Jun 10, 2025 4:13 PM
Theo Croker’s Dream … Manifested!
Partway through his early set at Smoke Jazz Club, Theo Croker blinks the room back into focus. He leans over the piano.…
The International Association for Jazz Education has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to a letter that IAJE President Chuck Owen sent out to organization members on Friday. “IAJE as it presently stands will no longer exist,” Owen wrote.
“Years of dependence upon the [IAJE] conference as a primary (but unreliable) revenue stream and the launch of a well-intentioned capital campaign (the Campaign For Jazz), which generated a meager response but required considerable expenditures in advance of contributions, drove the organization into insolvency,” Owen wrote. “Sadly, the attendance at the conference in Toronto (the lowest in 10 years) exacerbated an already critical situation, depriving the association of the cash-flow needed to continue daily operations as well as the time needed to seek alternative resources.”
Owen added that the 2009 IAJE conference in Seattle has been cancelled and that the organization’s office has closed its doors, although it will still operate the iaje.org web site.
The bankruptcy filing comes after a few weeks of public hits that the organization has endured this month. Mary Jo Papich resigned from her position as president-elect of the International Association For Jazz Education in a letter addressed to the IAJE Board and past presidents on April 8. A few days earlier, Owen sent a letter to its members describing the organization’s finacial situation as, “the most challenging time in the association’s history.”
At that time, the organization faced a mountain of debt that sources say could be more than $500,000.
“It’s a hard time for non-profits, especially in the arts,” IAJE executive producer Steve Baker said. “Even corporations are struggling now. This is not necessarily a vigorous economic time. All of that has had an impact on us.”
Papich’s departure also followed the resignation of Bill McFarlin, who stepped down from the position of IAJE executive director in Feburary.
Owen’s letter on Friday said that a court appointed trustee will determine the exact causes of the IAJE’s demise. Still, he stressed looking toward the future of jazz education.
“Our efforts and our passion should be to collectively rally the community to recognize the importance IAJE has had and continues to have in the life and development of jazz and jazz education—seeking new strategic partnerships, new government structures and a revitalized mission that embraces current needs,” he wrote.
—Aaron Cohen
To record Dream Manifest (Dom Recs), Croker convened artists from his current and recent past ensembles, plus special guests.
Jun 10, 2025 4:13 PM
Partway through his early set at Smoke Jazz Club, Theo Croker blinks the room back into focus. He leans over the piano.…
“There’s nothing quite like it,” Springs says of working with an orchestra. “It’s 60 people working in harmony in the moment. Singing with them is kind of empowering but also humbling at the same time.”
Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
James Brandon Lewis earned honors for Artist of the Year and Tenor Saxophonist of the Year. Three of his recordings placed in the Albums of the Year category.
Jul 17, 2025 12:44 PM
You see before you what we believe is the largest and most comprehensive Critics Poll in the history of jazz. DownBeat…
Galper was often regarded as an underrated master of his craft.
Jul 22, 2025 10:58 AM
Hal Galper, a pianist, composer and arranger who enjoyed a substantial performing career but made perhaps a deeper…
Chuck Mangione on the cover of the May 8, 1975, edition of DownBeat.
Jul 29, 2025 1:00 PM
Chuck Mangione, one of the most popular trumpeters in jazz history, passed away on July 24 at home in Rochester, New…
