Victor Verney
Although my primary focus has shifted to other projects and platforms, I've had a lengthy association with the Web site All About Jazz, widely regarded as the single best Web site on the topic, for some time. The range, authority and overall quality of this site is very impressive, whether one is a musician, an aficionado, or just a casual fan.
Perhaps the coolest thing about this site is its across-the-board comprehensive attention to all aspects of this subject — not just CD reviews, but also videos, artist profiles and interviews, education, regular columns, concerts and festival notes, global information, artwork, blogs, booking and management, associations and societies, recording outlets, radio stations, print publications … and even book reviews.
This latter category was my entree into “AAJ.” After submitting an extended review of a Bill Evans biography, How My Heart Sings by Peter Pettinger, I was very gratified by the kind words of praise I received for it, in some cases from pretty tough critics. In less than two weeks it had over 900 hits, and as of August 2015 it's had over 40,000 views. Given the huge readership “AAJ” has, as well as its thorough-going excellence, I decided that this ought to be the place where I do my jazz writing.
I’ve reviewed two other books for AAJ: 88 Keys: The Making of a Steinway Piano, a fascinating little volume by Miles Chapin, great-great grandson of the founder of Steinway & Sons; and The Hammond Organ: Beauty in the B, a comprehensive history of this iconic instrument by Mark Vail.
Along with book reviews, I began profiling the local jazz scene in Des Moines, where I was living at the time, and reviewing the recordings offered by some very accomplished local musicians like saxophonist Damani Phillips (at left) and organist Sam Salomone (at right). I even had a short-lived weekly radio show spotlighting some the really outstanding players in the Des Moines area.
Subsequent pieces included an account of a jazz seminar given by pianist Benny Green at Drake University in Des Moines and several CD, DVD, and film reviews.
All told, I wrote some two dozen CD reviews and a dozen or so articles, among them interview/profiles of internationally known jazz musicians who've performed in Des Moines: pianist Kenny Barron (at right), violinist Christian Howes, Czech pianist Emil Viklicky, Brazilian trumpeter Claudio Roditi, and German harmonica/vibes player Hendrik Meurkens.
A special personal highlight was fulfilling my ultimate jazz writer's fantasy: writing the liner notes for Viklicky's 2010 CD Live in Vienna.
Click HERE for a complete catalog of my contributions to AAJ with viewable links.
I'd never really had an opportunity to write about jazz in a professional context. It was a lot of fun, a terrific change of pace from my usual writing topics of literature and history. So, one thing led to another.