About
About Stuart Nicholson
“Der Reich-Ranicki des jazz” Die Welt (Germany)
“The most perceptive critic writing about jazz today…who deserves a lot of credit for grasping the larger geographical shifts in the jazz world before anybody else.” Ted Gioia, The History of Jazz, The Honest Broker (USA)
“One of the most astute observers and profound analysts of the international jazz development,” Jazz Facts Deutschlandfunk — National German Radio (Germany)
“One of the leading jazz journalists in the world,” University for Music and Performing Arts and Institute for Popular Music, Vienna (Austria)
“One of the world’s most prestigious jazz journalists,” ACT Music (Germany)
“The legendary jazz writer from England,” Swedish Jazz Federation (Sweden)
“There’s very little this guy doesn’t know about the great American art form,” Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia)
“A heavyweight jazz thinker,” Jazz File BBC Radio 3 (UK)
“Nicholson is a jazz buff and a shrewd critic.” THE TIMES (UK)
“Nicholson…is a serious jazz historian and a gifted writer.” JAZZ NOTES (USA)
“Impeccable musical scholarship’” KIRKUS REVIEWS (USA)
“Stuart Nicholson is one of the most respected jazz authors around.” AUSTRALIANJAZZ.NET (Australia)
“The most perceptive critic writing about jazz today,” Prof/Dr Tommy Smith, Saxophonist, Composer, Arranger, Artistic Director of Jazz, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (Scotland)
“Legendary jazz journalist Stuart Nicholson,” Jacob Young, Jazz Guitarist and ECM Recording Artist (Norway)
“A notable jazz writer,” Lee Mergner, Former Editor-in-Chief and Publisher, Jazz Times (USA)
“The esteemed author Stuart Nicholson.” MICHAEL CUSCUNA, Jazz Record Producer, Special Consultant, Producer, and Reissue Director of Blue Note Records, Leading Discographer of Blue Note Records and three times Grammy winner (USA)
“A great writer of jazz in the UK, Stuart Nicholson,” Jason Miles, Grammy Winning Keyboardist, Composer, Arranger and Record Producer who has worked with Miles Davis, Marcus Miller, Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Sting and Chaka Khan (USA)
“Stuart Nicholson has communicated a lot about the music to listeners,” Nat Hentoff,Historian, Novelist, Jazz Critic (USA)
Described as “der Reich-Ranicki des jazz” by the German daily newspaper Die Welt, Stuart Nicholson is the only European jazz commentator whose biography appears in the Grove Dictionary of American Music , the only jazz writer from beyond the shores of the United States to have achieved two Notable Book of the Year citations from The New York Times Review of Books and the only jazz writer to have had a major American Jazz Festival take as its theme the title of one of his books. One of the few jazz writers to have had three best selling books — Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography of the First Lady of Jazz, Is Jazz Dead (Or Has It Moved To A New Address) and Jazz: A Beginners Guide — he has lectured on jazz in major music conservatories, universities, colleges and jazz festivals throughout Europe and the world. His achievements in the world of jazz were recognised in 2008 by Leeds College of Music when the Professorial Conferment Committee confirmed the title of Professor upon him.
Stuart Nicholson was a Welsh National Eisteddfod winner in Fine Arts in 1964 and 1965. He studied music at the Welsh College of Music and Drama (1967-71) and led a popular band in the 1970s, appearing on BBC TV, BBC Radio and ITV. His adaptation of a traditional Welsh folksong for his band was recorded by the BBC and used as a signature tune for the popular BBC Radio Wales programme Sportstime for over ten years. Stuart Nicholson was a Logo Records recording artist. After ceasing playing professionally in 1980 he became increasingly involved in music journalism which he has pursued full-time since 1991.
Books Published
Stuart Nicholson’s first book, Jazz: The Modern Resurgence appeared in 1990. A detailed overview of jazz to be heard in the 1980s, it received widespread acclaim on publication and is now regarded as the definitive work on what was an important renascent decade for jazz. It was re-published in paperback world-wide in 1995 by Da Capo as Jazz the 1980s Resurgence, when the American magazine Jazz Times called it ‘A meticulous survey of the decade.’ Jazz: The 1980s Resurgence provided the inspiration for Australia’s critically acclaimed contemporary jazz radio programme, Esoteric Circle on Three D radio 93.7 FM.
In 1993, Stuart Nicholson’s biography of Ella Fitzgerald appeared in the United Kingdom and was immediately hailed as ‘One of the best biographies of a jazz performer ever written.’ When it was published the following year in the United States, it benefitted from the input of Norman Granz — founder of Verve records and Ella’s long-time manager and personal confident, who extensively recorded her, including the definitive Songbook series. Granz went through each chapter with the author, contributing personal reminiscences and making valuable suggestions where appropriate. It was nominated ‘A Notable Book of 1994’ by The New York Times Review of Books and subsequently, a ‘Noteworthy Paperback’ of 1996. On its seventh English language reprint in 2004, it was described as ‘A classic of jazz literature.’ Ella Fitzgerald has been published in translation in several countries including Germany, Brazil, Poland, and Taiwan. It’s eighth English language reprint is scheduled for 2024 in the USA. In 2017, Ella Fitzgerald was placed second in the American website Off the Shelf’s 10 Must-Read Biographies of Our Favorite American Icons.
