Bassist Alcide “Slow Drag” Pavageau was a member of Bunk Johnson’s band during 1944-46 and was a regular fixture with clarinetist George Lewis for decades.
Henry “Red” Allen (1908-67) was one of the greatest and most advanced of the early New Orleans trumpeters. He was always a bit of a
Any self-respecting swing fan should know about the Midiri Brothers. The twins, clarinetist Joe Midiri and vibraphonist Paul Midiri, are two of the most consistently
It seems like all the good news this past month has come from Chicago. First, the Chicago Cubs broke a 107-year losing streak to win
Woody Allen has long loved early jazz, whether it is Sidney Bechet, Django Reinhardt or virtually any of the giants of the 1920s and ‘30s.
Do you enjoy hot small-group swing? Then Michael Gamble and the Rhythm Serenaders’ self-titled CD is definitely for you. Bassist Gamble utilizes an octet or
In The Tradition/April In New Orleans is a single CD containing the music of two very complementary former LPs, both of which feature the frontline
Ken Peplowski assembled his team-mates for this charming CD and chose a variety of tunes, some of which are outside the usual jazz repertoire. His
The Galvanized Jazz Band was formed in Connecticut in 1971. From the start, the core of the hot jazz group was cornetist Fred Vigorito, Noel
Wild Bill Davison (1906-89) was one of the most colorful of all jazz cornetists/trumpeters. He had a distinctive sound and filled his solos with emotions
Due to its recent revival and modernization on Broadway, the pioneering Eubie Blake/Noble Sissle Shuffle Along show has been getting a lot of publicity lately.
Here’s another Harry Allen gem from Arbors Records. Harry has assembled an all-star team with fellow tenor saxophonists Grant Stewart and Eric Alexander and baritone
Paul Asaro’s Fat Babies Jazz Band has emerged since its founding in 2010 as one of the finest classic jazz groups currently active in the
Ethan Uslan, who had recorded two previous CDs for Rivermont, is a classically-trained pianist who in college switched permanently to syncopated music. He plays both
Ted Lewis occupies a unique place in jazz history. On the one hand, he became famous for his overly sentimental singing (which looked back nostalgically
Because they followed the Original Dixieland Jazz Band by a few years and directly preceded the first recordings of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, the
Joe Daniels may not be remembered much today but he was one of Great Britain’s top jazz drummers for decades, starting in the mid-1920s. In
This is an “outside the box” recording in that it is not the standard jazz CD. It features poetry by Langston Hughes set to music
It is always a bit bewildering from the math standpoint. Pianist-bandleader Luis Russell recorded in 1926 while his daughter Catherine Russell first emerged as an
This CD features pianist/vocalist Daniela Schachter with a small group performing eleven of composer Jimmy Van Heusen’s famous tunes. She is visiting professor of voice
The Ramblers was a Dutch swing band that made its first recordings in 1929 and lasted until the mid-1950s. It is perhaps best known for
Many jazz history books underrate the contributions of European musicians prior to 1960, other than mentioning Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli. The truth is that
The British Halcyon label has compiled an intriguing set of music from 1932-38 called American Hot Bands Of the 1930’s – Bouncin’ In Rhythm. While
Veteran clarinetist Ted Borodofsky, in the liner notes to his recent CD Remember The Music, says that he recorded the 16 standards because he feared
