This was a very interesting evening for a number of reasons. First of all, it was another example of a setting in which jazz and related genres of music can be presented in a way that makes economic sense. The organizers, Transparent Productions, to quote from their website, (http://www.geocities.com/eyelounge/DC/trans.html) "is a non-profit, volunteer organization that produces creative improvised music concerts in the Washington DC area. Our goal is to bring this wonderful music to DC a

There is no doubt that the Cape May Jazz Festival is a success. Presented twice a year in the charming New Jersey seaside resort of Cape May, the event is entering its twelfth year. The secrets to its success? Great music and great organization; the festival seems to have struck an ideal balance between music and marketing. Anyone attending this event would have to conclude that the reports of jazz' demise are grossly exaggerated. According to music industry sources, jazz represents

There are still those who hold that the flute does not belong in jazz, or that it is, at best, a marginal jazz instrument. There are, however, many artists working in the genre today who disprove that notion, and Flutology is at the top of the heap. This all-star sextet was formed at Birdland one night in 2002 when jazz flute pioneer Frank Wess heard two flutists in tandem--Holly Hoffman, who was working with Ray Brown's quartet, and Holly's long time friend and fellow young lioness Ali R

I hope James Moody enjoyed his 80th birthday party. He should have it lasted all year! There was a whole series of events, including a week-long celebration at The Blue Note in New York, in March, featuring Moody's group with a slew of guests, an inaugural fund raising concert for the James Moody Jazz Scholarship Endowment at SUNY Purchase in April, and another celebration at The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles with MC Bill Cosby, The Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, Nanc

"Once the prevailing popular music of the land, [jazz] has shrunk to a mere 2 percent of the market. Yet this venerable art form refuses to grow old and fade away. And if, as author Gerald Early has said, America's three great contributions to the world are the Constitution, baseball and jazz, then it's time jazz was better known in the land where it was born." So writes Matt Schudel in November's Washington Post Book World. Under these circumstances, any way to successfully present thi