Jazz Journal

[JohnS]

According to the March issue of Jazzwise the February issue of Jazz journal will be the last to be published.

The magazine has been looking very sad and thin for years with no significant advertising so its demise is not unexpected. I've not been a reader for more than 10 years but it did have a loyal following. The sudden end though was due to the death of Janet Cook who had been running the magazine for several years.

Edited February 26, 2009 by JohnS

[BillF]

I suppose I'm typical - which is why it's failed. Haven't read it for years, but back in the sixties I never missed it.

[John Tapscott]

I suppose I'm typical - which is why it's failed. Haven't read it for years, but back in the sixties I never missed it.

I'm in the same boat. I used to buy it quite often from the late 70's through the early 90's, but it became very expensive in Cdn $ and I couldn't justify the cost anymore, so I stopped. It was available at a specialty magazine shop, and even then, rather sporadically. It certainly had a "mainstream" bent and I always enjoyed the reviews and Steve Voce's column. I have some old back issues I'll have to look up.

[BillF]

I suppose I'm typical - which is why it's failed. Haven't read it for years, but back in the sixties I never missed it.

I'm in the same boat. I used to buy it quite often from the late 70's through the early 90's, but it became very expensive in Cdn $ and I couldn't justify the cost anymore, so I stopped. It was available at a specialty magazine shop, and even then, rather sporadically. It certainly had a "mainstream" bent and I always enjoyed the reviews and Steve Voce's column. I have some old back issues I'll have to look up.

Yes, I still remember Steve Voce's humour: "Is Jutta really hip?"

[JohnS]

I suppose I'm typical - which is why it's failed. Haven't read it for years, but back in the sixties I never missed it.

Essential reading back in the 50s and 60s. Intersting to thumb through copies from that period now.

[sidewinder]

I picked up the February edition the other day and had noticed the news on AAJ that Janet Cook had died and that the magazine was closing.

The February edition is actually quite good, with a review of Herbie Hancock on Blue Note. Used to subscribe back in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Edited February 26, 2009 by sidewinder

[BruceH]

I'm surprised it lasted this long.

[JSngry]

Used to buy it regularly when it was available on US newsstands. I dug it. Definitely "quirky", though, and for sure not programmed to evolve. But it was what it was, and that is to its everlasting credit.

[sidewinder]

When I started buying it around 1974, it was literally the only monthly jazz periodical that could be tracked down to purchase here in the UK (and even then it was difficult to find in the shops - I had to order via my newsagent). Needless to say it was eagerly awaited every month, almost like a Tablet of Stone from Mt Olympus. Jazz Monthly had ceased to be some years before and I don't think I ever saw an import copy of DownBeat. So - much credit to Jazz Journal for providing me with lots of information during those early years.

[A Lark Ascending]

When I started buying it around 1974, it was literally the only monthly jazz periodical that could be tracked down to purchase here in the UK (and even then it was difficult to find in the shops - I had to order via my newsagent).

I used to buy it in the late 70s/early 80s - there was a hole-in-the-wall newsagent on Parliament Street in Nottingham that had an extraordinary range of magazines, including Downbeat! I can't recall why I stopped buying it - perhaps it was too mainstream/pre-Miles in its affections for me to get that interested at the time. I think I'd be more open now.

[RogerF]

When I started buying it around 1974, it was literally the only monthly jazz periodical that could be tracked down to purchase here in the UK (and even then it was difficult to find in the shops - I had to order via my newsagent).

I used to buy it in the late 70s/early 80s - there was a hole-in-the-wall newsagent on Parliament Street in Nottingham that had an extraordinary range of magazines, including Downbeat! I can't recall why I stopped buying it - perhaps it was too mainstream/pre-Miles in its affections for me to get that interested at the time. I think I'd be more open now.

I've been picking up old copies at Record Fairs / Oxfam etc fromthe 1960s and 1970s. Some really fascinating stuff there. But I plead guilty to not having bought contemporary copies enough and then only when the 'cover star' took my interest (eg the one featuring Kenny Wheeler a while back). I'm sorry it's going, maybe someone could rescue it?

Edited February 27, 2009 by RogerF

[Jazzjet]

When I started buying it around 1974, it was literally the only monthly jazz periodical that could be tracked down to purchase here in the UK (and even then it was difficult to find in the shops - I had to order via my newsagent).

I used to buy it in the late 70s/early 80s - there was a hole-in-the-wall newsagent on Parliament Street in Nottingham that had an extraordinary range of magazines, including Downbeat! I can't recall why I stopped buying it - perhaps it was too mainstream/pre-Miles in its affections for me to get that interested at the time. I think I'd be more open now.

I started buying it in the 60s at school ( felt very superior amongst the NMEs and Melody Makers ) and carried on buying in a little newsagent in Charing Cross Road where you could also get Village Voice! It started to seem a bit old fashioned and I preferred Jazz Monthly. Still, it did its job and helped me in those early years of jazz appreciation.

[A Lark Ascending]

Still, it did its job and helped me in those early years of jazz appreciation.

Yes, it was there at a time when the Melody Maker/NME were dropping their jazz coverage in favour of punk.

[brownie]

The online version of Jazz Journal. The July 2011 issue.

[Clunky]

I only became a JJ reader when Jazz Review folded a couple of years ago. I gave JJ a go for a while but it really wasn't what I was looking for. Endless reviews of public domain reissues and very limited coverage of anything new. I stopped subscribing about a year ago. I miss Jazz Review under Cook's leadership but not Jazz Journal.

[sidewinder]

I've been buying Jazz Journal again this year - one of my local newsagents has been stocking it, which is most unusual for this title (ever since my first copies in the 1970s it was hard to track down without a subscription - unless you lived near Mole and Ray's). This month's issue is pretty good - including a nice article by our own Roger Farbey on an early Nucleus album and a good interview with Mike Stern.

Also of note - they seem to be getting a good balance now between the traditional and the modern. The old JJI was a bit too 'trad' for my taste.

Edited July 19, 2011 by sidewinder

[A Lark Ascending]

The old JJI was a bit too 'trad' for my taste.

That's how I remember it - I bought it for a few years in the late 70s. Quite surprised to see Mike Stern on the cover. Warren Vaché was more their style (no axe to grind against the latter, by the way!).

[papsrus]

Janet Cook. Huh. Learn something new every ... few years late.

[sidewinder]

The old JJI was a bit too 'trad' for my taste.

That's how I remember it - I bought it for a few years in the late 70s. Quite surprised to see Mike Stern on the cover. Warren Vaché was more their style (no axe to grind against the latter, by the way!).

I had a subscription through the 70s and into the early 80s. Used to pick it up regularly then until the early 90s and beyond. From the 00s onwards it had got too low on the modernist content for my liking and rarely bought it - it was especially weak around 2008/9/10. This year has seen an upward turn in quality though, IMO. Some of the 'Jazz Review' ethos has rubbed off I think.

[andybleaden]

I became more and more frustrated with the reviews which ranged ones like

"I never like organ music so listening to this Jimmy Smith record was......"

or

"The CD was only 47 minutes leaving room for over 23 mins of extra music which although priced at £7.99 is a rip off"

which added to yet another feature on Scott Hamilton or whoever helped me to end the subscription pretty quickly

[sidewinder]

Steve Voce's vendetta against the banjo back in the 1970s was a good laugh though..