The Buzz: The JJA Podcast

The Jazz Journalists Association has existed since 1986, and The Buzz is their podcast — a semi-regular show that puts jazz writers, critics, and journalists in conversation about the music they cover professionally. It is a different angle than most jazz podcasts. Instead of hearing from the musicians themselves, you get the people whose job is to pay close attention and write about what they hear. With 64 episodes released over the past few years, the show covers new album releases, artist retrospectives, debates about the state of jazz journalism, and commentary on the industry broadly. Episodes tend to be tightly produced and moderately short, making them easy to work through between releases. The rotating cast of contributors means you hear from voices with different regional perspectives, stylistic preferences, and critical approaches. The JJA hosts its annual Jazz Awards each year, and the podcast often reflects the conversations those awards generate — who deserves more recognition, which records stood out in a given year, how the critical conversation around jazz has shifted. That institutional context gives the show a certain weight and credibility that informal listener podcasts sometimes lack. The 4.5-star rating comes from a small sample of reviews, but listeners who do leave ratings tend to be enthusiastic. For anyone who reads jazz journalism — DownBeat, JazzTimes, The New York Times arts section — and wants to hear the critics in unscripted conversation rather than in polished prose, The Buzz is the closest thing to a behind-the-scenes look at that world.