Kevin Mahogany performing with Gregg Akkerman

Pianist Tony Monte with Gregg Akkerman

Singer Marlene VerPlanck with Gregg Akkerman

Previous and Upcoming Events (all times are Eastern Time Zone unless otherwise noted):  

• May 2013: Paperback Pre-orders now being taken by publisher Scarecrow Press!
• May 2013: Award Nomination for "Best Research in Recorded Popular Music" by the Association for Recorded Sound Collections
• April 21, 2013: Featured article in Spartanburg Herald Journal about "Jazz Book of the Year" nomination
• April 2013: Award Nomination as "Jazz Book of the Year" by the Jazz Journalists Association
• March, 2013: Book Review by the Jazz Institut (in German with English translation).
• February 17, 2013: Radio Interview on "Jazz From Blue Lake" with Lazaro Vega. A three-hour Johnny Hartman feature, 7-10 pm on WBLV FM 90.3/WBLU FM 88.9 or streaming live from www.bluelake.org/radio.html
• February 15, 2013: Radio Interview at WGMC JAZZ 90.1 with Derrick Lucas, Rochester New York. 12:45 pm as part of Black History Month. www.jazz901.org
• January 2013: Featured article in JazzTimes magazine about the making of the John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman album.
• January 30, 2013: Radio interview on Jazz Cafe with Bob Collins. WRHU 88.7 FM in New York, 1-4 pm. Live streaming here.
• December 2012: Gift guide listing: in Hot House magazine.
• December 2012: Book review in Down Beat magazine.
• Nov. 14, 2012: Presentation in Newark, NJ: "Johnny Hartman: The Voice of Romance Revealed" at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University as part of their Roundtable guest-speaker series. 7 p.m.
• Nov. 12, 2012: Radio Interview: Akkerman is the featured guest on Monkey Radio with Marc from New York. The audio can be heard here.
• Oct. 29, 2012: Presentation in Clemson, SC , "Solving the Research Riddles of the Last Balladeer," to the Rhetorics, Communication and Information Design Research Forum at Clemson University, 9 a.m. in Daniel Hall.
• Oct. 16, 2012: Presentation in Spartanburg, SC , "Movie Music that Mattered," featuring the importance of Hartman's music in The Bridges of Madison County at "A Night of Great Conversations" sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Carolina Upstate, Piedmont County Club.
• Oct. 12, 2012: Performance in Spartanburg, SC: The Gregg Akkerman "Swinging Affair" quartet will perform selections from the Johnny Hartman songbook as part of the city's Jazz on the Square series. 5:30-8:00 p.m., downtown at Morgan Square, instersection of Main St. and Church St., free.
• Sep. 12, 2012: Performance in Spartanburg, SC: "Swinging Songs of Romance: A Johnny Hartman Tribute" as part of the "Music Sandwiched In" series at the main branch of the Spartanburg Public Library (Gregg Akkerman, piano and vocals; Ian Bracchitta, upright bass). 12 noon, free.
• Aug. 13, 2012: Radio interview on "Night Jazz" with Rusty Hassan, 8:30-9:30 p.m. WPFW 89.3FM in Washington, D.C.
• Aug. 8, 2012: Book review by the Jazz Journalists Association
• July 31, 2012: Book reading in San Diego, CA. 5:30 p.m. (West Coast time), Twigg's University Heights Coffee Shop (in their adjoining meeting room), 4590 Park Blvd. at the corner of Madison Ave.
• July 30, 2012: Radio interview, on "The New Jazz Thing" with Vince Outlaw, 6:30-7p.m. (West Coast time), KSDS Jazz 88.3FM in San Diego, CA.
• July 29, 2012: Performance in San Diego, CA, The Unity Center, 8999 Activity Road, services at 9 & 11 a.m. (West Coast time) and books will be available on the patio.
• July 23, 2012: Radio interview on "ArtSounds" with J. Michael Foster, 6:30-7:00 p.m. WVUD 91.3FM in Newark.
• July 20, 2012: Book review by jazz singer Carol Sloane at her blog, SloaneView
• July 18: Interview/article at the San Diego Reader as a preview to July 31 booksigning.
• July 14, 2012: Available as a Nook e-book at Barnes & Noble.
• July 12, 2012: Presentation in Spartanburg, SC to the Piedmont Sertoma Club, 7:30 a.m. at the Four Seasons Restaurant, 1071 Fernwood-Glendale Road.
• July 10, 2012: Book reading  in Spartanburg, SC. 5:30 p.m., Hub City Bookshop, 186 West Main St.  Akkerman performs live music in the adjoining coffee shop after the reading. Photos here.
• July 9, 2012: Radio interview on "Awake with Drake" with Bill Drake, 8:30 a.m., WOLT103.3FM in Spartanburg, SC.
