Vij Prakash is a trombonist, composer and educator in both the jazz and pop music scenes. In the jazz world, he has his own projects and works as a sideman and held a long-standing residency Upstairs at Ronnie Scott’s. In the pop world, he played at Glastonbury and toured with
Shrink the land mass of the continental United States to the size of California. Link every major city by high speed bullet train. Would you be able to assemble enough jug bands to pull off something like the Yokohama Jug Band Fest? Maybe not. Perhaps you’d need a magic ingredient,
Not much has been written about Carlos Alberto Saco Herrera—but a century ago, his music was everywhere in Lima. The scarcity of sustained scholarship is itself revealing: Saco’s life and work emerge not through continuous biography, but through fragments scattered across civil records, press accounts, musical catalogues, and oral tradition.
Jeff Barnhart: Hal, after a month off, I’m excited to return to the music and vocals of the great troubadour and spreader of joy, Clancy Hayes! We suspended our exploration shortly after Clancy and Bob Scobey began their long and fruitful musical relationship. There are so many songs we could choose, and
Valaida Snow was born on June 2, 1904, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Valaida grew up on the road, performing with her father’s ensemble starting when she was five. Very gifted musically, she could play ten instruments by the time she was 15: trumpet, saxophones, clarinet, accordion, harp, banjo, violin, cello, mandolin,
Unlike most normal people, I’ve never been a fan of holidays. I regard Christmas and Thanksgiving with particular distaste, since they’re all about overeating and feeling rotten for several days afterward. I’d much rather avoid having to ingest all that gloop and glucose and telling the provider how absolutely wonderful
Since I began performing Ragtime and Classic Jazz from the first three decades of the 20th century, I’ve inevitably been asked how I can keep so many tunes in my head (if you ask my wife Anne, that’s all I can keep in my head!). I usually tell them a
There’s an adage in show business that says “always leave ’em wanting more.” That, in two ways, sums up my reaction to the Durango Ragtime and Early Jazz Festival. First, three of the four concerts ran short of their advertised times, including intermissions. And second, even if they had gone
NORTH SHORE JAZZ SUMMIT (Duluth, MN) June 11-13 The Count Basie Orchestra, Stan Kenton Legacy Orchestra, and Buddy Rich Tribute Band—for the first time ever, on the same stage! Join us for three nights of swing, soul, and serious fire at Bayfront Festival Park in Duluth, Minnesota. The North Shore
Who was the greatest musician ever to play jazz? While one can make the case for Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker and John Coltrane among others, I would vote for Art Tatum. Not only could he play faster than any other pianist, but his harmonically advanced ideas were 40 years ahead
Christina Pepper is a solid pianist and prolific YouTube content creator; since meeting her and attending her symposium at the Scott Joplin Festival in 2023 I have been a devoted fan. Her CD/mp3 album A Little More Pepper (2024) is an amalgamation of pepper-themed rags, marches, and waltzes. Two of
French reed player Daniel Huck, a joyful presence in European hot jazz, died April 25, 2026, in Saint-Christol-lez-Alès, France. He was 78. Born in Paris in 1948, he became one of the most distinctive alto saxophonists and scat singers on the French jazz scene, known for a powerful, vibrato-rich sound,
Last year I took my son to Copenhagen as a reward for doing well in his school exams. It just “happened” to coincide with the Copenhagen Jazz Festival. A family trip to Washington DC this Easter also happened to coincide with JAM. Would you believe me if I told you
Jo Ann Castle, the pianist and accordionist known to millions of television viewers as the “Queen of the Honky-Tonk Piano,” died May 8, 2026. She was 86. Born Jo Ann Zering in Bakersfield, California, she began performing at age three and was already appearing in clubs south of Los Angeles
Mike Schwimmer, a performer, broadcaster, collector, presenter, and historian whose work reached across the traditional jazz and ragtime community for more than half a century, died in April 2026. He was 94. To many readers he was not simply a name in a festival program, but a familiar presence: the
To the Editor: As a consequence of travel, I’m a month behind in my reading of the April edition of The Syncopated Times. Thus, I didn’t get to Sean Kennedy’s article about my uncle Glenn (“The Miller Effect”) until this morning, May 17. I often feel defensive when comments are
I once met a fighter pilot whose call-sign was “Ice.” I remember thinking it was one of the coolest nicknames I’d ever heard. Obviously this guy was just a cold-blooded, analytical machine, ruling the skies with a clear head and a stomach of steel. “No,” he said, “not Ice… I.C.E.
For her 40th birthday and her 20th album as a leader, pianist-singer Champian Fulton hosted a party at the recording studios of Turtle Bay Records. Friends were invited and, rather than just being a studio session, the live recording documented a celebration and a lot of rewarding music. Champian Fulton
For the debut project from the nonprofit Jazz At The Ballroom label, Champian Fulton served as co-producer, musical director, pianist, and one of the six singers featured on Flying High, a set subtitled “Big Band Canaries Who Soared.” Considering its title, ironically this is not a big band album. Instead,
Heather Pierson has had a busy and diverse career as a singer/songwriter and pianist in quite a few musical genres. She had classical piano lessons for years but in high school played with both a prog rock band and a country rock group. Since then, she has performed World music,
A glance at the list of singers featured on this CD will reveal that almost all are well-known in jazz circles. Two that may be less familiar are Pleasant Joe and Leo Watson. I must admit to never having heard of Pleasant Joseph (also known, apparently, as Cousin Joe) before
Few listeners today have probably heard of Doris Drew, but in the 1950s she was a rather busy singer. She had a beautiful voice and a solid sense of swing and, although the majority of her recordings were of ballads, she could also excel on medium-tempo tunes. Born as Doris
Following up on the success of his previous CD Down Where The Bluebonnets Grow, Colin Hancock expands the size of the Joymakers on A Texas-Sized Band from eight pieces to ten. The original octet, with the versatile Hancock (cornet, alto sax, baritone sax, mellophone, and vocals plus kazoo and a
Table of Contents
Vol. 11, No. 6, June 2026
Sherri Colby: Anthropology and the Joy of Music, by Lew Shaw
A Few Words With…Vij Prakash, by Gavin Milnthorpe
Jug Band Magic: The Yokohama Jug Band Fest, by Michael Buonaiuto
Rediscovering Carlos A. Saco, by Rodrigo Sarmiento Herencia
Ain’t Cha Got Music: Clancy Hayes, Pt. 2, by Jeff Barnhart & Hal Smith
Jazz Birthday of the Month: Valaida Snow, illustration by Sara Lièvre
Static from my Attic, by Andy Senior
Final Chorus, compiled by Joe Bebco
Jazz Travels: Durango Ragtime & Early Jazz Festival, by Bill Hoffman
My Inspirations: It Was Just One of Those Days, by Jeff Barnhart
Ragtime Vignettes: A Little More Pepper, by Brandon Byrne
Quarter Notes: A Quarter for My Thoughts, by Shelly Gallichio
Jazz Jottings: Dave Robinson: Advocate for Trad Jazz, by Lew Shaw
Profiles in Jazz: Art Tatum, by Scott Yanow
Festival Roundup, compiled by Michael Buonaiuto; art by Joe Busam
Jazz Appreciation Month at the Smithsonian, by Gavin Milnthorpe
What’s in a Jazz Nickname?, by Gavin Milnthorpe
The Day of the Scumbags (A Warning from 1984), by Andy Senior
CD Review: Red Hot Jazzmen: The Singers, by Bert Thompson
Nights at the Turntable, CD reviews by Scott Yanow