Ain’t Cha Got Music?

This new feature in TST will bring longtime friends and jazz musicians Jeff Barnhart and Hal Smith together for the first time in print. They have enjoyed a long association in various onstage incarnations and have had an ongoing dialogue about the evolution of jazz, its times and its practitioners over the years. They are thrilled to bring some of these discussions to light in this new monthly column. In it, Hal and Jeff will cover a kaleidoscopic array of jazz topics, from in-depth explorations of pioneering individuals and styles to the larger ebbs and flows of classic jazz throughout the ages, up to the present and (hoped-for) future.

“Ain’t’cha Got Music?” was composed in 1932 by James P. Johnson, for the musical Harlem Hotcha. The best known recording of the song was made by Henry “Red” Allen, Coleman Hawkins and their Orchestra in 1933. Johnson did not record his own composition until 1947.

A Little Jug Music: 1926-1927

Jeff Barnhart: This month we’re starting a two-part discussion about the music of the Dixieland Jug Blowers from the mid-1920s. I’ll freely admit I’ve only

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The New Orleans Owls, Part One

Jeff Barnhart: Hal, this month we’re listening to and discussing the music of a really hot, and polished, band from New Orleans. The New Orleans Owls

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Halfway House Orchestra

The Halfway House Orchestra, Part 2

Jeff Barnhart: We return this month to conclude our exploration of the remaining sides by the New Orleans-based Halfway House Orchestra, recorded between October 1927

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Halfway House Orchestra

The Halfway House Orchestra

Jeff Barnhart: Hal, this month we’re examining the output of the remarkably polished Halfway House Orchestra, a white dance band that had a residency at

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Ain’t Cha Got Letters?

Jeff Barnhart: Hal, last month I mentioned we’d continue with an exploration of the seminal early jazz classic, “Copenhagen.” Let’s postpone that for a month

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Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra

Focus on Bennie Moten:1928-30

Jeff Barnhart: My erstwhile collaborator, Hal Smith, needs a while to erst on other projects this time around and requested I invite a guest. I’ve

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Focus on The Missourians

Jeff Barnhart: Hal, we’re taking a month break from our exploration of Moten to concentrate on the music of the band we compared to early

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