In 1995, Stuart Nicholson’s groundbreaking biography of Billie Holiday was published in the United Kingdom, U.S.A. and Japan in 1995. It included a wealth of previously unpublished research by the author and his researcher Marsha Saron Dennis and once again included the valuable input of Norman Granz — who famously presented her on his Jazz at the Philharmonic concert series and recorded her on his Verve record label in the 1950s — who went through each chapter with the author contributing personal reminiscences and making valuable suggestions where appropriate. Acclaimed ‘The best biography yet of the star called Lady Day’ by the Daily Express, on publication, Ned Rorem, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1976, said it was ‘Intelligent, well written and maddeningly thorough’ and praised its musical insights in The New York Times Review of Books, which nominated it ‘A Notable Book of 1995’ and subsequently, a ‘Noteworthy Paperback of 1997′.
• Stuart Nicholson is the only jazz writer from outside the United States to have received two ‘Notable Book of the Year’ citations from The New York Times Review of Books.
In 1998 Jazz-Rock: A History was published in the United States and the United Kingdom. The first ever serious study of this important area of jazz, it was praised by the influential Kirkus Reviews in the United States for its ‘impeccable musical scholarship’.
In 1999 Stuart Nicholson’s innovative biography of Duke Ellington, Reminiscing in Tempo: A Portrait of Duke Ellington was published in the United States and the United Kingdom to coincide with Ellington’s centennial. Nominated ‘Book of the Week’ by The Mail on Sunday which described it as a ‘Vivid human document,’ The Sunday Times called it ‘Superb’ while The Washington Times said, ‘Mr. Nicholson’s book takes a permanent place in the essential bibliography of America’s greatest composer.’
On June 2, 2001, Stuart Nicholson’s major feature on European Jazz, ‘Europeans Cut In With a New Jazz Sound and Beat,’ opened the prestigious Arts & Leisure section of the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It was one of the most talked about features on jazz in the USA for many years, The Chicago Reader noting, ‘By the end of the day it had been e-mailed all over the country on jazz lists…Village Voice referred to it the following week…and [radio] WBEZ built a programme around Nicholson’s thesis.’
On 4th October 2005, Is Jazz Dead (Or Has It Moved to a New Address)? was published in the USA, prompting pianist, critic and acclaimed author of The History of Jazz and former editor of the jazz.com website, Ted Gioia to claim the author “may be the most perceptive critic writing about jazz today.” Jazz Times, then the biggest circulation American jazz magazine, included an unprecedented three reviews of the book in one issue.
Is Jazz Dead? (Or Has It Moved to a New Address)? was subsequently published worldwide in April 2006 and sold out its first print run within 12 weeks when copies of the book spiked at over $200 on internet booksellers such as Amazon and Abe books. Even today, there are internet booksellers asking over $150 for a hardback copy of the book. Is Jazz Dead (Or Has It Moved to a New Address)? numbers among the best selling jazz books of the new millennium.
Is Jazz Dead (Or Has It Moved to a New Address)? has appeared on the recommended reading list of countless colleges and universities offering degree courses in jazz in the United Kingdom, Europe and in the USA such as Duke University; the Center for Humanities at Washington University in St.Louis; The Manhattan New School; the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and many, many more. It has been cited in countless published academic papers on jazz and dissertations at degree and doctoral level, and was the inspiration behind a Fulbright Scholarship,
In July 2007, Is Jazz Dead (Or Has It Moved to a New Address)? inspired a specific European jazz strand at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, one of Europe’s premier jazz festivals where Stuart Nicholson was invited to conduct a clinic on the Globalisation of Jazz as part of the festival programme in the Volga room.
In 2010, the theme Is Jazz Dead (Or Has It Moved to a New Address)? was adopted by the Portland Jazz Festival in Oregon, one of North America’s leading jazz festivals, held between 22 – 28 February. The festival’s publicity said, “This year’s festival theme, Is Jazz Dead (Or Has It Moved to a New Address)?, shares the title of British jazz writer Stuart Nicholson’s critically acclaimed book on the contemporary state of jazz.”
In 2014, Finnish Music Quarterly noted, “Stuart Nicholson’s book Is Jazz Dead? (Or Has It Moved to a New Address) came out in 2005. The polemic and entertaining essay soon became an oft-quoted, highly influential text which ended up playing a major part in the renaissance of Nordic jazz.”
In 2015, Chapter 8 of Is Jazz Dead (Or Has It Moved To A New Address)? — “The Nordic Tone In Jazz” — was anthologised by the American academic Robert Walser in the Second Edition of Keeping Time: Readings In Jazz History, (Oxford University Press, New York, 2015), which has been described as “The single most valuable jazz-history resource (print or otherwise) available today.”
Is Jazz Dead (Or Has It Moved To A New Address)? was the subject of question in an examination paper for Portland State University’s Jazz Course (MUSIC MUS356 JAZZ) in Spring 2018.
