100 of The Hottest Classic Jazz Albums of 1945-2025, Part 3: 1959-1977
What are the most exciting and essential classic jazz recordings that have taken place since the end of World War II? I accepted the challenge
Les Paul: From Chicago to New York
In 1952, the Gibson Guitar Company unveiled a new instrument at a special event featuring star guitarists Tony Mottola, George Barnes, and Mundell Lowe. It
Memories of the first Elkhart Jazz Fest
Seventy-five years ago, I was introduced to trad and big band jazz. A close friend, Don Boyer, asked me if I had any jazz records.
Bill Dart: Un-blocked and Uncaged Drumming!
Hal Smith: Brother Kevin, let’s stay on the topic of West Coast drummers and talk about one of the best: Bill Dart. I think it’s
100 of The Hottest Classic Jazz Albums of 1945-2025, Part 2: 1954-1959
What are the most exciting and essential classic jazz recordings that have taken place since the end of World War II? I accepted the challenge
Monte Mountjoy: Taking Care of Business On Drums
Hal Smith: Brother Kevin, after we wrote about the great Fred Higuera, we decided to take a listen to some recordings by another West Coast
The Rise of a Jazz Vibraphonist: Evelyn Yosmali
The vibraphone, that sweet-sounding array of metal bars that can make its presence known even when alongside a big band of trumpets, saxes, and trombones,
Allen Lowe: Saxophonist, Composer, and Music Historian
There are a fair number of jazz musicians who wrote autobiographies (often “as told to”) including Rex Stewart, Eddie Condon, Louis Armstrong, and Charles Mingus.
In Sedalia, Joshua Rifkin Recounts Sparking the 1970s Rag Revival
Joshua Rifkin, whose recordings of Scott Joplin’s compositions on the Nonesuch label are considered paragons, is reputed to have helped spark the Ragtime Revival of
Delayed and Missing Papers Beset our July 2025 Issue
It has come to my attention that there is a problem with postal delivery of the paper. Subscribers to The Syncopated Times have written to
Marjorie T. Scooros
Marjorie T. Scooros, affectionately known as Washboard Marj, passed away on June 11, 2025, at the age of 84. Born on April 5, 1941, Marj
Alan Bergman
Alan Bergman, the Oscar-winning lyricist whose timeless songs became jazz and pop standards, died July 17, 2025, at 99 in Los Angeles. With his wife,
From The 2025 Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival
The 51st Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, MO took place, as usual, from Wednesday through Saturday, May 28-31. There were a couple events on
From the Durango Ragtime and Early Jazz Festival
The first weekend in April found me at the Durango (CO) Ragtime and Early Jazz Festival. This festival is a re-incarnation of a previous one
The 2025 NYC Hot Jazz Camp
The 10th annual (except for 2020 when it was cancelled by Covid) New York Hot Jazz Camp convened at its regular home, the Greenwich House
Hot Toddies Jazz Band • Live From Somewhere Nowhere
The Amazing Grace of Rosetta Tharpe
Champian Fulton and Klas Lindquist • At Home
Roger Marks’ Armada Jazz Band • Blowing a Storm
Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra • That Eccentric Rag
Kid Ory, Preston Jackson, DePriest Wheeler • Great Jazz, Great Trombones: 1920s-1950s featuring The Missourians
Ozzie Nelson • All The Hits And More
The Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall Concerts, January 1943
The Hipster’s Legacy: A Memoir of Dreams, Jazz, and Family in 1960s California
Glenn Miller Declassified by Dennis M. Spragg
Three Short Book Reviews
Ricky Riccardi • Stomp Off, Let’s Go: The Early Years of Louis Armstrong
Bix Beiderbecke: Legend, Reality, and Legacy
Bix the Cult Figure A legend among many musicians and fans even during his relatively brief life, Bix Beiderbecke was jazz’s first cult figure. After
Dolly Jones, Valaida Snow, and Billie Rogers: Profiles in Jazz
There was a time not too long ago when it was roundly believed that women did not have the physical capabilities to play most horn
Art Hodes: Profiles in Jazz
Art Hodes was never the type of musician who complained about not getting enough gigs; he always did something about it. He was a fighter
Downtown: Where All the Lights Are Bright!
In Downtown Tucson, the Hotel Congress is definitely the “place to be” with several onsite music venues at any one time. Recently the lobby area
Protect, Preserve, Perpetuate!
