Jim Newsom

Jim Newsom first encountered music by studying the piano books his sister brought home from lessons, then proceeded to fill the family living room with rock & roll riffs that irritated his parents. During high school he purchased a flute for twenty-five dollars from a marching-band girlfriend and developed his technique by ear through repeated listens to Herbie Mann and Jethro Tull recordings; he acquired guitar skills from a Bob Dylan songbook.

From early childhood, music remained his central enthusiasm. In addition to children’s discs such as “Little Red Caboose,” he repeatedly played his father’s 78 rpm discs and early LP anthologies of Glenn Miller’s big-band arrangements until the grooves wore thin. His initial contemporary favorite arrived in the mid-1950s with Guy Mitchell’s “The Roving Kind.” After receiving a pocket transistor radio on his ninth birthday, he kept the earpiece inserted each night, absorbing local Top 40 broadcasts until sign-off at 1 a.m. and then searching the static for distant signals from WABC, WOWO, WCFL, and WBZ.

As a high-school student in Suffolk, Virginia, Newsom directed every dollar earned from mowing lawns, giving tennis instruction, and officiating youth-league games toward the purchase of new albums. While serving as sports editor of the school newspaper, he began contributing album and concert critiques plus a recurring column on current music. At Virginia Tech he performed with several campus ensembles and joined the staff of the college radio station, eventually becoming music director during his final year.

Across subsequent decades Newsom performed jazz, rock, blues, and acoustic material in diverse venues. He led groups bearing names such as Bathroom Reading Material, Jim Newsom and the Wanderers, and the Bishop’s Bad Boys. In 1992 he issued the solo album Crazy Dreams, which included a guest appearance by his uncle, Tommy Newsom of the Tonight Show band, and received favorable notices, regional sales, and radio exposure. The composition “If I Could Write a Song” earned him an Outstanding Achievement award in the 1994 Billboard Song Contest.

After Crazy Dreams appeared, Newsom assembled Jim Newsom and the PorchRockers, whose repertoire spanned many styles. Operating from Norfolk, Virginia, the ensemble developed into one of the region’s leading jazz-oriented units, and Newsom gained recognition for his command of the flute and his stage intuition. He maintains a schedule of solo appearances and serves as on-air host for programs on PBS affiliate WHRO-TV. His primary occupation is that of senior officer at a local community bank.

Newsom began contributing reviews to All Music Guide in March 1998. For the guide he has covered new and historical jazz releases together with classic rock, soul, reggae, acoustic, and folk recordings. He persists in listening to and performing an extensive range of music.