Morristown Jazz Hero
Whatever’s happening on New York’s jazz scene, trust Gwen Kelley to know about it. There’s no venue too small, no fund-raiser too obscure, no player too fresh in town, no style too niche to have escaped her notice.
For 20-plus years, Gwen has been Hot House Jazz magazine’s publisher, editor-in-chief, owner and guiding light. She assigns freelancers, proofreads rigorously, delivers magazines to far-flung venues and tends to countless other tasks a small business requires.
Though petite in size, Hot House is a big tent, concisely covering the jazz world in a sprightly, informative style. In its fifth decade (having been founded in the early 1980s by the late writer Gene Kalbacher with his wife Lynn and Jeff Levenson), Hot House thrives on Gwen’s watch: Over recent years the page count has doubled, color sparks up formerly black-and-white layouts, and he website and app have come to be updated daily. Gig listings stretch from Brattleboro to Baltimore. For interviews, reviews and spotlighted mini-features, Kelley looks to the freelancer’s enthusiasm for the subject. And here’s a publisher who believes—to paraphrase singer Abbey Lincoln—you gotta pay the writers.
She is a tireless collaborator, with a history of developing projects with Jazzmobile and music venues; serving on the board of International Women in Jazz and the advisory council of Music on the Inside, as a past sponsor of the JJA Jazz Awards and numerous other outreach endeavors. And she does it all with a unique grace and charm. Outgoing, fun and friendly, Gwen is a jazz club regular. Often clad in her chic signature red, perhaps with a glass of bubbly within reach, she greets fellow nightlife denizens with a warm smile and ready laugh. Although Gwen Kelley lives in Morristown, a commuter’s distance from the Big Apple, the influence of this Jazz Hero is felt far and wide.
By Elzy Kolb
