The UK, that relatively small country, has produced many fine traditional jazz musicians and bandleaders during the last century whose names will be familiar to
While fishing for excuses for being beyond my deadline, I told the publisher this was the most important jazz release we have ever covered. For
It’s easy to prejudge an album, based on a band’s blurb and the first track or two. The latest release by Southside Aces promises “original
Tatiana Eva-Marie, who was born in Switzerland and is based in Brooklyn, is best-known for her spirited renditions of Gypsy jazz and swing standards, inspired
Before Coleman Hawkins, Sidney Bechet, Frank Trumbauer, Jimmy Dorsey, and Adrian Rollini made their first recordings, there was Loren McMurray (1897-1922). A technically skilled alto-saxophonist
We Brits like to think of ourselves as European—or 55 percent of us do, judging by a 2023 YouGov survey on Brexit “Bregret” (well, quelle
The Hot Toddies Jazz Band, a popular attraction in the swing scene of New York, performs vintage standards with impressive musicianship and abundant spirit. It
She was the most versatile singer to emerge from the classic blues movement of the early 1920s. Ethel Waters (1896-1977), who had a very rough
When the Original Dixieland Jazz Band settled in London for an extended stay in 1919, they were essentially introducing jazz to the United Kingdom. While
This compilation of tracks by the West London Rhythm Kings gives some idea of the various personnel who played with the band or “depped” (“subbed”
Let’s see just how far off the beaten tracks I can go in this column! If your 78 RPM collection casts its net wide enough
Spain has an abundance of traditional jazz that would surprise most Americans. Enric Peidro brings players from America including Jonathan Stout, Glenn Crytzer, and Dan
The Wit’s End Brass Band is a large community band in New Orleans “gathered and guided” by Shaye Cohn of Tuba Skinny. Founded in 2012,
All I know about The Rag Messengers is that they hail from Montpellier, France, and play New Orleans jazz as hot as the weather there
Down for the Count is down for anything. The UK based collective includes 30 musicians on call in various formats, all of them within this
A reader suggested this album to me just in time for summer and I’m glad they did! I was expecting just another ukulele album but
Do you like scat singing? My Mum absolutely hates it—the wordless vocal improvisation featured on so many of Ella Fitzgerald’s sides (which she loves, by
How many albums is “a lot of albums”? Not to own, I mean—I’ve got around a hundred LPs, a number which most collectors would consider
It takes a brave and very skilled saxophonist to want to share a frontline with Ken Peplowski. After all, Peplowski has been one of the
One of the few ragtime ensembles on the level of the Paragon Orchestra is the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra. It was founded by Andrew Greene
Rick Benjamin’s Paragon Ragtime Orchestra has been together for over 37 years, with Deuces Wild being their 20th recording. Benjamin’s discovery of thousands of arrangements
Trombonist and label owner Big Bill Bissonnette loved to play and document a rough and spirited type of New Orleans jazz that put the emphasis
Raymond Scott (1908-94) was a true eccentric, a musical innovator who followed his own unusual path. Born Harry Warnow, he worked as a pianist for
JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH Rod Mason (1940-2017) may not be a household name in the U.S. but he was one of the top traditional
