During the 2015 Newport Jazz Festival, JazzTimes set up a make-shift video production studio backstage inside the old barracks of Fort Adams. During three afternoons, a succession of artists-including Mike Stern, Ben Wendel, Arturo O’Farrill, Wayne Escoffery, Jacob Garchick, Chris Dingman, Kate McGarry, Billy Childs and many others-came in to talk about the festival, jazz education, their creative process and their own projects. You can also see more of these video interviews hosted on the JazzTimes YouTube channel.
In this video interview taped on-site at Newport, longtime jazz radio host Eric Jackson talked about his introduction to jazz and about how he first came to be on the air in the Boston area. He discussed how jazz radio and the jazz industry have changed over the years. He explained the recent initiatives at WGBH to stream his show and other programming online. And he talked about his father, Sam Jackson, a true pioneer in jazz radio.
Interview by Irene Lee. Video production by Paul Park. Editing by Lee Mergner.
The 2016 Newport Jazz Festival will be held July 29-31.
Eric Jackson on his introduction to jazz and radio:
Eric Jackson on the jazz industry and jazz radio:
Eric Jackson on WGBH’s streaming of jazz radio programming:
Eric Jackson on his father Sam Jackson, a jazz radio pionoeer: