Roger Marks • Marks & Sparks
Bert Thompson
November 29, 2023
Whoever composed the title to this CD was having a bit of fun. First is the playfulness of the rhyming “Marks/Sparks.” There may also be
Menu
Whoever composed the title to this CD was having a bit of fun. First is the playfulness of the rhyming “Marks/Sparks.” There may also be
Like many people, I imagine, I first became aware of the term “Creole” in relation to some jazz musicians, such as Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney
Probably most musicians, at one time or another, experience a “heart-stopping moment” or predicament. Here are some I have witnessed—or experienced myself. A tuba player
I encountered reedwoman Natalie Scharf after she joined the front line of the Chicago Cellar Boys. If you’re not aware of this band (and you
Over the years from the bandstand I have witnessed some rather strange scenes on the dance floor. At our weekly residency at a pizza parlor,
Trombonist and band leader Roger Marks from the UK probably gets little name recognition in the traditional jazz community in the US. As this CD
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”
While most of the musicians’ names will be familiar to UK Traditional jazz fans, such will probably not be the case here in the US.
The French Preservation New Orleans Jazz Band has issued numerous recordings—in his liner notes JP Alessi speaks of this latest one being the 36th—and like
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
That banjo player I spoke of previously was also in the wars again when his son was getting married. He wanted to book us to
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”
Like most jazz musicians, I would guess, some bands that I played with experienced off-the-wall encounters that left us shaking our heads—or wringing our hands!
In his notes to this CD, Roger Marks informs us all of these tracks, recorded on cassettes and CDs, had lain forgotten in a cake
Since its inception, ragtime has appealed to dancers, who happily engaged in the one-step and the “animal” dances—the Bunny Hug, the Grizzly Bear, the Turkey
Among those music makers who figured largely in the New Orleans jazz revival, no one stands taller than George Lewis. Until the traditional jazz revival
On this third volume of Once More from the Beginning! by the Red Beans ‘n’ Rice Jazz Band, only three members play on all 29
From his teenage years until his death, Bill Bissonnette (or “Big Bill Bissonnette,” as he liked to be known) was a staunch champion of traditional
The recordings featured on this CD are all taken from the archive of the late John R.T. Davies, UK multi-instrumentalist and wizard of restoration. Some
The Austin High School Gang, a group of teenagers in Chicago attending Austin High School in the 1920’s, became smitten with the jazz of the
In this second volume of Once More from the Beginning! by the Red Beans ’n’ Rice Jazz Band, Stuart McLean continues his recounting of the
If a group of traditional jazz fans were asked to name a great trombonist of the genre from the 1920s-1930s, we might hear “Jack Teagarden
The legendary Crane River Jazz Band was one of the earliest bands in the Traditional Jazz Revival in the U.K. that began in the late
When fellow musicians and acquaintances of Bob Wallis speak of him and his band, a word frequently heard is “drive.” This pair of CDs both
