The jazz business has taken some major hits recently, including the fall of the JVC Jazz Festival in New York, and the end of JazzTimes Magazine.

But today, Ben Ratliff at the New York Times reported that George Wein (pictured), the jazz impresario who founded the Newport Jazz Festival, has convinced CareFusion, a medical technology company based in California, to sponsor two major festivals.

The company will sponsor Wein's August, 2009 festival in Newport, Rhode Island, as well as a large New York City jazz festival in June 2010.

Image © Brad Barket / Getty Images

An iconoclast who has earned mainstream recognition in his decades of musical adventurism, Ornette Coleman, in rejecting standard jazz practices, has become one of the most well known figures in jazz history... read more

Image Courtesy of Atlantic Records

Canadian jazz writer Peter Hum's asks drummer Matt Wilson five questions on his Jazzblog for the Ottawa Citizen. Wilson's whimsy is evident in his responses as much as it is in his playing.

Be sure to read my review of Wilson's upcoming release, That's Gonna Leave a Mark.

Photo © Jimmy Katz

That's Gonna Leave a Mark is the upcoming release by drummer Matt Wilson. The Matt Wilson Quartet consists of saxophonists Andrew D'Angelo and Jeff Lederer, and bassist Chris Lightcap, and the group plays with a looseness flexibility that wouldn't have been possible without the advances of the great free jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman.

On the new album, which will be released on July 7th, 2009, the humor and vivacity supplied by each of the members of the Matt Wilson Quartet will impress the avant-gardist, but also draw in the casual listener. read more

Image Courtesy of Palmetto Records