Photo: Gulnara Khamatova

Jerome Wilson reviews Kaiso Stories (Silkheart Records), vocalist Fay Victor‘s Calypso-themed collaboration with the eminent free jazz collective Other Dimensions In Music, in the latest issue of Cadence.

“Victor is proving to be one of the most extraordinary vocalists on the scene today,” Wilson writes, “and here she comes off as actress, sorceress, and temptress, working an area of rough, declamatory improvisations in the tradition of Jeanne Lee and Abbey Lincoln but with her own burning passion and galvanic force.”

He adds, “Other Dimensions is passionate and inspired on this disc and Victor is a wonder to behold. It’s been a while since I heard Free Jazz with this much holy fire in it. One of the best discs of the year without question.”

Learn more about Fay Victor at http://www.fayvictor.com

The results of Cadence‘s 2010 Record Poll are included in the Jan/Feb/Mar issue now reaching subscribers.

We’re proud to report the following client releases were recognized by the voters in the New Issues category (new releases reviewed in the magazine in 2010).

Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Infernal Machines (New Amsterdam Records)
Bill Dixon, Tapestries for Small Orchestra (Firehouse 12 Records)
John Hébert, Byzantine Monkey (Firehouse 12 Records)
KLANG, Tea Music (Allos Documents)
Peter Madsen Trio, The Litchfield Suite (Playscape Recordings)
Myra Melford’s Be Bread, The Whole Tree Gone (Firehouse 12 Records)
Joe Morris Quartet, Today On Earth (AUM Fidelity)
Michael Musillami Trio, Old Tea (Playscape Recordings)
The Fully Celebrated, Drunk On The Blood Of The Holy Ones (AUM Fidelity)
Fay Victor Ensemble, The FreeSong Suite (Greene Avenue Music)

Today we explore the results from the second of five sections of our recent survey of 50 prominent jazz writers and editors.

This section, called Web and print habits, asked about the jazz-related publications, blogs and Web sites these professionals are reading, how they access them, and if what they read there impacts their own work.

As shown in the chart above, we first asked respondents to indicate which of the eight major jazz magazines they read on a regular basis. The list, which featured English-language publications only, included AllAboutJazz-New York, Cadence, DownBeat, Jazz Improv, Jazziz, JazzTimes, Signal To Noise and The Wire. We also made it possible for people to write-in any other publications as well.

The clear winner was AllAboutJazz-New York with 54.5%. The runner-up was Signal to Noise with 51.5%, followed by DownBeat and JazzTimes, which each scored 48.5%. The Wire (39.4%) and Cadence (18.2%) were next, while Jazziz and Jazz Improv each scored less than 10%.

One write-in vote each was cast for Cuadernos de Jazz, Coda, Improjazz, Jazz Journal and Ritmos del Mundo.

We then asked if the coverage in these publications influenced the respondent’s own work (i.e. discovering new releases, coloring their judgement of artists/releases, etc.).

The results (above) were clear as 85.3% answered in the affirmative.

Next we asked which jazz-related Web sites respondents visit on a regular basis, again spotlighting eight popular choices and giving people the chance to write-in any others they prefer.

AllAboutJazz.com was the clear favorite with 77.4%, with AllMusic.com finishing a close second with 61.3%. Next came Bagatellen with 32.3%, followed by Jazz.com and NPR Music, which each earned 29%. Avant Music News (16.1%), Jazz Corner (12.9%) and PopMatters (6.5%) also got multiple votes.

A significant number of write-in votes were cast for blogs, which we tackle in the next question, but Point of Departure was a popular choice (an admitted oversight on our part), as were Pitchfork and Dusted.

Again, the majority (82.4%) indicated that the content of these sites influence their own work.

When tackling the subject of blogs, we asked respondents to list five of their favorites. Oddly enough, more than half skipped this question completely, and only 37.5% filled in all five slots. Some even dedicated one or more of the slots to expressing their dislike for reading and/or discussing blogs at all.

The calculations don’t apply to write-ins, but the most popular choices were Destination: Out, Do The Math, Free Jazz, Jazz Beyond Jazz, Lerterland and Secret Society.

But this time, when we asked if what they read on these blogs influenced their own work, only 44.4% said yes.

When it comes to accessing the blogs they read, the Web is by far the most popular way with 94.1% giving that answer. Using a built-in blog reader in one’s browser and using a stand-alone RSS feed reader represented the rest of the vote with 8.8% each.

Finally, we asked if any of the respondents have a Twitter account.

Unlike with the blogs, everyone who took the survey answered this question, but only 35.3% said yes.

Tomorrow we’ll look at the third section of our survey, Personal Listening Habits, which features questions about writers’ interaction with jazz radio, their preferences for format (CD, MP3 and vinyl) when purchasing music for personal use, and the amount of music they purchase in a given year.

Please stay tuned!