Digging into the Cornet
While listening to cornetist Nat Adderley light it up during a recent listening session, I thought “Why does he play this aggressive style on cornet
Jim Cullum, Jr. Remembered
Good friend, wise mentor, engaged and storied musicianer, active community leader, strong role model, curator and caretaker of jazz, spirited character: Jim Cullum. This is
The Legacy of Louis Armstrong’s Music Teacher Peter Davis
The music teaching career of Peter Davis began when he was hired as the warden at the Colored Waif’s Boys Home in New Orleans and
Building Where First “On Location” Recordings of Jazz and Country Were Made Faces Demo
Movement to save it wins temporary injunction. In June 1923, pioneer record producer Ralph Peer and New York-based Okeh Records took their newly-invented portable recording
Chris Barber Announces Retirement after 70 Years in Music
The Big Chris Barber Band will carry on but Chris Barber has decided that at 89 its time to retire from full time playing. Barber
Jeff & Joel’s House Party Canceled; 2020 Jazz Event Planned
Jeff Barnhart and Joel Schiavone announced that their annual weekend House Party will not take place this year. Since 2012, Jeff and Joel’s gem-like event
Ted Shafer and the Jelly Roll Jazz Band Keep Rolling Along
This profile was published in our predecessor, The American Rag, in October 2010. Ted Shafer died August 7, 2019, read our obituary, written by Bert
Adam Swanson’s Millennial Syncopations
Not many 27-year-old performers have a professional career spanning over a decade and a half, including a performance at Carnegie Hall with Michael Feinstein and a full solo program at the Kennedy Center
John Edward Hasse, The Music Man
Few jazz fans would argue the value of ragtime, including both its continued popularity and its huge contribution to the early development of jazz. And
From the 38th Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival
The Thursday afternoon concert featured new pieces by contemporary composers such as Vincent Johnson, Marty Mincer, John Reed-Torres, and Martin Spitznagel, the latter two playing their own works. This added a welcome variety
From The World Championship Old Time Piano Playing Contest and Festival
This event with a hopelessly long but descriptive name occurs annually on Memorial Day weekend on the beautiful University of Mississippi campus in Oxford. This
From the 2019 Gotham Jazz Festival
In late April I spent a week in New York, volunteering at the NY Hot Jazz Camp as I have done every year since its
The Hokum High Rollers: Maiden Melodies
Secondhand Street Band: JKUSH & The Rhythm Section
Original Dixieland Rock ‘N’ Roll Band: The Old Man Mississippi
Patrick von Wiegandt and the Swanky Phenomenon
Evan Arntzen and Jon-Erik Kellso’s Jazz Crush
John Hasbrouck: Don’t Walk Away from the Stove
Reeder & Dag Off-the-Cuff
Dixieland Goes Progressive and Modern Jazz With Dixieland Roots
Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond
Superstride: A Biography and Discography of Johnny Guarnieri by Derek Coller
The Original Blues: The Emergence of the Blues in African American Vaudeville
Three Books About Buddy Bolden
Billie Holiday: Profiles in Jazz
She had a small voice that could not compare to that of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. She never scatted and her improvising tended to
Clarence Williams: Profiles in Jazz
Jazz history books often leave his name out, but Clarence Williams was a major force in the 1920s and ’30s and had quite a career;
Harry James: Profiles in Jazz
Next to Louis Armstrong, Harry James was not only the most famous trumpeter of the 1940s but remains a household name decades after his death.
Testifyin’
I recently observed that, in your youth, you know you have a dear friend if they help you move. At my age, if they show
My Right Foot – Part Two
Last night was my first gig back after foot surgery—and it was, thankfully, a fairly easy one. I delegated the herding duties to another musician
My Right Foot – Part One
“I don’t like how swollen that leg is. I need you to go right now and get a sonogram to rule out a blood clot.”
The Sound Guy
Performing live cuts to the essence of what we do as jazz musicians. We love performing in intimate settings (because jazz is traditionally acoustic music)
Economy Jazz Class
The Art of the Vibe
With the relatively recent advent of formal education in jazz, coupled with the endless resources provided by the internet, I am excited and heartened by
Michael Chisholm’s Labors of Love
Making new friends and learning more about older acquaintances is one of the many rewards of being part of the on-line ragtime community. I am
Yes, They All Played Ragtime Is Still Relevant Today
They All Played Ragtime (Alfred A. Knopf, Ltd., 1950) by Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis is a wonderful story of our ragtime heritage. There have
Titles for Performers: on Perfessers, Dukes, and Kings
Each year as a Scott Joplin anniversary rolls around, I get to pondering the composer’s tragic life and the lack of acclaim he received while
San Antonio Jazz Legend Jim Cullum Has Died
There have been few more important, or more successful advocates of Dixieland jazz in the last half-century than cornetist Jim Cullum, Jr. who died on
Ted Shafer (1925-2019)
For several decades, now, Ted Shafer has been something of an institution in traditional jazz in the San Francisco Bay Area. The message on his
Classic Jazz Reedman Bob Wilber has Died
Jazz revival clarinet and saxophonist Bob Wilber, who explored the sound of Sidney Bechet, and at times stood beside him died August 4th, he was
