Radio Free Jazz
- Place of Publication: Washington D.C., DC
- Language: English
- Date of Publication: 1975-1980
- Periodicity: Monthly
- Editor: Ira Sabin
- Publishers: Ira Sabin
- Lacunae: vol. 15 no. 10; vol. 17 no. 2-8, 11-12.
- Numeration Irregularities: Vol. 16 misnumbered as vol. 19. Unclear if issues missing were published in all cases.
- Type: Full Text
- Preceded by: Sabin's Radio Free Jazz USA
- Continued by: JazzTimes
The fourth in a string of publications by Ira Sabin, Radio Free Jazz was a continuation of the previous title Sabin’s Radio Free Jazz USA. Retitled in September 1975 (volume 15, no. 9), the “new” Radio Free Jazz began to turn from a publication with a primary focus on jazz radio play to one focused on the entire jazz world: performances, recordings, criticism, research, and appreciation. New writers began to regularly contribute – Dan Morgenstern, Arnold Jay Smith, Allen Scott, Harvey Siders, J. R. Taylor, Stanley and Helen Oakley Dance, Leonard Feather, Michael Zwerin, W. Royal Stokes, Fred Bouchard, among others – and issues rapidly expanded. Coverage of jazz festivals, overseas clubs, and new recordings abounded.
In 1979, Sabin began the Radio Free Jazz convention (later to become the JazzTimes convention), a meeting of jazz musicians, writers, and recording industry professionals, which would develop into one of the major events in the jazz year. Coverage of the jazz world was broad, with some focus on established figures and those available on recordings. Dizzy Gillespie, who was close to Sabin, appears regularly throughout all of Sabin’s publications, often noted as the first to subscribe or renew his subscription.
Although still published in a newspaper format (many issues bear the motto “The Newspaper of the Jazz Pros”), Radio Free Jazz began to outgrow its title and in June 1980 was retitled as JazzTimes.
RIPM would like to thank the Sabin family for inclusion of Radio Free Jazz as part of the RIPM Jazz Periodicals collection.