What is Jazz at Night?

Is there really a need for another jazz blog? A quick google search of any semi-famous jazz artist will unveil a long list of reviews of his or her work; not only are there a vast number of reviews, but many are from the largest or most well respected media companies: LA Times, Downbeat, JazzTimes, NY Times, and so on, and so on.  Well, what about jazz blogs? Multiple the number or returns from your google search by around 75 and you’re starting to get close. Viewing those blogs will take you from the amateurish to the professional, from the blog updated daily to the one last updated in 1997 – or to the blogger who felt it necessary to make one post and like the dinosaurs, failed to ever return. So back to the initial goal of this post – why another jazz blog and what is the purpose of Jazz at Night?

The primary focus of Jazz at Night is music reviews. On a smaller scale, you will also find news and some book and concert reviews. The difference between this blog and other blogs and review sites is the intended audience. Since I am not a musician, you will not find posts filled with technical jargon that the average listener will not understand. Instead, you will find easy to understand reviews that will help point you in the right direction of new jazz music to explore. Recommendations will be straightforward and comparisons to other artists will be a key component to each review; I find it extremely frustrating to finish readying a review and have no general idea of how the album sounds – instead you are given the names of each musician in the lineup, a history of the band leaders work, and a breakdown of the time signatures of each track. In other words, you leave the review with no pertinent information on if it’s something you’d enjoy. Although the music reviews will focus heavily on contemporary jazz, older albums will also be fair game.

If you have any suggestions, comments, or feedback please feel free to e-mail me. I would also be happy to make recommendations based on your current listening interests or to review suggested albums.