America Grapples with the First Decade of Jazz
I think it’s safe to say that most of us jazz enthusiasts are viewed by the youth of today as amusing yet hopelessly insulated from
The New York-Barcelona Connection: The EarRegulars at Jazzing, 2024
The theme of this year’s 11th annual Jazzing Fest in Barcelona, hosted as always by the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, was dubbed “The New York-Berlin-Barcelona
Nothin’ Like A Fine Bix Festival
The Big Spider Back—I mean Bix Beiderbecke—Jazz Festival took off on August 1st through 3rd, congregating enthusiastic folks back to Davenport, Iowa, including my mum
Max Jones Spills the Beans About More of Your Jazz Heroes
Last year, I happened across an old copy of Talking Jazz in a second-hand bookshop. The 1987 memoir is a compilation of essays and other
A Headful of Baseball and Keys: Encounters with Joe Robichaux
My professional baseball career happened entirely inside my head. What went on in there may or may not interest you, but for me it—both the
Multi-Talented Gunhild Carling Thrills Syracuse Jazz Fest Audience
Like the aurora borealis, Swedish swinger Gunhild Carling lit up the night sky over Syracuse’s Clinton Square on June 28, 2024. She sang, she danced,
Essentially Ellington is Spreading the Joy of Classic Big Band Swing
In May, 2025, the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival (EE) will, as usual, convene in New York City’s Jazz at Lincoln
Art of the Duet: Addendum
While perusing the recent Syncopated Times article “Art of the Duet” (TST, August 2024) about jazz duet albums recorded over the years, some reader is
Revamped ‘Jazz Jubilee Central Coast’ Promotes Multiple Events this Fall
Jazz Music Enthusiasts of all persuasions are invited to join together for an à la carte jazz week orchestrated by the Basin Street Regulars Hot
Jazz Clarinet Phenom Nathan Tokunaga is Going Places!
In just a little over a dozen years, 17-year-old Nathan Tokunaga has had opportunities and experiences that many adult musicians don’t have in a lifetime.
Meet Them in St. Louis: Valerie Kirchhoff and Ethan Leinwand
The traditional jazz world pays homage to the blues, but often in a narrow way. There are glimpses of famous streets in fabled cities, tin
Arthur Vint: Bringing New York-Style Jazz to the Desert
Arthur Vint has capitalized on a series of life experiences that has enabled him to make a major contribution in the creation of a highly-successful
Texas Shout #27 Economics of Dixieland Part 2
Set forth below is the twenty-seventh “Texas Shout” column. It first appeared in the April 1992 issue of the West Coast Rag, (now Syncopated Times.) It is
Texas Shout #45 Uptown New Orleans Style Dixieland, Part 2
Set forth below is the forty-fifth “Texas Shout” column. The concluding portion of a two-part essay, it first appeared in the November 1993 issue of
Texas Shout #47 Will Dixieland Jazz Make A Comeback?
Set forth below is the forty-seventh “Texas Shout” column. The initial installment of a two-part essay, it first appeared in the February 1994 issue of
Lauren Sansaricq and Charlie Judkins
My bassist-tubist friend Brian Nalepka put me wise to the quintet Miss Maybell and the Jazz Age Artistes and suggested they’d be a good fit
From the 2024 Bix Fest
For the eleventh year in a row, I traveled to Davenport, Iowa for the Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival. This makes about 15 Bixes that I
50th Anniversary Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival
First, a correction. In my January, 2024 report of the West Coast Ragtime Festival I attributed “Belle Adair,” played there by Richard Dowling, to him.
Gunhild Carling • Jazz Is My Lifestyle
King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band • Centennial
Jazz at the Ballroom • Flying High: Big Band Canaries Who Soared
Hannah Gill’s Spooky Jazz
Paragon Ragtime Orchestra • Cake Walk In The Sky
Mathilde Febrer • Milou En Mai
Bing Crosby • Rarities From The Hollywood Studios 1933-1958
Ambrose • When Day Is Done
Early Jazz by Fumi Tomita
In With the In Crowd: Popular Jazz in 1960s Black America
Songbook Summit: Fifteen Pioneers of American Sound
Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy
Lionel Hampton: Profiles in Jazz, Pt. 1
Lionel Hampton, the first significant jazz vibraphonist in history, was a one-of-a-kind entertainer. He would do almost anything to excite audiences and it was impossible
Erskine Hawkins: Profiles in Jazz
He was billed as “the 20th Century Gabriel” because of his high-note work and flamboyant solos. Very popular during his heyday and the leader of
Joe Sullivan and Bob Zurke: Profiles in Jazz
Joe Sullivan and Bob Zurke had several things in common. They were both brilliant pianists with their own sound within the swing tradition of the
Fun & Music a Mile High in Prescott!
The City of Prescott, Arizona, held its 23rd annual event mostly at the Hassayampa Inn, an historic hotel near the Old Square in the heart
It’s Too Darn Hot!
It may be hot outside but it is more than “cool” at our local jazz club, The Century Room in downtown’s Hotel Congress! The Mysterious
Another Tucson-NOLA Connection
With all of the great musicians playing at Tucson’s Century Room for the past two years, a hometown trumpeter/vocalist was showcased earlier this month. James
Summer Delight in Switzerland: Ascona Jazz Fest 2024
In Italian there is a wonderful expression, “sensa parole,” meaning “beyond words.” It’s the only way I can define Ascona in the Italian-speaking canton of
Rhythm in Gloucestershire: The 2024 Cheltenham Jazz Festival
I’m not much of a festival-goer, to be honest. I find myself getting a bit bored after two days of non-stop music and two nights
Wham Re-Bop-Boom-Bam: The Swing Jazz of Eddie Durham
Arranging is an underrated element in jazz and arrangers have not been given the credit they deserve. Arranging has almost always been considered piecework, paid
From Piano to Orchestra: The Evolution of Accompaniment
In the beginning of recording, among the first things to be recorded regularly were orchestras. Recording so many different instruments was perfected and improved upon
Len Spencer: Ragtime and the Dawn of Recording
There were several recording stars in the 1890s and early 1900s who were known for performing ragtime songs, but one of the most famous of
Justin Ring and the Phonograph Scholars
Studying history often comes with an inevitable fact that we will never be able to communicate with the people we are interested in. As frustrating
‘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
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
Richard Zimmerman and the First Joplin Fest
This month I conclude my reflections on the first Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia in July of 1974. Hopefully someone will write about the
“Jazz Advocate” Dan Morgenstern has died at 94
Legendary jazz writer, educator, and archivist Dan Morgenstern died on September 7th; he was 94 years old. He was head of the Institute of Jazz
George French
Bassist/vocalist George French has died at age 80. He was part of the prominent New Orleans musical family. His father was Albert “Papa” French, longtime
Graham Lyons
The British multi-instrumentalist Graham Lyons died on September 4th, he was 87. He released a 7” single, Jazz Bassoon, in 1967 and recorded with The
