Album Reviews

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

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

This is the third CD by the PsychoAcoustic Orchestra under the direction of pianist/composer Pat Kelly. It is the first full recording in two decades.

Several years ago, singer Alex Mendham realized his long-time dream of organizing and leading a jazz orchestra that performed music from the 1925-35 period, not

King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band is rightfully one of the most celebrated of all New Orleans jazz bands. Their recordings from 1923 were groundbreaking. Not

Considering his stature as one of the top swing-oriented drummers and one who uplifted the Count Basie Orchestra of the 1970s, it is surprising that

A fixture on the New York jazz scene since the 1980s, Marty Elkins sang at Jimmy Ryan’s and Eddie Condon’s establishment in their last days,

After periods of time as the trumpeter with Stuff Smith’s Onyx Club Boys in the 1930s and as a key member of the Cab Calloway

Echoes of Swing is a European quartet comprised of Colin T. Dawson on trumpet and occasional vocals, altoist Chris Hopkins, pianist Bernd Lhotzky and drummer

The recent revival of 1921’s Shuffle Along, the first Broadway show to be written and performed by African-Americans, is a welcome event. The score by

The 18 recordings of Madame Tussaud’s Dance Orchestra, the 16 best of which are included on Rockin’ In Rhythm, have always occupied an unusual place