IAJRC

[mjzee]

Is anyone here a member of the IAJRC?  Is it worth joining?

[kh1958]

I used to be a member but let it lapse. The orientation of the membership is primarily early jazz. There is a journal periodically if somewhat irregularly published. It is okay to read, somewhat amateurish, but not often of any great interest. There is also an annual convention somewhere in the U.S. or England. Really the only thing of value I got out of membership was to buy a bunch of their excellent CDs in a members only sale--but they had stopped putting out the CDs any more and were liquidating them.  You can still buy them--perhaps worth a year of membership for access (I like most of them). http://iajrc.org/index.php/items-for-sale/cd-listing

[mjzee]

I got 5 of those CDs recently, for $4 each.  A real bargain, and the one I've listened to so far, the Edmond Hall, is really good.  Thanks for the input.

[BeBop]

I've been a member for, oh, a few decades.     The organization has changed in some ways.  In other ways, not so much.  It's always been focused on pre-bebop music.  That's still true, but changing.  There are a few members - becoming more audible - that embrace later sounds.  

The quarterly magazine - again with some pre-bop focus - is pretty good.  Reviews of recordings are almost universally positive, but they do a pretty good job of covering releases up through the present, with the exception of post-Coltrane stuff (not chronologically, just in terms of "advancement").  

There have been conventions which, while mirroring the broader taste of the organization - are still nice gatherings.   The people I've met (conventions, smaller gatherings) have all been nice.  And they are passionate about whatever their interests are.  I mean, they write books, and pull together day-to-day itineraries for favored musicians.  Deep research.  And so there are discographical discussions (in the magazine and elsewhere.)