brought some hip and outstanding jazz performers to Durham; the organization has significantly added to the cultural growth of Durham as a leading musical site in North Carolina and the region. The outdoor performances have been family oriented, allowing young and old to mingle. They also are a means of transferring this American music to the very young. In addition Art of Cool has added to the financial stability of the businesses in the area. I try to make sure I attend the indoor concerts also. Why would I want to live anywhere else if I were (which I am a jazz aficionado).I am looking forward to the Art of Cool 2014 season.

Further information: WWW.THEARTOFCOOLPROJECT.COM

Ancient/Future Radio, hosted by Willard Jenkins, airs Wednesday evenings 10pm-midnight over WPFW 89.3 FM, Pacifica Radio serving the DC metro region and streaming live at www.wpfwfm.org. The following playlist for the 10/23 show reflects an extra hour subbing for the final hour of Evening Jazz from 9-10pm.

ARTIST/TUNE/ALBUM TITLE/LABEL
Dizzy Gillespie, Dizzy’s Blues, Dizzy’s Diamonds, Verve
Dizzy Gillespie, Ool-Ya-Koo, Dizzy’s Diamonds, Verve
George Adams/Don Pullen Quartet, Flame Games, Live at Montmartre, Timeless
Ronald Shannon Jackson & the Decoding Society. Barbecue Dog, Barbecue Dog, Antilles
Randy Weston, African Cookbook, Spirits of Our Ancestors, Antilles
The Last Poets, If We Only Knew, Holy Terror, Black Arc
*Ancient/Future theme: Yusef Lateef, In the Evening
John Coltrane, Spiritual, Complete Village Vanguard, Impulse!
Sathima Bea Benjamin, Music,SongSpirit, Ekapa
Tony Williams, There Comes a Time, Ego, Polydor
Ornette Coleman, Good Girl Blues, Complete Science Fiction, Columbia
Melissa Aldana, Live, Free Fall, Inner Circle
Melissa Aldana, I’ll Be Seeing You, Second Cycle, Inner Circle
Blake Meister, Market East, Septagon, Inner Circle
WHAT’s NEW/THE NEW RELEASE HOUR 11-midnight
Cecile McLorin Salvant, I Didn’t Know What Time It Was, Womanchild, Mack Avenue
Cecile McLorin Salvant, Womanchild, Womanchild, Mack Avenue
Ali Ryerson Jazz Flute Big Band, Speak Like a Child, Game Changer, Capri
Anne Drummond, French Folk, Revolving, Origin
Mack Avenue Superband, Liberty Avenue Stroll, Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival, Mack Avenue
Mack Avenue Superband, Oh Daddy, Live at the Detroit Jazz Festival, Mack Avenue
Jacques Lesure, Sonnymoon for Two, When She Smiles, WJ3

contact:
willard@openskyjazz.com

RECIPE:
A quick guide to musicians achieving harmonious relationships with concert & festival presenters, and ultimately with audiences, from one jazz presenter’s perspective.

Ingredients:
2 cups artistic excellence
1 cup savvy communication & self-marketing skills
1 cup research
1 cup stagecraft
3/4 cup recent recording

Yield:
Improved gig opportunities and growing audiences.

Serves:
You, your band, and ultimately your audience.

As a jazz festival & concerts presenter since the late 1970s, I suppose for some artists I’m one of the holders of the keys to the Holy Grail – the gig. The majority of my festival work has been as artistic director of the Tri-C JazzFest (TCJF) in Cleveland, OH; an affiliation I’ve held since the inception of the festival as a member of its original organizing committee, and more recently as artistic director of the festival for the past 18 years.

Other concert and festival curating I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of working has included affiliations with Tribeca Performing Arts Center (NYC), 651Arts (Brooklyn), HarlemStage (NYC in its former incarnation as Aaron Davis Hall), the Smithsonian Institution (DC), the BeanTown Jazz Festival (Boston), and the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival (MD). The great majority of my current artist communications and interactions concern TCJF.

TCJF is a 34-year old festival with a strong education focus that in addition to booking concert artists for performances also engages artist-educators for residency work. (Stay tuned to this site and the Clients section for big news on a rather seismic TCJF shift!) So we’re in the business of providing some significant performance and exposure opportunities to artists; believe me, I get that.

