L’Orchestre Syncopatique • Vol. 3: LIVE!
Dave Doyle
June 27, 2022
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
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
Over the three-and-some decades of its existence, Michael Law’s Piccadilly Dance Orchestra has recorded eight full-length albums. That may not sound like much, until you
The trumpeter Bunk Johnson has received plenty of press, including several features and a full profile—written last year by Scott Yanow—in this magazine. This coverage
As I write this, I’m lying in bed with a banging headache, running a temperature. Listening to this album through headphones made the headache worse—no
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: I have a soft spot for jazz in a Continental accent. And by that I mean
I’m pretty sure that my desert island disc would be a Louis Jordan one, possibly his collaboration with Chris Barber titled Louis Jordan Swings! Jordan’s
It’s a story almost as old as jazz itself: A musician is born in New Orleans, some time between 1900 and 1920, drawn magnetically to
I went to a dance last week—not an awkward daytime shuffle on asphalt, but an honest-to-goodness indoor, after-dark event on a wooden floor and everything.
I don’t listen to music quietly. When my wife and I jump in the car and the stereo comes on, blaring out whatever CD I
