Album Reviews

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

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

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.

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

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

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

JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH During 1935-46, 52nd Street in New York was jazz heaven, an area where there were so many jazz clubs housed

JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH Pianist Joe Sullivan was a superior stride pianist who was most influenced by Earl Hines’ “trumpet style” approach to playing

The finest singers to be regularly featured with Duke Ellington’s orchestra were Ivie Anderson, Joya Sherrill, Herb Jeffries, and Al Hibbler with Ray Nance being

Oran (Hot Lips) Page (1908-54) was one of the great trumpeters to emerge from Kansas City in the 1930s in addition to being a fine

Armand Hug (1910-77) was one of the top pianists to be active in New Orleans during the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s. A professional from the

Bob Greene (1922-2013) is best remembered for his 1974 album The World Of Jelly Roll Morton. While he played in trad jazz settings in the

Dorothy Donegan (1922-98) was one of the all-time greats of the jazz piano even though she never quite received the recognition that she deserved, at

With the passing of Fred Vigorito this March, following closely after Bill Sinclair in February and Noel Kaletsky, Joel Schiavone, and Bob Bequillard in recent

JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH Thomas Morris was a casualty of the rapid evolution that jazz underwent during the 1920s. The cornetist fit very securely

Pianist Sue Palmer has led her Motel Swing Orchestra for 25 years. Remarkably the personnel has remained the same for all of this time (trombonist

Django Reinhardt (1910-53) was one of jazz’s most original and brilliant guitarists, certainly the top guitarist to emerge during the 1930s. But despite that, at

An excellent jazz singer based in Chicago ever since he moved there from his native Buffalo in 2003, Paul Marinaro has excellent elocution (one can

The Upbeat label from England has compiled many rewarding CDs through the years. Their “Great Jazz” series previously released Various Artists sets CDs titled Great

We all know that the traditional lineup for New Orleans-style classic jazz entails a trumpet, reed, trombone and tuba. Piano and drums may even seem

For a few decades during the last century, when classical music was a familiar part of the musical landscape, many jazz bands borrowed tunes with

The first batch of V-Discs shipped to military fighters overseas on Oct. 1, 1943. Less than two years later, we won the war. Many other

JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH Earl Hines (1903-83) was always a true original. When he emerged on the scene in the 1920s, he sounded unlike

Clarinetist Ricky Alexander’s fourth album as a leader (following Just Found Joy, Strike Up The Band, and I’m In Love Again) straddles the often-artificial boundaries