If any modern, British musician embodies Louisiana circa 1920, it must be Ewan Bleach. Seeing him live, audiences would be forgiven for thinking he was
Our man Joe Bebco has reviewed several previous works by New Orleans outfit Smoking Time Jazz Club, a longstanding live fixture in the city and
It’s sure nice to have a new live album to review. We haven’t had too many of those come through in the last three years,
Many readers might take it as read that US bands do old-time jazz the best. It seems like a fair assumption, on the face of
About ten years ago, when I’d not been Lindy hopping long, I took part in a swing dance exhibition at a shopping center in Leeds.
It was late on a Friday when I first checked out the Cigar Box Serenaders’ new record, and I’d had a tough old week. Not
The Django a Gogo Festival is held every year in Maplewood, NJ, hosted by acclaimed French musician and composer Stephane Wrembel. The Grammy-winning guitarist has
If I was to describe the Pacific Six’s latest record as a no frills, economy size, value pack of swing and blues, you might well
I’ve mentioned my fondness for Bugsy Malone twice in previous record reviews, but nowhere was the reference more relevant than it is here. In both
Clinker advertise themselves as a “ragtime quartet”, which leaves a lot of what is remarkable about the band and their music unsaid. This is somewhat
As a jazz journalist, there are writers I look up to—experts in the field, whose expansive knowledge and well developed tastes make them widely acknowledged
I haven’t done anywhere near as much social dancing as I expected to, lately. When social distancing prevented it, I thought I would die without
One facet of my working life which I may not have shared with you before—for there’s been no reason that I should, up to now—is
Some musicians aspire to awards. Many wish to walk out on the world’s biggest stages. Others hope to headline festivals one day. For recording debutante
The first two times I listened to Russell Welch’s new album, I was busy doing something else. Doing what, you ask? As it happens, I
Oh, this one’s going to be divisive—that’s what I thought after listening through I Get Along, the new offering by London-based vocalist Lucinda Fosker. A
As half of acoustic jazz and blues duo The Washboard Resonators, percussionist Jack Amblin no doubt feels most at home on the little stages of
I first heard this record on the same day I was scheduled to interview the lady on its cover. Isobel had only recently come to
I’m always in two minds about whether to call a jazz tune a “banger.” On the one hand, I’d like to think I’m a bona
By the time I sat down for a chat with Meschiya Lake, in mid-October, I’d been keen to meet her for a long time—since 2019
The High Standards’ latest release is a four-track EP called My Josephine, which isn’t much music to review. Fortunately the band completed a full-length, self-titled
Recently I’ve been thinking about what it means to be a British jazz fan. I’d heard a lot about the drive for authenticity, which seems
Few serious scholars believe that famous boast, made by the notoriously braggadocious Jelly Roll Morton, in which he claims to have single-handedly invented jazz. But
Guitarist Leo Forde has been living and working in New Orleans since 2014 but, I was pleased to discover, he’s one of ours—a Brit (although,
