Artist Profiles

This summer, trombonist/singer/composer Emily Asher had planned on touring with her band Garden Party, in support of the group’s newest album If I Were a

Pianist Steve Pistorius has honored the New Orleans Jazz tradition since the 1970s as a piano soloist, sideman, bandleader, and educator.  Hal Smith: What was

Global pandemics aside, the Mint Julep Jazz Band is enjoying great demand. With band members featured at North Carolina’s Lindy Focus—one of the planet’s biggest

There may be some question about whether certain singers are “jazz” singers, but there is no question about Sheila Jordan’s jazz bona fides. She has

I asked multi-instrumentalist Don Vappie some questions about his life growing up and becoming a musician in the Crescent City. (His latest release, The Blue

Hal Smith: You are best known among Traditional Jazz fans as a cornetist, but can you tell us about the instrument you started with? Chris

Vocalist Roya Naldi, in her mid-twenties, is probably not a household name among Syncopated Times readers—yet. This interview will hopefully change that. She has just

Not meaning to offend any of my bass-playing friends, I’ve often wondered what motivates a musician to want to play the bass and have to

Tuba player David Ostwald got hooked on Louis Armstrong and his music at age 15. “I went to Sam Goody’s (remember record stores?) to buy

Clint Baker is one of the most important musicians in the contemporary Traditional Jazz and Swing world. Besides being a first-class musician (a multi-instrumentalist), he

At 30 years of age, British bandleader Alex Mendham is too young to have seen any of the swing band leaders of the 1920s, ’30s,

Imagine Django Reinhardt jamming with Frank Sinatra. That’s not too much of a stretch in describing The Black Market Trust, a fast-rising quintet out of

Pianist Kris Tokarski honors the traditions of keyboard masters from New Orleans to Bop. Though he is only 31, Kris has already performed extensively in

In early November, Stephanie Trick and Paolo Alderighi were my house guests for several days while they played concerts in the area. That made them

I first noticed Hannah Gill in a fundraising video she made with Glenn Crytzer in support of his double disc release of originals and swing

Tenor saxophonist Houston Person is one of the most soulful jazz players on the scene today. He is a musician who pays close attention to

Note: John Gill is a multi-instrumentalist with wide-ranging musical tastes. However, he is best known as an authority on San Francisco Style Jazz and also

If YouTube views are any indication Tatiana Eva-Marie leads one of the most popular traditional jazz bands going. A Swiss-born actress and vocalist she’s on

Looked at one way, Shirt Tail Stompers are a “London-based jazz and swing band” (so says their website). Looked at another way, they’re better described

John Royen is one of the premier stride pianists active today. His background includes work with some of the best-known Traditional Jazz performers in the

A founding member talks about the group’s history and its enduring appeal The Manhattan Transfer is the most successful vocal jazz group in music history.

Present-day fans of Harlem Stride who are familiar with European pianists such as Rossano Sportiello, Louis Mazetier and Paolo Alderighi may want to make the

Early in his career, at places like Your Father’s Moustache and The Salty Banjo, Jimmy Mazzy carved out a place for himself on the bandstand

Aussie swing singer Greg Poppleton is lauded by critics for his “authentic” vocal stylings. But the radio DJ and actor—whose screen credits include Moulin Rouge

The great jazz pianist Jess Stacy told his biographer, Keith Keller: “Nick Fatool was always 100 per cent of what a good drummer should be.”