However, Northeast Ohio is not one of the “major media markets”, nor is our target community blessed with a wealth of jazz radio. The most frequent jazz broadcaster in the area for years was WCPN, Cleveland Public Radio. But they opted out of music broadcasting several years ago in favor of yet more news & information (when are we going to reach the news & information overload?). So at this point jazz radio in the Greater Cleveland market and across Northeast Ohio is purely anecdotal; on par with most markets these days I’m afraid. The absolute best weekly jazz radio broadcast in the Cleveland area is the venerable Jim Szabo’s superb program “Down by the Cuyahoga” (still going strong after nearly 40 years on the air, fearlessly broadcasting both the classic and the contemporary and often venturing out to the edges), Friday nights from 11:00pm-2am on WRUW, the broadcast outlet of Case Western Reserve University which has a few other jazz spots scattered throughout its broadcast week. Certainly there are numerous enthusiasts in the area who get their broadcast jazz from satellite radio, cable service audio channels, or the internet; but as far as terrestrial jazz radio in the Cleveland market the pickings are slim – and its that way in far too many communities across the country.

One thing that certainly means is under-exposure of deserving, and particularly young artists. In the Cleveland area there is one club that regularly presents jazz performances by visiting artists, Nighttown, a classy restaurant in Cleveland Hts. where Jim Wadsworth does yeoman work to keep the live jazz pots boiling. Other than Nighttown, jazz presentations of visiting artists in the Cleveland area are also pretty much anecdotal – a concert here, a random gig there… you know the drill. So those are the rather meager parameters for jazz artists to achieve market exposure and develop some measure of an audience in Northeast Ohio. Without that market exposure it is difficult at best for particularly young artists to break through that glass ceiling and establish any measure of a local audience in Cleveland.

NE Ohio is also not a region of ticket-buying risk takers; in fact my colleague Terry Stewart, recently-retired CEO of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, has recently raised serious red flags about the decline in the number of ticket buyers – period – in the Cleveland community, at least when compared to other nearby cities. So when it comes to artists we book for the festival there has to be at least some measure of artist recognition in our market to entice and grow our typical audience. That recognition has many potential faces, including some presence on local jazz radio; recognizable professional artist affiliations (particularly in the case of former sidemen/women stepping out in band leadership roles); some measure of performance track record in the region; or some other “hook” that will grab a potential ticket-buyer’s attention. Remember, this is a partnership where both artists and presenters have responsibilities to build audience.

When you couple these cautionary elements with the fact that Tri-C JazzFest is unquestionably the major annual jazz event in NE Ohio – and one with heavy-duty fundraising responsibilities and an obligation to demonstrate reasonable fiscal restraint to its producing agent (Cuyahoga Community College) – it makes you wonder what young artists who have never played the market or achieved any measure of visibility in your market are thinking about when they cold pitch booking requests out of the proverbial blue to a community’s signature annual jazz event for what would be their first exposure in that market!

Young artists must establish at least some measure of market exposure before pitching a given market’s major annual jazz festival; that’s one of the difficult facts of this whole equation. In the case of the Northeast Ohio market I generally recommend that artists making cold pitches should strive for a Nighttown gig or some other market visibility before pitching our festival.

With that in mind here are a few recipe elements – from both the interpersonal and career development levels – which artists should consider engaging or adapting to make themselves more viable and potentially more attractive to achieve bookings in any market.

Cooking up a tastier dish of festival and gig readiness…

Very important RESEARCH
Resources: the annual JazzTimes, and DownBeat magazine international festivals guides; these guides will give you a sense of when festivals present as well as contact information; (education) the annual JazzTimes jazz education guide, DownBeat’s “Where to Study Jazz” issue; the Pollstar Talent Buyer Directory (for general concert venue information); and the universe of online resources. Those jazz education guides and issues are important because college, university and even some high school jazz studies classes and programs often represent education residency opportunities for artists which may include performances; and at least on the college/university level many of them present annual festivals. Let’s face it, jazz education is one of the healthiest sectors of the jazz community representing employment opportunities for qualified artists.

