Smooth Jazz News - October-November-Decemeber - 2024

8 | S M O O T H J A Z Z N E W S Twenty- ve years ago, I contemplated a life- changing decision: Should I leave a lucrative mortgage industry career and dive into the uncertain waters of publishing to create the rst-ever smooth jazz-focused magazine? I felt the fear of a 15-year-old me, deciding whether to indulge in a perilous pastime like many of my friends had: jumping o e Clam, a cluster of cli s overhanging the Paci c Ocean in La Jolla Cove. Some thrill-seekers who landed in unforgiving currents, on spiky barnacle-encrusted rocks, or got sucked into eerie caverns ended up in an ambulance … or dead. Now in my 40s, the consequences of this decision weren’t physical or fatal. However, my outcome could be nancially devastating. At the time, more than 80 percent of print publications failed within the rst year. And, without an established readership and circulation, I couldn’t generate much advertising revenue, at least in the beginning. is meant I’d be bankrolling everything. As I agonized over the decision, a spontaneous force was about to choose for me. While at work one day, I pushed aside a pile of loan applications and began ipping through a notepad with names of potential writers, editors, graphic designers and printing companies that I had recently contacted. Poring over my notes, I envisioned what my life would be like working in this new enterprise. Suddenly, I took the leap. I immediately called everyone I wanted to hire, booked them and reserved a press date. It was thrilling, but I was also inging myself o a nancial cli . But in December 1999, the rst edition of Smooth Jazz News magazine rolled o the presses, and 5,000 copies were delivered to my driveway. And, just like that day at e Clam, decades earlier, I survived—with new adventures and friendships. As the magazine grew, so did the genre. I witnessed artists’ careers grow, and festivals, concerts, cruises and Christmas tours ourish—while developing personal relationships with all those involved. Among the many who became friends was Art Good , the JazzTrax Festival and syndicated I aman eyewitness and documentarian of the smooth jazz evolution. It has beenmy pleasure. continued on page 10 Panama City Beach, Florida, where the Seabreeze Jazz Festival is held