This year, however, instead of listing what subjectively seemed like the most significant stories from each month during the year, I went directly to the page-view statistics to determine the 30 most-read stories on St. Louis Jazz Notes over the past 12 months.
A few things to note: Because the recurring "Jazz this week" and "So What: Local News, Notes & Links" news roundup posts typically deal with multiple subjects, they've been excluded from the list. However, Saturday Video Showcase posts were included, the thinking being that readership of those is an indication of which artists may be of greatest interest to StLJN readers.
As for the stories that did make the list, most got attention for what seem like fairly obvious reasons. For example, it's axiomatic in the media business that bad news tends to attract the most eyeballs, which would account for the interest in the year's most-read story, about the untimely death of Richard McDonnell, the popular founder of MAXJAZZ Records, as well as the presence on the list of obituaries for trumpeter Floyd Leflore, pianist and historian Trebor Tichenor, and keyboardist Tony Simmons.
However, readers were interested in good news, too, as word that drummer and former St. Louisan Kimberly Thompson had gotten a high-profile gig on a network TV show ranked as the year's second-most read story.
Further reflecting an optimistic attitude, stories about a couple of new venues for jazz and the return of a dormant concert series also made the Top 30 list. (Sadly, though, none of the nascent efforts seem to have made it to year-end, as the Engine Room switched to rock just a few weeks after opening; the Ozark Theatre canceled several shows in November and then went silent in December; and no further concerts were announced by the Nu-Art Series.)
As you'd expect, readers also were interested in learning more about touring bands and musicians coming to town, which accounts for the popularity of video showcase posts featuring Rudresh Mahanthappa, Joshua Abrams, and several other individual artists, as well as the frequent viewership of various parts of StLJN's seasonal video previews.
Perhaps the biggest surprise for me is that none of the three posts dealing with one of the year's major stories - the opening of an expanded performance space and headquarters for Jazz St. Louis - made the top ten. (A post recapping national coverage of the grand opening did make it to #15.) The logical conclusion would seem to be that since the opening was covered extensively by local media who don't usually pay attention to jazz, readers had less of a need for StLJN's coverage.
Of course, after a week of fawning stories about how the new facility would change the entire St. Louis music scene for the better, pretty much all of those reporters and media outlets went right back to completely ignoring jazz, as they usually do.
Not to worry, though - while the attention spans of other media may be limited to what they can fit into 90 seconds on TV, and their interest in the music limited to mere lip service, readers in 2015 will continue to find comprehensive, ongoing coverage of jazz in St. Louis right here on St. Louis Jazz Notes.
And now, here are StLJN's most-read stories of 2014:
1) Richard McDonnell 1946-2014
2) Kimberly Thompson to drum with house band for NBC's Late Night With Seth Meyers
3) Engine Room revs up first month's schedule
4) Floyd LeFlore, trumpeter and co-founder of Black Artists Group, dead at age 74
5) New Music Circle 2014-15 season to include Roscoe Mitchell & Craig Taborn, Tim Berne, Thumbscrew, and more
6) Trebor Tichenor 1940 - 2014
7) (tie) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Rudresh Mahanthappa's Gamak
7) (tie) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Joshua Abrams' Natural Information Society
9) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Six from Poncho Sanchez
10) "Mistaken identity" causes confusion for Casa Loma Ballroom
11) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2014 jazz preview, pt 5
12) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2014 jazz preview, part 1
13) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2014 jazz preview, part 4
14) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Fall 2014 jazz preview, part 3
15) New Jazz St. Louis HQ makes national news
16) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Patrice Rushen
17) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Winter/spring 2014 jazz preview, pt 4
18) Tony Simmons 1963-2014
19) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Terence Blanchard returns to The Sheldon
20) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Mwata Bowden
21) Jason Swagler & Adaron Jackson to release Map of The World on Tuesday, January 28
22) Commentary: The Trouble in Ferguson
23) Spyro Gyra, Mindi Abair to perform Saturday, August 30 at Chesterfield Amphitheater
24) (tie) Review: David Sanborn at Jazz at the Bistro
24) (tie) StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Summer 2014 jazz film festival, part three
26) Bull of Heaven performing at LNAC this Saturday, August 2
27) Marcus Roberts Trio to perform for "Evening of Hope" benefit on Thursday, May 8 at The Sheldon
28) Get free tickets to this weekend's screenings of new Clark Terry documentary
29) Nu-Art Series returning with three concerts this spring
30) Ozark Theatre to begin new jazz series this weekend with Randy Holmes, Carolbeth True
Edited after posting to fix a formatting problem.
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