Although he is rarely listed as one of the top prebop tenor-saxophonists along with Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Ben Webster, and Bud Freeman, Eddie Miller
One can never have too many Ella Fitzgerald records. She was remarkably consistent during her prime years (which lasted for over four decades) and was
Dawn Lambeth is a delightful singer who interprets vintage lyrics with a joyful delivery, swinging phrasing, and a gentle warmth. Her voice is quite appealing,
At this point in time, it would not be surprising if tenor-saxophonist Scott Hamilton was running out of inspiration along with new songs to explore.
JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH Earl Bostic (1913-65) was a major name in the 1950s and early 1960s. A superb alto-saxophonist who had impeccable technique
Reed virtuoso Chad Smith’s Saxophobia: Celebrating the Sax Craze of the 1920s is nothing short of extraordinary—an exhilarating, 18-track collection unlike anything else currently being
Chad Smith describes his new album as “a love letter to that moment in time, when the saxophone did not belong to any single world;
Theatrical polymath Chip Deffaa has been studying and promoting the works of George M. Cohan for over six decades, beginning when Chip was just a
The Secret Six, named after abolitionist John Brown’s Secret Society of Six of the 1850s, has been playing hot jazz in New Orleans since 2020.
A very skilled British swing and trad trombonist, Roger Marks has, with the release of Bring Me Sunshine, now recorded exactly 100 albums since his
Ireland has never been considered a hotbed of jazz activity but a few impressive players came from that island. Guitarist Louis Stewart (1944-2016) is considered
While the piano-bass-drums trio has been a fixture in jazz since the 1950s, and the instrumentation was first heard on records in 1935 when pianist
JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH Joseph Lamb (1887-1960) is regularly considered one of the “big three” of classic ragtime composers along with Scott Joplin and
A reasonable guess is that Oscar Peterson made over 200 recordings under his own name—we’re talking albums here, not singles—but the number goes up to
JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH Pee Wee Erwin (1913-81) was a solid swing trumpeter who was a bit overshadowed during his long career. While he
Duke Ellington’s orchestra has always been a difficult ensemble for other musicians to emulate closely. Ellington’s band, whether in the 1920s or the ’60s, featured
The two-CD set Accentuate The Positive put out by Songbook Ink contains 21 classics from the Great American Songbook, all of which are familiar songs
Bing Crosby (1903-77) always enjoyed singing with his fellow vocalists. The most popular singer in the world during the 1930s and ’40s and a household
On her previous recording called Brass, Bria Skonberg put the focus on her trumpet playing with only one song including her singing. Her new CD,
Imagine if Jelly Roll and his Red Hot Peppers of 1926 had had the opportunity to record 13 additional selections. What if cornetist George Mitchell,
It can’t have been easy for the kid who later became known as Little Jimmy Scott. Born in Cleveland in 1925, Scott’s mother died when
Even the most committed “moldy figs” among us—devotees of traditional jazz, early swing, and ragtime—tend to gravitate toward the tried, true, and familiar. There’s comfort
In 1934, trombonist Jack Teagarden joined the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, a few months after his younger brother, trumpeter Charlie Teagarden. It seemed like a good
Warren “Baby” Dodds (1898-1959) can be considered the first influential jazz drummer. While he was preceded on records by Tony Sbarbaro with the Original Dixieland
