Happy Fifth Birthday, JazzWax

Five years ago today I put up my first JazzWax post. The prospect of a jazz blog wasn't even on my radar in 2007 until author and critic Terry Teachout gave me a shove. Since the mid-1990s, we had been spending a Saturday morning each quarter kicking back and listening to jazz together. In the same room. Facing speakers. How quaint by today's isolationist standards.

At any rate, after one of our sessions in '07, Terry turned to me and insisted I start a jazz blog. After pleading that I was too busy with corporate work, Terry waved me off and said, "I blog and no one's busier than I am." I couldn't argue with him.

So I took the plunge—choosing a name, trademarking it and setting a start date. Before I did, though, I made myself two promises: I would blog daily and I would focus on recordings, since that's what Terry and I had enjoyed talking about so much during our get-togethers.

So there you have it. With more than 1.5 million pageviews, thousands of daily readers, a Jazz Journalists Association award and a book coming this fall [pictured above], JazzWax turns 5 years old today.

I hope you've enjoyed the journey. I certainly have enjoyed sharing my album collection, interviews and insights with you. Here's to another five!

Written by Marc Myers, copyright © by JazzWax (Marc Myers LLC www.jazzwax.com)