In October June 2014, Jazz and Culture in a Global Age was published in the USA and worldwide. OJ, Sweden’s leading jazz magazine, called it “[A] milestone in the jazz genre. . . one of the most inspiring books about jazz I have ever read . . . a completely dazzling cultural survey” while the late Bob Belden, saxophonist, arranger, composer, Blue Note recording artist, record producer and three times Grammy winner said, “Jazz and Culture in a Global Age is Stuart Nicholson’s Kind of Blue — a masterpiece.” The music academic Dr. James W. Dickenson wrote, “This is much more than a book on jazz. Essential reading — I would compare it with another eminent work, Professor Wilfrid Mellers’ Music in a New Found Land (from 1964) for its sheer range and quality of scholarship.”
In February 2017, A Beginner’s Guide to Jazz was published worldwide by Oneworld. A lively and highly accessible introduction to jazz, Bill Kirchner, a musician and record producer on New York City’s busy jazz scene and a lecturer on jazz of long standing at the Manhattan School of Music and The New School in Manhattan observed, “Far more than a Beginner’s Guide, this book is Stuart Nicholson’s enlightened and enlightening view of jazz — enough to make even experienced jazz fans listen with fresh ears.” Especially valuable were the final two chapters, The Postmodern Paradox, a summation of jazz from 1980–2010 and Jazz in the Global Village explaining in detail the globalisation/glocalisation trend in jazz right up current times. In the fall of 2018, Beginner’s Guide to Jazz was selected as the Book Club choice of Dr. Gerald Early, for the monthly Book Club he hosts at Jazz St. Louis — Dr. Early is the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters, Professor of English and of African and Afro-American Studies, Director of the Center for Humanities, and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at Washington University. In May 2020, A Beginners Guide to Jazz became an Amazon #1 Best Seller when it topped the Music Textbook Top 100 Best Selling chart.
- Stuart Nicholson’s Beginners Guide to Jazz became his third Best Seller, along with Ella Fitzgerald and Is Jazz Dead (Or Has It Moved To A New Address)?
- Stuart Nicholson’s books have been translated into thirteen languages including: German, Japanese, Brazilian, Polish, Finnish and Taiwanese.
In December 1999 Stuart Nicholson was co-author, along with the distinguished writers Max Harrison and Eric Thacker, of The Essential Jazz Records Vol. 2. Each writer analysed in depth and detail over 70 recordings (making 250 in total) made between 1945 and 1998, a project that ran to over 1,000 pages of musical analysis and discussion.
In 2002 Stuart Nicholson was co-author, along with nine leading US jazz critics — Ted Gioia, Peter Watrous, John Szwed, Ben Ratliff, Will Friedwald, Greg Tate, K. Leander Williams, Jim Macnie and Peter Margasak — of the book Future Jazz (published in the USA only).
Stuart Nicholson has contributed two chapters to Masters of Jazz Guitar (1999), a chapter each to the The Cartoon Music Book (2002) and The Cambridge Companion to Jazz (2003), and contributed to The Encyclopaedia of the Harlem Renaissance (2005).
Lectures, Talks and Media.
In 1995 Stuart Nicholson appeared as speaker at the UK Year of Literature and Writing in Swansea to give readings from his published works and discuss jazz criticism.
Since 1995, Stuart Nicholson has regularly contributed to American magazine Downbeat’s annual Critic’s Poll.
In February 1996 he was invited by Cambridge University to respond to Gunther Schuller (the 1994 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Music Composition) whose three day lecture ‘The History of Jazz’ was the subject of the prestigious Tanner Lecture Series.
In 1999, Stuart Nicholson researched, scripted and was music consultant for the six part series Ella: The Ultimate Diva, narrated by Dame Cleo Laine that was aired on BBC Radio 2 in 1999-2000. It was later entered by BBC Radio Wales for a Sony Award.
In February 2000, Stuart Nicholson set the jazz questions for the popular BBC television quiz show Mastermind.
In March 2001, Stuart Nicholson spoke at the inaugural Annual General Meeting of the Jazz Research Network at Manchester University. Later in the year he acted as a consultant for the BBC TV Reputations documentary on Billie Holiday.
On 3 June 2001, Stuart Nicholson’s major feature on European Jazz, ‘Europeans Cut In With a New Jazz Sound and Beat,’ opened the prestigious Arts & Leisure section of the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It was one of the most talked about features on jazz in the USA for some while, The Chicago Reader noting, ‘By the end of the day it had been e-mailed all over the country on jazz lists…Village Voice referred to it the following week…and [radio] WBEZ built a programme around Nicholson’s thesis.’
- Stuart Nicholson is the only jazz writer from outside the United States to have had a major feature open the Arts & Leisure section of the New York Times. He has subsequently written other features on jazz for the paper.
In March 2002 he spoke on the effects of the ‘Globalization/Glocalisation of Jazz’ at the eighth Leeds International Jazz Education Conference (LIJEC) held at Leeds College of Music.
In 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 Stuart Nicholson was a member of the international panel of judges for the prestigious European Jazz Prize given by the Austrian Music Council.
In March 2003, Humphrey Lyttelton invited Stuart Nicholson to provide the liner notes for Universal’s three CD set The Best of Humphrey Lyttelton.
