WGBH jazz host Eric Jackson and violinist Regina Carter, Live from Scullers, Dec. 28, 2012

• Invitations are going out now to the first ever meet-up of members of Greater Boston's music radio community - extended to include WICN in Worcester - on April 2 at Scullers Jazz Club. On the list are producers, announcers, program directors, and station managers from more than 30 college, community, NPR, and selected commercial radio stations. Besides meeting their counterparts from broadcast and Internet stations throughout the area, guests will have an opportunity to interact with a panel of programming and producing masters - Ron Della Chiesa, Eric Jackson, and Steve Schwartz. Con Salsa! host Jose Masso will moderate the panel, which will also include a leading member of radio's younger generation, Tyra Penn, and Scullers Entertainment Director Fred Taylor. Bonnie Johnson and Anita Coelho Diabate, members of the Broadcast Radio Team, are leading this project.
  
• The April 2 event will also be the launch party for a JazzBoston-branded radio app, thanks to the efforts of 21st Century Team members Paul Combs, Doug Ashford, and Richard Mott. The new app, which is the only music app just for jazz, provides access to a curated collection of streaming shows anywhere in the world during the immediate 2-hour period. Most important for local stations and our local scene, shows created by stations in the Greater Boston area appear at the top of the list in each time slot, highlighted in yellow, and are further set apart by a "B" icon that signifies a "Boston, USA, show."

Meanwhile, the dialogue with WGBH continues.

• WGBH has announced that they are extending for 2 more months their 3-month "experiment" with broadcasting Eric Jackson's show Live from Scullers one Friday night each month. The concept, which was conceived and organized by Scullers Entertainment Director and JazzBoston board member Fred Taylor, has played to full houses and won some underwriting support. On March 22, Jackson will be at Scullers for the 10 pm set of New York Voices, the Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble that is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
  
  
• WGBH has offered to give Boston-based jazz musicians some visibility by recording a dozen of them identifying themselves and then reading the 15-second station ID for replay at the top of every hour Friday - Sunday nights. When this subject first came up, JazzBoston asked that some of each artist's music also be heard. Recently, WGBH agreed that the spots could open with 3 - 5 seconds of music, which would then continue underneath the speaker's voice. We're now asking for musician-recorded IDs on a weeknight as well. Musicians, if you would like to know more about this opportunity, write to thefutureofjazz@jazzboston.org.
  
  
• In response to JazzBoston's request that the station's jazz archives be made more easily available to college radio stations and high school teachers, WGBH has offered to set up a meeting for us with the head of their library. JazzBoston is currently looking for an experienced music archivist to join us in that meeting. If you are one or know one, please write to thefutureofjazz@jazzboston.org. David Green, who recently joined JazzBoston's board and has extensive experience in community relations and media regulation, is participating in the dialogue with WGBH.
  
  
• WGBH also agreed to share its own and national demographic information on jazz audiences with JazzBoston.
  

In an effort to learn more about the listening habits of jazz fans in Boston, we launched a listening habits survey this winter. The data were collected, compiled and analyzed by Noah Schaffer, who is a member of the 21st Century Tools & Technology Team, one of the four teams carrying forward the jazz community's Campaign for the Future of Local Jazz Radio.

We had 115 respondents total, with ages ranging from 18 to 75+. While there was some variance in opinion on the survey items based on age range, there was one area in which respondents of all ages agreed: live music was one of the most frequently cited ways of listening to music. It was selected by 65% of listeners over 65 and 58% of listeners under 34.

Those who were 18-24 were mostly likely to listen to music via downloading MP3s, Internet radio, and live concerts - only 12.5% listened to CDs and 37.5% tuned into broadcast radio. Among those 44 and under, the most popular method of finding out about live concerts was from word of mouth among friends, with blogs, e-mail, and event-listing websites also scoring high.

Among those 44-54, 75% still listen to broadcast radio and 65% still listen to CDs. Radio and jazz/arts newsletters and blogs were cited as the ways this group was most likely to find out about concerts. (Of course there was an inherent bias in the results, since the survey was publicized via JazzBoston's e-newsletter!)

Older listeners were not technophobes by any measure. Among those who listed their age as 55-64, 41% said they listened to streaming online audio (ie. Pandora) and 72% said they found out about live music from e-mails sent by venues.

