The Publisher is Grateful for Your Kindness and Patience

We owe a vast debt of gratitude to all the readers and supporters of The Syncopated Times who have kept us in print this year. Our nonprofit umbrella, Syncopated Media, Inc., has provided a means of assistance to our charitable (i.e., unprofitable) cause, but even such an appliance is no guarantee of success or continuance. What the 501(c)3 designation provided for us was an Auxiliary Shoestring, since the original shoestring on which this paper has been run since 2016 had grown frayed beyond endurance. And who goes anywhere with just one shoestring?

Some of you have been incredibly generous. I realize that these are not times to be showering money on worthy causes. I know this cause is worthy to those who love the music and want to see it prosper. In this issue you will be rewarded with good news about the very best musicians working today. In particular I commend your attention to this month’s “Off the Beaten Tracks,” in which Joe Bebco devotes his whole review space to Cat & The Hounds, a truly remarkable new album. Even in a climate of austerity, such wonderful things can blossom.

This year got off to a rocky start and it has stayed rocky. It has been particularly difficult on a number of fronts: physically, emotionally, and financially. Yet we’re still here, fighting each month to produce the best jazz newspaper of which we are capable. We would be happier if the cost of postage and the price of newsprint were lower; 32 pages seems inadequate to contain that which we would like to say.

There is a saving note of levity in this issue that I don’t quite feel. (I don’t mean to veer between first person singular and the Editorial We, but I’m speaking for myself here.) Nonetheless, I am determined not to be a relentless scold, bringing down the room with my untoward (if sincere) pronouncements. That’s not why you’re here.

I’m overwhelmed by all the kind support I’ve received for my editorials. I also appreciate the polite objections to commentary which may seem to be extraneous in a paper devoted to something else entirely. I’ve considered both views, and I’ve also taken my own temperature. I need a break from myself, also, though I concede nothing.

I can’t apologize for my honest sputterings, but I have to apologize to all contributors whose articles are still in the queue. The best I can say is that we have rationed their excellence for next month. I also apologize to all readers whose copies continue to go astray in the mail. I’m profoundly thankful for your kindness and your patience.