This year, the Preservation Hall Foundation will open a new campus facility at 730 Saint Peter Street adjacent to the existing building and under a
No Restin’ ’Cause We’re Festin’!
With Mardi Gras, Quarter Fest, and Easter parades over, the city was ready for the Jazz & Heritage Festival and so were we! Two full
Texas Shout #63 Festival Bands and Repertoire
Set forth below is the sixty-third “Texas Shout” column. The first installment of a two-part essay, it first appeared in the July 1995 issue of
Texas Shout #22 Christmas Records
Set forth below is most of the twenty-second “Texas Shout” column. It first appeared in the October 1991 issue of the West Coast Rag, (now Syncopated
Texas Shout #44 Uptown New Orleans Style Dixieland
Set forth below is the forty-fourth “Texas Shout” column. The initial installment of a two-part essay, it first appeared in the October 1993 issue of
Doreen’s Jazz, Rising Stars Heat Up a Cold Night in Rome, NY
It is nearing 100 degrees as I write this, oppressively humid. I have Doreen’s Jazz New Orleans, vol. 33 “Walkin’ Through The Streets,” her latest
Annie and the Hedonists at Caffè Lena
Caffè Lena, Saratoga Springs, May 31, 2025 Many of the songs we choose to sing spring to our lips because they’ve been drilled into our
Catherine Russell Swings Delightfully, Indefatigably, Agelessly
The jazz world could use a few more Catherine Russells. Not just because this Grammy Award-winning artist is a wonderful singer, with an appealing sound
Banjo and Vocal Records
The banjo was an essential mode of entertainment in the latter 19th century, but often it was accompanied by other instruments, usually piano. There were,
The Earliest Violin Recordings
In the acoustic era, recording the violin was always a challenge. Even as the technology improved, the results didn’t always work out the best. In
Okeh Boldly Ventures into Radio, 1922
When radio became all the rage in the middle 1920s, it was seen as a threat to the phonograph business. Companies like Victor were very
‘Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh!’
How I wish I could fact check with a time machine! As with many formative strong childhood memories, music swirls in and out of the
The Lost Hook Tapes
It really is a waiting game based on luck and endurance. I am banking on the idea that if you stick to your artistic career
Birthday Blues
“Everything happens for the best” Does it really? In a continuation of last month’s theme of reality being how we perceive it, perhaps the better
The Odd Brilliance of P.T. Stanton
Horn player P.T. Stanton was a creative, original and mysterious musician who left his signature on the second wave of the Great San Francisco Jazz
Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy
“It seemed the perfect way to fight my war.”– Josephine Baker No American was ever more beloved by the French nation than Josephine Baker. In
Bush Street above Powell in San Francisco: The Club Hangover Story, 1949-61
Club Hangover was the foremost Dixieland and New Orleans Jazz nightclub on the West Coast in the 1950s. The intimate nightspot featured music six nights
Ain’t No Wrong Notes in Jazz
It is easy to be impressed by jazz musicians… if you are not one yourself. We are, after all, an impressive bunch. And I know
Bad Moon Rising
Jazz musicians are a mischievous bunch. I doubt that’s a surprise to any of you, as the history books are filled with stories of pranks
The New Syllabus
There’s been a lot made in the news in recent times about systemic issues in our education system. As I understand it, there seems to
Help Save Ragtime’s History
I was recently contacted by a gentleman in New York who has had to curtail playing the piano due to the challenges of aging and
Fifty Years Later, Here We Are!
We got old. Fifty years added to our twenties, thirties, and forties in 1974 equals old for those who have managed to survive. And. for
Helen Traubel Defends Popular Music
My grandmother used to say she couldn’t see because she had Cadillacs in front of her eyes. Well, it must be genetic because I’ve gone
Marjorie T. Scooros
Marjorie T. Scooros, affectionately known as Washboard Marj, passed away on June 11, 2025, at the age of 84. Born on April 5, 1941, Marj
Alan Bergman
Alan Bergman, the Oscar-winning lyricist whose timeless songs became jazz and pop standards, died July 17, 2025, at 99 in Los Angeles. With his wife,
John Cocuzzi (1964–2025)
John Cocuzzi, a vibraphonist, pianist, and drummer, well known to jazz party attendees, passed away on June 12, 2025, at 61. A Maryland native, Cocuzzi
