Browse the October Issue

A Century of ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’

There are songs that have entered the jazz vocabulary and never left: “Body and Soul,” “Stardust,” “Autumn Leaves,” and many others. We call these tunes

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

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.

John Hammond: Profiles in Jazz

For the 100th article in my series of Jazz Profiles, this is the first time that a non-musician is the subject. John Hammond is considered

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

Jubilee…Yes, It Was a Jubilee!

Labor Day weekend brought us to Sacramento for the Hot Jazz Jubilee and its 10th annual event. It was fantastic and with four separate venues

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

long lost blues

Texas Shout #52 Common Themes

Set forth below is the fifty-second “Texas Shout” column. It first appeared in the July 1994 issue of West Coast Rag, now The Syncopated Times. I

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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

Pershore 2025: Jazz on a Summer’s Day

How many concerts could you stand in one afternoon? Before August I’d have said two, perhaps three; that four would have my backside numb and

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

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,

‘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

Peter Lay

Pete Lay, drummer, bandleader, promoter, and longtime editor of Just Jazz magazine, died September 7, 2025 at age 78. A central figure in Britain’s traditional-jazz

Rick MacWilliams

Rick MacWilliams passed away on September 12th after a long illness; he was 81. While he wore many hats, including mechanical engineer, licensed councilor, volunteer

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

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