Album Reviews

A more impressive lineup could not be asked for. Five of the most technically proficient, creative, and expressive jazzmen working today appear together for the

The group that came to be known as the Secret Six (named after abolitionist John Brown’s Secret Society Of Six from 1859) originated during the

Have you noticed how, these days, even the movie trailers have trailers? When you tap the preview for an upcoming Hollywood blockbuster, you now get

Hadda Brooks (1916-2002), like Nat King Cole, had two careers in one. She began playing piano when she was four and was classically trained. Brooks

Guitarist Alex Belhaj is representative of the generation of musicians that have converged on New Orleans in the decade and a half since Hurricane Katrina

A major swing/mainstream cornetist from England, Digby Fairweather has had a busy and productive career since he began recording regularly in the mid-1970s. His style

In 1993, when he must have been quite young, Andy Farber met legendary vocalese originator Jon Hendricks and began a long collaboration that included writing

Ole “Fessor” Lindgreen, who turns 84 this year, is a veteran Danish trombonist and bandleader who has played Dixieland, swing, blues, and rhythm & blues

Mosaic box sets are always highly recommended to lovers of the artist’s music, but unfortunately their impeccable compilations are only in-print for a limited period

As the world emerged from the Great Depression in the 1930s and the outbreak of WWII was looming, in jazz music swing was the thing,

James P. Johnson, along with Jelly Roll Morton, was the first significant jazz pianist and a major figure in moving jazz piano beyond ragtime. Johnson

Back in the spring of 2020, before most of the world knew what was about to hit it, a French five-piece was putting the finishing

Remember going to the movies on Saturdays and seeing cliffhanger serials? These were sometimes sandwiched between a double-feature Western. I doubt I ever saw a

The Upbeat label has proven to be the perfect home for the many recordings organized and produced by the late trombonist Big Bill Bissonnette for

Sometimes you want something a bit different—a fresh take, a quirky arrangement, an original number. Other times you just want a solid classic done well.

Dave Davies shines as one of Ithaca’s most talented and most versatile musicians. In recent years, he’s best known for his work with the Gypsy

Just occasionally, a piece of music makes you go, “Wait, what?” This was my reaction on first spinning Egyptian Ella by Les Bleu Pelouse. The

A member of one of the greatest jazz vocal groups ever, the Boswell Sisters, Connee Boswell (with one early exception) began recording as a single

Jazz And Swing On Screen is the fifth release on the Upbeat label for the London Swing Orchestra. It was preceded by The Roaring Twenties,

There were quite a few “gaspipe” clarinetists who during the 1920s were popular for a time. Those musicians emphasized odd sounds and novelty effects, whether

I have a bit of an infatuation with Martha Raye. Born in 1916, “The Big Mouth” was a vaudeville child star before appearing in the

Clarinetist George Lewis, trumpeter Kid Howard, and trombonist Jim Robinson made for a potent frontline, one that was featured on some of Lewis’ best-known records.

While his name is barely known in the United States and even many jazz fans in England may not be that familiar with him, pianist-bandleader