This Is All on Me
This is my Eighth Anniversary Issue of The Syncopated Times, and I suppose I should be eating cake or something. I find myself preoccupied with
This is my Eighth Anniversary Issue of The Syncopated Times, and I suppose I should be eating cake or something. I find myself preoccupied with
It’s a new year, and I am required by law to be optimistic. Never mind that each previous year has, in its own way, been
Stéphane Grappelli was born on January 26, 1908, in Paris. Grappelli’s mother died when he was five, leaving his father to raise him. Grappelli began
Multi-award-winning instrumentalist /vocalist/bandleader Cynthia Sayer has been awarded the prestigious 2023 Steve Martin Banjo Prize for Excellence in Four-String Banjo. The award was made public
On Friday, November 10, Colin Hancock received a GRAMMY nomination as producer of Archeophone’s The Moaniest Moan of them All: The Jazz Saxophone of Loren
It’s never not a chaotic month. I spent much of November arranging to have this paper mailed from a new post office. The Syracuse newspaper
It has come to our attention that we have grossly mischaracterized the 2023 Central Pennsylvania Ragtime & American Music Festival in our review of the
As happens every year in this latitude, Autumn is a time of less sunlight and more shadow, and a chilliness that reminds us to bring
Jim Syoen informs us that Jimmy LaRocca, New Orleans trumpeter and son of Original Dixieland Band cornetist Nick LaRocca, has died at the age of
Just how ignorant do you have to be to get kicked out of a club you started? That’s a rhetorical question which was nonetheless answered
I enjoyed an unexpected vacation during the month of August—or I should say I enjoyed those aspects of it that were enjoyable. This brief sabbatical
Ted Weems was born Wilfred Theodore Wemyes on September 26, 1901, in Pitcairn, Pennsylvania. Weems’ start in music came when he won a violin in
Benny Carter was born Bennett Lester Carter on August 8, 1907, in New York City. Benny’s mother taught him the basics of music on the
Even though the Long Intermission is finally over (or we’ve just decided to go on with our lives after three years of hiding behind masks
There was long an impression, fostered by such elegiac biopics as Rhapsody in Blue and Till the Clouds Roll By, that the creation of popular
William C. “Buster” Bailey was born July 19, 1902, in Memphis, Tennessee. Bailey learned the rudiments of clarinet while a student in the city’s public
As I write this on the longest day of the year, I feel like I’ve just lived through the longest week of the year. We’re
The music community is saddened by the incalculable loss of legendary entertainer, broadcaster, and ragtime scholar Max Morath, who died at the age of 96
Guy Lombardo was born Gaetano Alberto Lombardo on June 19, 1902, in London, Ontario. Encouraged by their father, Lombardo (who played violin) and his brothers
As I wrote the thumbnail bio of Guy Lombardo for the Jazz Birthday of the Month today, I had vague feelings of déjà vu. This
We often hear stories of various wunderkinder who, as soon as their pudgy toddler hands become articulated enough to thump keys on a keyboard, play
On April 18, The Syncopated Times reported that its GoFundMe campaign had received donations over the amount of $15,000, surpassing one-quarter of the $60,000 it
I have always found it difficult to ask for assistance, even when I have clearly needed it. This reluctance to accept help may be an
Johnny Dodds was born April 12, 1892, in Waveland, Mississippi. Johnny spent his childhood steeped in music, with his father, uncle, and sister playing various