Respondents over the age of 64, however, were far more likely to turn to print media (75%) and radio (60%) as a source of information about upcoming live concerts.

We would like to thank everyone who responded to the survey. There were two lucky prize winners among our respondents - Marjorie Hicks, who won the Sunday brunch at Darryl's Corner Bar and Kitchen, and David Grange, who won tickets to a show at Scullers. Congratulations to you both!

The Regattabar in Cambridge is offering one pair of free tickets to each of the following shows:

March 14 at 10 pm - Chris Potter
March 20 at 7:30 pm - Shemekia Copeland
March 21 at 7:30 pm - Julia Zerounian
March 22 at 10 pm - Lisa Loeb
March 23 at 7:30 pm - Stick Men
March 27 at 7:30 pm - Billy Hart Quartet
April 2 at 10 pm - John Scofield
April 4 at 7:30 pm - Jackie Ryan
April 5 at 10 pm - McCoy Tyner

Scullers is offering one or two pairs of free tickets to these shows:

March 15 at 8 pm - Allan Harris (1 pair)
March 20 at 10 pm - Brian Blade (2 pair)
March 21 at 10 pm - Stanley Jordan (1 pair)
March 23 at 10 pm - New York Voices (2 pair)
March 27 at 8 pm - Noah Preminger (1 pair)
March 29 at 10 pm - James Cotton (1 pair)

World Music/CRASHarts is offering JazzBoston members a 20% discount good for these two great concerts:

April 6 at 8 pm - Dianne Reeves
April 21 at 7:30 pm - Hugh Masekela

Tickets must be purchased in advance and are subject to availability. For phone purchases, call 617.876.4275 between 10 am and 5 pm and mention coupon code JZB420. If you purchase your tickets online, put coupon code JZB420 in your shopping cart. This offer expires Friday, April 19, 5 pm. The discount is not valid for previously purchased tickets and cannot be combined with any other offer. Handling fees apply. Both concerts will be at the Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston.

If you're a JazzBoston member, write to newsletter@jazzboston.org now to enter a drawing to win free tickets to any of the events listed above, and please note which shows and dates you're interested in. You must be a JazzBoston member to be eligible to win.

Become a JazzBoston member now. Annual memberships begin as low as $20.

At left, former Governor's aide Ron Bell and Aardvark Jazz Orchestra founder/director Mark Harvey. At right, Boston Ballet's Zakiya Thomas, Berklee Provost and JazzBoston director Larry Simpson, and JazzBoston Executive Director Pauline Bilsky. Photos by Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo.

Nearly 150 music lovers came to our Annual Members and Friends Appreciation Party at Ryles in January to celebrate JazzBoston's seventh anniversary and our Guest of Honor, Aardvark Jazz Orchestra founder and director Dr. Mark Harvey. Harvey was recognized for the roles he has played quietly but passionately on Boston's jazz scene for the past 44 years as musician, minister, bandleader, educator, community builder, and musical warrior for social justice.

To commemorate the occasion, the City Councils of both Boston and Cambridge passed resolutions proclaiming Jan. 30 Mark Sumner Harvey Day in their respective cities. Councilor-at-Large Felix Arroyo and Councilor Tito Jackson sponsored the Boston resolution, which was presented to Harvey by Ron Bell, former aide to Gov. Deval Patrick and advisor to Jackson. The Cambridge resolution was sponsored by Councilor Kenneth Reeves, who presented it to Harvey along with a Key to the City.

Great music by the quintet Synergy, led by Arni Cheatham, with Bob Pilkington, John Funkhouser, Greg Laughman, and Mike Connors; tasty appetizers provided by Ryles excellent kitchen staff; and door prizes donated by the Celebrity Series, World Music/CRASHarts, the Regent Theatre, Scullers, Darryl's Corner Bar & Kitchen, Revolutionary Snake Ensemble leader Ken Field, and improv guru Tom Hall rounded out the evening. Special thanks goes to Aimee Baum, General Manager of Ryles, for the club's warm hospitality three years in a row. Thanks also to Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo for capturing the scene from start to finish. Click here to see the album of Bailey's photos on JazzBoston's Facebook page.