Ch-ch-ch-changes

Some of you know that I have a new gig: writing a twice-weekly column called Artscape for MinnPost, covering all the arts in (mostly) the Twin Cities. I'm not writing previews or reviews, but news--about arts institutions, personalities, performances, money, and politics. In 2011, MinnPost had 3.7 million visits from Minnesotans.

I mentioned in an earlier post that the live jazz calendar would continue, along with this blog and my calendar-related radio bits on KBEM (with Ed Jones and Maryann Sullivan). But I realized almost immediately that I had to find more time in the week and something had to go. So Friday, Feb. 3 will be my last regularly scheduled appearance on KBEM.

It's been a good, long run--more than three years of getting up early (for me) on Friday mornings to talk about jazz with warm and charming Ed, and later (starting in May last year) working closely with delightful Maryann.

I'll continue updating the live jazz calendar, which many of you have said you find useful. It will stay on KBEM's website through Feb. 5, after which it will be available on this blog and its own page. The jazz88calendar@gmail.com email address will stay live for a while, but starting now, bebopified@gmail.com is where you should send information about gigs you want listed on the calendar.

I regularly search FaceBook, the live music calendars on venues' websites, and artists' own websites for information on who's playing when and where, but you make my life easier when you send me emails, so please use bebopified@gmail.com to keep me informed. Meanwhile, I'll do my best to make the live jazz calendar as comprehensive, accurate, and informative as I can.

This blog will also continue. Although I'll never be able to write as regularly (or anywhere near as knowledgeably) as many of the writers in my blogroll, I believe bebopified serves a useful purpose in this community. And it gives me a good excuse to pick up the phone and call people I want to talk to.

Jazz is my first love. When I began writing for MinnPost in 2007, I was a jazz writer. Now I'm an arts writer who thinks jazz is worth writing about, getting excited about, and going out to see. You won't hear my picks on the radio anymore, but you can still read them here (sporadically, I'm afraid), along with news, interviews, and whatever else seems worth writing about on a particular day.