Album Reviews

Marieke Koopman makes her jazz recording debut on Chapter One. She is certainly a fearless singer as she shows on the opener, a high-powered version

The passing of Steve Yocum last year was felt profoundly across the traditional jazz world, and perhaps surprisingly among the many young fans he had

Although he tends to get overlooked in jazz history books, Albert Nicholas (1900-73) was one of the great New Orleans clarinetists. Part of the New

Rebecca Kilgore thrives in the recording studio. She has been part of over 50 albums and performs frequently with nearly everyone on the jazz party

There can never be too many Duke Ellington albums. After his passing in 1974, a steady stream of previously unreleased Ellington recordings continued to come

First of all, let me state up front that I am not a pianist. Never had a lesson and when I sit at a keyboard,

Back in the 1960s, Epic in their Columbia Special Products series released a superb three-Lp set titled Jack Teagarden – King Of The Blues Trombone.

A world traveling Australian who has appeared everywhere from Lincoln Center and the Sydney Opera House, to the Davenport, Iowa Bix Fest, Leigh Barker recently

I wasn’t going to review Ted des Plantes’ latest because I’d already covered several of his releases and thought I’d give our other reviewers a

I went to a dance last week—not an awkward daytime shuffle on asphalt, but an honest-to-goodness indoor, after-dark event on a wooden floor and everything.

Sarah Vaughan (1924-90) had one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century. Her wide range, impeccable phrasing, improvising talents, and golden tone were

Cats and Dinosaurs books themselves as “The world´s most radical swing band!” They play original trad jazz and swing tunes with feminist and socialist lyrics.

Humphrey Lyttelton (1921-2008) led the top British traditional jazz band of the first half of the 1950s before he gradually switched to mainstream swing and

It is often intriguing hearing jazz performers at the very beginning of their career. While some are already fully-formed and quite recognizable, others only give

Like many a full generation before him Tony Kieraldo was introduced to ragtime by the movie The Sting. His father, Joe Kieraldo, a jazz fan

Tony Pastor (1907-69) was a likable Italian-American singer and tenor-saxophonist who had commercial success during his career. While he made some recordings with Irving Aaronson’s

Western swing isn’t easy to find these days, the real stuff anyway, and most of it falls heavily on the vintage western side rather than

A superior stride and classic jazz pianist since the 1970s, Ted des Plantes started his TdP Productions label a few years ago to put out

In another review this month I mention my 78 record-crate digging style; one part of my process is always to put aside Collins and Harlan

Pianist John Royen was born in Washington D.C., moved to New Orleans in 1976, studied with Don Ewell, and worked with such notables as Pete

As a collector of 78 RPM records for a quarter century, I have learned to flip through bins with a certain precision, making split second

Nat King Cole had two overlapping careers. A brilliant swing pianist who had developed his own style with the King Cole Trio in the late

Last year I edited a biography of John Hendricks, founding member of multi-award winning vocal trio Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. Together with Dave Lambert and