The Buzz: The JJA Podcast

JJA Board Member Andrew Gilbert hosts a discussion with Steve Smith (Substack “Night After Night,” former Time Out New York music editor) and Chrys Roney (editor in chief and publisher of Hot House Jazz Magazine) about the past, present, and future of jazz listings. 
Inspired by Gabriel Kahane’s Atlantic essay “A Love Letter to Music Listings,” they recall how outlets like the Village Voice, the New York Times, The New Yorker, and Time Out New York once provided expansive calendars that helped audiences discover scenes, neighborhoods, and emerging artists. They describe the decline of print and mainstream media listings, the labor-intensive nature of curating accurate calendars, and how even insiders still miss shows. 
The conversation contrasts journalistic authority and “crit picks” with transaction-driven event discovery platforms, discusses the need for trusted curators to sift through thousands of gigs, and explores evolving models such as nonprofit-supported listings, presenter-fed CMS tools, Instagram-based calendars, micro-subscriptions, and Hot House’s efforts to preserve its 45-year archive and develop a beta “JazzGPT” product.
Explore:
A Love Letter to Music Listings (paywalled)
Andrew Gilbert
Hot House Jazz
Steve Smith's Night After Night
A special 'thank you' to Terri Hinte for her help in making this episode happen. 
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For more from the Jazz Journalists Association, go to JJANews.org.

Lawrence Peryer, managing editor of The Buzz, hosts a discussion about what it takes to build a sustainable career covering jazz in 2026.
Chicago Tribune critic Hannah Edgar and Earshot Jazz editor Rayna Mathis discuss the realities of working in this field, from the fellowship programs that make full-time journalism possible to the complicated ethics of critiquing people you see at shows three nights a week. They talk about punching up versus supporting vulnerable venues, whether social media is worth the mental health cost, and why a career that keeps you up until 2 AM can still feel like a blessing. 
This is not a straightforward "how-to" episode. The conversation moves beyond career advice into the actual practice and philosophy of making it work.
Learn more about:
Hannah Edgar
Rayna Mathis
Lawrence Peryer
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For more from the Jazz Journalists Association, go to JJANews.org.

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 and evolution of the JJA and to talk through just some of the topics of interest to our community today.
Whether you're a longtime reader of jazz criticism or new to the conversations that shape how we understand this music, Howard's insights offer a window into our organization and the often invisible work of documenting and contextualizing America's most important cultural export.
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For more from the Jazz Journalists Association, go to JJANews.org.

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 recommendations herein do not reflect any prejudgments by the committee nor should this episode be taken as any preview of what's to come with the awards. 
Here is your shopping list of books and music discussed in this episode:
Books Discussed in Detail
Writing Jazz: Conversations with Critics and Biographers by Sasha Feinstein
Guide to Jazz in Japan by Michael Pronko
Focus on Women in Jazz by Guy le Querrec
The Story of Jazz by Marshall Stearns 
Jazz: Its Evolution and Essence by André Hodeir
The Life and Writings of Ralph J. Gleason: Dispatches from the Front by Don Armstrong
Going Back to T-Town: The Ernie Fields Territory Big Band by Carmen Fields
Master of the Drums: Gene Krupa and the Music He Gave the World by Elizabeth J. Rosenthal 
Cross Rhythms: An Introspective into the Life and Musicality of Joe Chambers by Joe Chambers and Cristian Schorr
Oceans of Time: The Musical Autobiography of Billy Hart by Billy Hart and Ethan Iverson
The Jazz Barn: The Music Inn, the Berkshires, and the Place of Jazz in American Life by John Gennari
Becoming Ella Fitzgerald by Judith Tick
Stomp Off, Let's Go: The Early Years of Louis Armstrong by Ricky Riccardi
Song for Someone: The Musical Life of Kenny Wheeler by Brian Shaw and Nick Smart
Sax Expat: The Biography of Don Byas by Con Chapman
Black Mystery School Pianists and Other Writings by Matthew Shipp
Run the Song: Writing About Running, About Listening by Ben Ratliff
Books Referenced
Sophisticated Giant by Maxine Gordon (about Dexter Gordon)
Gene Krupa: His Life and Times by Bruce Crowther
Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat that Changed America by Stephanie Stein Crease
The Swing Era by Gunther Schuller 
Albums Referenced 
Friday and Saturday Night at the Blackhawk by Miles Davis (includes essay by Ralph J. Gleason)
Dizzy on the French Riviera by Dizzy Gillespie (includes essay by Ralph J. Gleason)

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For more from the Jazz Journalists Association, go to JJANews.org.

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's reverence for Jimi Hendrix, or Bill's memories of Blind Faith, these are the musical origin stories behind three respected voices in jazz journalism.
This episode captures what happens when writers stop analyzing and start remembering. It is all about the the music that made them who they are, and why. Yes, it's still all about the music.
Check out our playlist of the music mentioned and excerpted in this episode. 
And here are the two episodes making up the discussion this episode is excerpted from:
Part I: Jazz Journalism, Then and Now, with Veteran Writer Bill Milkowski and host Rick Mitchell
Part II: Bill Milkowski with Rick Mitchell and Howard Mandel, reminiscing
Don’t miss new episodes of The Buzz. Make sure you follow us wherever you listen to podcasts.
For more from the Jazz Journalists Association, go to JJANews.org.