It's Time For IAJE
31st Annual 'Largest Jazz Gathering'
NEW YORK, Jan. 20, 2004 — IAJE returns to New York City this week, and JazzWeek will be there!
The New York Hilton and Sheraton Hotels will host the 31st International Association for Jazz Education Conference — billed as the world's largest gathering of the global jazz community. Over 7,000 educators, musicians, students and industry representatives from 35 countries expected to attend.
JazzWeek will hold its annual meeting of the Jazz Programmers' Mailing List on Friday, Jan. 23, at 9:00 a.m., in the Morgan Room of the Hilton. Radio programmers, promoters, musicians, and others interested in jazz and jazz radio are welcome to attend this open forum.
On Saturday, Jan. 24, JazzWeek will host a panel session titled, "What Does It Take To Get Played On The Radio?" will be at 1:00 p.m. in New York Ballroom A, at the Sheraton. JazzWeek Editor Ed Trefzger will moderate the panel. Panelists include guitarist Mark Elf; Neal Sapper, president of New World N' Jazz Promotions; Chuy Varela, KCSM Radio; Gary Walker, WBGO Radio; and Linda Yohn, WEMU Radio.
Here's the description in the conference program: "Program and music directors are buried with a record number of jazz releases this past year. Even full-time jazz music stations cannot possibly play every new album. How does radio pick which ones get on the air and which ones don't? How do the small and independent labels and artists get noticed?"
The IAJE conference was last held in New York three years ago, and has made a long-term commitment to the city with scheduled returns in 2006, 2007, and 2010. Toronto, Canada hosted the annual jazz confab in 2003 and will return as the 2008 site. Long Beach will host the 2005 conference.
IAJE Executive Director Bill McFarlin said, "The organization is excited about our return to the most important city in the world for jazz. Traditionally we have moved the conference each year to a different city; however, we will now showcase New York on a more permanent basis. It is clear that the jazz field benefits most from a New York based conference and we are answering that call."
The conference's host radio station, WBGO Jazz 88, will have daily live broadcasts from their booth beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday through Friday. The Chicago-based Miles Ahead jazz program will broadcast live radio from the Exhibition Hall hosted by Neil Tesser, Mark Ruffin and Alan Goldsher. Several radio folks in attendance will report live back to their home stations. 
