There are blogs that write about the great famous jazz musicians who we all know and love â those who release under ACT, ECM, Blue Note, etc â but there are also some brilliant local, niche jazz blogs that give a lot of space to artists who are not internationally recognisedâŠyet!
We check out a LOT of jazz media outlets (partly to decide which ones best suit the album campaigns weâre working on) which means spending a lot of time reading reviews and discovering music weâve never heard about before.
Of course, many of these niche European jazz websites write mostly about their local scene; reviewing self-released CDs as well as live gigs in their city â but this is actually what weâre looking for sometimes!
So, anyway, hereâs my list of some great ânicheâ jazz blogs & websites in Europe and the sort of music they can help you discoverâŠ
And no worries: if these blogs are not in your native language, Google Translate will help you get the âWow! I have to check this out!â experience as well.
(Iâll avoid all UK sites as we recently covered them in this article about Great British Jazz Blogs & Websites that you should know about)
JAZZPORT (Czech Republic)
Thereâs a super kind man reviewing for Jazzport (Jan Hocek), you might remember him from our Q&A. He seems to review everything that he receives (I hope thatâs not a secret?) and as heâs a real jazz fan and a great writer, itâs a joy reading what he publishes.
Jan writes: âI like reviewing good music! My favorites are contemporary jazz, free jazz and hard bop from the sixties. I also write a lot about free improvisation and classical contemporary 20th century music.â
Recently discovered thanks to Jazzport: Valér Miko Trio
Recent review via the Jazzfuel press outreach: Clemens Kuratleâs Murmullo (Lies)
DONOS KULTURALNY (Poland)
Donos Kulturalny is the one-man-show of the journalist Krzysztof Komorek who also writes for the major printed magazine JazzPress and collaborates with the Radio Jazz.FM. Itâs focused mostly on releases from independent labels and self edited music from Poland and beyond.
Krzysztof writes: âWhat I like to review the best? I canât express the type of music. I like solos as well as chamber projects â duos & piano trios. And finally: unexpected things. When thereâs some kind of a surprise during listening.â
Recently discovered thanks to Donos Kulturalny: Hildegunn Ăiseth
Recent review via the Jazzfuel press outreach: Mulo Francel & Chris Gall (Mythos)
JAZZMA (Hungary)
Aside from the fact that I kind of like looking at Hungarian writing (and listening them talkâŠ), Hungarian jazz is a hidden gem worth attention.
Started on March 1st 2011, JazzMa is the leading jazz website in Hungary and run by RĂłbert Maloschik who was previously jazz editor-in-chief of Bartok Radio (the classical and jazz station of Hungarian Radio).
RĂłbert writes: âBetween 1975 and 2010 I made 1037 jazz programs which I think itâs an absolute world record! And from 1995 till today me and my lovely wife Gabriella organised more than 1200 jazz concerts, too. We invited such world star jazz musicians like Pat Metheny, Al Jarreau, Jack DeJohnette, John Patitucci, Bobby McFerrin, Herbie Hancock, Branford Marsalis, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, Omar Hakimn Eliane Elias, Jan Garbarek, Randy Brecker⊠Between 1998 and 2013 I organized 12 talent competitions. I like modern mainstream jazz. My favourite jazz musicians are Wynton Marsalis and Branford Marsalisâ
Recently discovered thanks to Jazzma: Juhasz Gabor Trio
Recent review via the Jazzfuel press outreach: Nikol BĂłkovĂĄ Trio (Inner Place)
JAZZ.SK (Slovakia)
The jazz scenes of small countries are often underestimated and overlooked. That says nothing about their quality though. Why donât you explore something completely new today? This blog focuses on Slovakian jazz â as well as any international names they like too.
Jazz.sk writes: âThe jazz.sk portal is open to all genres of jazz, we are not focused on a specific jazz subgenre. We write about news from the jazz world, as well as from the local scene. An interesting feature of jazz.sk is that in addition to being active on the Internet, we organize the ESPRIT survey â an award for the best Slovak Jazz album of the year, the Jazz START UP competition for young jazz talents and jazz workshops Evening Jazz Ateliers.â
Recently discovered thanks to jazz.sk: LuboĆĄ Ć rĂĄmek & Nikolaj Nikitin
Recent review via the Jazzfuel press outreach: NuHussel Orchestra (The Forest)
JAZZFLITS (Netherlands)
JazzFlits is a Dutch online magazine which comes out twice a month. They reflect whatâs happening in their & neighboring countries but review any albums they like even if theyâre totally unknown in the Netherlands.
Recently discovered thanks to JazzFlits: Braskiri
Recent review via the Jazzfuel press outreach: Sefrial (Sefrial) in JazzFlits
JAZZBLOG JAZZNYT (Denmark)
There are two jazz sites with very similar names; one of them is the Danish jazz blog and the other one is from Norway: Jazznytt Magazine. Iâm referring here to the Danish one â the owner and the only author Niels OvergĂ„rd writes astute, concise reviews â which also means that you can read more of themâŠ
Niels writes:Â âJazznyt is focusing on jazz from a danish perspective. Thereâs a broadminded and curious taste that goes beyond the borders of jazz. Free, funny, fragile, fusionistic, fertile, fantastic, funky and loads of other jazz-styles. Over 200 yearly posts with reviews of new releases from Denmark, Scandinavia, Europe and the whole wide world of wonderful jazz.â
Recently discovered thanks to Jazznyt: Carsten Meinert
Recent review via the Jazzfuel press outreach: Blicher Hemmer Gadd (Get That Motor Runninâ)
JAZZAROUND (Belgium)
I like their straightforward review style: you find out who played with whom and where you know their name from. They put albums into a wider context and usually go quite deeply into musiciansâ history. Plus youâll find many interesting interviews theyâve done with musicians.
JazzAround: âThe name of our webzine (a real magazine till 2004) tells the line we are following from the start, around is almost as important as the word jazz is. It means that on Mondays Robert SacrĂ© writes about blues, gospel. Robert is a well known connoisseur of these genres. Tuesday is the âaround dayâ held by Yves Tassin (from electro to jazz and even alternative pop), Wednesday is the interviews day, on Thursday mostly jazz/jazz from Belgium (Claude Loxhay, Jean-Pierre Goffin), and on Friday free jazz, improvisation by Jean-Miche Van Schouwburg a specialist. We also collaborate sometimes with Citizen Jazz, London Jazz and Jazzâhalo.â
Recently discovered thanks to JazzAround: Jean-Paul Estiévenart
Recent review via the Jazzfuel press outreach: Andrew Rathbun (Character Study)
SPELLBINDING MUSIC (Ireland)
As the site itself states: Focusing mainly on independent releases, Spellbinding Music operates as a human-generated recommendation engine and instinctively follows two simple threads: it seeks genre-bending and spine-tingling music.
Recently discovered thanks to Spellbinding Music: Hailu Mergia
Recent review via the Jazzfuel press outreach: SĂžren Bebe Trio (Echoes)