Todd S. Jenkins

Who is Todd S. Jenkins?

Todd S. Jenkins is a jazz author and journalist based in Southern California. He is a member of the Jazz Journalists Association.

A graduate of California State University, San Bernardino, Jenkins began his writing career in 1992, contributing to the tabloid-style monthly magazine Marge Hofacre's Jazz News in Idyllwild, California. That same year he became a board member of the American Jazz Symposium, conducting concerts and educational events in the Inland Empire region. In 1998 Jenkins began contributing record reviews and articles to All About Jazz, and the following year he became a contributor to Down Beat. His writings have subsequently appeared in Signal To Noise, Route 66 Magazine, American Songwriter and Inland Empire Weekly. In 2007 he became one of the founding contributors of Jazz.com.

In 2004 Jenkins completed his first book, Free Jazz and Free Improvisation: An Encyclopedia, an extensive overview of the history and performance of improvised music from the 1950s into the 21st century. It was followed by I Know What I Know: The Music of Charles Mingus, a layman listener's guide to the recordings of jazz bassist and bandleader Mingus. In 2005 Jenkins contributed the sections on 1960s jazz and 1970s blues in The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz and Blues.