Jazz Clarinet Phenom Nathan Tokunaga is Going Places!
Lew Shaw
September 30, 2024
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I think it’s safe to say that most of us jazz enthusiasts are viewed by the youth of today as amusing yet hopelessly insulated from any moral harm the music we love could ever hope to cause us. Yet in its initial decade of existence, jazz brought about much anxiety
The City of Prescott, Arizona, held its 23rd annual event mostly at the Hassayampa Inn, an historic hotel near the Old Square in the heart of the city. After a Meet & Greet cocktail hour, the first evening had a concert at the Elks Opera House Theater across the street
Lionel Hampton, the first significant jazz vibraphonist in history, was a one-of-a-kind entertainer. He would do almost anything to excite audiences and it was impossible not to smile during his exhilarating performances. At the 1987 Playboy Jazz Festival, he was scheduled to end the long weekend, following guitarist-singer George Benson
Last year, I happened across an old copy of Talking Jazz in a second-hand bookshop. The 1987 memoir is a compilation of essays and other musings by Max Jones, a legendary British jazz journalist who helped drive the popularity of the music over here. (For a fuller bio, see my
The Big Spider Back—I mean Bix Beiderbecke—Jazz Festival took off on August 1st through 3rd, congregating enthusiastic folks back to Davenport, Iowa, including my mum and me. It was a thrilling reunion to meet both the same musicians and aficionados from last year as well as new folks. The long
The theme of this year’s 12th annual Jazzing Fest in Barcelona, hosted as always by the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, was dubbed “The New York-Berlin-Barcelona Connection.” Among the guest musicians and bands who participated this year were The EarRegulars, out of New York, The Jungle Jazz Band from Berlin (specializing
Jeff Barnhart: Welcome, dear reader! This month, we are continuing our exploration of the music of New Orleans cornet player Johnny Wiggs, whose recorded output began in 1927. If you missed part one of the Wiggs story, we encourage you to check it out, as the music was simply glorious.
In the beginning of recording, among the first things to be recorded regularly were orchestras. Recording so many different instruments was perfected and improved upon by the beginning of the 20th century, but combining a performer and an orchestra still proved difficult. It was because of this fact that recordings
Welcome, faithful readers! I’ll begin this entry with a confession, followed by a question that I sincerely hope one of you might be able to answer. First, my confession: I do at times enjoy playing for general audiences that aren’t intimately familiar with early American pop music more than I
My bassist-tubist friend Brian Nalepka put me wise to the quintet Miss Maybell and the Jazz Age Artistes and suggested they’d be a good fit at the Tri-State Jazz Society. Brian is part of the group’s rhythm section. Actually, I had heard of this band but had not seen them
Galen Wilkes’ Authentic Ragtime folio contains many fine piano rags, including the joyous Sedalia Stomp, the rustic Boone County Rag, and the greatly-loved eulogy The Last of the Ragtime Pioneers. Redwood Rag (1982) is an ultra-stately Classic rag in the resonant key of E-flat major—the piece’s frequent right hand octaves
Ever since a long-time reader told me my column was “depressing,” I’m hesitant to be sincere about anything at all. Maybe somebody else’s static would be more diverting than that which buzzes around my own attic—which, I will admit, is at times ominous. (Either that, or I need to look
Jelly Roll Morton was born Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (or Lemott) around September 20, 1890 (he gave his birth year as 1884 on his WWI draft registration card in 1918, and 1885 to interviewer Alan Lomax). At the age of fourteen, Morton began as a piano player in a brothel. He
REDWOOD COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL (Eureka, CA) – Oct. 3-6 This year’s festival, which takes place in Eureka, California, boasts seven venues: Hagadone Stage at Eureka Municipal Auditorium, Chevron & George Petersen Insurance Stage at The Adorni Center, Pierson Building Center Stage at The Sequoia Center, The Eagle House Stage at
Jazz Music Enthusiasts of all persuasions are invited to join together for an à la carte jazz week orchestrated by the Basin Street Regulars Hot Jazz Club. This new regional Festival combines numerous jazz styles, venues, bands and swing dancers from all over San Luis Obispo County and beyond for
The 3rd Annual Glenn Jenks Ragtime Revue will take place in Midcoast Maine the weekend of October 12th-13th. In keeping with the tradition of the Harvest Ragtime Revues that Jenks produced in the 1990s, the Ragtime Revue honors the life and legacy of composer, pianist and musicologist Glenn Jenks by
In May, 2025, the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival (EE) will, as usual, convene in New York City’s Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC). This now decades old annual and prestigious educational musical event began because Wynton Marsalis wanted to help the music departments in our chronically
While perusing the recent Syncopated Times article “Art of the Duet” (TST, August 2024) about jazz duet albums recorded over the years, some reader is bound to ask “Hey, but what about ________? That article featured well known musicians primarily, but this one features one of those “Hey, but what
Listening to the first track—Geoge L. Cobb’s Stop It! (1919)—I was thrilled by the orchestra’s precision and its ability to bring out unexpected details and subtleties. Nothing in the following twenty-one tracks diminished that impression. Despite the CD’s title, taken from ragtime pioneer Ben Harney’s 1899 classic (performed here in
I’d never heard of non-profit Jazz at the Ballroom before today. I’m glad I finally got wise to them, as they’ve been busily celebrating “America’s truly original music—swinging, classic jazz” since 2016. Working with the world’s most talented jazz musicians “in intimate, historical, and unique settings,” their work focuses on
