Most of the pro jazz musicians I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing have majored in music at college. This seems like a smart move: if
Over the last decade, many British bands, clubs, pubs, and hotels have been offering evenings of “authentic” Jazz Age entertainment. Since 2013, event organizers have
When I first saw a punk folk band called Holy Moly and the Crackers, I wished I could get married again just to have them
Describing themselves as “a band for dancers and listeners alike,” Australian outfit Andrew Dickeson’s Blue Rhythm Band have been delighting swing fans around their native
If there’s one thing my Sherrie Tucker-inspired scribblings—to which I collectively refer as “my forgotten ladies”—have revealed, it’s that behind many of history’s greatest jazzmen
Are you a Hollywood producer seeking the perfect soundtrack for your next nostalgic blockbuster? Well, I think I may have found it. If I could
It’s been a good while since I listened to any big band swing: my playlist has been all duos, trios and small combos for the
Singer-songwriter Tia Brazda burst onto the jazz scene ten years ago, with a debut EP which topped the Canadian iTunes jazz charts. Her full-length debut
Stretched out with my eyes closed, atop a lounger in my backyard—on a day which could only be described as alarmingly barmy, for Britain in
One of the great things about jazz, as I’m sure many fans will agree, is that the tunes stand up very well however they are
Did you ever hear an album and think, “Gee, if someone made a movie of my life, I’d sure like this to be the soundtrack.”
The leafy, affluent spa town of Cheltenham, UK is about as far removed from the sticky summer heat of New Orleans or the skyscraper-thick metropolises
Flick through the first half of any jazz biography and the tales which fly past your eyes are almost invariably those of hardship—riding the rails,
Every once in a while, I hear an album that makes me fall in love with the piano all over again. Usually it’s a classic
I must confess that, for the longest time, I thought of singing as music for people who couldn’t play anything. I naively put instruments in
In the entertainment biz, a triple threat is generally defined as someone who can sing, dance and act. Such performers are not rare—consider Fred Astaire,
The pandemic was absolutely devastating for jazz music and jazz musicians. Men and women who had dedicated their lives to mastering their craft had every
Have you noticed how, these days, even the movie trailers have trailers? When you tap the preview for an upcoming Hollywood blockbuster, you now get
Dolly Adams was a popular performer in her own time. Born Odalie Marie Douroux in 1904, the New Orleans bandleader and pianist joined a musical
Back in the spring of 2020, before most of the world knew what was about to hit it, a French five-piece was putting the finishing
Sometimes you want something a bit different—a fresh take, a quirky arrangement, an original number. Other times you just want a solid classic done well.
Just occasionally, a piece of music makes you go, “Wait, what?” This was my reaction on first spinning Egyptian Ella by Les Bleu Pelouse. The
I have a bit of an infatuation with Martha Raye. Born in 1916, “The Big Mouth” was a vaudeville child star before appearing in the
Landing on Hailey Brinnel’s website, visitors are greeted by the vocalist and musician leaning on her trombone like an elaborate brass walking cane. Soon a
