I recently read a column Tex Wyndham wrote for our predecessor paper The West Coast Rag back in 1990 lamenting the lack of female instrumentalists
While the double-CD Ain’t It Grand? from the Glenn Crytzer Orchestra was covered previously in The Syncopated Times, it is worthy of further discussion. Some
The release of Ain’t it Grand, a double CD of original and classic swing material is a milestone achievement in the resurgent popularity of prewar
The Rhythm Gamblers lean on the mature and experienced side of the swing continuum. Not because they average older—gray heads are common in the hippest
Stretching to eleven members and having survived for over a decade Lithuania’s Rhythm Junkies are as much a jazz collective as a traditional band. Think
Hot jazz in Europe draws closer to ragtime and marching band presentation because from polkas to mazurka’s the brass ensemble lived longer in public life
The Swing Shouters of Tours, France, grew out of the relationship between a dance school, a studio, and an association called Swing and Shout. You
In July, as part of a Catching up with New Orleans series of reviews, I strongly recommended an ongoing recording project by a product of
Her Connections Haruka Kikuchi is a 31-year-old native of Japan who, since relocating in 2014, has been accepted into the New Orleans scene so readily
Aurora Nealand is an artist with a creative sensibility that she duly brings to her music. Her parents exposed her to the music of the
Coming off an extensive tour in June and July of Lindy events all over the Northeast, Chelsea Reed and the Fair Weather Five have settled
Miss Myra leads with guitar and vocals in this busy Twin Cities trad band. They have 16 appearances scheduled in September, three on one day.
Cat’n Around by Cait and the Critters After agreeing to bring her band to a gig, Cait Jones suddenly found herself needing a band. A few
The Gentlemen & Gangsters are a hard-swinging sextet of true professionals with a firm rooting in the hot bands on the cusp of Swing Era.
It was St. Joseph’s Night 2006, a group of volunteers set off from the New Orleans suburb of Arabi in search of Mardi Gras Indians.
This is an unusual jazz album—pedal steel guitar is a rarely-used instrument in jazz recording and this is a self-produced album by a group who
Here’s a CD which should appeal to clarinet and swing enthusiasts. As the title suggests all ten songs are familiar swing tunes. And there’s a
The L.A. Swing Barons are all dancers as well as musicians and it shows in the driving sound they capture in their first album, Kansas
Lovers of the weird will beam from the first notes of Book of Rhapsodies Vol. II, the fourth album from the critically acclaimed Ghost Train
I have the pleasure to review this month three albums from a remarkable talent known to many readers of The Syncopated Times; trumpeter and vocalist
The Dirty River Dixie Band was founded in 2014 after two music students at Texas Lutheran University were wowed by a live show of the
One of the greatest trumpeters in jazz history and an exciting musical force throughout the 1930s, Bunny Berigan led big bands during 1937-42 and starred
In 1917 the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (comprised of cornetist Nick LaRocca, trombonist Eddie Edwards, clarinetist Larry Shields, pianist Henry Ragas, and drummer Tony Sbarbaro)
Billie Holiday’s recording career can easily be divided into three main parts. Her 1935-42 recordings for Brunswick, Vocalion, and Okeh, both as a leader and
