Welcome to PostGenre.Org, the home of PostGenre Media. Started by Rob Shepherd in February 2020, we strive to provide our readers with the opportunity to consider, hear, and appreciate music beyond traditional categories.
In the era of primarily physical recording formats, categorization was king. This was more to adapt to limitations of the time than a conscious choice. Record stores and radio stations would need to categorize to better target their listener or risk their business being lost in the shuffle. With the rise of primarily digital media and “contextualized playlisting”, however, these labels are of increasing irrelevancy. A recent study reports that 78% of music lovers, particularly those under the age of 40, do not ascribe to following a particular style. Despite this, existing music publications often still needlessly impose traditional divisions, something we ascribe to end.
Consider, for instance, Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly. Although hip hop at its core, the album incorporates many facets of jazz, funk, rock, and pop. Despite this, most focus was placed on only one or a few of those areas. This does a disservice to the work as a whole by forcing a specific viewpoint upon the music, one which may or may not align with the artist’s. We aspire to provide a more holistic view of art not only in hopes of better expressing the musician’s viewpoints but also to attempt to provide a unifying force. Music has a long history of transcending and mending even the most extreme of divisions and we believe that by attempting to step out of the way, we can better allow the form to nurture these relationships.
That said, “jazz” (in whatever way defined), will have a significant, though far from exclusive, role on this site. This is in no small part because more than any other, jazz can be seen as the first post genre music. This is evident in the fact that some put the works of artists as diverse as Louis Armstrong and John Zorn into the same box. It originated as a unique combination of other styles including the blues, European classical music, and African rhythms . Additionally, its most prominent figures in part pushed the music forward by combining it with other forms. Miles Davis, for instance, mixed the already hybridized art with classical, rock, and even hip hop. For John Coltrane, it included 20th Century classical (e.g. Stravinsky) and Eastern music. Today, musicians like Thundercat or Terrace Martin are nearly impossible to confine. Duke Ellington once dreamed of an era in which music was distinguished by only its quality; in many ways, that time is now.
But jazz is just a starting point. We welcome any music outside the traditional box or which stretches the box into a new shape. We are limited only by our creativity and capability. At PostGenre, we believe in the power of music to dissolve barriers, whether stylistic, geographic, societal, or temporal.
Rob Shepherd, Founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief
Rob is a proud voting member of the Jazz Journalists Association. His writings formerly appeared at Nextbop, Jazz Speaks, the official blog of New York City’s The Jazz Gallery, and All About Jazz. Rob is also a Tax and Estate Planning Attorney and CPA.
Brian Kiwanuka, Staff Writer
Brian Kiwanuka is a writer‚ attorney and music nerd but not in that order. He digs OutKast‚ Alice Coltrane and Stevie Wonder and occasionally subjects his friends to detailed rants about music. You can check out more of his writing on 93 Million Miles Above.
Jim Hynes, Staff Writer
Jim Hynes has been broadcasting and/or writing about blues, jazz, and roots music for over four decades. He’s interviewed well over 700 artists and currently writes for four other publications besides this one. His blues columns and interviews can be found in Elmore and Glide Magazines.
John Chacona, Staff Writer
John Chacona is a freelance journalist, content writer and producer in Cleveland. He has been a contributor to the Erie (PA) Times-News, The Chautauquan Daily, Signal to Noise, CODA and Lake Erie FifeStyle magazines, and various online outlets, including PostGenre.
Colin Stanhope, Staff Writer
Colin Stanhope is a musician and student with interests spanning a wide range of contemporary music. He’s passionate about the social implications of music, and also enjoys history and playing trumpet in classical and jazz ensembles.
Scott Haas, Columnist
Scott Haas is a writer and clinical psychologist and the author of, “Why Be Happy?,” “Back of the House,” “Those immigrants,” and “ Hearing Voices.” He won a James Beard award for his on-air broadcasts on public radio.
Avery Logan, Staff Writer
Avery Logan is a Boston-based drummer and music educator. An alumnus of Betty Carter Jazz Ahead, he has ranged from performances with Jason Palmer, Samora and Elena Pinderhughes, and Dayna Stephens to backing standup comedy gigs with Rob Schneider. He is passionate about the new wave of creative improvised music and its vitality in the shifting social fabric of the 21st century.
Daniel Palmer, Staff Writer
Daniel Palmer is an Estate Planning and Probate Attorney and musician with an unhealthy addiction to coffee, collecting vinyl, and listening to jazz. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter.
Julian Brezon, Contributor
Julian Brezon is a saxophonist, composer, and educator with an eclectic taste in music. He is a co-founder of the teacher-owned private lessons company New York Music Cooperative, and believes that music education is both an important front and bellwether of social change. Follow him at NAINOZ Music on Youtube.
Anthony Dean-Harris, Special Contributor
Anthony Dean-Harris is a writer/artist from San Antonio, Texas, and the host of KRTU San Antonio’s “The Line-Up” and “evölve”, or at least when the pandemic ends he will be again.
Interested in joining the PostGenre team? Please feel free to contact us using the button at the top of the page
Questions? Comments? Want to Share Something? Feel free to contact us!
Musicians/PR/Labels: If you are submitting an album for consideration, please make sure to include links to a press release, a biography, the album in MP3 format (and a streaming link if applicable), press photos, and a link to a medium we can embed on our site (Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Youtube, etc.).
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