In August 2003 he was invited to chair the panel of judge’s in the inaugural Australian Jazz Awards held in Melbourne. At the awards ceremony held in the Melbourne Hilton, his speech on Australian jazz followed the address of the Hon. Mary Delahunty MLA, Minister for the Arts. He also appeared on ABC’s (Australian Broadcast Corporation) The Deep End, a version of the BBC’s long running radio show Desert Island Discs, while in Australia, talking about his career in music, and discussing his books published to date.
In September 2003 Stuart Nicholson was invited to speak at the second colloquium of the European Jazz Network, the EEC funded organisation of European jazz festival promoters and governmental organisations, held in Oslo. His subject was the globalisation/glocalisation of jazz.
In October 2003, Stuart Nicholson gave an address on the ‘Changing Face of Jazz’ caused by globalisation/glocalisation of the music at the Tampere Jazz Festival, Finland.
In March 2004 Stuart Nicholson chaired a panel discussion with Blue Note record executive Michael Cuscuna and the American saxophonist and bandleader Bob Mintzer at the tenth Leeds International Jazz Education Conference.
On Tuesday, 1 March 2005 at the invitation of Her Majesty the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, Stuart Nicholson attended a reception at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the contribution of the Music Industry to the culture and economy of the United Kingdom.
In June 2005, he was invited to give a three day Masterclass on Jazz Writing to over thirty Italian journalists and university students at the Terni Jazz Festival in Umbria, Italy.
In November 2005, Stuart Nicholson was invited by the committee of the celebrated Oslo Jazz Festival to give a two hour presentation on future trends in jazz to aid in their strategic planning which included the effects of the globalisation/glocalisation of jazz.
In April 2006, Stuart Nicholson’s talk on the globalization/glocalisation of jazz was a part of the festival programme at the inaugural Jazzahead! convention at Bremen.
In 2006 he gave lectures on the ‘Globalization/Glocalisation of Jazz’ at The School of Photography, Media and New Music in Jerusalem, Israel, the Accademia Nazionale Del Jazz (The National Academy of Jazz) in Siena, Italy and appeared in a panel discussion ‘Is Jazz Dead (Or Has It Moved To a New Address)’ at the Finnish Jazz Expo 2006.
In March 2007, Stuart Nicholson was invited to give a half hour talk on BBC Radio 3 on The Future of Jazz where he was introduced as “a heavyweight jazz writer.” His talk majored on the globalisation/glocalisation effects of jazz.
In April 2007 Stuart Nicholson received the Jazz Journalist of the Year award in the prestigious United Kingdom Parliamentary Jazz Awards.
In September 2007, Stuart Nicholson accepted a lectureship at Leeds College of Music for one academic year, taking three modules for year two students and two modules for year three students on the BA (Hons) Music course.
In 2007 Stuart Nicholson gave lectures on the globalization/glocalisation of Jazz at the University of Nottingham, Leeds College of Music, The International Society for Jazz Research at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts in Graz, Austria.
On Sunday July 15, 2007 Stuart Nicholson conducted a clinic called “Out of Sight and Out of Mind: Jazz in the Global Village” as part of the festival programme at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam, one of Europe’s premier jazz festivals, where his book Is Jazz Dead (Or Has It Moved to a New Address?) had inspired a specific European jazz strand.
In July 2007 he gave a lecture on Future Trends in Jazz at the Accademia Nazionale Del Jazz (The National Academy of Jazz) in Siena, Italy which described the effects of globalisation/glocalisation on jazz. In October 2007 he was a guest of the German radio station WDR at Jazz Cologne, a weekend festival of jazz where he spoke on air on the effects of the globalization/glocalisation of jazz and interviewed the Norwegian trumpet player Arve Henriksen before a live audience for radio WDR as part of the Jazz Cologne festival programme.
In October 2007 Stuart Nicholson gave a talk on ‘What is Jazz Becoming’ at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, explaining the effects of globalisation and globalisation of jazz and then participated in the subsequent panel discussion, an event organised by the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
In November 2007 he gave the keynote address on the Globalization/Glocalisation of Jazz at the annual general meeting of the Swedish Jazz Federation in Stockholm, where he was described in their programme as ‘The legendary jazz writer from England.’
In 2008, Stuart Nicholson participated in a panel discussion on European Jazz at the inaugural Hungarian Jazz Expo held at the Palace of Arts in Budapest.
In 2008, Stuart Nicholson gave lectures on the effects of the globalization/glocalisation of jazz on Jazz at the by:Larm Festival in Oslo, Jazzkaar in Tallinn in Estonia, Leeds College of Music and was a panel member for a discussion “Excellence in Jazz Journalism” at the Jazzahead! convention in Bremen. He was also a guest of radio WDR in Germany at the Moers Festival in Germany, speaking on air about contemporary trends in jazz and the effects of the globalisation/glocalisation of jazz.
In October 2008, Stuart Nicholson gave a lecture on “European Jazz Collectives” and chaired a subsequent panel discussion at the opening of the F-ire Collective’s Jazz Festival week at King’s Place, London.
