Ever since jazz burst onto the music scene, it has left an indelible impression on a diverse selection of creative types — and not just those singing or playing an instrument, either, which is hardly surprising, considering the genre’s multifaceted forms and exceptionally storied history.
Music students continue to turn towards obscure and famous jazz greats alike for inspiration when composing and performing, and even those entirely incapable of either still enjoy delving into the absolutely fascinating people, places and events that came to shape its many guises. As with any passion, most especially one as broad and encompassing as jazz, there exists a plethora of blogs and other online resources for exploring every corner, however tiny or obscure.
This is by no means a comprehensive list, nor is it one ranking entrants in any particular order. It merely provides a valuable sampling of the ideas and insights available to professionals, amateurs, hobbyists and students.
1. A Blog Supreme/NPR Jazz: National Public Radio keeps jazz aficionados updated on the latest relevant news and opinions on their dedicated, frequently-updated blog. Be sure to visit the accompanying website as well, most especially the featured recordings by established and future greats.
2. The Latin Jazz Corner: Jazz buffs into or hoping to get into Latin styles and musicians flock to Chip Boaz’s comprehensive resource. Interviews, articles, a listening room and vibrant community all round out the content and offer up something for every curious visitor.
3. bebopified: One does not have to live in the Twin Cities to appreciate the events listings — after all, it makes for an excellent way to discover new acts and keep up with trends. bebopified also features some amazing articles and interviews with creative, musical minds.
4. Avant Music News: As can be easily gleaned from the title, Avant Music News caters to the interest of experimental, innovative songs and sounds. That doesn’t always include jazz, but it does enough to warrant its inclusion here.
5. The Jazz Session: Jason Crane with All About Jazz interviews the top talents thanks to the contributions of members and listeners. This is an absolutely essential resource for all music students studying jazz’s various incarnations.
6. Free Jazz: Freeform, experimental jazz comes alive through articles, over 1,000 album reviews, biographies, events and plenty more conduits. Students would do well to stop here when researching the people behind the most compelling songs.
7. Nextbop.com: Jazz unfairly comes saddled with a reputation as old people music. Nextbop challenges this wrongheaded perception by featuring the genre’s youthful rising stars.
8. Jazz@Rochester: Even outside of Rochester, jazz aficionados and students alike can still enjoy this resource. Comprehensive event and performer listings expose visitors to some great songs and sounds they may not otherwise know about.
9. Jazz Beyond Jazz: This ArtsJournal blog by Howard Mandel focuses mainly on the form as it relates to urban and improvised music. Performing arts history geeks will find Jazz Beyond Jazz a particularly stimulating read.
10. The Independent Ear: Open Sky Jazz devotes itself to helping both nonprofit and for-profit music ventures alike make the most of festivals, performances and more. The Independent Ear and surrounding website both provide an interesting insight into the business end of art.
11. Lubricity: Student and trombonist Alex W. Rodriguez chronicles his studies and career alike. He harbors a particular affinity for bebop and jazz’s exceptionally diverse, "definition-resistant" history, which he hopes to someday take on as a career path.
12. Jazzblog.ca: Peter Hum with the Ottawa Citizen blogs about jazz — of course — and the amazing, diverse Canadian scene keeping its spirit alive. He also writes some fantastic, comprehensive album reviews and articles peering at international musicians.
13. About.com: Jazz: No matter their musical proficiency or jazz literacy, professional and amateur fans of the genre flock to Jacob Teichroew’s About.com guide. He covers almost everything everyone needs to know, with particular interest in styles and history.
14. JazzWax: Every day, Marc Myers writes about jazz history and the influential talents that made (and keep making!) it. Jazz students without this resource in their bookmarks miss out on some of the most insightful, intelligent commentary around.
15. Jazz Lives: Jazz Lives serves as something of an archive for anything and everything relating to the vibrant genre. Its eclectic, informative content keeps readers coming back for more…and more…and more…
16. Groove Notes: Watch videos, read reviews, dive into jazz history and plenty more with the stellar Groove Notes blog. Multiple authors, including jazz station KPLU 88.5, weigh in on everything of interest to their musical audience.
17. Jazz Note SDP: This resource specifically targets those serious about collecting, performing and/or studying jazz. Most of the content revolves around avant-garde, hard bop, history and Miles Davis’ relationship to all of these elements.
18. Brilliant Corners, a Boston Jazz Blog: Despite its title, readers everywhere can still learn about jazz opinions and histories beyond Boston’s borders. Be sure to check out some of the seriously cool videos of past performances, too!
19. Consilience Productions: With four blogs to explore, Consilience Productions explores every angle of its philanthropic efforts. They use jazz as a conduit to promoting social, economic and environmental justice efforts worldwide.
20. destination: OUT: This blog provides jazz aficionados and critics with free MP3s of out-of-print and rare recordings for their consideration. They’re only available for a limited time only, so be sure to check back regularly for anything that piques interest — it may very well disappear by the next return trip.
21. Elements of Jazz: Passionate and engaging, Elements of Jazz covers a nice spectrum of relevant subject matter. From interviews and reviews to discussions of the latest festivals and events, the contributors have visitors almost completely covered.
22. The Gig: New York Times jazz and pop writer Nate Chinen continues his work on The Gig, where he reviews shows, albums, talks about history and form and other subjects of interest to music fans. It’s a great place to explore songs, people and albums new and old alike.
23. EyeShotJazz: EyeShotJazz may not update very frequently, but it does provide fans of the genre with some of the internet’s most striking photos of musicians and their performances. Each posting comes with an excellent story providing insight into the jazz world’s creative, innovative minds.
24. Hot House: Jazz students hoping to pump out some well-researched criticism should turn to Hot House for inspiration and advice. David Hill may be an amateur, but his stuff still leaks passion and insight well worth consideration.
25. Greenleaf Music: For the performers in the audience, Greenleaf Music provides a neat place to explore what its recording artists have to offer. Even those without a melodious bone in their body can still leave here with some neat lessons in the independent music business and awesome acts to check out.
26. Ken Franckling’s Jazz Notes: The eponymous jazz journalist and photographer shares…well…both his well-regarded abilities. Here, he blogs about anything that comes to mind regarding theory, history, practice, current musical events and more.
27. Lerterland: David R. Adler opines on a huge range of subjects, though music and politics reign supreme. Be sure to read his jazz reviews, articles, critiques and more — as a college lecturer, he certainly possesses the experience and resources to back up his discussions.
28. Jazz Station — Arnald Desoutiero’s Blog: This music journalist, historian, philosopher, producer and — of course — performer keeps readers posted on all things Brazillian, bossa and jazz. He covers from of the freshest sounds coming out of the scene today without ever once ignoring the importance and influence of peoples and places past.
29. Music and More: While the author doesn’t focus exclusively on jazz, his blog’s melding of literature and music certainly makes for a compelling read. When the two come together, some pretty awesome things happen.
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