Jazz@Rochester

A year ago today, I began writing this blog, shortly after John Nugent announced last year’s lineup for the Rochester International Jazz Festival. I described the aim of this blog in my first post:

Your humble guide . . . is not an aficionado, who will preach to you about what is and isn’t “jazz,” but just a regular guy who loves all kinds of music, and has a special place in his heart and ear for jazz—from Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong, through Coltrane and Miles, to the Bad Plus and Brad Mehldau. I think jazz is more about an attitude towards music and life, than a definition or a category . . . . This weblog will be a work in progress, but here’s the initial take on where I’d like to go with it:

…Previewing upcoming jazz sounds here in Rochester and providing links and background for exploring.

…Reviewing performances by jazz artists and groups, both local and national, and the venues in which you’ll catch their gigs.

…Linking to information and updates on the Rochester International Jazz Festival and profiling artists in this year’s lineup.

I simply want to see and hear more jazz in my new hometown. . . .

These are still my aims. Moreover, I would like to use the blog as a tool to help expand the community around jazz music here in Rochester, finding ways to bring people in Rochester together through music, especially jazz, which is a music that provides a bridge between diverse communities in this divided city. That goal is near and dear to my heart.

When I began writing posts for this blog, I was writing for an audience in the single digits, when there was anyone reading it at all. A year, and almost 130 posts later, I’ve reached the stratosphere of tens of readers a day! Although not very impressive numbers, there is a community growing there. In the past year I have had 1106 unique visitors, almost 200 of which who have returned at least once. As I’ve detailed in recent posts and some earlier, my personal jazz community has widened as a result of this blog—including local jazz artists and local bloggers (and a jazz blogger in Albany). I have heard from several people through the blog. I have also learned a lot about how blogs can lead to those connections and the slow but ongoing way that it builds an audience. I’ve tacked up my “business” card with the site’s info up around town in a couple of places, I’ve added the link to RocWiki (which has brought me quite a few people) and have added the site to Technorati and other blog directories. However, based on the information I have gained from watching who and how people were finding Jazz@Rochester, most of the traffic to this blog has developed organically as people have run across the site for other purposes.

By the time the sounds begin to flow for RIJF, I hope to be blogging from new digs. They’re in development now. I will have my own domain and the capabilities to do so much more than this free blogging account currently allows. For those I’ve met through this blog and those who have followed it in silence, I thank you and hope you’ll keep coming back.