On 4th November 2008, the Professorial Conferment Committee of Leeds College of Music conferred the title of Visiting Professor on Stuart Nicholson. His conferment letter read: “Visiting Professorships are conferred where an individual who has continuing association with the College has shown distinction in research and professional practice and has developed a national and/or international profile in their field. The Committee agreed that in recognition of his career at the forefront of jazz journalism and scholarship and commitment to sharing knowledge through music education allowed students to gain valuable insights into jazz. Further, past work with Leeds College of Music has shown distinction, engaging and inspiring students. Both students and staff benefited from opportunities in working with Stuart Nicholson.” The professorial conferment allows Stuart Nicholson to use the title of Professor .
In November 2008 Prof. Stuart Nicholson was again radio WDR’s guest at Jazz Cologne where he reviewed the festival live on air and the following day interviewed the Vietnamese guitar player Nguyen Le before a live audience as part of the Jazz Cologne festival programme.
In January 2009, Prof. Stuart Nicholson participated in a panel discussion on Hungarian Jazz at the second Hungarian Jazz Expo held at the Palace of Arts in Budapest.
In February 2009, Prof. Stuart Nicholson gave a half day of interviews to camera for the Finnish public broadcaster YLE for their three-part television documentary The Nordic Tone in Jazz, made in collaboration with NRK in Norway and SVT in Sweden.
In February 2009 Prof. Stuart Nicholson gave the Keynote Address at the annual meeting of the Association Européene des Conservatories (Association of European Conservatories) Jazz Platform at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Netherlands, to over 170 heads of jazz departments from Europe’s leading jazz conservatories. He explained the globalisation/glocalisation theory in detail which by now was being adopted into the curriculum of many jazz studies courses in Universities and Conservatoires across Europe.
In March 2009 Prof. Stuart Nicholson gave the Keynote Address at the Leeds International Jazz Conference at Leeds College of Music, speaking about the effects of globalisation/glocalisation.
In April 2009, Prof. Stuart Nicholson contributed an overview of British Jazz for Jazz Services’ Guide to UK Jazz, and presented four leading UK jazz groups at the first ever showcase of British Jazz in Europe at the Jazzahead! convention in Bremen.
In June 2009, Prof. Stuart Nicholson chaired a panel discussion with three distinguished European jazz promoters called “The Future of ‘J’ Festivals” at the Moers Festival in North Germany and provided a review of the festival live on-air for radio WDR.
In June 2009, Prof. Stuart Nicholson was interviewed for the BBC Radio 2 documentary All of Me: The Betrayal of Billie Holiday which was transmitted on 30 June 2009.
Also in June, Prof. Stuart Nicholson was invited to present his paper, “Voices from Europe – Jazz in the Cinema” to a quarterly meeting of the European Radio Jazz Research in Linz, Germany comprising heads of jazz departments of Public Radio stations, jazz animators, academics, jazz researchers and jazz journalists, mainly from Germany and Austria.
In September 2009, Prof. Stuart Nicholson was invited to the quarterly meeting of the European Radio Jazz Research in Bad Hennef, Germany to present two papers, British Jazz: 1919-1945 and British Jazz: 1945-1975.
In November 2009, Prof. Stuart Nicholson was radio WDR’s guest at the Cologne Jazz Festival, where he provided live, on-air reviews of the festival.
On November 25, 2009, The New York Times ran the story, “Intimate Ella Fitzgerald, Rediscovered” that name checked Stuart Nicholson as Ella’s biographer: “Mr. Seidel had been the head of Verve from 1982 to 2002…[and] was re-reading a biography of Fitzgerald by Stuart Nicholson. In the..discography…he was struck by how much was put down on tape at…the Crescendo Club…[in 1961 that resulted in] Twelve Nights in Hollywood’, a four-CD boxed set of Ella Fitzgerald singing 76 songs at the Crescendo…none of it ever released until now”.
In January 2010 Prof. Stuart Nicholson gave the keynote speech at the launch of the Jazz Services paper The BBC – Public Sector Broadcasting, Jazz, Policy and Structure in The Digital Age of which he was principal author at University of Westminster’s Music Tank held in the Cockpit Theater, London and participated in the panel discussion which followed which included Roger Wright, Head of BBC Radio 3.
In February 2010 Prof. Stuart Nicholson was invited to open the “Jazz Talk” series that preceded 15 weekly concerts at Oslo’s National Jazz Centre, where he was interviewed in front of a live audience about issues raised in Is Jazz Dead? He then interviewed pianist Helge Lien before a live audience about his approach to improvisation.
In May 2010 Prof. Nicholson was the main speaker at a symposium held by the Maijazz Festival in Stavanger, Norway on the subject of “Jazz and Identity” held at the Bjergsted Institut for Musikk as part of the festival programme. He was also invited to contribute to the BBC Radio 2 programme “Jazz Connections.”
In June 2010 Prof. Nicholson was invited to become a Patron of the National Jazz Archive, joining the distinguished company of Baroness Amos, Dame Cleo Laine, The Rt Hon John Prescott MP, Sir Michael Parkinson CBE and others in a cause close to his heart.
