Josh Grossman's blog

On my list of things to do this week was an audit of the Toronto Downtown Jazz website. I'm far from a web designer - I have the basic skills that allow me to design basic websites - so this was more about content and usability than anything else. One nice thing about thoroughly going through a website every once in a while is how it really makes me think about what should be on a particular page on a particular website. It's a good exercise that I sometimes feel is not done enough - there are a lot of bad websites out there (and who knows - my websites might be among them...).

I thought I'd offer a quick update on the process of finalizing the lineup for the 2011 TD Toronto Jazz Festival. You won't get any names out of me yet (I ain't talkin', see...), but I can share some of the behind-the-scenes excitement, challenges, frustrations and exuberance.

Big ticket shows

Two quick items for this week...

A few quick items for this week, but before launching in, here are two random thoughts. First: hooray for sun! Second: ever have one of those days where you totally didn't realize when you left home that your shoes don't match your pants?

Here we go...

MEM3 at The Trane

Well, folks, I'll admit it - you're not getting a great blog today. It's a gray Thursday, I'm having trouble completing sentences (tired), and I'm a bit sore (New Year's resolution...ball hockey...). So that title up there was really just a cheap way to get you to read on. But though I won't delve into anything too profound today, I have had an interesting ten days of music, so I thought I would give you a recap...

Monday, January 17 - Continuum's CD Release

First of all, if I haven't already said it, Happy New Year! I hope you all had a happy and restful holiday. I'm finally returning to a more normal schedule after about two months of traveling which took me to Montreal, Amsterdam, Rabbit Lake (north-west Saskatchewan, where I spent a very relaxing two weeks with my wife's family) and, most recently, New York. All that to say you should hopefully be hearing from me more regularly now that the new year has begun.

I'm pleased to report that TDJ Special Projects - the new initiative we launched in the fall, offering marketing support to successful applicants - has so far been a success! The inaugural deadline was November 30, and we had 18 submissions...from which we had to choose four. The submissions were all interesting and included first public performances, CD release events, performances with special guests, a jazz mass and a mini-festival (among others); and applicants included artists in every stage of development, from emerging to veteran.

Notices about two cool opportunities - one for composers and one for performers - have come across my desk recently, so I wanted to pass them on.

For Composers

I had the pleasure last week of being in Amsterdam for the Dutch Jazz and World Meeting. A biennial event which used to be the Dutch Jazz Meeting, the 2010 version included World music for the first time. It was a great few days, full of stimulating clinics, outstanding music, and all kinds of new connections. Some highlights:

Exploring jazz collaboration throughout Europe

I'm writing from home this evening. A hectic schedule over the past few weeks means I'm doing a bit of catchup. It's a good arrangement, though - a nice cup of decaf, Freddie Hubbard's First Light on the stereo, and lots of jazz happenings to report...

Before going any further, I'd like to wish everyone south of the border a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope the weekend brings great food, fun and family.