Lee Mergner

Lee’s Contributions

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11/07/09  •  News

The Double Life of Jazz Bassist Ike Sturm

Bassist Ike Sturm balances career as working jazz musician with role as music director of St. Peter’s Church in NYC

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11/06/09  •  News

Najee Takes Music and Message to Schools in Queens

Jazz saxophonist Najee makes special appearances November 12-16 at schools in the Queens neighborhood of New York City

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11/05/09  •  News

Art D’Lugoff, Jazz and NYC Nightclub Impresario, Dies at 85

Owner of The Village Gate, renowned Greenwich Village club, gave start to Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, Miles Davis and other major figures in popular music and comedy.

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11/05/09  •  News

Maceo Parker Brings the Funk to Jazz at Lincoln Center

Funk jazz saxophonist Maceo Parker makes special appearance at Lincoln Center on November 13-14, 2009

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11/04/09  •  News

Monterey’s Next Generation Festival Jazz Competition Now Open For Entries

Competition is part of Sixth Annual Next Generation Festival during April 9-11, 2010

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11/04/09  •  News

Singer Receives First Mark Murphy Vocal Jazz Scholarship

Jua Howard receives scholarship to study vocal jazz at JazzSchool in Berkeley, Calif.

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11/04/09  •  News

Ron Carter Hosts Bass Workshop in NYC

Noted jazz bassist to present workshop “All Alone” at David Gage String Instruments in New York City

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11/03/09  •  News

Portland Jazz Festival Announces New Managing Director and Lineup for 2010 Event

Don Lucoff, noted jazz industry publicist, takes reins from Bill Royston to run Portland Jazz Festival

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11/03/09  •  News

Putumayo Takes Jazz Around the World

Latest in Putumayo’s sampler series looks at jazz with an international flavor

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11/02/09  •  News

Trumpeter Stacy Rowles Dies at 54

Daughter of pianist Jimmy Rowles, who performed with Maiden Voyage and other noted groups, was recent victim of car accident

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11/02/09  •  News

Django Reinhardt NY Festival Opens at Birdland in NYC

Festival celebrating legacy of the gypsy guitarist includes notable European and American artists

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11/02/09  •  News

Gil Scott-Heron to Appear at BB Kings in NYC

Influential jazz vocalist and spoken-word artist makes rare appearance at NYC club

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November 2009  •  JT Notes

Talking Drums

For the JT staff, theme issues can either be a lot of fun or a real chore. When it doesn’t work, it feels like we’re simply connecting a bunch of dots, albeit well-written and sharply designed ones, to form some preset picture. Plus, if we’re doing a theme...

10/30/09  •  News

John Handy To Receive Beacon Award From San Francisco Jazz Festival

Saxophonist honored on Sunday, November 1 by SFJazz for his contributions to the community

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10/30/09  •  News

Sony Legacy To Release 70-CD Miles Davis Box Set

The Complete Miles Davis Columbia Album Collection available on November 24 exclusively at Amazon

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10/29/09  •  News

Roy DeCarava, Photographer, Dies at 89

Noted photographer based in Harlem created distinctive images of jazz and African-American culture

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About Lee Mergner

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Lee Mergner is currently the Editor-in-Chief of JazzTimes magazine. He also contributes reviews, columns, news features and profiles to the magazine and oversees the magazine’s annual industry directories..

Mergner also was the Director of the JazzTimes Convention, an annual conference that brought together members of the music industry to discuss important issues and developments in jazz. Held every fall in New York City, the JazzTimes Convention included panels, workshops and showcase performances all dedicated to increasing the audience for jazz. In 2000 the JazzTimes Convention was folded into the International Association of Jazz Education (IAJE) conference and Mergner continued to organize industry panel and workshop sessions for that conference, which had an annual attendance of over 7,000.

In addition to his work with JazzTimes, Mergner appeared regularly as a guest and host on over 100 shows on the Black Entertainment Television (BET) and the BET on Jazz cable channels. He appeared regularly on the radio show "Favorite Things" on WDCU FM in Washington, DC as well as other regional and national radio shows, including Sirius, WCPN, WBGO, Public Radio East, CBC and many more. He has also appeared frequently as a moderator or panelist at several music industry conferences and seminars, including those sponsored by NAIRD/AFIM, NJSO, IAJE, WAMA, AMA and the New Music Seminar.

In addition to his deep-seated interest in the promotion of jazz and roots music, Mergner has a strong commitment to independent music. He was an active member of the Association for Independent Music (AFIM) and has served on that organization's Convention Planning and INDIE Awards committees and was a judge for its INDIE Awards. Mergner has served on the advisory board for numerous jazz and music industry organizations and radio stations.

Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Mergner obtained his BA in Psychology and Math from Dickinson College and an MBA in Marketing from Temple University.