Latino Music Cafe

Latin Jazz Corner discussion: Print media ignores Latin Jazz

Posted on 06. Aug, 2009 by Hector Aviles in Latino Music

I was reading (and commenting, as I am one that likes to participate in the blog discussions) on a very interesting article written in The Latin Jazz Corner. Chip Boaz (LJC writer/editor) makes the point that Latin Jazz has been ignored by the Jazz magazines, and would like to see that coverage increase for the benefit of the Latin Jazz genre, its artists, and its listeners/aficionados. He published an open letter he wrote to JazzTimes, “Open Letter to JazzTimes regarding Latin Jazz”, one of the main Jazz magazines in the country, asking for more Latin Jazz coverage.

Latin Jazz should find its own way to mainstream media:

I’m not too convinced this is the most effective approach to get mainstream media attention. Before I could comment on Chip’s article, renowned musician Bobby Sanabria reacted to open letter, and Chip posted his full-hearted point of view to this situation. I commented on this second article.

Below is a bulletized summary of the discussion. The two full articles in LJC (links provided below) make a very interesting read and I highly recommend spending a few minutes to read them. There is a lot of background on how Latin Jazz has been marginalized in the print media.

1st article: “An Open Letter to JazzTimes regarding Latin Jazz” by Chip Boaz

• JazzTimes has mostly ignored Latin Jazz in its publication.
• Of the 184 magazine covers for the past 18 years, only 5 had Latin Jazz artists.
• Would like to see more coverage of Latin Jazz in the magazine

2nd article: “More thoughts about JazzTimes and Latin Jazz Coverage from Bobby” by Bobby Sanabria

• Mainstream jazz world and media are not paying attention to Latin Jazz despite years of trying to influence the media to be more inclusive.
• Musicians and listeners have been trying to help solve this issue.
• Younger musicians don’t want to affirm they are “Latin Jazz” musicians afraid to get doors closed in the industry. Older musicians don’t care as much about this.
• Listeners continue to be conservative in their taste and interest for Latin Jazz.

3rd : My Comments on the above in LJC (comment #5 and #7 on the 2nd article)

• The exclusion of Latin Jazz from print media is not an isolated case. Media in the U.S. is very localized and Latin Jazz is one more casualty if the media style in this country.
• There are at least two approaches to solving this issue:
  • Request to the Jazz published media to add more Latin Jazz cover. (been tried, but has not worked)
  • Create our own Latin Jazz published media.
• We shouldn’t be begging print media to include Latin Jazz in their publications. We should provide our own coverage and support for Latin Jazz.

Enjoy the articles and participate in the discussion!

Tags: Bobby Sanabria, Jazz, JazzTimes, latin music