Each year, on the anniversary of JazzWax's founding, I take the day off. Tomorrow is the big day, but I'm taking off today. Didn't want my weekend readers to miss out on the bits and pieces I typically feature on Saturdays and Sundays.
For those unfamiliar with the story, JazzWax began in the summer of 2007 when my dear friend and WSJ drama critic Terry Teachout (above) nudged me to start blogging. For about 8 years prior, we spent one Saturday morning each quarter at each other's apartment listening to jazz and talking about the music. One Saturday in July 2007, Terry suggested I take what I knew online. Despite my pleas of being too busy, he insisted, so I made the time. Back then, I was writing for several of New York's major real estate firms as well as for financial institutions.
A promise is a promise, so a week later I came up with a name: JazzWax (wax, as is the name for records favored by Billboard back in the 1940s, and to wax, as in to elaborate on). I bought the URL and started blogging on August 3, 2007. Blogging led to my JazWax interviews, which led to writing for The Wall Street Journal, which led to books, which led to SiriusXM and so on. So yes, little things are really big things when you build on them.
A special thanks to Todd Selbert, Lawrence Allen, Jeff Helgesen, Ed Frank and all of the other kind readers who flag my typos; to Dennis Galloway, Jimi Mentis, David Langner, Doug Paterson and Pierre-M. Hellenbrand-Le Conte who know why I'm thanking them; and to the many jazz greats and celebrities who read JazzWax, offer encouragement and let me post their recollections that enrich our knowledge of the music's history. But most of all, thanks to the hundreds of readers worldwide I've befriended over the years.
While I'm out today, don't take JazzWax for granted (one day it will come to an end) and be sure to spend part of the day listening to music that excites you. There really is nothing more rewarding.
