Josh Grossman's blog

I can now officially say that the 2013 TD Toronto Jazz Festival is underway! Last night's Motown revue at Nathan Phillips Square was pretty fantastic. Almost every inch of the square was packed, and the two performers - Martha Reeves (and the Vandellas) and Smokey Robinson gave everyone exactly what they were looking for. Here's a quick rundown of my day:

I guess we don't officially kick off the festival until this evening, but with Willie Nelson at Massey Hall last night - and some other great jazz happening around town - it certainly felt as though things were underway. Here's where I was:

• 12:15 pm - interview at Nathan Phillips Square with CITY
• 6:00 pm - Bloomsday at The Rex
• 8:00 pm - Willie Nelson
• 10:30 pm - The Brothas Concert at Lula Lounge

I'll let my tweets do most of the talking, but wanted to touch on a couple of things.

Jeanette (my wife) has a no-sympathy rule when it comes to my jazz-related galavanting. The rule, essentially, is this: if I have "one too many" and I wake up the next morning moaning about it, I get no sympathy. There's no finger wagging or "told you so" involved, but I'm certainly not getting a pat on the head and a gentle "there, there." All that to say, after last night's players party at The Rex, I got little sympathy this morning…

So how, exactly, did it get to be June 13th?

Every once in a while, life gets hectic/stressful/overwhelming/whatevertermworksbestforyou...one of the salves I turn to with regularity is music.

In some ways, composing music is a funny pursuit...

I spent a few minutes writing down some of my usual go-to resources for jazz as they relate to my duties as Artistic Director.

In my various experiences over the past fifteen years, marketing - the requirement to publicize shows, reach out to and engage an audience, create brands, manage customer service - has been a constant thread.

The phones are still ringing and the emails still pinging, but all of the details are coming together for next Wednesday's media conference at JAZZ.FM91.

I understand (all too well) that bottom lines need to be met. But in this case, I feel strongly that the proposed cuts are not the way to go.