I launched this site, ContemporaryJazz.com, on January 13, 1996. Hard to believe it’s been 30 years!

I had, and still have, a love of technology, a love of communicating and sharing, and a love of the music. I was born to do something like this—the medium just didn’t exist until the World Wide Web started becoming a thing.

You can view greater details on the origin of the site in a series of posts I wrote in 2009.

The site, initially called cJazz: The Contemporary Jazz Site, was one of the first 16 jazz websites indexed by Yahoo! This was years before Google was on the scene. It became a popular music site. Record labels that were hip to the web (not many then) would reach out. Its content was being read on the NAC/New Adult Contemporary (later smooth jazz) radio stations. I updated it nearly daily for numerous years.

When I had children, I gave the site up. I was so caught up in being a father that I didn’t want to do anything that took time away from my kids. Fatherhood has been my favorite role in life. As the kids got older, I regretted giving the site up and was fortunate to return to it a few years ago.

Being a very early creator on the web changed my life. And, as my son points out, this site is part of my legacy.

I will be reminiscing on those early days throughout the year. I have so many memories. In the meantime, enjoy the site’s first logo. It is 90’s clip art, and the logo was probably created in Paint Shop Pro.

If you enjoy the site or just want to say something kind, please drop a message over on Contemporary Jazz on Facebook or the newly created Reddit board! It inspires me to hear from you!