In September 2010, Prof. Nicholson was a part of the Punkt Festival Seminar programme, where he gave a lecture on Jazz in the Global Village explaining the effects of globalisation/glocalisation in jazz at the Kristiansand Musikkens Hus.
Also in September 2010, Prof. Nicholson was invited to the quarterly meeting of European Radio Jazz Research in Freiburg, Germany, to present a his paper on Jazz in the Media Today.
In November 2010, Prof. Nicholson was radio WDR’s guest at Jazz Cologne where he reviewed the festival live on air and the following day interviewed the distinguished German vibraphonist Gunter Hampel before a live audience as part of the Jazz Cologne programme.
In January 2011, Prof. Nicholson was invited to the quarterly meeting of European Radio Jazz Research, in Fertig, Germany to present his paper on The Nordic Tone in Jazz, and in two separate sessions interviewed the distinguished young Norwegian musicians Per Zanussi and Hakon Kornstad in front of an invited audience.
In June 2011, Prof. Nicholson was invited to give the keynote speech at the inaugural Joe Zawinul Music Days organised by the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and the Institute for Popular Music where he was described as “One of the leading jazz journalists in the world” in the festival programming. He explained how Joe Zawinul’s music with Weather Report and the Zawinul Syndicate anticipated the globalisation/glocalisation trend in jazz by his use of Austrian folkloric themes in his music.
Also in June 2011, Prof. Nicholson was invited to give the keynote speech on the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama’s Jazz Day on the occasion of the opening of their new, multi-million pound refurbishment. He explained the effects of globalisation/glocalisation in jazz.
In September 2011, Prof. Nicholson was invited to the quarterly meeting of European Radio Jazz Research in Remagen, Germany to present his paper on The BBC, Jazz Policy and Outsourcing.
In September 2011, Prof. Nicholson was invited to chair the panel of judges for the prestigious Young Nordic Jazz Comets competition, held annually to identify the brightest young jazz talent under the age of 27 from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Faroe Islands and Iceland. The winners enjoy a substantial bursary.
In October 2011, Prof. Stuart Nicholson was the guest of WDR at the Jazz Cologne festival, where he was invited to give a review of the festival live on-air.
In November 2011, Prof. Stuart Nicholson participated in a panel discussion at London’s Blackheath Concert Hall as part of the Greenwich Jazz Festival at the invitation of Trinity Laban College of Music, London.
At the opening ceremony of the seventh Jazzahead convention in Bremen in April 2012, Prof. Nicholson was given the honour of providing the laudation for Siggi Loch, owner of ACT Records, who was awarded the annual Skoda Jazz Prize, which carries a bursary of €15,000, for “Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Jazz.”
In May 2012, Prof. Stuart Nicholson was invited to speak at the Jazz Summit 2012 strand of the Trondheim Jazz Festival in Norway, where he was the only speaker to present two papers, one of which was explaining the effects of globalisation/glocalisation in jazz. He also appeared in a panel discussion at the end of the Jazz Summit strand.
In August 2012, Prof. Nicholson was invited to 20th meeting of the European Radio Jazz Research in Rheinsberg, Germany to present his paper on Is Jazz Education Providing Audiences of the Future? – A Look at Changing Audience Demographics.
In November 2012, Prof. Nicholson wrote and selected the music for an hour long programme transmitted by WDR entitled, Jazz and the BBC.
In October 2013, Prof. Nicholson was invited to present his paper called “An Approach to the Concept of European Jazz” at the 23rd meeting of the European Radio Jazz Research in Osnabrück, Germany.
In November 2013, Prof. Nicholson was invited to present a lecture on the Globalization of Jazz for the students and faculty of the jazz department at the Lucerne School of Music, Switzerland.
On 15 July 2015, Prof. Stuart Nicholson was invited to present a lecture on “Jazz and Culture in a Global Age” at the Jazzit Fest in Collescipoli, Italy, explaining the effects of globalisation/glocalisation in jazz.
In October 2016, the distinguished Swedish jazz magazine Orkester Journalen published a feature on Stuart Nicholson’s jazz photographs to coincide with the launch of his website, Stuartnicholson.uk.
On 14 April 2017, Prof. Stuart Nicholson appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme to talk about Ella Fitzgerald on the occasion of her 100th Birthday Anniversary month.
In April 2017, Prof. Stuart Nicholson’s interviews about Ella Fitzgerald were broadcast on the BBC Radio 2 radio documentary Ella at 100 that told the Ella Fitzgerald story, narrated by Petula Clark, in two hour long episodes.
On 13 May 2017, Prof. Stuart Nicholson presented his talk, “Listening to Jazz in the Digital Age” as part of the Loughton Festival at the National Jazz Archive, Loughton, Essex.
On 10th August 2018, Prof. Stuart Nicholson joined the members of the Jazz St. Louis Book Club via Skype to talk about A Beginner’s Guide to Jazz. It was the monthly book club choice of Dr. Gerald Early, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters, Professor of English and of African and Afro-American Studies, Director of the Center for Humanities, and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at Washington University.