Investigate festival & presenter web sites:
Determine who, what, when, where info… but also carefully research their booking patterns (who and what type of artist they are likely to present; e.g. if you perform original music that is considered on the cutting edge, the Earshot Jazz Festival (Seattle) or Outpost Productions (Albuquerque) – both of which present jazz year-round as well as their annual festivals – will be better prospects for you than say Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild (Pittsburgh) or the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival (MD). As you’re researching the various festival and presenter web sites ask yourself these questions: Do they typically present lesser known or emerging artists? Do they present student ensembles? Do they have a significant jazz education component? What is the size of their venue(s) (if they’re presenting ticketed performances in venue(s) larger than 300-500 seats, they’re definitely less likely to take “risks” in their bookings.) Educate yourself thoroughly on what these festivals present, how and where they present, the number of venues they use for their festival or season (e.g. the Monterey Jazz Festival presents its performances on several stages across the Monterey County Fairgrounds; taking note of which artists are playing which of those stages will give you a better sense of where younger artists typically perform at MJF and where the more established artists perform). Bottom line you must determine if a particular festival or presenter is a good fit for what you present and where you are in your career before spinning your wheels aimlessly for gigs.

You must have a recent recording…
…to exemplify who you are and what you play; to use as a “calling card” to substantiate your artistry; to be made readily available to the presenter or festival for their serious consideration, and eventually to utilized for their local PR/Marketing efforts (NOT a demo – a commercially available recording that potential audience members can readily access).
A viable web presence that contains press kit elements; a clear and concise bio; YouTube clips or a url to direct presenter prospects to some recent performance footage; color photos (quality images – not necessarily of the sweaty guys/girls on the bandstand variety or your favorite smartphone shot of you backstage schmoozing with Herbie Hancock or having a blast with friends – but images that translate well in hard copy print and online reproduction. And make sure your web site photos are easily harvested for quick online usages. Always include easily accessible contact information on your site; and believe me, experience shows that including that direct contact information – even if it is for someone who represents you – is much preferable to those fill-in the blanks contact forms, which are overly formal and off-putting to the user, who might be interested in exposing personal contact information. I recently went to the web site of a prominent artist’s manager, dutifully filled out their contact request form… and now one month later have still yet to hear from that manager – whose artist has likely lost that opportunity as a result of his/her manager’s neglect of his own web site! Many of us prefer direct communication information and would rather not go through some process to communicate directly; better still, a url link that will take the user directly to email mode. Are you a secret artist? If not, be up front and forthcoming with your contact information and links for further information.

Tailor your communication skills…
Communicate with festivals and presenters (and not in an impersonal email blast you threw up against the wall to see what sticks) in a polite, inquiring, collegial manner; don’t be overly aggressive and self-absorbed, walk that fine line; persevere in the process: keep prospects abreast of your activities without being pushy and annoying; be in touch persistently, respectfully and collegially. Remember to treat your bookings search as a joint venture with the presenter in more respects than just showing up and playing the gig. In my work as a presenter I’ve established communication relationships with artists that may take a couple of seasons before we’re able to realize an actual booking. But I will always favor persistent, collegial, cordial, professional communications… from artists with real talent. Be pleasant and persistent, but NOT insecure and pushy. I recall being approached once at a conference by an artist who had sent me their music. They asked if I’d received it; when I confirmed that I had received their music, I got distracted momentarily and turned my head only to spot that same artist out of the corner of my eye mouthing the words “…then why haven’t you responded…” Needless to say, that was a definite red flag of insecurity and I’ve neither written about nor presented that artist since. Take the position in your mind that your music is so compelling that sooner or later this person is going to present you. Be confident and savvy in your communications; make sure the prospective presenter keeps abreast of your gigs and career developments, make sure presenter/prospects are up-to-date on your recordings and activities. If you get a gig in the same region as some of your gig prospects, or at one of the major festivals this prospect might attend, send them a friendly invite to come check you out (“hey, we’re going to be playing the XYZ Festival, if you’re coming we’d love to see you or, we’ll put your name on the guest list…”) Make it your point to meet & greet, but not in a pushy or overly-aggressive way – there’s a fine line you need to walk. Through the years it has often been an artist’s music AND personality that compelled me to find a way to present them.

Remember, due to fundraising and marketing considerations festivals draw up their annual artistic blueprint for the following year often before the current year festival even takes place. Whatever the case they do so well in advance – most at least nine months prior. So don’t expect to contact a festival 90-120 days out and get a booking – at least not unless they have some unforeseen cancellation. By that point most festivals have already announced their season.

