A scene from the 2009 NEA Jazz Masters Ceremony

Over at A Blog Supreme, Patrick Jarenwattananon has a beautifully-articulated essay that really sums up my thoughts about this weekend, and my hope for the future of jazz.

Between carving my way through the Winter JazzFest, discussing the future of jazz at the Jazz Journalists’ Association mini-conference, digging Conrad Herwig‘s Latin Side All-Stars at the Blue Note on Monday night alongside enthusiastic Japanese and European tourists, and meeting Hilma Carter (Benny Carter‘s widow) at the Institute of Jazz Studies yesterday, I’ve had the fortune of seeing the joy and vitality that our common interest — jazz — brings to so many people.  We still have a long way to go in connecting those dots — Patrick touches on that challenge as well — but we are certainly moving in the right direction.

Obviously, there are lots of people who are helping to bring the jazz community together, but one person who I met this weekend, Michael Ricci of allaboutjazz.com (who has graciously offered to syndicate Lubricity through his AAJ News Center) deserves a special mention here.  Spend a few minutes poking around over there and you’ll see the myriad of possibilities that his site has to offer for jazz musicians and fans.  And keep coming back — he’s got big plans for 2010!

Again, if you haven’t already, go read Patrick’s essay!