In October 2018, three photographic images from Prof. Stuart Nicholson’s photographic archive of the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra and a copy of his press feature on the Toshiko Akiyoshi Jazz Orchestra appeared in the video celebrating the bandleader’s life, released in conjunction with her BNY Mellon Jazz 2018 Living Legacy Award —
In September 2020 Prof. Stuart Nicholson’s jazz research items reached 3,500 reads on the academic website Researchgate.net
In October 2, 2020, Ella: The Lost Berlin Tapes were released by Verve, with liner notes by Stuart Nicholson, prompting a major feature in The New York Times and another namecheck for Stuart Nicholson as Ella’s biographer.
On November 27, 2020, Ella Fitzgerald: A Biography of the First Lady of Jazz registered 1,500 reads on Researchgate, the European networking site for academics, scientists and researchers.
The December 2020/January 2021 edition of Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on Elina Duni and Rob Luft, “Sailing To New Horizons.”
In February 2021, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s cover feature on Joe Lovano, “In the Garden of a Thousand Spirits.”
In March 2021, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s cover feature on Lee Morgan, California Dreamin.'”
In April 2021, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s features on Chick Corea, “Il’Etaint Chick,” and Katherine Windfeld, “Sea Change.”
On May 4, 2021, Professor Stuart Nicholson presented a 60-minute zoom masterclass on Jazz and Culture in a Global Age in the Masters in Music series for the jazz students of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and members of the Scottish National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Other presenters in the series included Kurt Elling, Makoto Ozone, Jazzmeia Horn, Gary Crosby and others.
In May 2021, Professor Stuart Nicholson’s A Beginners Guide to Jazz became an Amazon #1 Best Seller
In May 2021, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on Paul Whiteman, “The Concert That Saved Jazz.”
In June 2021, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s cover feature on Julian Lage, “The View From Here.”
In August 2021, Ralph Moore of the Hargrove Documentary LLC commissioned three photographic images from Professor Nicholson’s photographic archive for the forthcoming film documentary on the life and times of the late Roy Hargrove.
In August 2021, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on 1960’s British Jazz, Rule Britannia!”
In September 2021, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s cover feature on Kenny Garrrett, “Spirits of the Elders.”
In October 2021, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on Miles Davis, “Heavyweight Champion.”
In November 2021, the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters 2022 programme licensed fourteen photographic images from Professor Nicholson’s photographic archive of Stanley Clarke, Billy Hart, Cassandra Wilson and Donald Harrison Jr., each the subject of an NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Film, now archived on the NEA website.
In November 2021, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s cover feature on Yazz Ahmed, “This Is Not America?”
In December 2021, saxophonist Charles Lloyd and his wife and manager Dorothy Darr commissioned three sets of liner notes for Charles’ forthcoming 2022 releases on the Blue Note label, the Trio of Trios project commencing with Chapel Trio, followed by Ocean Trio and the Sacred Thread. These albums were released at intervals through 2023, to enormous critical acclaim throughout the jazz world, with Charles Lloyd becoming Downbeat’s Artist of the Year for 2023.
Stuart Nicholson is one of only two non-American residents to have written liner notes for the legendary Blue Note label. The first was fellow Brit Tony Hall, who contributed the notes for Blues in Trinity by Dizzy Reece in 1958.
The December 2021/January 2022 edition of Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s cover feature on Pat Metheny, “The Great Survivor.”
In January 2022, Professor Stuart Nicholson contributed over half of album reviews in Jazzwise Presents the 100 Jazz Albums That Shook the World, edited by Jon Newey, a successful bookazine project that quickly sold out its first print run.
In February 2022, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on Michael Brecker, “The Eternal Quest.”
In March 2022, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on Kit Downes, “One In A Vermillion.”
In April 2022 producer and director Joerg Steineck selected three photographs from Professor Nicholson’s photographic archive, of B. B. King and Miles Davis, for his documentary film Inside John Scofield, released in December 2022. The trailer for the film can be viewed here.
In April 2022, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on Courtney Pine, ‘An Unexpected Journey.”
In May 2022, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s cover feature on Mike Westbrook, “The Unsung Poet’s Mighty Roar.”
In June 2022, Professor Stuart Nicholson spoke to camera for the forthcoming film documentary on the Swiss jazz pianist Nik Bärtsch and his music.
In June 2022, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on John McLaughlin, “Smoke On The Water.”
In July 2022, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on Charles Lloyd, “Dreaming In Threes.”
In August 2022, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on Zela Margossian, “Woman of the World.”
In September 2022, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on Miles Davis, “The Second Coming.”
In October 2022, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s features on Leonard Cohen, “A Blue Hallelujah” and Julia Hülsmann, “A New Point of Entry.”
In November 2022, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on The Bad Plus, “Breaking Good.” During the same month the Eliane Henri documentary film HARGROVE on the life of trumpeter Roy Hargrove was released which contained three photographs from Stuart Nicholson’s photographic archive.
The December 2022/January 2023 edition of Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s cover feature on Albert Ayler, “Spirits Flying High.”
In February 2023, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on Tim Garland and Jason Rebello, ‘A Plea For Two” and Ahmad Jamal, “Precious Gems.”
In March 2023, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on jazz in Scotland, “Gael Forces.”
In April 2023, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s cover feature on John McLaughlin’s Shakti, “The New Power Generation.”
In May 2023, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on Espen Eriksen, “Espen’s Progress” and Yeti, ‘Bristol’s Big Foot.”
In June 2023, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on Artemis, “Accentuate the Positive…Eliminate the Negative.”
In July 2023, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s cover feature on Marcus Miller, “It’s Miller Time.”
In August 2023, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy, “Opening the Gateway.”
In September 2023, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on jazz in Poland, “Let Poland Be Poland.”
In October 2023, Jazzwise carried Sturt Nicholson’s feature on the legendary Brazilian singer-songwriter Ivan Lins.
In November 2023, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s cover feature on Hiromi, “Sonic Boom.”
The December 2023/January 2024 edition of Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s cover feature on Duke Ellington, “The Regal Revolutionary.”
In February 2024, Jazzwise carried Stuart Nicholson’s feature on Mario Bauza, Machito and the Birth of Afro-Cuban Jazz, “Mambo Kings.”
Keynote Speeches Delivered
2007: Annual General Meeting of the Swedish Jazz Federation, Stockholm, Sweden.
2009: Annual General Meeting of the Association Européene des Conservatories (Association of European Conservatories) Jazz Platform at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, Netherlands keynote The Globalisation and Glocalisation of Jazz.
2009: Leeds International Jazz Conference at Leeds College of Music, United Kingdom.
2010: University of Westminster’s Music Tank meeting at the launch of the Jazz Services paper The BBC – Public Sector Broadcasting, Jazz, Policy and Structure in The Digital Age of which he was principal author.
2011: The inaugural Joe Zawinul Days at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna keynote Jazz from Austria: Joe Zawinul and the Globalization of Jazz
2011: The Royal Welsh College of Music on the occasion of the college’s reopening after a multi-million pound refurbishment: keynote Jazz Today.
Papers Published
2005: “Tensions in the Marketplace: Reflections on the Major Recording Companies’ Documentation of Jazz in the late 1990s and the New Millennium Years.” (The Source Vol. 2. Leeds College of Music: 2005)
2008: “Jazz in the Global Village.” (Atypical Jazz: 25 Jahre Weiner Musik Gallerie/ORF Radio Kultur Haus, Austria: 2008)
2009: “Jazz in the Global Village” [updated] (Jazzforschung: Lectures in the 8th Jazz Musicological Symposium. University of Music and Dramatic Arts, Graz, Austria: 2009).
2010: “The BBC – Public Sector Broadcasting, Jazz, Policy and Structure in The Digital Age” Stuart Nicholson was principal author (Jazz Services, UK 2010)
Articles and Reviews Published
A regular contributor on jazz to The Observer in the 1990s and early millennium years and The Observer Music Monthly from its inception in 2003 to its close in 2009, Stuart Nicholson’s jazz pieces have also appeared in the pages of The New York Times, The Times, The Irish Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Financial Times, Times Literary Supplement, The Spectator, The Guardian, Courier International (Paris), Cinema Musica, The European, Today, Western Mail, BBC Radio 3 Prom Festival Guide, Svensk Jazz, The Finnish Music Quarterly, Nordic Sounds, Mojo, The Works (the magazine of the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters), The Link, Jazz UK, Jazz Express, The Wire and Jazz Magazine. Stuart Nicholson has also written features on consumer issues under a pen name.
Between 1985-1995, Stuart Nicholson was a regular contributor to the monthly music magazine Wire and between December 1992 and April 1999 was a regular contributor to BBC Music Magazine. Between 1987-9 he was a regular contributor on jazz to Gramophone and supplied the majority of jazz reviews for their 1989 Good CD Guide. Between 2000 – 2005 Stuart Nicholson was the first European jazz writer to regularly contribute to the USA’s biggest circulation jazz magazine Jazz Times. He was also the first European (and non-American) to have written cover features for the magazine.
Stuart Nicholson was the main European contributor to the critically acclaimed American website jazz.com, edited by Ted Gioia, from the website’s launch in December 2007. As Chris Kelsey, who edited material for jazz.com told Jazz Times, ‘In Ted Panken and Stuart Nicholson jazz.com employs some of the best interviewers in the business.’ Until jazz.com’s demise in February 2010, Stuart Nicholson regularly contributed features, articles and interviews.
Stuart Nicholson is a regular contributor to the UK jazz magazine Jazzwise — as Anil Prasad, Editor and Publisher of Innerviews and voted one of the six most influential music journalists of all time by G.A.S. Media, has commented, ‘Stuart Nicholson puts together interesting pieces for Jazzwise that resonate with me.’ Stuart Nicholson is frequently commissioned by European jazz magazines and has lost count of the number of liner notes he has written over the years for both LP and CD jazz releases and re-releases.
As Dr. Peter Martin, formerly of the University of Manchester wrote, ‘If you go into the bookstores of New York City, the jazz capital of the world, you’ll find Stuart Nicholson has won critical acclaim in the USA for his books on Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald as well as his work on contemporary jazz.’
Photo Please Credit: Jan Granlie
Contact
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