The Neon Jazz 2025 Year End Reflection

It’s a little over a week away before this year known as 2025 comes to a close. And as I collect a cachet of memories and thoughts from the year that is gone by .. I think about all of the good in the highlights and the magic that took place this year. There are three things that rise to the top of this year that is gone by & it includes a near improbable run that I started to get my childhood hero Dwight Gooden rightfully into the halls of Cooperstown. This isn’t directly a jazz event, but it infused and informed so much of the positivity that happened over this year. It also included being a part of flying in a father/daughter Duo to Kansas City on international jazz day 2025 to see the Count Basie Orchestra .. thus completing a Dream for a man That loves Count Basie and jazz to the core of his heart. Essentially, it was a Fan letter that turned into something much much bigger thank you so much Tracy & John - I will forever hold you and High regard for such a wonderful moment. It is also the resounding thought that Neon Jazz has been around for 14 years and how cool it is that this entire ride has been orchestrated under the guise of being an independently run jazz show and interview series. All of this has been done strictly on the premise of Freedom. Every time I speak with Jazz Musicians about why they love this craft, they always point out freedom and I realize over this 14 year tenure that I’ve learned so much from all of the jazz musicians that I have been fortunate enough to interview. They have taught me about improv .. they have taught me about the temporal nature of music & how it evaporates into the air and they have taught me what it’s like to embrace and love freedom that I think in these strange politically divided 2025 days there’s nothing more important than tasting that freedom. And I think that is the theme of this year & the plight of this little radio show entering its 15th year in April of 2026. And I’m also enormously grateful to my good friend .. show engineer and mentor John Christopher for always being there and for being the reason and inspiration behind me getting back into a broadcasting dream when I never thought it was not going to happen. In all of the veins of this year and the major stories .. they revolve all the shows and all the musicians and all the interviews that have woven together a tapestry of America’s mighty invention known as jazz music … & I thank you for being along for the ride and for supporting me and for all the kind words and for you to know that we are strong as ever as we enter our 15th year of broadcasting this wonderful music to this epic community of jazz from Kansas City to the world, the musicians, and beyond..so thank you and here we go again… Music by E.E. Pointer .. The Playah - Single - 2010 More Neon Jazz - https://theneonjazz.blogspot.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices