A Century of The Charleston: James P. Johnson’s Enduring Legacy
The year 2023 marks the centennial of the publication of the “Charleston,” the tune, dance, and rhythm that has come to define the decade of
Gunhild Carling Swings Back into Action with Good Evening Cats!
The saying “you can’t keep a good woman down” might well have been inspired by the Swedish Queen of Swing, Gunhild Carling. She is bouncing
UK Jazz Journalist Max Jones Interviewed the Biggest US Stars
As a jazz journalist, there are writers I look up to—experts in the field, whose expansive knowledge and well developed tastes make them widely acknowledged
The Story of Duke Ellington, Part 5: 1961-1974
The great pianist and composer André Previn once said, “Stan Kenton can stand in front of a thousand fiddles and a thousand brass and make
Muggsy Panics: A Sequel to ‘Relaxin’ at the Touro’
“Muggsy Spanier and his Ragtime Band,” a short piece in the Red Hot Jazz Archive (now hosted on syncopatedtimes.com), recalls a dramatic event in the
A Night in Huntington Beach, 1967
Dan Barrett’s excellent article “Thoughts on the South Frisco Jazz Band” (TST, February, 2023) is a vivid description of the South Frisco’s sound and the
Fund Raiser for Unmarked Grave of Cakewalker Doc Brown
The Doc Brown Memorial Committee, headed by Galen Wilkes, is seeking donations to raise funds to mark the grave of the Kansas City champion cakewalker.
San Diego Board Halts Annual Thanksgiving Jazz Fest, Monthly Concerts
The Directors of AFCDJS in San Diego have decided to discontinue their annual Jazz Festival and to suspend monthly concerts. Since 1980, the San Diego
Walnut Creek’s Rossmoor Ukulele Club Provides Ukes to Local Schools
Art Salzfass, a resident of the Rossmoor Retirement Community in Walnut Creek, California, has a unique mission. Art, along with other members of the Rossmoor
Bill Crow: Bassist and Storyteller Supreme
There aren’t many musicians still around who began their careers in the late 1940s. Far fewer have the incredible memory of bassist Bill Crow, who
A Conversation with T.J. Müller
Upon seeing his name, complete with umlaut, you might assume multi-instrumentalist T.J. Müller is of German heritage. You’d be mistaken. And with the first few
Isobel Gathercole Dreams of Career Longevity
Some musicians aspire to awards. Many wish to walk out on the world’s biggest stages. Others hope to headline festivals one day. For recording debutante
Why No Texas Shout #36?
When the Texas Shouts were reprinted in the late 90s Tex Wyndham decided against reprinting Texas Shout #36 and added the following explanation. The lack
Texas Shout #46 British Trad
The Dixieland revival that began in the U.S. in the early forties spread to England fairly rapidly despite the obstacles of wartime.
Texas Shout #70 Melodic Improvisation
Set forth below is the seventieth “Texas Shout” column. It first appeared in the March 1996 issue of The American Rag. The text has not
A Conversation with T.J. Müller
Upon seeing his name, complete with umlaut, you might assume multi-instrumentalist T.J. Müller is of German heritage. You’d be mistaken. And with the first few
From The 2022 San Diego Jazz Festival
The 2022 San Diego Jazz Festival, the first held in person in three years, got underway on Thanksgiving Eve at the newly (since 2019) expanded
From the 2022 West Coast Ragtime Festival
My review in these pages of the 2019 West Coast Ragtime Festival began with this statement: “Sometimes too much of a good thing is, well, too
Mosaic Records • Classic Jazz at the Philharmonic: Jam Sessions 1950-1957
Frog and Henry • Italy & Engand – 2020-2022
Wawau Adler • I Play With You
The Secret Six • Chicken You Can Roost Behind The Moon
Alice Spencer • Sing It Way Down low
Molly Ryan • Sweepin’ The Blues Away
Galvanized Jazz Band with Herb Gardner
Two albums from Michael Gamble and his Very Swinging Friends
Restoring Edward ‘Snoozer’ Quinn to the Jazz Guitar Pantheon
Dangerous Rhythms: Jazz and the Underworld
Carmen Caramanica • It Started with a Guitar: Six Strings and a Dream
Crazy Rhythm: My Journey from Brooklyn, Jazz and Wall Street to Nixon’s White House and Beyond…
New Orleans Trumpet: Freddie Keppard, Chris Kelly, & Buddy Petit
One of the great frustrations in studying early jazz is trying to understand how the music sounded near its beginnings. There is not only a
Glenn Miller: Profiles in Jazz
Of all of the swing era bandleaders, Glenn Miller had more hit records than anyone else in the jazz world, more than Benny Goodman, Artie
Jimmy Dorsey: Profiles in Jazz
When one thinks of the top alto-saxophonists of the swing era, the names of Johnny Hodges, Benny Carter and perhaps Willie Smith (from the Jimmie
New Orleans in the New Year!