Once you’ve got the gig… Stagecraft…

This is an area I examine very critically when checking out performances; and like many who present, even when we’re out experiencing performances purely for pleasure we’re always scouting. Your stagecraft is an important, often overlooked element in your overall presentation. Try to never let ’em see you struggling; be mindful of your onstage body language and what that might convey. Play as if you mean it, with passion, regardless of audience size. Dress and onstage demeanor are of great importance (neatness, body language, etc.). I recall back in the Young Lions days in the late 80s and 90s when folks took note of the Marsalis Brothers and their contemporaries penchant for suits and ties onstage. And I remember Wynton’s response was that the way they dressed was intended to convey the fact that they came to play, that they were serious about their craft and wanted to convey that seriousness to their audiences. There were those who scoffed at that notion, and many who still don’t get it; but as a presenter and a frequent audience member, it certainly made perfect sense to me! Look at old photos of the greats of this music… Ever see anyone in jeans, work boots and t-shirts? Why strive to reach the skills of the masters and not take into account how they conducted themselves on the bandstand; appearance was and still is of paramount importance. And you certainly don’t have to wear a suit to be fashionable or clean!

Introduce yourselves and your music from the stage, and do so with good humor. TALK TO YOUR AUDIENCE; it will do your performance a world of good and immeasurably assist you in making that connection of your playing and your music to your audience. Far too many jazz artists feel their audience is only due some good music, but it has been well-documented that audiences like to feel that connection to the musicians and the music they’re presenting through verbal communication; and don’t be inhibited in allowing your good humor to come through in your audience repartee. You don’t have to be some great comic MC, like Cannonball Adderley for one classic example, but you’d be surprised at how many points you score with your audiences by communicating with them during your set.

Jazz band stagecraft plays a significant role in audience acceptance and ultimately in audience development. Be mindful of your stagecraft… And show up to the gig looking like you came to take care of serious business, not like you’re about to go skateboarding or out in the backyard to rake some leaves.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Ancient/Future radio is heard Wednesday evenings 10-midnight on WPFW 89.3 FM, Pacifica Radio for the Washington, DC metro region; streaming live at www.wpfw.org…

ARTIST/TUNE/ALBUM TITLE/LABEL
(opening theme) T-Bone Walker, In the Evening

Cedar Walton, the composer:
Cedar Walton, Ugetsu, Plays Cedar Walton, Prestige
Cedar Walton, The Holy Land, The Trio, Red
Cedar Walton w/Abbey Lincoln, The Maestro, The Maestro, 32Jazz
Cedar Walton, Groove Passage, Composer, Astor Place
Eastern Rebellion, Firm Roots, Eastern Rebellion 3, Timeless
Cedar Walton, Halo, The Bouncer, HighNote
What’s New/The New Release Hour
(opening theme) Louis Armstrong/Oscar Peterson, What’s New
Brian Jackson & The New Midnight Band, Song of the Wind, Evolutionary Minded, Motema
Marquis Hill, Mary’s Intro, The Poet
Marquis Hill, The Poet, The Poet
Dave Holland PRISM, Empty Chair (for Clare), Prism, Dare2
Randy Weston & Billy Harper, Blues to Africa, The Roots of the Blues, Universal/Sunnyside

Dee Daniels, Willow Weep for Me, State of the Art, Criss Cross
Bill O’Connell + Latin Jazz All-Stars, Joshua, Zocato, Savant
Francisco Mora Catlet, 5 X Max, Rare Metal

As writers the craft of journalism & criticism demands objectivity, no matter what the genre. But we’re human, we all have certain favored areas of our particular pursuit. Writer Bill Shoemaker, publisher of the penetrating online journal Point of Departure (http://www.pointofdeparture.org) certainly respects the tradition and has a broad-based sense of the music, but in particular he has long expressed a never-ending curiosity for the edgy, the experimental, and the free.

Last Labor Day Weekend as we sat in the unusually balmy clime of Chicago’s lakefront in Millenium Park awaiting another splendid night of the Chicago Jazz Festival, Bill laid a fresh copy of an intriguing new book on me of short critical essays, titled Arrivals/Departures – New Horizons in Jazz (pub. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation), for which he served as one of three contributors. From the jump the list of names on the book’s cover revealed it as a chronicle of sorts of some of the true restless seekers in contemporary music. Clearly some questions were in order for Bill Shoemaker.

