I’ve decided to let reader’s polls run until we have a decent number of votes. This one took a while to complete, but we’ve got some results now. As we move into a new topic, let’s look back at the interesting results of our last poll . . .

OUR PREVIOUS POLL - WHAT AREA IS CREATING THE MOST INTERESTING LATIN JAZZ?

Our last reader poll focused upon the question - What Area Is Creating The Most Interesting Latin Jazz? It poses an interesting question to say the least. Each area brings a unique blend of influences into its sound and diverse cultural influences. It’s impossible to categorize all artists from an area into one box, but I it’s safe to say that different regions have distinct approaches to Latin Jazz.

LJC cast a strong vote for New York as the area that currently sports the most interesting Latin Jazz. The city holds an amazing cultural diversity, which results in a wide variety of music. New York sees a wide variety of Latin influences - the Afro-Peruvian jazz of Eric Kurimski, the Argentinean explorations of artists like Pablo Aslan or Sofia Koutsovitis, the Brazilian Jazz of Trio Da Paz or Gary Morgan and Panamericana - the options are staggering. The foundation of the style is based upon its strong sense of roots and history - the lineage informs artists and generally produces inspiring music. Artists such as Bobby Sanabria, Eddie Palmieri, and Arturo O’Farrill are maintaining a strong traditional base in the city. It also has a tradition of innovation, where artists are encouraged to explore new avenues. More musicians are cutting a space for themselves with a new approach to the music as well - Dafnis Prieto, Elio Villafranca, and Yosvany Terry are all artists staying on the cutting edge. Without a doubt, New York holds a world of possibilities . . . and we hear many of those come to life.

New York remains number one in our eyes, but the polls shows us that LJC readers love Latin Jazz from all over the world. Latin Jazz from San Francisco made a strong showing; recordings from artists like John Santos, Rebeca Mauleon, Wayne Wallace, and John Calloway obviously inhabit LJC readers’ collections. People are listening to new Latin Jazz from the Caribbean as well - artists such as Puertorican Folkloric Jazz and Chucho Valdes continue to inspire our readers. People also have an affinity for jazz from South America - Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, and Columbia are all influencing today’s modern Latin Jazz scene. It’s great to see such a wide variety of regions influencing today’s Latin Jazz listener.

These trends change over time with different regions becoming the stylistic leaders for a time. From San Francisco to the Caribbean, they’ve all had a chance to lead the pack. New York has a darn good track record though - if you follow the history of Latin Jazz, you’ll see several of the music’s prime albums emerging from New York. That’s probably why now and for many years to come, New York is considered the Latin Jazz mecca.

OUR NEW READER POLL - WHAT ELEMENTS WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN A LJC PODCAST?

I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a podcast to accompany The Latin Jazz Corner site, but I’m still trying to iron out the details. I think that the audio format offers a great opportunity to integrate some music and live discussion into the site. I think that it also allows for more access - people can listen to podcasts on the road or in the office. Ideally, the podcast wouldn’t slow production of LJC articles here on the site. Ensuring that I actually can juggle both the site and podcast would mean starting with a bi-weekly or maybe even monthly podcast. Initially, I’d like to keep the length of podcast at about 20 - 30 minutes, making it listenable and creatable. I would of course want to include music, but only with artist permission - I want the podcast to support artists and their work, not hinder it. There’s lots of possibilities, and I’m hoping that I get a chance to explore all of them.

The most important thing to me is creating a podcast that would suit the needs of LJC readers (and possibly listeners!). The podcast would need to be interesting and help spread the word about Latin Jazz. The content really dictates the meat of the podcast, so that’s what I’d like to get some feedback upon. There’s a variety of options for content, but here’s some starter ideas:

New Latin Jazz Tracks: This could be a great opportunity to expose listeners to new artists and recordings. Reading about new albums is one thing, but hearing a sample could really push listeners to supporting more artists. Once again, I’d only like to include these tracks with artist support.

Classic Latin Jazz Tracks: These might be a little harder get clearance, but I’m not going to write if off as impossible. I think that it could open up a lot of possibilities - an audio version of Revisiting articles perhaps. I can envision a show tracing lineage between difference groups with comparative tracks. Interesting stuff.

Artist Interviews: I think that this offers some of the most interesting possibilities - the chance to hear about the work from its creator. At LJC, readers get a lot of my opinions about Latin Jazz, but I’d love to add the original thoughts of the artists.

News/Performance Listings: This one is a bit questionable to me, due to the time sensitive nature of the content. Podcasts can be heard at any time, and I assume that many times, people would hear them after any performances occurred. If people think that this might support artists though, I’d love to include it.

CD Reviews: This might include shorter, more off-the-cuff reviews that could include audio examples. I’d love to include some way like this to recommend new recordings to listeners.

Opinion Pieces: This might be a chance to talk about issues in the Latin Jazz world. I could give my opinions, perhaps get feedback from artists, or even read e-mails from listeners. It holds some possibilities.

Our next reader poll will focus upon this issue - What Elements Would You Like To Hear In An LJC Podcast? Again, if I create this podcast, I want it to be something that would truly serve the Latin Jazz community. In order to do that, I need your feedback - what do you want to hear? Go over to the sidebar and cast your vote now! If you’ve got ideas that you’d like to add, LEAVE A COMMENT and add your input! I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

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If you didn’t get a chance to comment on our most recent Community Conversation, please take a minute to check it out - we’ve had an interesting thread about the 2008 Latin Grammy Nominations. We would love to hear your thoughts on the matter!

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