Based on last week’s community conversation, I’m starting to implement some new features on LJC that will make the site more useful for everyone and help build community around Latin Jazz. Welcome to weekly polls and the listening center . . .

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Reader Polls
Looking back upon my goal of getting more people involved in LJC, I’ve felt that the site just lacks opportunities for people to interact. The community conversations have gotten some people talking, but I’d really like to see more reader input. Comments do require some thought and typing time, so I’m wondering if a less time consuming method would bring more people into the fold. In an attempt to address this, I’ll be posting a regular poll in the sidebar. This requires a smaller time commitment – a click only takes a second – so hopefully we’ll see the collective voice of LJC’s readership emerge!

At this point, I’m planning on structuring the polls as a regularly changing feature. Every week I’ll introduce a new topic that will touch on some Latin Jazz issue. If I see that a week doesn’t give readers enough time to make their voice heard, I’ll stretch it to 10 days or 2 weeks. I’m going to try to avoid polls like “Who’s your favorite . . .”; I feel like we do this at the end of the year with our Best of Awards, so I don’t want to repeat it here. At the end of the poll, I’ll create another post reflecting upon the results. So let’s get started . . .

This Week’s Poll Topic
For most Latin Jazz musicians, financial stability results from money earned at live performances. More opportunities to perform means a better income, which in turn means a continued career. The longer a musician stays focused on their artform, the more great music we hear. Everyone benefits when Latin Jazz musicians have ample gigs, so we should help make that a reality. How do we do that? By attending their performances.

This sounds simple, but life gets busy, and we can’t always get to the show. Between work, family, friends, and community obligations, a lot of us find ourselves booked continuously. Attending a performance costs money, and our current economy hasn’t been kind to all of us. Some people might not have an active Latin Jazz scene in their community, which complicates things further. There are lots of things that get in our way, despite our best intentions.

So how often does the LJC community check out live Latin Jazz? Let us know in this week’s poll, located in the sidebar. If you’ve got ideas about the topic, please let us know in comments . . .

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The Listening Center
Chazro left an insightful comment last week mentioning that he needed to know more about an artist before spending money on their product. I’ve wondered about this before, but I’ve often struggled with ways to bridge artist and listener. He suggested a comparative line – if you like artist 1 you’ll like artist 2. I think that’s a great idea, and I’ll be doing it . . . but I’d like to take it a step further. We’re talking about music, so what better way to check out an artist than listen to their work?

I’ve created a new page called The Listening Center that will allow you to listen to Latin Jazz in two ways. We’re lucky enough to launch the listening center with two free MP3 downloads – “DotCom-Bustion” from pianist Andy Nevala’s album Alone Together and “P.M.” from guitarist Dave Askren’s album Trio Nuevo +. Download them, put them on your iPod, and get to know the artists. Once you’re ready to check out the full album, we’ve also got sound clips from the whole albums, courtesy of Amazon.com. You can stream sound clips, buy MP3s, and get a fuller view of the artist right from the Listening Center. I’m hoping that this will help LJC readers discover more albums and provide more exposure to Latin Jazz artists.

I’d like to move ahead and create these opportunities, but keep in mind, the Listening Center is still young. I’m hoping to add more free MP3 downloads; I think this is a great way to find new artists and get a better picture of their work. I’m making these MP3s available with artist permission, and I’ll continue to do just that. As they become available, I’ll post them. I’ve started with full album samples from most recent Album of the Week and Spotlight Artist features. I’ll be adding more soon, but I’m wondering if readers find this format useful. Please let me know! Regardless, the Listening Center will grow, so please visit now!

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I’ll be playing with these ideas over the next few months, which means that they will evolve. I’ll also be adding new ideas as well, and hopefully we can make LJC a useful destination for every Latin Jazz fan. In order to make them beneficial, please give me some feedback. Do you think that weekly polls will be useful? Do you have an idea for a poll? Does the Listening Center help you get a sense of the recordings? Do you like the layout of the Listening Center? Any feedback that you can give me would be helpful – feel free to comment or e-mail me. Let’s build this together!

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