Album Reviews

I’ve been waiting patiently for Cait and the Critters to release another full length album. Cait Jones is one of many talented young bandleaders in

This is a most unusual album for Dick Hyman because the great pianist does not play a note. Instead, three of his works are interpreted

At 19 years old Shaymus Hanlin is one of the younger musicians you are likely to see on stage at West Coast jazz festivals this

Albert Nicholas (1900-73) was a masterful New Orleans clarinetist with his own distinctive sound. After gaining experience playing in New Orleans, he was part of

Nicki Parrott is well-known as a popular bassist and occasional vocalist who has performed at a countless number of swing-oriented jazz record dates, parties, clubs,

In October 2019 a group of top tier traditional jazz musicians decided to learn from King Oliver‘s iconic Creole jazz Band recordings by playing them

There are scores of swing era big bands whose recorded histories are well worth exploring. Once one has heard the highlights of the obvious greats

Chris Hopkins leads the fine Echoes of Swing group, which we profiled several years ago when they released a double album tribute to Bix. An

Jazz history of the 20th century will be best remembered through its recordings. Just as stage actors who did not appear in films are doomed

Remote recording albums may stick around post Covid-19. Younger musicians have been jamming with each other online for years. In the studio playing in separate

Big Bill Bissonnette (1937-2018) was a spirited trombonist (inspired by his idol Jim Robinson), an occasional drummer, and the leader of the Easy Riders Jazz

Roya Naldi, a singer with a deep and haunting voice, is most inspired by Al Bowlly while at various times hinting at Annette Hanshaw, early

No doubt that readers of The Syncopated Times are as leery of stylistic fusion and “cross-over” projects as I am. I’m not a die hard

The Archeophone label, in their Yearbook series, had previously released CDs dedicated to the music of every year from 1906-1922 (not to mention two CDs

A number of jazz concerts aired in the U.K. on BBC Radio in the early 1960s while the “trad boom” was underway and rock and

Back in my salad days when I first was becoming interested in jazz, I ran across the wonderful name “Muggsy Spanier.” For some reason, that

Lester Young (1909-59) was one of the all-time great tenor-saxophonists, a non-conformist whose floating cool-toned style was much different than that of the dominant influence

It took most European musicians a bit of time to get comfortable playing jazz. In the early-to-mid 1920s, relatively few American jazz recordings were available

For a good many years, now, I have been a fan of Kid Thomas and his various bands; so when I first heard about this

In 2012, Paul Adams of Lake Records issued a three-CD set titled British Traditional Jazz – A Potted History, which consists of 73 tracks in

On Feb. 11, 1940, a new weekly radio program made its debut. Called The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street, it was a satire

Reedsman Evan Arntzen is ready to make a splash in the jazz world with his third release as leader, a gem of an album on

Singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III, called “The Poet Laureate of Family Dysfunction” by Rolling Stone magazine, might not spring to mind as someone that you’d expect