Ever since he began recording as a leader in 1988, tenor-saxophonist Harry Allen has been both prolific and very consistent. His high-quality tenor playing, while
Stretched out with my eyes closed, atop a lounger in my backyard—on a day which could only be described as alarmingly barmy, for Britain in
One of the great things about jazz, as I’m sure many fans will agree, is that the tunes stand up very well however they are
Did you ever hear an album and think, “Gee, if someone made a movie of my life, I’d sure like this to be the soundtrack.”
As I have often said, the U.K. has been blessed with many traditional jazz bands since the revival of the late 1940’s, and the Red
When it comes to big bands of the 1924-34 period, Fletcher Henderson’s was difficult to beat, particularly if one does not include Duke Ellington. Henderson
A fine alto-saxophonist and arranger who was a member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra during 1937-41, Hal McIntyre (1914-59) started his own big band in
During 1938-45, Linda Keene (1911-81) sang with Glenn Miller, the Bobby Hackett Orchestra, Jack Teagarden’s big band, Red Norvo, Muggsy Spanier, Lennie Hayton, Charlie Barnet,
Jonathan Stout has long been an important figure in the swing and swing dance community. An excellent guitarist whose style ranges from Carl Kress and
La Suite Wilson is an octet of superior swing players from France that consists of trumpeter Michel Bonnet, tenor-saxophonist Nicolas Montler, Matthieu Vernhes on alto
Veteran cornetist Ed Polcer, who is now 85, has been a talented soloist since the 1960s when he joined Benny Goodman’s small group. He managed
The COVID pandemic, while robbing musicians of the opportunity to play gigs and to even practice together, did result in some new projects being born.
Erroll Garner had such a unique style on the piano that it used to be very difficult for other pianists (which included George Shearing and
Jazz Classic of the Month: In the 1950s and ‘60s, most Dixieland bands enlisted one of their instrumentalists to also sing some numbers. Many were
The Secret Six is the latest hot jazz band to establish itself in New Orleans, joining in the top tier an exciting roster of groups
The personnel of the CD under review here, Just Genuine Jazz, is almost identical to that of a previous Upbeat Records issue by this same
Every once in a while, I hear an album that makes me fall in love with the piano all over again. Usually it’s a classic
Marilyn Nonken is a classical pianist known for playing some of the most challenging music of the 20th and 21st centuries. That Scott Joplin’s music
Woody Guthrie put a now famous copyright notice on his works: “This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright #154085, for a period
I must confess that, for the longest time, I thought of singing as music for people who couldn’t play anything. I naively put instruments in
In 1966, the Barroom Buzzards of Buffalo, New York, first came together as a Dixieland quartet comprised of banjoist Phil Santa Maria, clarinetist Paul Preston
He was one of the first jazz greats to emerge from New Orleans and become a national star, debuting on record on July 30, 1923,
Twenty years ago, Chicago composer Reginald R. Robinson recorded his fourth studio album, Man Out of Time. Today, Man Out of Time is once again
Back in the 1990s, it was not uncommon for many cities to have their own neighborhood swing orchestra, playing the hits of the big band