It often happens that books like Arrivals/Departures – New Horizons in Jazz are published to fill at least a perceived void in the literature. Where do you see this book fitting as far as fulfilling a need for information on these artists? Would it be safe to say that this book is somewhat of an encyclopedia of some of the freer forms of modern jazz? Where/how is this book available to the public?
The book came about through unusual circumstances. Stuart Broomer and I were approached at the 2012 edition of Jazz em Agosto in Lisbon by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, who produces the festival, to write a book coinciding with the 30th edition of the festival in ’13. At first, we thought they wanted an essay from each of us for a booklet, so were quite stunned when they proposed 100 essays on artists who had performed at the festival. This should have tipped us off that they were not really in touch with what it takes to write such a book.

We got them down to 50 – 25 at approximately 1,250 words; 25 at 750 – and then Stuart and I drew up a list of artists and divided them between us; it was like kids with baseball cards in a way. We then submitted a list, but we were overruled on some names. Randy Weston, for example, was nixed in favor of someone I refused to write about – another hint that trouble was ahead.

When we left the festival in mid-August, we basically had an agreement. Its finalization was held up for almost two months, which was potentially lethal given the short time we had to write. The administrator – Jose Pinto – took a lengthy holiday (he deserves them, he said in an email) and then, for weeks, he inexplicably could not confirm that Stuart and I were not subject to Portuguese income tax. Given that we had to deliver all the copy by the end of February, and that an unusual amount of other work came my way in the interim, I decided to sub out half of my work to Brian Morton. By this time, my relationship with Pinto was deteriorating – I think it was my suggestion that he just walk down the hall to the comptroller’s office on the tax issue.

We then had other issues: They dragged their feet on whether American or British English would be used (I’m used to Americanizing Brian’s writing, but at the 11th hour?); they insisted that Otomo Yoshihide be alphabetized as a Y name, even though Otomo is his family; we had to do all the line editing and page proofing; it went on and on. It was a stressful four or five months. The joke is that by spring I had a light case of The Shining. Then there is the cover, which looks like a middle school absence list on which a teacher placed his/her coffee cup. They managed to cram 50 names on the cover, but intentionally omitted ours – some nonsense about the current European protocol of academic volumes with multiple authors, they said – all of which brings me to their lack of marketing chops. True: jazz consumers are interested in the subjects of a book, but they are also interested in who wrote it. Many jazz fans use critics as barometers for better or worse, be it us, Stanley Crouch or Howard Mandel. Nobody seems to know the book’s list price. The ace kicker was that the Portuguese edition of the book was not ready at the start of the festival. BTW: The title is theirs, not ours.

I bring all this up not only to make it clear that writing a book is neat in theory, but something else altogether in practice, but to explain the somewhat inchoate state of the book. It’s not really an encyclopedia or a critical history. The book is 50 short essays about musicians who played at this particular festival over 30 years. It was an assignment; left to our devices and an appropriate production schedule, we would have come up with a more interesting template. Don’t get me wrong: for what it is, it is very solid. I’ve been contacted by a couple of the musicians included in the book, and their response has been very enthusiastic – that’s really my measure that we got it right.

I do think there remains a void in the literature about the avant-garde. It shrinks with each book that appears on the subject, including this one. I think we shed light on some newer artists – and some familiar, even iconic artists, as well. But, I do think the idea of a definitive text on the jazz avant-garde is increasingly elusive – the music is just evolving too rapidly. The idea that a definitive assessment can be made about an artist in their 30s or even 40s – say, Mary Halvorson – is wrong-headed. It is equivalent to saying Four Lives in the Bebop Business (a book I cherish) is the last word on Cecil Taylor. So, I think it’s a matter of having more books written by a more diverse population of writers – if that happens, then at least we have a detailed composite picture.

As to where or how to get the book: I have no idea.

