Samara Joy has been getting a lot of publicity in the jazz world lately, and rightfully so. She has a beautiful voice, a wide range,
One depressing trend emerging from some of my recent artist interviews—specifically those profiling younger women—is a fear that they will become unemployably elderly before reaching
During 1936-40, violinist Stuff Smith led one of the hottest groups in jazz, a sextet (later septet) that teamed him in the frontline with the
It’s rare, when I go out record shopping, that I’m looking out for big band stuff—by and large, I’m more interested in small combo music.
Who was Cass Harrison? His two albums from 1956-57, The Duke And I and Wrappin’ It Up, feature him as an advanced swing pianist influenced
Paul Smith (1922-2013) was a brilliant pianist whose superb technique and swinging style often sounded a lot like Oscar Peterson, particularly on his many later
Whoever composed the title to this CD was having a bit of fun. First is the playfulness of the rhyming “Marks/Sparks.” There may also be
Jazz Classic of the Month There have been a countless number of jazz Christmas albums recorded and released during the past 60 years. One of
The long-venerable practice of “ragging the classics” is at play in Bob Milne’s Christmas-themed CD Silent Night, Ragged Night. The disc contains fifteen popular Christmas
Of all of the “ghost bands” that have survived their leader’s passing, the Count Basie Orchestra is the most successful. One of the few fulltime
After all this time, Syncopated Times readers ought to be familiar with Tuba Skinny; the band has been the subject of many articles and reviews
You can bet an album review is going to be positive when, by the time you read it, I’ve already learned to play parts of
For the past three decades the Westcott Jug Suckers from Syracuse, N.Y. have bravely carried the torch for country blues which they present with an
Ithaca, N.Y. painter Brian Keeler is one of the most accomplished visual artists in Upstate New York. He’s also a gifted guitarist and an accomplished
Founded in 2002, the River Rasin Ragtime Revue is one of the premier ragtime ensembles in the country. They have grown support in their local
The George Gee Swing Orchestra is the house band at Swing 46, a long-running nightclub in Times Square. Gee has been leading big bands since
How’s your French? Tea for 20’s is a traditional jazz band playing for swing dancers in Montreal. While their last full length album was a
Dan Gabel, the remarkable young man on the cover of our March 2021 issue, started a band while still a Dorsey obsessed 13 year old
A chanteuse from LA who performs under a single name, Jeudi likes to dig deep for vocal gems of the ’30s to ’50s. Her album
I reviewed a very special album from the UK-based Down for the Count a few months ago. They are a jazz collective, something like James
The Christmas albums I reviewed this year progressed from full band to big band to orchestra and on up to orchestra with strings and vocal
At just 26 years old, Hannah Gill could hardly be better established as a performer. She’s toured the world twice with Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox
In the end, it comes down to your Moldy Fig quotient. If, like me, you rooted yourself in a jazz era that barely stretched into
There have been many tributes to cornetist Bix Beiderbecke (1903-31) during the past 92 years. Besides being second only to Louis Armstrong in importance among
