Browse the April Issue

Conversations with Bucky Pizzarelli

His guitar mastery made him a top first-call artist in the New York recording scene for decades. His quiet and friendly manner made one club

The Festival Roundup April 2025

DURANGO RAGTIME & EARLY JAZZ FESTIVAL (Durango, CO) – April 3-6 JOIN US for the return of the Durango Ragtime and Early Jazz Festival in

A 1925 Playlist for Jazz Appreciation Month

April 2025 ushers in Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM), a nationwide celebration of America’s homegrown musical treasure. Launched in 2001 by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of

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

JazzFest at Sea: January 17-27, 2025

After a good experience on my first cruise (the coast of Alaska and British Columbia in 2023), I was open to cruising again. Such an

The Joplin House Museum in St. Louis (photo by Bill Hoffman)

The Scott Joplin House

In early June, on my way home from the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, I visited the Joplin House State Historic Site. I had been to

Mary Lou Williams: Profiles in Jazz

Mary Lou Williams had a unique career. For much of her life she was called “jazz’s greatest female musician” but in reality she was simply

Duke Ellington’s Singers, Part 2

Duke Ellington’s compositions have been sung so often, particularly those that he wrote prior to the early 1950s, that it is surprising that it was

Duke Ellington’s Singers, Part 1

It may seem surprising that Duke Ellington, who took over Elmer Snowden’s Washingtonians in 1924, did not have a regular vocalist until late in 1931.

From the San Diego Jazz Party 2025

The San Diego Jazz Party held its annual event the weekend of February 21st and its 20+ musicians and vocalists made it an extremely memorable

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Our January visit started off at Fritzel’s with Colin Myers (tb), Zach Lange (tp), Ellis Dyson (bj), Brett Gallo (dr) and Ted Long (bs). This

Palm Court – Thanks For the Memory!

When we visited with Nina Buck, owner of the now-closed Palm Court, during our last trip in October, she mentioned that she wanted to have

Dukes and Louis Armstrong

Texas Shout #67 Dixieland Revisited

Set forth below is the sixty-seventh “Texas Shout” column. The initial installment of a two-part essay, it first appeared in the November 1995 issue of 

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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

bix beiderbecke jean goldkette orchestra snake

Texas Shout #55 “Traditional”

Set forth below is the fifty-fifth “Texas Shout” column. It first appeared in the October 1994 issue of the West Coast Rag, now known as

Siblings in the Early Recording Industry

In several articles I have written about performers whose siblings got into recording, this seemed to have been a more common pattern than expected. To

‘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

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

Lawrence Ketchens

Lawrence Henry Ketchens II passed away on January 31, 2025; he was 61. A beloved figure in New Orleans, with his wife Doreen Ketchens he

David Johansen

David Johansen passed away on February 28th; he was 75. Johanson got his start doing sound and lights for Charles Ludlam’s Ridiculous Theater Company and

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