For some musicians, good enough just ain’t good enough—only perfection will do. In his autobiography Trumpet on the Wing, Joe Manone remembers Bix Beiderbecke chastising

In September 1956, Albany, NY-based clarinetist Skip Parsons played his first gig with his Riverboat Six at the Van Schoick Tavern in Cohoes, N.Y. He

While in Davenport for this year’s Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival, I had the opportunity to sit down with drummer Hal Smith to discuss his

Syncopated Times readers all agree: when it comes to music, the oldies are the best. Singing sensation Cate Cody takes this mantra to extremes, with

One can’t imagine the vintage music scene today without the influence of Don Neely, the founder of the long-running Royal Society Jazz Orchestra. The California-based

Duke Ellington is remembered as perhaps swing’s greatest bandleader. But prodigious pianist Mary Lou Williams—who also wrote for Earl Hines, Benny Goodman, and Tommy Dorsey—was

Researching Terry Myers can be a bit exhausting, especially his last 35 years or so. I’ve never encountered a musician who has played in and

I first met guitarist Molly Reeves at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church during Jazz Fest in 2015. She played with Norbert Susemihl (tp) and Orange Kellin

Not many 27-year-old performers have a professional career spanning over a decade and a half, including a performance at Carnegie Hall with Michael Feinstein and a full solo program at the Kennedy Center

Few jazz fans would argue the value of ragtime, including both its continued popularity and its huge contribution to the early development of jazz. And

Britain has a few reasons to be blue. Our economy is shrinking. Our politics is an international joke. And the weather this summer has been

To have known Trebor Jay Tichenor is to have known a ragtime legend. In fact, this St. Louisan might have been a ragtime original had

Chicago’s reputation in the Jazz world is indisputable. Often considered the nursery of jazz, many of the greats came here, called it home and nursed

“I’ve always preferred the New Orleans style. That’s what real jazz is as far as I’m concerned.” — Earl Scheelar This year’s Cline Wine and

When asked what attracted them to jazz, the response you get from Pete and Will Anderson is “The jazz bug hit us very early on.

Nicola Farnon is surely living most musicians’ dream. In demand throughout Europe, the well-travelled jazz singer and bassist toured Ukraine last month. She has played

I first heard trumpeter Bo and drummer Bill Winiker play at a wedding in the late 1970s and they were terrific. They swung like crazy

There are two ways you can approach getting into a young band who, in the span of five years, has produced more than ten releases—roll

March 17th marked the 100th birthday of the late Nathaniel Adams Coles, aka Nat “King” Cole, and guitarist-vocalist John Pizzarelli isn’t letting that important milestone

When I see the long lists of famous musicians from New Jersey, it makes me wonder whether it’s all coincidental or, maybe, there’s really something

“… One afternoon, back in Port of Spain, Trinidad, I met four scientists in a bar, they were on their way to West Africa to

You may have already stumbled upon Kristen Mosca on Youtube. Out of a handful of pianists drawing attention for their video posts, she seems to

After making a living as a musician for 48 of his 61 years and having performed in 101 countries around the world, you’d think Danny

Since high school, Canadian jazz singer Matt Dusk has dreamed of swaggering in the footsteps of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr. So

On a bright November day my wife Laura and I drove the short distance from our home to a store called Piecemakers in Costa Mesa,

Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, “Little Eddie” Metz was given his first pair of drumsticks at the age of three

Movies can help us dream. They can show us a world of possibilities or places long gone or places that never were. For singer/songwriter Kat

When I contacted Seattle based guitarist Greg Ruby to let him know he’d be on our cover part of his reply was: “Earlier this summer,

The Harlem-based Bandleader Ruminates on Music, Performance, and Style William Shakespeare once famously asked “What’s in a name?” That line from Romeo and Juliet could

I first heard Turk Murphy’s band back in my sportswriting days when I was in Cleveland, Ohio, to cover a college football game in 1949.

With the cleverest band name I’ve ever heard, The Night Blooming Jazzmen have entertained and impressed traditional jazz fans since 1975. The band was originally

A Conversation with Michael Feinstein on the Enduring Appeal of Popular Music For aficionados of the Great American Songbook, Michael Feinstein needs no introduction. The

Four generations of reedman Evan Arntzen’s family have been merry music makers. Covering more than 100 years. Evan’s great-grandfather came to North America from Norway

When New York City pianist-singer Bobby Short died in 2005, Steve Ross, the “crown prince of cabaret” as the New York Times dubbed him, became