HeyJaredMergner He Wrote
I was an editor & publisher of JazzTimes for 32 years. Now write and consult for Jazz Cruises, WBGO and others.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 15
- Latest publication
- Sep 30, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 29, 2026
Latest issues
True to the Music: Akira Tana on Jimmy Heath (opens the original)
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Meet Joe Block (opens the original)
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Michael Franks: “The Trippy Troubadour” (opens the original)
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Happy Birthday to Michael Franks, who turns 82 years young today. I wrote an Overdue Ovation piece about the unique singer-songwriter back in 2018 for JazzTimes. We had a long and free-ranging conversation about his life in music, which I thought I would share here in its entirety. A long-form interview alert!<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PQWS!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2
From Jazz Singers to Broadway Belters: Talking with Will Friedwald (opens the original)
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Happy Birthday today to Will Friedwald, the esteemed author, radio host and historian, who along with James Gavin, is the jazz community’s foremost authority on vocalists. This interview was done several years ago for JazzTimes in connection with the release of his book A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers. In addition to his books and his writing for various publications, Will has a fabulous Substack “Slouching Towards Birdland,” and hosts <a href="https://www.jazz88.org/staff
The Fun and Timeless Catherine Russell (opens the original)
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This is another piece written for the Jazz at Lincoln Center concert program. I was just happy to get to talk with Cat, as she is called by her friends, fans and few hundred others. Not many backup singers successfully make the transition to being a headliner. Luther Vandross, Lisa Fischer and Niki Haris come to mind, but they’re the exceptions rather than the rule. But at this point, that’s an old story, because Cat has been performing and recording as a leader longer than she was a backup sing
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