Album Reviews

I’m almost beginning to appreciate this pandemic—just a minuscule bit, mind you—for forcing jazz musicians worldwide back into the studio and me off the dance

As anyone who’s read one of my reviews will know, I love a good keyboardist. Well, if I were naming The Schwings Band’s new album

There have been occasional recorded tributes to Bessie Smith since the 1950s, but French singer Sarah Lenka’s I Don’t Dress Fine is one of the

Alex Welsh (1929-82) is best known as a hard-driving trumpeter who led bands in England that were inspired by Eddie Condon. His clarinetist during 1955-64

Pulled at random from a bag of new releases, The Oxblood Melodians is the second disc I’ve reviewed recently which is bookended by two versions

There is certainly no shortage of Ella Fitzgerald recordings. Starting with Chick Webb during 1935-39, fronting his orchestra after Webb’s death, (1939-41), and then in

There are plenty of outfits striving to reproduce the sounds of classic jazz recordings, be they big band or small group. There are plenty writing

A major New Orleans-style clarinetist since the early 1990s, Evan Christopher has often teamed up with Django Reinhardt-inspired guitarists, most notably David Blenkhorn and Dave

Art Tatum was such a dazzling pianist with his remarkable speed, rather incredible technique, and competitive spirit that it was often said that few other

With all of the “Hot Clubs” in the world (it must number over 100 at this point), there is a tendency of some of the

In my communications with Archeophone regarding Charles A. Asbury: 4 Banjo Songs, 1891-1897 I  foolishly suggested that I could do a review based on digital

Back in 2005, the Jazz Oracle label came out with a limited-edition CD called A Gift From The President. It consisted of rare recordings discovered

Traditional jazz can be played well and enjoyed in any instrumental combination from soloist to symphony, even a guitar and clarinet duet can produce a

Jon-Erik Kellso is one of the overlooked greats holding down traditional jazz today. Overlooked not because he is unknown, nearly all of our subscribers will

One of the most rewarding reissue programs of vintage British traditional jazz is Lake’s At A Tangent series. There have been nine previous volumes, each

Throughout much of his career, trumpeter Ken Colyer (1928-85) had a devoted cult following in the United Kingdom. He was never a virtuoso or a

Evan Christopher is serious about New Orleans jazz. Our cover profile of him highlighted his commitment to high order artistic expression from within a set

The 2016 debut of The Dime Notes made a splash in the London traditional jazz scene. The team of pianist Andrew Oliver and David Horniblow

It was the best jazz group on record in 1923 and was considered a sensation among up-and-coming Chicago jazz musicians. King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band

I like the oldies. Back when I hosted a swing radio show, I had a strict limit of two modern tracks per broadcast—the rest was

There are so many guitarists in Europe currently playing in the Django Reinhardt style that there are always new talents to discover. Guitarist Fapy Lafertin,

In 2018 Ted des Plantes launched a label, TdP Productions, to release new material from his own collection of live tapes and studio outtakes as