It’s a country sort of month this month, with both my review records having a hint of the wide open prairie about them. I felt obliged to check out Sweet Megg’s new record sooner rather than later, as she kindly contributed to my July feature—but it’s out of unbridled, organic
Halloween jazz is hard to find. That’s probably because the explosion of popular Christmas material coincided with jazz ubiquity in the first half of the 20th century but it was the rock era before all that many “Halloween Songs” had crept in. Hannah Gill is making up for lost time,
The Pearly Gates Marching Band is a musical comedy by Dean Norman, who has published cartoons in The Syncopated Times over the years as well as a few short songs and humorous articles. He was part of MAD Magazine as a younger man. Something I learned only recently having long
There is no other performer on the jazz scene quite like Gunhild Carling. It is not enough that she is able to sing in several different styles (from Billie Holiday to Cab Calloway) and is a hot soloist on both trombone and trumpet. She also dances, plays harmonica, harp, recorder,
The French violinist Mathilde Febrer has had a wide-ranging career. Although trained in classical music, jazz interested her much more. She has performed with rock groups (including Led Zeppelin), Claude Bolling, big bands, swing groups, and even on a recording of the music of James Reese Europe. Milou En Mai
Nat King Cole (1919-65) had such success, first as an influential jazz pianist and then as a ballad singer, that he completely overshadowed the careers of his brothers, each of whom were also singer-pianists. His youngest brother, Freddy Cole (1931-2020), only recorded one album before 1976 although he had an
Thelma Carpenter (1922-97) was a fine singer and a skilled actress. She performed in New York City clubs as early as 1938, was discovered by John Hammond, and sang with Teddy Wilson’s big band when she was 17. She worked with the Coleman Hawkins Orchestra (1940) and Count Basie (1943-45),
JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH Benjamin Baruch Ambrose (1896-1971) who was known as Ambrose, was one of the top British bandleaders of the late 1920s and ’30s. He was trained as a violinist, played professionally at 15, and by the time he was 20 was leading his own big band.
There has never been a shortage of Bing Crosby recordings that were readily available. The most popular (and one of the most versatile) singers of the 1930s and ’40s whether on records, in films, on the radio and in live performances, all other male singers (including Sinatra) during the time
The debate over what constitutes American music raged particularly fiercely in the early years of the 20th century as jazz invaded our ears. It took on particularly harsh tones in the classical-music world because that insular group—or at least its nervous ideologues in academia—clung to a belief that only the
The book In With the In Crowd, named after Ramsey Lewis’ big 1965 hit, has two major threads. One thread is factual, devoted to giving us details about the lives of the performers whose music was popular in the black community in the 1960s and the infrastructure-radio and record labels-that
Early Jazz, a paperback book by Fumi Tomita, has as its subtitle “A Concise Introduction, from Its Beginnings through 1929.” Tomita conceived of his book as an overview of the early days of jazz (which he considers neglected in most jazz history classes) and a modernization of Gunther Schuller’s late
The British multi-instrumentalist Graham Lyons died on September 4th, he was 87. He released a 7” single, Jazz Bassoon, in 1967 and recorded with The Temperance Seven, Phil Seamen, Alan Tew, the New Paul Whiteman Orchestra, and Herman Wilson. He also appeared in classical music. His creation of a new
Bassist/vocalist George French has died at age 80. He was part of the prominent New Orleans musical family. His father was Albert “Papa” French, longtime leader of the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band. George’s older brother Bob took over the band when their father died. After Bob’s passing George’s son Gerald
Legendary jazz writer, educator, and archivist Dan Morgenstern died on September 7th; he was 94 years old. He was head of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University from 1976 through 2012. Under his leadership, Rutger’s Jazz Archive grew into an essential resource for researchers, educators, and even musicians
Vol.9, No.10 October 2024
Jazz Clarinet Phenom Nathan Tokunaga is Going Places, by Lew Shaw
Nothin’ Like A Fine Bix Festival, by Clorinda Nickols
America Grapples with the First Decade of Jazz, by Spun Counterguy
The EarRegulars at Jazzing 2024, by Garry Berman
Max Jones Spills the Beans About More of Your Jazz Heroes, by Dave Doyle
Essentially Ellington is Spreading the Joy of Big Band Swing, by Schaen Fox
Jazz Birthday of the Month: Jelly Roll Morton, illustration by Sara Lièvre
Static from my Attic, by Andy Senior
Final Chorus, compiled by Joe Bebco
Jazz Travels: Lauren Sansaricq and Charlie Judkins, by Bill Hoffman
My Inspirations: A Swiftly Tailored Hope, by Jeff Barnhar
Ragtime Vignettes: Redwood Rag, by Brandon Byrne
Quarter Notes: Fun & Music a Mile High in Prescott, by Shelly Gallichio
From Piano to Orchestra: The Evolution of Accompaniment, by R.S. Baker
Festival Roundup, compiled by Joe Bebco
Profiles in Jazz: Lionel Hampton, Pt. 1, by Scott Yanow
The Odd Brilliance of P.T. Stanton, by Dave Radlauer
Ain’t Cha Got Music: Johnny Wiggs, Pt. 2, by Jeff Barnhart & Hal Smith
Revamped “Jazz Jubilee” Promotes Several Events this Fall, by Rhoda Cardinal
Ragtime in Maine: Third Annual Glenn Jenks Revue, by Aaron Robinson
Addenda: Additional Notes on the Art of the Duet, by Ted des Plantes
Doyle’s Discs, CD reviews by Dave Doyle
Nights at the Turntable, CD reviews by Scott Yanow
The Syncopated Bookshelf, by B.A. Nilsson, Scott Yanow, Steve Provizer
Off the Beaten Tracks, CD reviews by Joe Bebco
Cakewalk in the Sky by Paragon Ragtime Orch, CD Review by Ed Berlin
Bert’s Bits and Beats, CD review by Bert Thompson
Archeophone’s Centennial Brings Oliver and Louis to Life, by Chris Tyle