Many of the artists featured in the book are identified with the so-called jazz avant garde. That’s always been a loaded term, but you know how it is with our collective need to categorize music and musicians. What’s your sense of that term avant garde and does it really fit these musicians featured in this book?
Almost any term in the discussion of jazz – including “jazz” itself – has been loaded at one time or another. In a way, it’s good that “avant-garde” still has some polarizing sting to it. I respond to the term “avant-garde” in two ways: as shorthand for envelope-pushing, non-commercial, too-original-for-words music; and as a historical marker when discussing the late ‘50s and ‘60s. I would say the term is fitting for the artists in the book, but not necessarily for the entirety of their output. I think Jimmy Giuffre is a good example of this. Perhaps it is partially our fault that, generally, we have not sufficiently educated our readers, but it remains a fact that most people have a much easier time with avant-garde visual art than with music – they can process Jackson Pollack better than they can Ornette Coleman. Mind you, we’re talking about art that’s 50 years old, so it shouldn’t be a stretch for an educated, upscale demo – but it is.

Arrivals/Departires – New Horizons in Jazz features a balance of U.S. and European improvisers. In terms of their training, experience, where they come from and their overall music perspective, what differences do you detect in the creative outlook of artists from the U.S. and those from Europe in terms of how they convey their music?
I was in the crossfire of the US v. Europe jazz controversy for years – Americans thought I was Eurocentric, while Europeans thought I was an American chauvinist. I think that speaks to the liability of being inclusive in your views. I always fall back on something my dad said about Europeans he met during WWII: They’re just like us, except they’re different. Certainly, the European social/cultural/political context is distinct from ours, but that doesn’t mean you can’t love something from a different context. There are few Americans who have taken Coltrane to heart as have Brits like Paul Dunmall, Evan Parker and the criminally neglected Art Themen. You would be hard-pressed to find someone with brighter insights into John Carter than Ab Baars. I really can’t think of an American currently who has that Big Sid Catlett swing [down] like Han Bennink – but that’s just part of what he does. Certainly, their individual aesthetic filters yield music that does not always bear much resemblance to American jazz; but if they did, there would be those who would say that they’re pale imitations. Conversely, there are American drummers who try to play like Paul Lovens, guitarists who try to approximate Derek Bailey; the list is long. So, I think the eggs are thoroughly scrambled.

Talk about your online journal Point of Departure and the perspective it chooses to deliver.
To paraphrase the old ESP slogan: It’s the writers who determine what you read in Point of Departure. I think saying PoD has an avant-garde-centric orientation is basically accurate, although the current issue has long pieces on Woody Shaw, Pee Wee Russell, Major Surgery (a British electric band from the ‘70s) and The Smithsonian Collection of Classic Jazz. BTW: Anyone who bemoans the death of long-form jazz journalism obviously hasn’t read PoD. We regularly run pieces of 3,000 words or more. I wish I had the time to continue the roundtables – they were always lively – but, otherwise, I’m OK with where we’re at in terms of content. I’m encouraged by the contributions of newer voices like Clifford Allen, Jason Bivins, Troy Collins (who is also an invaluable part of the production team), and Michael Rosenstein. Veterans like Brian, Stuart, Art Lange, Ed Hazell and Kevin Whitehead continue to motivate and educate me. Going from six issues a year to four was a necessary change – I’m amazed I haven’t completely burned out – and it now seems like a sustainable pace: writers have more time to write, readers have more time to read, and I actually have time to write fiction, shoot pool and hang out. The one thing I haven’t accomplished with PoD is completely squelching the idea that it is a blog, a term like “avant-garde” that is going to be there, regardless.

What’s forthcoming in P.O.D.?
The thing about PoD is that I only really don’t know what will be in the next issue until a couple weeks out from publication. Art rarely knows what he’ll be writing about until then; same with Brian, sometimes. I am continually amazed by their ability to produce incisive essays in a matter of a day or two. And, Art delivers absolutely immaculate copy to boot – I had to tease Art that Troy found two extra spaces when he formatted Art’s Pee Wee Russell piece. Obviously, record reviews have to be sorted out earlier in the cycle, but even then there are last minute additions – and crises that prevent delivery of a review or two. I think I’m writing about Jimmy Carter’s jazz picnic for the December issue, but that could change at any moment – really.

Just to give you a taste of what’s in store when you visit Bill Shoemaker’s online journal Point of Departure (http://www.pointofdeparture.org) here are the contents of the most recent issue:

Issue 44 – September 2013

Publisher: Bill Shoemaker
Production: Robert Winkle, Troy Collins