Getting back to New Orleans to finally celebrate the New Year was a fun adventure! The city experienced an extreme cold snap over the holidays
From the 2022 San Diego Jazz Fest & Swing Extravaganza
The 2022 San Diego Jazz Fest & Swing Extravaganzawas held at the Town & Country Hotel over the Thanksgiving weekend after several years of “inactive”
Classic Jazz In Chandler, AZ!
The Arizona Classic Jazz Society held it 33rd annual Festival in Chandler, Arizona, in early November much to the delight of its many members and
The Nighthawks in Northridge: A “Rare Treat” for SoCal Jazz Fans
Since 1976, Vince Giordano has led one of the most authentic-sounding small big bands in 1920s jazz, an 11-piece orchestra that really sounds as if
The Unexplored Possibilities of Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust Road
I can’t think of a musical production I’ve looked forward to for quite as long as Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust Road. Nor one that has disappointed
Tchaikovsky Meets Ellington: The Nutcracker Suite
The Nutcracker was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-93) in 1892 for a two-act ballet. Nine of the numbers from the ballet were selected by
The Distinction of Fred Hylands
Every pianist has their own style, and as we study the accompaniments of the earliest acoustic recordings of the regular studio pianists of the 1890s
Okeh: Breakthroughs and Changes in 1923
With a new year upon us, often we think of what will be entering in its centennial year. In 1923, the Okeh record company went
Zon-O-Phone: Universally Dysfunctional
In the late 1880s Thomas Edison perfected his phonograph, and set up the Edison phonograph works in Orange, New Jersey, and at the same time
Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks at The Soraya
With his right arm resting on the body of his bass saxophone, and the other arm draped around the shoulder of his best gal—his stand-up
New Year’s Evolution
Here I am. Just about three years later still not doing much of anything. And unlike many of you it took me until a few
Celebrating Ian Whitcomb: ‘We’ll Meet Again’
I recently went to one of the most profound and joyful memorials I have ever attended, held for Ian Timothy Whitcomb (July 10, 1941-April 19,
Restoring Edward ‘Snoozer’ Quinn to the Jazz Guitar Pantheon
Snoozer Quinn: Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Pioneer By Katy Hobgood Ray and Dan Sumner Out of the Past Music LLC, 2021 Anyone who ever heard Snoozer
The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, 1937-49
A Brief History of the Premier All-Women Swing Orchestra The International Sweethearts of Rhythm was a racially mixed sixteen-piece all-women Swing orchestra. The word ‘International’
Ada Leonard Part Two, 1943-55 and The Sharon Rogers Band Overseas, 1945-46
The all-female Big Band of Ada Leonard (see Part 1) was the best-known of around 100 “all-girl” Swing orchestras playing for the troops during WWII.
Jerry Lewis
As a musician, over the years, we occasionally have the opportunity to play with some giants or the industry. And about a decade ago, I
How to Impress Your Date with Modern Jazz
So you’ve just met that special someone, but you’re worried they might be a little “out of your league.” You’ve taken them on a few
The Age We Live In
After many years touring in the US, playing traditional jazz festivals, cruises and what have you, there’s an unavoidable truth that we’ll have to address
In the Loop
As I have often mentioned, having a column in this publication has opened the world of ragtime for me. It is often an adventure to
The Demise of Names & Numbers
We have faced many obituaries of major figures in music since the pandemic and a similar increase in the number of program and event cancellations
SIU Carbondale: 50th Anniversary of their Staging of Treemonisha
I was delighted to receive an email from Walter Ray last week regarding my TST column on contemporary performances of Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha. He is
Composer Burt Bacharach has Died
Burt Bacharach died on February 8th, he was 94. Bacharach was a songwriter, composer, pianist, and producer, he was considered one of the most influential
Jazz Singer Carol Sloane has Died
Jazz singer Carol Sloane died on January 23rd she was 85. Though she was a Columbia artist in the 1960s, it is for her late
Jazz Banjoist Jürgen Hintsche has Died
Jürgen Hintsche, a veteran banjo player in the German vintage jazz scene died on January 9 at the age of 79. Born in Celle in 1943,
