Programmers and Industry Meet at JazzWeek Summit
Dorn Keynote, Showcase, Awards Among Highlights
ROCHESTER, N.Y., June 17, 2004 — More than 75 radio programmers, record executives, independent promoters, and jazz musicians participated in the 2004 JazzWeek Summit, held June 3-5, at the Rochester, N.Y. Crowne Plaza hotel. Highlights included a Thursday morning keynote address by industry legend Joel Dorn, an artist showcase, a workshop with broadcast coach Marilyn Pittman, a panel discussion about electronic airplay monitoring, and a luncheon to present the 2004 JazzWeek Awards.
Dorn, who began his career in jazz as a disc jockey at the pioneering Philadelphia jazz station WHAT-FM, preceded his keynote by snapping a photo of the group. "I want to remember this day," he quipped.
Dorn, who recently launched Hyena Records, spoke to the group about his days in radio and his 43 years as a jazz producer, and said that he was honored to have received the invitation. "My first thought was Bruce Lundvall [of Blue Note/EMI] must be sick, Billy Taylor must be out of town, and where is Tommy LaPuma [of Verve Music Group] when you need him?" asked Dorn.
Radio programmers learned about more effective on-air presentation from Marilyn Pittman, in an afternoon workshop. Pittman, who has consulted both non-commercial and commercial radio stations across the United States for fifteen years, led a lively session, giving examples and answering questions from the group.
"We hope to do more with Marilyn at next year's summit, and add other hands-on sessions, too," said Tony Gasparre, publisher of JazzWeek.
Thursday evening, the summit presented an artist showcase with virtuoso pianist Jon Weber, Hyena Records' the Frank and Joe Show, featuring guitarist Frank Vignola and percussionist Joe Ascione performing music from their CD 33 1/3, and A440 recording artist Jackie Allen, accompanied by John Moulder on acoustic guitar.
Friday's sessions were highlighted by a panel discussion about JazzWeek's transition from charting airplay reported by stations to a chart tabulated by data collected by Frequency Media using electronic monitoring. (JazzWeek and Frequency Media jointly announced the partnership in March.)
Starting in late summer, all of the JazzWeek charts, including the Top 50 Jazz and Smooth Jazz charts, will be created by Frequency Media and JazzWeek will be a partner in Frequency Media’s ArtistMonitor© program, which is dedicated to providing independent artists with affordable airplay reports on college and tastemaker radio stations.
Erik Maier and Paul Wright of Frequency Media joined Rebecca Risman of Concord Records and Garrett Shelton of Sunnyside Records on the panel, which was moderated by JazzWeek editor Ed Trefzger. Both Risman and Shelton have been using Frequency Media data services for radio and sales promotion.
"There will undoubtedly be a lot of questions about the transition. JazzWeek will create a message board on its site in the near future to keep people informed and to answer those questions," said Trefzger.
Friday's panel sessions were capped by the Jukebox Jury, during which tracks from upcoming releases were played for attendees and commented on by a panel. Those at the session and the panel — Blaise Lantana, KJZZ; Frank Johnson, WRTI; Brad Stone, KSJS; and Michael Valentine, WDNA — listened to thirteen upcoming releases. Most tracks had mixed responses, but two were unanimously given the "thumbs up" by both the panel and attendees: "Illuminations" from Illuminations by McCoy Tyner (Telarc), and "Lemoncello" from Horizon Reassembled by Bobby Watson and Horizon (Palmetto).
Saturday marked the second JazzWeek awards luncheon. Telarc won three awards, and Dick LaPalm was honored with the Duke DuBois Humanitarian Award. (A complete listing of winners is found in a separate article.
The summit was wrapped up with an informal town meeting, with plans and suggestions for next year's summit discussed. Next year's summit is tentatively scheduled for June 2-4, 2005, with firm dates to be announced in the fall. 