• July, 2012: Book review: The Last Balladeer named "Editors' Pick" by DownBeat Magazine
• July 3, 2012: Johnny Hartman's 89th birthday! 
• June 30, 2012: Book review published at Jazz History Online.
• June 23, 2012: Radio interview on "The Saturday Morning Edition of Jazz" on 90.9FM WCDB, Albany, NY, hosted by Bill McCann with guest Tom Pierce. 9 a.m.-12 noon.
• June 22, 2012: THE BOOK IS AVAILABLE AND BEING SHIPPED!!!
• June 22, 2012: Radio interview on "Jazz a la Carta" on 101.1FM KSFR, Santa Fe, NM, hosted by Ricardo Perez. 1-2 p.m. 
• June 6, 2012: Akkerman interviewed about Johnny Hartman for the "Books" section of the Huffington Post
• June 5, 2012: Akkerman publishes an essay at his blog on how he came to write Johnny Hartman's biography in the first place: Gregg Akkerman Musically Speaking: Tales from the Trenches.
• May 20, 2012: Actor/singer Keith David debuts his Johnny Hartman tribute show in Los Angeles incorporating exclusive annecdotes from author Gregg Akkerman and The Last Balladeer.
• Apr. 28, 2012: The copy for the back cover is approved for final layout and printing.
• Apr. 17, 2012: The edited and indexed manuscript is returned to the publisher for final layout and printing.
• Mar. 29, 2012: The typeset proof is delivered to Gregg Akkerman for proofing and indexing  
• Mar. 1, 2012: The manuscript has been copyedited and begins to be typeset
• Feb. 17, 2012: Cover design selected for the book
• Feb. 6, 2012: A Facebook page is created to support the book. Please give it a "Like."
• Feb. 3, 2012: Pre-orders for the book are now accepted (find links in the "Purchase" area of this website)
• Jan. 23, 2012: All permissions for the manuscript are cleared and it enters the production process of editing, revision, and typsetting at Scarecrow Press.  
• Jan. 18, 2012: The website domain "johnnyhartmanbook" is registered and the website is readied for launch.
• Dec. 21, 2011: After two years of research and writing, Akkerman completes his 125,000-word manuscript and submits it to Scarecrow Press for editing.
• Dec. 2011: Vocalist Kevin Mahogany writes a foreword for the book.
• Nov. 29, 2011: Hartman's "In the Wee Small Hours" is aired as part of a national campaign for Victoria's Secret.
• Oct. 18, 2011: Akkerman meets Tony Bennett and they talk about Hartman.
• Oct. 3, 2011: Grammy winning jazz singer Kurt Elling interviewed by Akkerman.
• Aug. 2011: Akkerman travels to New York to interview Tedi Hartman, Lori Hartman, and pianist Tony Monte. He also conducts research at the Institute of Jazz Studies in New Jersey and the New York Public Library.
• July 29, 2011: Akkerman is interviewd about Hartman on "The Standards Hour" hosted by Ricardo Perez, KSFR 101.1 FM, Santa Fe, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• June 2011: Akkerman begins his sabbatical from teaching duties at the University of South Carolina Upstate in order to complete his manuscript by the end of the year. 
• Apr. 30, 2011: singer Marlene VerPlanck performs in Charlotte, NC and meets with Akkerman to share photos
• Apr. 4, 2011: Akkerman interviews jazz vocalist pioneer Jon Hendricks
• Feb. 12, 2011: Akkerman interviews the great singer, Bill Henderson, who remembers seeing Hartman at Chicago clubs in 1947. 
• Sep. 12, 2010: Akkerman discusses Hartman with entertainment icon Bill Cosby.
• Aug. 15, 2010: the first of a series of interviews by Akkerman with Hermene Hartman, Chicago publisher and niece of Johnny.
• Aug. 2, 2010: Akkerman interviews pianist-legend Billy Taylor who sadly passes away a few months later.
• Aug. 2010: Akkerman travels to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. to hear their archive of Hartman recordings.
• Feb. 2010: Akkerman signs a contract with Scarecrow Press to have his Johnny Hartman biography/discography published as part of the "Studies in Jazz" series. 
• Jan. 2010: Akkerman begins research on a Johnny Hartman biography and is quickly hooked on the material. 
• Jan. 2009: While writing an article for JAZZed about a recording from the John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman album, Akkerman looks for a Hartman biography for background information. Surprised to learn there was no such book, he consults various music encyclopedias and CD liner notes only to find several factual disagreements and a general lack of detail. He files this thought away for a possible future project.