December 2019 marked two important milestones for me (Andrew Patton): my 40th birthday (December 19th) and 10 years of JazzColumbus operations (December 12th). I suppose the approach of these landmarks caused me to reflect on my last seven years with JazzColumbus, as well as 15+ years of public-facing music hobbies while maintaining a full-time job. While I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, I also feel that it has become too difficult for me to keep the site running at its peak, especially as my wife and I are buying our first house. Therefore, while it was a tough decision, I’m stepping down from operating JazzColumbus.com effective this week. Thankfully Columbus jazz musician, educator and enthusiast Alex Burgoyne, who has recently contributed to my weekly column via his This Week at Brothers Drake series, has agreed to lead a team running the site going forward. With his new energy and ideas for the project and his relationships across the Columbus jazz scene, I’m very excited to see what the future holds for JazzColumbus! Alex will introduce himself next week and get things going.
As this era for me and the site closes, I want to thank everyone who has supported me and JazzColumbus. First and foremost, thank you to my wife and my family and friends for your support and understanding during this time-consuming endeavor – I appreciate it more than you can know and I’m glad to have more free time for you now! A special thanks to my great friends Richard Sanford, Matt Metzger, Chris Worth and Craig Turner for their work on the site. Thanks also to JazzColumbus founder Mark Subel for the opportunity in 2015 and the ongoing support. And of course, thanks to all of the jazz musicians, promoters, supporters and fans out there, especially Tony Hagood, Doug Neel, Aaron Scott, Brian Lang, FJO webmaster Palmer Moore, Ron Johnson and Marilyn Coleman at Jazz 98.5 FM, WSAX-LP, Lee Burges and too many more to list. Finally, thanks to Alex Burgoyne and his team for your interest in keeping this important community resource alive and well!
Regular fans of the site may expect me to have more to say, ha, but I think my writing is tapped out for now! I might make a cameo appearance on these pages in the future, but it will likely be a while. So goodbye for now, though I hope to see you around at jazz shows – keep supporting Columbus jazz and JazzColumbus.com!
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