Album Reviews

The Red Hot Mama (Gloria candens) was presumed to be extinct in 1966 with the passing of Sophie Tucker, who proclaimed herself the last of

The Fletcher Henderson Orchestra was the first jazz big band to really swing. Arranger Don Redman figured out how to get the large ensemble sounding

Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy is arguably Satch’s finest recording of the 1950s. At the time, the Louis Armstrong All-Stars included trombonist Trummy Young, clarinetist

George Buck (1928-2013) had quite a career as the head of GHB and Jazzology Records (both of which he founded) and other labels such as

For 42 years Rich Conaty, who passed away near the end of 2016, delighted in playing rare recordings from the 1920s and ‘30s on his

In 2014, during the festival season in New Orleans, cornetist Jamie Wight invited some of his favorite musicians who were in town to do some

Rich Conaty has hosted his weekly radio show The Big Broadcast since 1973, featuring jazz, dance music and singers from the 1920s and ‘30s. Since

Jeff Barnhart makes everything look so effortless. Like his idol Fats Waller, Barnhart not only finds it easy to take a vocal while playing heated

James P. Johnson may not have been the very first stride pianist in history but he was the most influential and the pacesetter of the

If pure, passionate and powerful horn-playing is your cup of tea, you owe yourself a big gulp of Live & Unplugged featuring Orlando-based trumpeter Charlie

Molly Ryan’s musical travelogue Let’s Fly Away is a jewel. The individual selections on the CD, all quite excellent, describe a dramatic trajectory within the

Peripatetic drummer Danny Coots, who travels the world from his home in Nashville, and stride pianist Brian Holland of Dallas have collaborated on four recordings,

In this, their third CD, the Heliotrope Ragtime Orchestra pushes their boundaries into the 1920s to pick up some great tunes from the third decade

Paolo Alderighi and Stephanie Trick, both accomplished stride pianists, first met in 2008 at a stride summit weekend in Switzerland. They kept bumping into each

Stephanie Trick’s horizons keep expanding. When we first met her, she was playing ragtime, but she soon mastered Scott Joplin and moved to stride piano,

This CD is a true treasure!  Frederick Hodges, who has earned a deserved reputation as a fine interpreter of novelty piano music and difficult forms of

This is the third “concept” recording that Rick Benjamin has tackled along with his Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, the first two being “Black Manhattan” (music of

Dr. Dave Majchrzak (or “Dr. Dave,” as he is called – for good reason) has always taken an assured approach to his playing of ragtime.

Wherever there has been an open piano at ragtime events, John Remmers has been a familiar face for many years.  This is his first recording and

Eric Marchese has been active in the Southern California ragtime scene for many years. He has founded both a ragtime festival and a ragtime society

It must be satisfying for Trebor Tichenor, the patriarch of the Tichenor Family Five, to see how his love of music is being carried on

It’s funny what love will do.  Absent are the pyrotechnics and the quirky improvisations that have long been her domain, replaced on this disc with lush

Paul Lingle spent most of his life playing for people who didn’t really listen.  From the bars and dime-a-dance joints to the Dixieland band one-nighters and