Album Reviews

Has any jazz musician been emulated after their passing as much as Django Reinhardt? Ironically, when Django died in 1953, hardly any guitarist sounded like

Nothing about this album looks like something we would normally cover. It’s modern in appearance, has a full marketing team behind it, is a likely

All being well, the socially distanced performance of jazz will soon be a thing of the past. Musicians will be able to gather again, arranging

There have been many tributes to Louis Armstrong through the years. Satchmocracy by the Jérome Etcheberry Popstet is one of the more unusual ones. When

Captain John Handy (1900-71) stood alone in the New Orleans revival movement. Virtually the only significant alto-saxophonist playing traditional jazz in the 1960s, Handy’s hard-charging

There are two distinct knots of extraordinary traditional jazz interpreters in Europe right now. One contingent consists of Andrew Oliver, Nick Ball, David Horniblow, Dave

A recording star ever since she signed to the Capitol label in 1944, Peggy Lee was the epitome of the cool-toned singer, one who sang

Anthony Fuscaldo is a New Jersey based guitarist and composer. He has found success scoring films and documentaries, receiving accolades at film festivals in several

Adam Swanson is a brilliant pianist who loves to entertain audiences. His mentor was the late Johnny Maddox and, like Maddox, he performs ragtime, early

I had “Viper Mad” stuck in my head throughout the month of December and I have this album to blame! It features the hottest contemporary

So this rotten thing seems set to follow us, in one strain or another, into the long-awaited year of 2021—the blockade on gigs, festivals and

I’ve been waiting a long time to review Swing in Place. Or maybe it just felt like a long time, in this Groundhog Day mush

The Ventura based Barrelhouse Wailers have been delighting dancers and lovers of high times around Southern California since 2013. It’s a wonder they haven’t become

British violinist Andy Aitchison grew up loving the playing of Stephane Grappelli, yet the music on his LeJazzetal release You Ain’t Never is not a

Duke Ellington recorded an enormous amount of music during 1924-74, and nearly everything that he documented is well worth hearing. The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition:

I would hope our readers know by now to seek out any new album from Paolo Alderighi and Stephanie Trick. They’ve been on our cover

Is bear meat sweet? I’ll never know for sure—I’m vegetarian. Johnny Hodges seemed to think so, when titling the 1954 track which lends its name

The Jazz Band Ball Orchestra has been playing in Poland, and across Europe, since they formed as a music school group in 1962. By 1972

Cornetist Muggsy Spanier (1901-67) was one of the most consistent of all jazz musicians. His approach did not change at all after the late 1920s

Back in the 1990s a group of guys played in a Django devoted string group with an unusual instrumentation. Where an unpright bass might be

Jimmie Noone (1895-1944) was one of the most influential jazz clarinetists of the 1920s, and is considered by many to be one of the big

I’m used to receiving albums from well intentioned and often self financed older musicians who are, to put it nicely, over proud of their accomplishments

Minnesota has a remarkable traditionally jazz history full of larger than life figures. The Hall Brothers Band and their Emporium of Jazz makes up a