Capital District Jazz Hero
New York
Jerry Gordon is a true activist, advocate, altruist, aider and abettor of jazz in the Capital District of New York State. For the past two decades, he’s worked tirelessly to support the jazz scene in Albany, Schenectady, Troy, and surroundings, primarily through his leadership efforts for two prominent organizations – A Place for Jazz and the Swingtime Jazz Society.
A Place for Jazz, Ltd. is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, membership-based, all-volunteer organization dedicated to presenting world-class jazz to its members and audiences at an extremely affordable price. Founded in 1987 by the late Butch Conn as a space whereby audiences would listen to music away from the hustle and bustle of clubs and bars, A Place for Jazz is also dedicated to supporting jazz appreciation and education through free master classes and annual scholarships to students pursuing jazz in college.
It was Jerry who started the APFJ website in 2003 and has served ever since as its webmaster, responsible for continuous updates on the Board’s activities and a terrific calendar of concerts and club dates in the Capital District, listing all open-to the public gigs within 100 miles of Albany. Jerry became a Board member and Secretary to the Board in 2009, and he can be counted on to lend a hand on myriad activities, including editing and producing a regular APFJ newsletter, keeping up the APFJ membership list, and helping to conduct our 50-50 scholarship raffles at concerts.
Swingtime Jazz Society, Inc. is a not-for-profit founded by the late C. Robie Booth in 2003 to promote good music by sponsoring open-to-the-public concerts that feature the Capital District’s large contingent of excellent jazz musicians. Jerry Gordon was a charter member, started the Swingtime website in 2007, became Secretary in 2009 and, soon after, President. He has done an outstanding job at the helm of this wonderful jazz society.
Jerry’s love for jazz has been long-standing. He developed an interest in jazz as a drummer in high school and college in Boston, hosting a jazz radio show at Tufts University. Having drifted away from active participation in music to pursue a career and raise a family for a while (30 years), in the 1990s Jerry struck up friendships with aforementioned Mssrs. Conn and Booth, who got him involved in different aspects of the local jazz scene. A huge fan of trad jazz, Jerry attended Dixieland festivals all over the country in the early ‘90s and took up the washboard in 2001. Jerry likes to say that “the washboard is much easier to schlep than a set of drums,” and that to this day, he is “one of the almost-best-known itinerant washboardists in all of North Troy, NY.!”
Jerry’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. He’s received a Certificate of Recognition for the Albany Musicians Association (Local 14 of the American Federation of Musicians) and the Swingtime Jazz Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. Now the JJA chimes in: Jerry Gordon is a true Jazz Hero.
— Bill McCann
President, A Place for Jazz
