After a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic, the 12th annual Central Pennsylvania Ragtime and American Music Festival returned to Orbisonia and Rockhill, PA on
This is not an article I expected to write, but given that the events I’m relating occur on a regular or seasonal basis, I felt
The 50th anniversary Bix Beiderbecke jazz festival in Bix’s hometown of Davenport, Iowa, got underway in its usual fashion on Thursday afternoon, August 5, with
I spent most of this summer in western New York instead of at my usual place, Potsdam in the St. Lawrence River valley, since my
Four and a half years ago I first met Colin Hancock, whose recognition and reputation as an eminent authority on early jazz, especially that performed
Although pianist Domingo Mancuello (pronounced Man-KWAY-o) lives only three miles from me (but not for long—see below), I did not meet him here in Lancaster.
Like many of you since the onset of COVID, I’ve been itching to be able to attend live music events and festivals. There just haven’t
Charlotte Dickison retired as director of the Olympia Jazz Festival after the 2019 edition. She made many friends from all over the US and Canada
Thirty-three year-old guitarist/banjoist Arnt Arntzen, younger brother of reedman Evan Arntzen, has quickly established his own presence in New York. Evan was featured in this
Suncoast Jazz Festival director Joan Dragon has had a long and varied worklife, in and outside the music world. Having never attended this festival, I
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
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
The renowned French quartet Paris Washboard made a brief trip across the pond in February to play four concerts in my neck of the woods.
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
At the West Coast Ragtime Festival in November I sat down for about half an hour for a wide-ranging conversation with multi-instrumentalist Matt Tolentino, who
Combined with my trip to the West Coast Ragtime Festival as reported last month, I attended for the second time the San Diego Jazz Fest
Paris Washboard, the renowned French quartet, will be making its first US appearance in over two years, with four concerts in February in Pennsylvania and
Sometimes too much of a good thing is, well, too much. Such is the case with the West Coast Ragtime Festival, which I attended for
The eleventh annual Central Pennsylvania Ragtime & American Music Festival took place on September 20-22 in Orbisonia and Mount Union. There was a slight change
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
What are you—yes YOU—doing to keep traditional jazz alive? That was the recurring theme of my recent conversation with Vince Giordano, leader of the Nighthawks,
The 48th annual Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival occurred from July 31 through August 3 at the perennially over-air conditioned Rhythm City Casino in Davenport,
The Thursday afternoon concert featured new pieces by contemporary composers such as Vincent Johnson, Marty Mincer, John Reed-Torres, and Martin Spitznagel, the latter two playing their own works. This added a welcome variety
This event with a hopelessly long but descriptive name occurs annually on Memorial Day weekend on the beautiful University of Mississippi campus in Oxford. This
