Friday, March 27, 2009

Jazz on German radio

Peter Bacon's Jazzbreakfast writes about jazz in the media in the UK. I have just received a report on jazz on German radio, by Bernd Hoffmann of WDR. Not only are there over 300 hours of jazz a month on German radio, but much of it is before 9 p.m. and there are so many festivals and live recordings. The quality of presenters is also incredibly high. Of the new generation, I know Guenther Huesmann, Karsten Muetzelfeldt, Michael Ruesenberg. Fantastically thorough and thoughtful. Oh to have more of that here. The best journalists too often move on, as the money is to be earned elsewhere. Classic example is Richard Williams, as lead sports writer on the Guardian.
In the mean time, we are reliant on too scant coverage. As Peter points out, the blogs are beginning to fill the gap. As well as his and that of Seb Scotney, check out The Jazz Mann and Chris Parker on the Vortex web site.
If you want a copy of the report, contact me.

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