Category: Organizations

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Rob Garcia, Michel Gentile and Daniel Kelly talk about their nonprofit jazz advocacy organization, Connection Works. Based in Brooklyn, Connection Works presents concerts and educational opportunities featuring A-list musicians and aimed at the broader community. In this interview, Garcia, Gentile and Kelly talk about how the organization started; the benefits it brings to the community; and their own individual careers. Learn more at www.connectionworks.org.

Tracks used in this episode: Initiate (Daniel Kelly); Joe-Pye Weed (Rob Garcia); Ronde Pour Rota (Michel Gentile); The Huge Stones Come Alive (Daniel Kelly); Perennial (Rob Garcia).

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If all you know about Humboldt County, California, is Firesign Theatre and, uh, “agriculture,” then it’s time you got to know the Redwood Jazz Alliance. Located behind the “Redwood Curtain,” the RJA is successfully bringing in major jazz artists to a community that wouldn’t otherwise have access to them. In this interview, three board members — Dan Aldag, Michael Eldridge and Eric Neel — talk about the origins of the Alliance; its early success in attracting top-flight talent; and how the local community has taken up the cause. Learn more at www.redwoodjazzalliance.org.

NOTE:This interview was recorded in the summer of 2009, so please check the RJA site for a current list of events.