The Swing Era: Reconsidering the Music and the Timeline
Since looking back to when I taught jazz history courses at the Community College of Rhode Island, I have come to realize that my coverage
Glenn Miller and Me
My mother wanted me to move back in with the family. It was 1974. I was eighteen and already had been living on my own
The Scintillating Enigma of Una Mae Carlisle
In 2007, I came across a batch of poor-quality transfers of African American films from the 1940s. One title, Boarding House Blues (1948), stood out
Integration in the Recording Studio: Eddie Condon’s Story
Interracial Jazz Recordings Before 1935: An Introduction Over the last 20 years, the trend has been to interpret jazz history through the lens of current
James Reese Europe and the Clef Club Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
That James Reese Europe would lead his band in concert at Carnegie Hall was inevitable…but the event has been historically overlooked. The band leader had
The Swing Era Was Not an Era: A Centennial Look Back
While a really swinging beat or rhythm will make sophisticated dancers perform quite extraordinary terpsichorean feats, we also know that the vast amount of social
More NGJB Sidelights
Alaska Memories The fourth of July weekend of 1980 found the NGJB in Juneau, Alaska, on the occasion of the city’s centennial celebration. The band’s
Peggy Haine & The Lowdown Alligator Jass Band to Play Again
During her band’s heyday from 1976 to 1992 in Upstate New York, Peggy Haine became as well-known for her spectacular entrances as she was for
Wacky and Weird Sidelights from 50 Years with the Natural Gas Jazz Band
Woof Woof It was July, 1990 at the Bix Fest that NGJB first heard the very popular Uncle Yoke’s Black Dog Jazz Band. The Gassers
Ewan Bleach: Jazz a ‘Rave Scene, but with Live Music’
If any modern, British musician embodies Louisiana circa 1920, it must be Ewan Bleach. Seeing him live, audiences would be forgiven for thinking he was
Anastasia Ivanova: Russia’s Rising Jazz Star
A jazz musician from any part of the world is to be admired for keeping the art form alive. And 22-year-old Anastasia Ivanova is always
Colin Skinner: In Praise of British Big Bands
Many readers might take it as read that US bands do old-time jazz the best. It seems like a fair assumption, on the face of
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
Texas Shout #60 Learning To Play, Part 3
Set forth below is the sixtieth “Texas Shout” column. The concluding installment of a three-part essay, (Part 1, Part 2,) it first appeared in the
Texas Shout #48 Will Dixieland Jazz Make A Comeback? Part 2
Set forth below is the forty-eighth “Texas Shout” column. The concluding installment of a two-part essay (here’s part 1), it first appeared in the March
Reflections of Ray Skjelbred
At the West Coast Ragtime Festival last November I met for the first time Ray Skjelbred (pronounced SHELL-bred in case you haven’t heard it before),
From The 2023 Templeton Ragtime and Jazz Festival
The 2023 Charles H. Templeton, Sr. Ragtime and Jazz Festival was held on Thursday through Saturday, March 23-25 at Mississippi State University in Starkville. This
A Conversation with Scott Kirby
Some months ago, when I first saw the musician lineup for the 2023 Charles H. Templeton Ragtime and American Music Festival, Scott Kirby was listed.
The Garden of Joy • Bouncin’ Around
Smoking Time Jazz Club • 6 Blueses, 5 Joys and a Stomp!
Roger Marks’ Armada Jazz Band • Sizzling Sessions
Gunhild Carling • Good Evening Cats
Archeophone Phonographic Yearbook • 1905
Ray Smith Plays Rags, Blues and Stomps
The Barrellhouse Wailers • Never Look Back
Early Benny Goodman
Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and The Beat That Changed America
Following the Drums: African American Fife and Drum Music in Tennessee
Hidden History of Louisiana’s Jazz Age By Sam Irwin
Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm and Race
Hot Lips Page: Profiles in Jazz
He was one of the hottest trumpeters to emerge from the late 1920s, a major attraction at jam sessions, and a superb blues singer. But
Jimmy and Marian McPartland: Profiles in Jazz
Cornetist Jimmy McPartland and pianist Marian McPartland were married for 22 years (1945-67). Their careers in jazz, if taken together, spanned a remarkable 90 years,
Will Bradley, Ray McKinley, & Freddie Slack
Trombonist Will Bradley, drummer-singer Ray McKinley, and pianist Freddie Slack only teamed up together for a relatively brief period of time, 18 months during 1939-41,
Down at the Jazz Fest in New Orleans!
The Pfister Sisters (Holley Bendtsen, Karen Stoehr & Yvette Voelker) had it right with their hit song about the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival!
Jazz Journeys in the Desert
The Arizona Classic Jazz Society held its March meeting at the Crowne Plaza Phoenix – Chandler Golf Resort aka the San Marcos Hotel with our
Wet, Wild, and Wonderful: The 2023 San Diego Jazz Party
The 35th San Diego Jazz Party was held at the San Diego Hilton Del Mar the last weekend in February. The rains pelting the Southern
Eric Comstock & Barbara Fasano: Cabaret Comes to Cleveland
On April 21, husband-and-wife performers Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano brought the buzz they have been creating Saturday nights at Birdland in Manhattan to a
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
Fred Hagers’ Trunk
When I started pursuing the legendary scrapbook that once belonged to Fred Hager, one of the aspects of this ultimate treasure was a steamer trunk
More Explorations and Discoveries in NYC
Back at the beginning of February, when the Northeast experienced a serious cold blast, I went back to New York City for more historical trespassing
George Cheney: The Scandalous Engineer
Few engineers live scandalous lives, but one emerged in the acoustic era that lived a rather extraordinary life. George Cheney came from a humble background,
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
Reality is a Cruel Mistress
If I was a rich man, I would have a right proper mid life crisis. I suppose that is a very sexist idea that you
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
Jazz in San Francisco, 1916-66, Pt. 1: From Terrific Street to Nob Hill
We first met, Jazz and I, at a dance hall dive on the Barbary Coast. It screeched and bellowed at me from a trick platform
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’
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
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
How KRMA Taught Educational TV How to Teach
Today when I ask younger people where they first discovered ragtime, I get a lot of answers relating to the popular recording media of their
A Reprieve
It had been a reasonably normal day, perhaps even a little more pleasant than most. However, toward the middle of the afternoon, a minor cough
Conserving the Perry Music Company Collection, Part Two
The owner has graciously turned over much of the Perry part of what exists currently consisting of seven deteriorating cardboard boxes. Sedalia’s superb local historian,
Coen Hofmann, Managing Editor of Names & Numbers, Passes Away
Word has come from the Netherlands that Coen Hofmann, the managing editor of and driving force behind the Jazz discography periodical Names & Numbers, died
Chris Strachwitz, founder of Arhoolie Records, has died.
Chris Strachwitz died on May 5th. Born in 1931 in what is now Poland and displaced at the end of WWII his family settled in
Ragtime “Angel” Danny Matson has died.
Danny Matson passed away on April 25, 2023. Not a musician himself he was a ragtime superfan, a regular attendee of ragtime and jazz festivals,
