As Judie has always said when recruiting for new writers at Gear Diary – blogging is not something you do for the money; it is all about the love – love of product, technology, sharing and interacting. All you hope for is to cover costs. Now imagine that instead of blogging you ran a jazz interview podcast that required frequent trips to New York City and other locations, attendance at clubs, festivals and concerts, and so on. Suddenly the costs start to spiral out of control.
That is what Jason Crane discovered as he launched ‘The Jazz Session’, the jazz interview show that deftly blended music from the artists with some great questions and conversation between the artists and Crane. I have written about The Jazz Session several times, starting here where I said:
Fortunately I was turned on to a couple of very helpful new tools a couple of years ago: Jazz on Twitter and Podcasts. Back in 2008 I started listening to a new podcast called The Jazz Session, which featured interviews and music by less known artists by Jason Crane. That show – and the website and affiliation with AllAboutJazz.com – turned me on to all of the great jazz folks using Twitter and writing blogs which turned me on to other podcasts and blogs and … well, for the last couple of years I have steadily increasing my diet of great music by new artists.
One of the reasons I would always champion the show is that it gave voice to great artists who wouldn’t normally get much attention through the larger music press. It was a great way to discover new and exciting music, or get new insights from artists I already knew.
Last year Jason tried a subscription fundraising drive to keep the Jazz Session on the air, but ultimately the mounting costs of trying to do this all as his main source of supporting himself and his family became too much – and the ability to split between other endeavors and his show and poetry just wasn’t working. Last month he declared that the show had to end, saying “after five years, more than 400 episodes, and more than two million downloads, I just can’t make the show work financially”.
So today he has posted the final Jazz Session here:
This is the final episode of The Jazz Session. It’s a conversation with pianist Geoffrey Keezer and saxophonist Donny McCaslin, recorded at the 2012 Detroit Jazz Festival. In this interview, Keezer and McCaslin talk about duo playing; their new recordings; Wayne Shorter and Art Blakey; adjusting for different kinds of live performances; and, improbably, Rush. Learn more at geoffreykeezer.com and donnymccaslin.com and follow them on Twitter at @88keezer and @dmccee.
Thank you to everyone who made the last five years possible.
After spending the past several years in the Albany NY region, Jason has relocated to Alabama where he is working on his poetry and a new radio show . To keep track of Jason, check out his web page.
Best of luck in Alabama and with all of your endeavors, Jason!