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2010 - Endings and Beginnings


For almost 15 years, I've had the pleasure and honor to cover the San Francisco Bay Area jazz community for CityFlight. CityFlight is a non-profit, community based media entity that began as CityFlight NewsMagazine based in the Silicon Valley. In that role, I've covered quite a few of the major venues and festivals in the area. My objective has always been to expose our audience to the latest happenings and trends in the world of jazz through interviews, photographs, and reviews of CDs and live performances. If this is starting to sound like a farewell, it is. At least, partially.

CityFlight has always been staffed by a small, virtual, dedicated staff of volunteers. Many current and former staff contributors, like me, owe our journalistic start to CityFlight. At its peak, the print circulation topped 40,000 copies. The publication successfully transitioned to an online "eZine" format almost two years ago, as print costs became unsustainable.  After 16 years of serving San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and the greater Bay Area, CityFlight has ceased publication. The last post to CityFlight.com was made in mid-December.

While other remaining staff members ponder their next journey in journalism, I will simply concentrate my reporting efforts here at Jazz Currents. Look for more frequent updates of news and reviews of artists and performances from the SF Bay Area Jazz scene. For me, it's a matter of following my passion for this art form, and making sure it stays alive and vibrant.

Say hello to 2011, and welcome to Jazz Currents. I hope you find the content interesting, and visit often. This is a dialog. I fully expect to see your comments as well.

BTW, I also wrote the Wine Sense column for CityFlight, focusing on wine education and the wine culture. You can follow that now as well at www.winegriot.com.

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