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
It has recently come to our attention—and it may be news to others—that the Golden Record created to accompany the Voyager space probe missions with
Miss Maybell (AKA Lauren Sansaricq) has pursued an old timey musical bug for years but matched with virtuoso pianist Charlie Judkins she has found something
With this double CD, Kit Johnson and the Black Swan Classic Jazz Band are on solid ground by aiming the contents at dancers, as is
Over the three-and-some decades of its existence, Michael Law’s Piccadilly Dance Orchestra has recorded eight full-length albums. That may not sound like much, until you
The last two years have made the world smaller, remarkably smaller. The technology to record remotely has matured to the point where remote records are
Back in 2018 I devoted a full column of reviews to albums from female led jazz bands. It was in that search that I discovered
