Jazz Information was an American non-commercial weekly jazz publication founded as a record collector's sheet in 1939 by Eugene Williams (1918–1948), Ralph Gleason, Ralph de Toledano, and Jean Rayburn (maiden name; 1918–2009), who married Ralph Gleason in 1940.
The first issue, dated September 8, 1939, was a four-page newsletter that was mimeographed late one night in the back room of the Commodore Music ShopinManhattan at 46 West 52nd Street.[1] In July 1940, Jazz Information, went from a newsletter to a little magazine format, hip pocket in size with modest typesetting. George Hoefer, Jr. (1909–1967), began the "Safety Valve" column on collecting, collectors, and how collectors annoyed musicians.[2] The publication ran sporadically until November 1941.[3][4][5][6]
Stephen W Smith, editor of the Hot Record Society Rag, leaned towards what then was progressive jazz. Eugene Williams, through Jazz Information, leaned towards a New Orleans revivalists bent.[7][8]
Jazz Information was a record label distributed by Commodore Records that produced recordings of Bunk Johnson in 1942.[9]Bill Russell, while gathering material for Jazzmen in 1938, discovered long forgotten New Orleans trumpeter Bunk Johnson on a farm in New Iberia, Louisiana. In 1942, Russell helped get Johnson a new set of teeth and a new trumpet. And, with Eugene Williams, editor if Jazz Information in New York; and Dave Stuart (né David Ashford Stuart; 1910–1984), owner of the Jazz Man Record ShopinHollywood, traveled to New Orleans and made the first recordings of Bunk Johnson.[10]
"Jimmie Noone" (Jimmie Noone), by Wesley Miles Neff (1913–1996) of Chicago, Vol 2, October 4, 1940, pps. 6–9, 45
"Cow Cow Davenport" (Charles Edward Davenport), by Donald Haynes, Vol. 2, October 25, 1940, pps. 8–10
"Barney Bigard" (Barney Bigard), by George Hoefer, Jr. (1909–1967), Vol. 2, November 8, 1940, pps. 7–13 (extensive article plus discography; Hoefer later was associate editor of Jazz & Pop)
"Little Mitch" (George Mitchell), by Wesley Miles Neff (1913–1996), Vol. 2, No. 16, November 1941, pps. 31–32
"A History of Jazz Information" (transcript), by Eugene Williams, Vol. 2, November 1941, pps. 93–101[6]
New Orleans Clarinet series
"New Orleans Clarinets: 2 – Edmond Hall" (Edmond Hall), by Herman Rosenberg & Eugene Williams, Vol. 2, No. 2, August 9, 1940
"New Orleans Clarinets: 7 – Sidney Bechet" (Sidney Bechet), by Mary Evelyn Karoley (née Mary Frances Mellon; 1908–1993), Vol. 2, No. 8, December 6, 1940
(Greenberg, Publisher, founded in 1924 by Jacob Walter Greenberg; 1894–1974; & David Benjamin Greenberg; 1892–1968; sold to Chilton Book Company in 1958)
"New Orleans Today," by Eugene Williams & Julius "Skippy" Adelman (photographer) (note: Adelman, who later gave up photography, is still considered among the finest jazz photographers)
"Swing," by Frank Stacy (Stacy was, in the early 1940s, the New York editor for Down Beat)
"New Orleans Today," by Eugene Williams & Julius "Skippy" Adelman (born around 1924) (photographer) (note: Adelman, who later gave up photography, is still considered among the finest jazz photographers)[11] Philadelphia jazz journalist Nels Nelson wrote in 1985 that Adelman was among the greatest jazz photographers in the world.[12][a] In 1990, Nelson wrote that renowned jazz photographer "[Bill] Gottlieb ranks second only to the elusive Skippy Adelman in his capacity for capturing the moment."[13]
George Hoefer (né Elmer George Hoefer, Jr.; 1909–1967) – born in Laramie, raised in Chapel Hill with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from UNC Chapel Hill – Hoefer went on to become a prolific jazz historian. From 1959 to 1961, he was the New York editor for Down Beat for which he had a column, "The Hot Box."
^Nels Nelson (né Nels Robert Nelson; 1923–1996) was a jazz columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News for over 40 years. He retired from the Daily News in 1995 and passed away the following year.
^Purist Records were produced by the London-based Bunk Johnson Appreciation Society between 1954 and 1963.
^Boots and His Buddies personnel: Billy Douglas (trumpet, vocals); Alvin Alcorn, Hiram Harding (trumpets); James Robinson, Frank Jacquet (trombones); Gus Patterson, Harold "Dink" Taylor (alto saxes); Herb Hall (clarinet, alto sax, bari sax); Louis Cottrell (clarinet, tenor sax); Lloyd Glenn (piano); Ferdinand Dejan (guitar); James Johnson (double bass); Albert Martin (drums); Merle Turner, Don Albert (directors); Lloyd Glenn (arranger); Merle Turner (vocals); Israel Wicks (vocals); unknown vocal trio on "I Like You Best of All."
^Carolina Cotton Pickers probable personnel: Cat Anderson (trumpet); 2 of the three mentioned on trumpet, John Williams, Thad Seabrook, Joseph Williams (trumpets); Leroy Hardison, Eugene Earl (trombones); Booker Starks, Lew Williams, Addison White, Aaron Harvey (saxes); Cliff Smalls (piano); W.J. Edwards (guitar); Lew Turman (double bass); Otis Walker (drums) (see Jenkins Orphanage)
^Ingo Records was an Italian bootleg label that issued rare jazz broadcasts
^Eugene Williams (1918–1948) – see a short biographical note on Gene Williams (1918-1948) in Bill Russell's American Music (BRAM), compiled and edited by Mike Hazeldine, Jazzology Press (1993), p. 170; ISBN0963889001; ISBN9780963889003; OCLC1050495610, 939852788
Retrieved May 18, 2019 – via www.swingdjs.com – jazz forum site that was active for 16 years, through January 2019, registered to and maintained by Jesse Miner, a San Francisco area chef and jazz history enthusiast. The forum boards were closed in January 2019, but much of its content, as of May 2022, is accessible. The 23 links to transcripts of Jazz Information on a former website of the late Joseph Elbert Shepherd (1926–2021) of Sterling, Virginia (https://www.swingdjs.com/viewtopic.php?t=1488), have been archived by Wayback Machine.
. 8 (3). March 1949. 
