C’est Si Bon: Capital Focus Jazz Band in France
An article in the July ’24 issue of The Syncopated Times about a French jazz festival caught my eye. “We really try to put the
Louis Armstrong’s 70 Greatest Recordings
LOUIS ARMSTRONG’S 70 GREATEST RECORDINGS Although I have long wanted to write about Louis Armstrong for The Syncopated Times, since Ricky Riccardi’s trio of books
Andy Schumm Reflects on his 20-Year Career
Multi-instrumentalist Andy Schumm made some interesting comments regarding his career on the occasion of his 40th birthday in a Facebook posting. He wrote “I’m not
100 of The Hottest Classic Jazz Albums of 1945-2025, Part 4: 1977-1996
What are the most exciting and essential classic jazz recordings that have taken place since the end of World War II? An impossible question to
100 of The Hottest Classic Jazz Albums of 1945-2025, Part 3: 1959-1977
What are the most exciting and essential classic jazz recordings that have taken place since the end of World War II? I accepted the challenge
Les Paul: From Chicago to New York
In 1952, the Gibson Guitar Company unveiled a new instrument at a special event featuring star guitarists Tony Mottola, George Barnes, and Mundell Lowe. It
Gabrielle Lee Carries Harlem’s Legacy Into the Present
Gabrielle Lee is a modern-day “Blackbird,” her voice and presence carrying the glamour, grit, and history of Harlem’s celebrated nightclub era and its performers into
Tony Desare: ‘Doing What I So Enjoy!’
When asked for a self-assessment, singer-pianist-composer Tony Desare responded, “I’m just a kid from Glens Falls, New York when fell in love with jazz at
The Rise of a Jazz Vibraphonist: Evelyn Yosmali
The vibraphone, that sweet-sounding array of metal bars that can make its presence known even when alongside a big band of trumpets, saxes, and trombones,
It’s Happening (Again!) in Sun Valley
The website for the 36th Sun Valley Jazz Festival describes the annual event in the Idaho Rockies as a vibrant celebration of music. Over the
2nd Jazz Jubilee Central Coast set for Oct. 17th to 26th
The Basin Street Regulars Hot Jazz Society is thrilled to announce the 2nd Jazz Jubilee Central Coast 2025, a vibrant celebration of jazz music stretching
Rare 100+ Year-Old Compositions by Will H. Dixon Released
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Historic Music Rediscovered: Rare 100+ Year-Old Compositions by Will H. Dixon Released on 146th Anniversary of His Birth NEW YORK, NY –
From the 2025 Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival
The 54th Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival in Davenport, Iowa continued its tradition of excellence on July 31-August 3 at the perennially over-cooled Rhythm City Casino.
From The 2025 Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival
The 51st Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, MO took place, as usual, from Wednesday through Saturday, May 28-31. There were a couple events on
From the Durango Ragtime and Early Jazz Festival
The first weekend in April found me at the Durango (CO) Ragtime and Early Jazz Festival. This festival is a re-incarnation of a previous one
Catherine Russell & Colin Hancock’s Cat & The Hounds
The Amazing Grace of Rosetta Tharpe
Champian Fulton and Klas Lindquist • At Home
Roger Marks’ Armada Jazz Band • Blowing a Storm
Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra • That Eccentric Rag
Kid Ory, Preston Jackson, DePriest Wheeler • Great Jazz, Great Trombones: 1920s-1950s featuring The Missourians
Ozzie Nelson • All The Hits And More
The Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall Concerts, January 1943
Ink: The Indelible J. Mayo Williams
The Hipster’s Legacy: A Memoir of Dreams, Jazz, and Family in 1960s California
Glenn Miller Declassified by Dennis M. Spragg
Three Short Book Reviews
Bassists of the 1920s
While the string bass was part of the early New Orleans jazz scene from its start, with Jimmy Johnson (1876-1937) and his bass being seen
Bix Beiderbecke: Legend, Reality, and Legacy
Bix the Cult Figure A legend among many musicians and fans even during his relatively brief life, Bix Beiderbecke was jazz’s first cult figure. After
Dolly Jones, Valaida Snow, and Billie Rogers: Profiles in Jazz
There was a time not too long ago when it was roundly believed that women did not have the physical capabilities to play most horn
Jazzin’ In July!
The Century Room in the downtown Hotel Congress was again the venue for a terrific Sunday Gospel set! A lazy afternoon saw the Gospel According
Downtown: Where All the Lights Are Bright!
In Downtown Tucson, the Hotel Congress is definitely the “place to be” with several onsite music venues at any one time. Recently the lobby area
Protect, Preserve, Perpetuate!
This year, the Preservation Hall Foundation will open a new campus facility at 730 Saint Peter Street adjacent to the existing building and under a
Texas Shout #6 Hand-Held Live Tapes
A Note from the Editor: The past doesn’t repeat itself but it does rhyme and this column from 1990 is a stunning example of that.
Texas Shout #53 Routines and Roadmaps
Set forth below is the fifty-third “Texas Shout” column. The initial installment of a two-part essay, it first appeared in the August 1994 issue of
Texas Shout #71 Major Labels
Set forth below is the seventy-first “Texas Shout” column. It first appeared in the April 1996 issue of TAR. The text has not been updated
Doreen’s Jazz, Rising Stars Heat Up a Cold Night in Rome, NY
It is nearing 100 degrees as I write this, oppressively humid. I have Doreen’s Jazz New Orleans, vol. 33 “Walkin’ Through The Streets,” her latest
Annie and the Hedonists at Caffè Lena
Caffè Lena, Saratoga Springs, May 31, 2025 Many of the songs we choose to sing spring to our lips because they’ve been drilled into our
Catherine Russell Swings Delightfully, Indefatigably, Agelessly
The jazz world could use a few more Catherine Russells. Not just because this Grammy Award-winning artist is a wonderful singer, with an appealing sound
The Whistling Bureaucrat: John Yorke AtLee
Acoustic recordings of whistlers aren’t for everyone, but there was one whistler who I would consider many levels better than the others. He had a
Banjo and Vocal Records
The banjo was an essential mode of entertainment in the latter 19th century, but often it was accompanied by other instruments, usually piano. There were,
The Earliest Violin Recordings
In the acoustic era, recording the violin was always a challenge. Even as the technology improved, the results didn’t always work out the best. In
‘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
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
Carl Lunsford
Carl Lunsford, a traditional jazz banjo player whose rhythmic style anchored many West Coast trad bands, passed away on August 5th in Sausalito, California, at
Alain Bouchet
Alain Bouchet, the French trumpeter and cornetist, passed away on August 4th, he was 81. He began his career in the 1960s with groups like
David F. Gibson
David F. Gibson, a dynamic drummer whose rhythmic drive powered iconic big bands, passed away on July 30th, he was 72. Born in Philadelphia, he
