A Great Day in Albany

[Alexander]

So, as I think I've mentioned before, I've been doing some freelance writing lately. Last week, the Albany, NY "Times Union", for whom I've written many feature articles in the last seven months or so, asked me to write a cover story on the current "state of the local jazz scene". They ALSO asked me to arrange a photoshoot. My suggestion was to recreate the "Great Day in Harlem" photo using local musicians (and, perhaps, others involved in the scene: DJs, club owners, journalists, fans, etc). My editor thought that it seemed ambitious, but encouraged me to go for it. We put out a call (via Faceboook and albanyjazz.com) late last week and currently have at least 50 people interested in attending (the Art Kane photo featured some 57 musicians), so I think that we're well on our way!

Just wanted to put this out there. This is going to be a blast!

[clifford_thornton]

Cool!

[Alexander]

My article on jazz in the Capital District ran in the Albany Times Union today. It's the cover story in the Preview section!

Edited November 13, 2014 by Alexander

[paul secor]

Hope the article made mention of some of the Albany area jazz musicians who have passed. J.R. Monterose, Bobby Henderson, & Nick Brignola came to mind right away. I'm sure there are others.

edit - Glanced at the article and I see that at least Nick made the cut.

Edited November 13, 2014 by paul secor

[papsrus]

Nice article. Thanks for posting it. Enjoyed the photo gallery, too (although the one guy captured while blowing his nose probably wishes that one was not included )

[Alexander]

As much as I would have loved to write more, I had a word limit and really had to confine myself to what's happening in the area today. I included the Nick B. stuff because I was able to integrate it into the story without too much digression. This really has been I highlight of my (still burgeoning) career as a writer!