Album Reviews

Larger groups of musicians appearing under a shared name in different places are nothing new to jazz. It goes back at least as far as

Tex Rubinowitz and Bob Newscaster’s Original Dixieland Rock ‘N’ Roll Band is the result of an idea nurtured over twenty years. Tex was a superstar

Patrick von Wiegandt is a whirlwind. You’ll spot him in Hollywood, then London, then Hawaii, then New York, and everywhere he lands he seems to

I complain about my commutes a lot and tonight is no exception as the combination of a downpour and early getaway Jersey Shore traffic put

In an era when many review copies come as downloads, or even streaming links, I was overjoyed to receive an exceptionally packaged LP with equally

Two complementary musicians with distinct approaches to career “rendezvous in a Manhattan apartment” and record spontaneous arrangements of American Songbook material. Grand piano and snare

With the popularity of Dixieland throughout the 1950s, there were occasional attempts to “update” the music and place the repertoire in a different setting. A

Vic Lewis (1919-2009) had his life changed when he first heard the music of Stan Kenton. From then on, he led modern jazz bands in

Johnny Guarnieri Plays Harry Warren is a single CD that has been reissued as a companion to the wonderful Guarnieri biography, Superstride by Derek Coller

Big Bill Bissonnette (1937-2018) made a major contribution to New Orleans revival jazz. In addition to being a fine trombonist most inspired by his idol

V-Discs (short for “Victory Discs”) hold a unique place in music history. During 1943-49, special recording sessions were held to produce 78s that were specifically

Trumpeter Frankie Newton (1906-54) receives career spanning treatment in his own three-CD set from the Acrobat label which has excellent liner notes by Paul Watts.

The Mad Hat Hucksters are a cornerstone of the Swing Dance scene in San Diego and they’ve recently begun to appear at many of the

This extended performance goes off in unimagined, jaw-dropping directions as McDermott creates a new masterpiece from Joplin’s greatest classic.

The Complete Morton Project refers not to the completeness of this particular album but to the lofty goal of its participants to learn and record

He was Great Britain’s first major jazz star. Trumpeter-singer Nat Gonella (1908-98) could be thought of as the British Louis Armstrong since Satch was his

It all began late last spring after singer Ellynne Rey experienced a spate of unusual “life” bird sightings as well as striking rarities such as

Ricky Alexander is the quintessential New York jazzman of the twenty-teens. After being exposed to civic and legacy bands while growing up in the DC

Last August I highlighted albums from several hot young jazz groups in Europe. I took special notice of The Dizzy Birds, a group that I

The Wolverine Jazz band has been providing hot traditional jazz all over the North East and at festivals nationwide for almost 25 years. They’ve maintained

A veteran of the New York City Jazz scene known for taking deep dives into the American Songbook Daryl Sherman delivers on her latest album,

Producer John Hammond was always a major proponent of integration and of recognizing the greatness of the top African-American jazz artists. While still in his