Welcome to The Jazz Scene

Starting today, we will be publishing a series of  articles by Jazz aficionado Ken Brady.  His contributions  will become a regular part of a revamped Newsroom Panama to be launched during the coming week.

Ken Brady was jazz program host in America for three radio stations playing  mainstream Jazz.from 2002 to 2011 

Since 2009, he has been blogging about Jazz through his blog, myjazzjourneys.blogspot.com.
The area he worked in was home to The University of North Carolina, North Carolina Central, and Duke. All these schools have acclaimed Jazz studies programs. While there, he worked with musicians like Panamanian American Jazz trombonist Robert Trowers, vocalist Lenora Helm-Hammonds, and bassist John Brown. He interviewed Jazz legends, produced promotional DVD’s for Jazz artists, and has been host mc for many Jazz performers.
After visiting Panama for the first time in 2007, and returning for the 2009 and 2010 Panama Jazz Festivals Ken and his wife were convinced that Panama would be an ideal retirement destination. And he was hoping to find a situation where he could hear live Jazz in Panama.
His hopes were dashed when he moved here in 2011 and found that there was no real, Jazz scene in h the country . Panama was a hot spot for Jazz in the 40’s, but those days were long gone.
However, he says, in the past year and a half the Jazz scene has picked up, with new clubs, and a handful of existing venues adding live Jazz. But “this is not a trend” says Ken. “We know that Jazz will not be around long without public support.
Either way, The Jazz Scene, will appear bi-monthly on newsroompanama.com, to keep you updated on Jazz around the world.He will share my his Jazz experiences with readers, and invite them to post a comments and share their thoughts.
Speaking of keeping things updated, I recently had the chance to sit with Panamanian Jazz legend Carlos Garnett for an interview about his growing up in Panama, his early interest in music, and his legendary career. Check it out at:myjazzjourneys.blogspot.com