Much has changed since our founders incorporated AFJS in July of 1985--tastes, costs, technology, perceptions of our musical heritage. But our mission remains the same--to support and foster jazz by finding, reporting and advising on the best practices among the 250-or-so jazz societies in North America.

Bringing young musicians to the joys of jazz in all its forms is still the basis of our nonprofit status, as also with the societies. By open invitations to play at meetings, by mentoring, through scholarships and jazz-camp encouragement, we lead them to discover their individual pathways to the lifelong creative expressions and enjoyments that are only found in playing jazz. By our recent membership and conference interfacing in the Jazz Education Network, we combine our organizations’ strengths in the mission that we share.

The keystone method we use to support our mission is the wisdom found in our eight AFJS How-To Manuals, updated and online to members from our website, www.AFJS.org. These describe all aspects of society operations--starting clubs, recruiting members, training leaders, financing, contracting, communicating, and holding meetings and concerts.

Our Panel of Advisors, mostly past AFJS officers and jazz-club leaders, brings personal focus to questions and issues faced by societies. We communicate personally with them, assigning our best resource people until the job is done. I write directly to society officers and editors, reacting to and congratulating them on news gained from the dozens of their newsletters that we receive. We provide copy for their publications that opens a wider perspective of jazz to their members.

The transition of AFJS from in-person conferences and a published newsletter to a web-based “virtual” federation is complete. This website is the focal point centering our efforts. Now upgraded, it allows more rapid communication with the jazz community. Our national ten-member Board of Directors can be expanded with our mission’s needs. We are financially stable and will be pleased to receive new and renewed Society, Individual and Organization Members using forms from this website.

Through our twenty-five years, the reports have continued that jazz is dying, first heard in its earliest days. But jazz is jazz, so it knows how to improvise its unique existence as its forms change. AFJS is here to meet that challenge of change as we aid in the continuation of all the pleasures that our chosen form of music can bring.