Pioneering dancer Norma Miller—dubbed the “Queen of Swing”—has been honored with a memorial alongside those of King Oliver, W.C. Handy, Duke Ellington and other jazz
I’m almost beginning to appreciate this pandemic—just a minuscule bit, mind you—for forcing jazz musicians worldwide back into the studio and me off the dance
As anyone who’s read one of my reviews will know, I love a good keyboardist. Well, if I were naming The Schwings Band’s new album
Pulled at random from a bag of new releases, The Oxblood Melodians is the second disc I’ve reviewed recently which is bookended by two versions
There are plenty of outfits striving to reproduce the sounds of classic jazz recordings, be they big band or small group. There are plenty writing
Physical distancing is a sensible reaction to infectious disease; the cure for what ails our society. Yet, like cod liver oil or chemotherapy, taking this
The Tenement Jazz Band is so trad that it’s barely even online, despite being only a two-year-old project with a mostly thirty-something line-up. Google them
I like the oldies. Back when I hosted a swing radio show, I had a strict limit of two modern tracks per broadcast—the rest was
If you’re a swing dancer, you know how frustrating it is when the band booked for an event hasn’t been briefed on what good dancing
Exhausted by six months without swinging out, sociable swing dancers are finding other ways to scratch that interaction itch: outdoor tea dances, pub garden socials,
For two chaps with a guitar and a washboard, Martyn Roper and Jack Amblin—a.k.a. the Washboard Resonators—can really belt it out. They’ve proved as much
It’s tricky to find much online about Olivia Cook—unless you’re seeking her almost-namesake Olivia Cooke, the English actress who starred in Psycho prequel Bates Motel.
Some sequels are unwarranted and altogether unwelcome: A second coronavirus outbreak. World War II. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. But there was one return I was
Global pandemics aside, the Mint Julep Jazz Band is enjoying great demand. With band members featured at North Carolina’s Lindy Focus—one of the planet’s biggest
When Yvonne Marther Fasnacht died—on Sunday, 13 November 2011, aged 101—Variety.com carried her obituary. The top entertainment website remembered a pioneering nightclub owner who helped
As a pianist, I’m drawn to any album which puts the storehouse center stage. It’s rare that I’ll get excited about a Benny Goodman, Louis
Trust a Japanese band to take what you and love, tune it up and hand it back better than ever, all shiny and new—in a
For all the gigs and festivals which have inevitably been cancelled in recent months, there sure have been a lot of great dancing records released—as
With the exception of a few lady pianists, Swing Era women sang while the men played; that’s what some less academic, coffee table jazz histories
Of all the things being cancelled by you-know-what, the saddest to see knocked on the head would undoubtedly be Shirt Tail Stompers’ tenth birthday bash
There’s something particularly appealing about live recordings right now, when we can’t go out and enjoy bands in person. A 1961 record of Chris Barber
I didn’t realize just how much I need dancing in my life, until I could no longer do it. I knew I loved it, but
As a Brit, when I think of US national parks I think Yosemite—thousands of miles of lakes, trees, bears, and continent-threatening supervolcanoes. (Keep an eye
There is a persistent myth, especially among younger swing dancers, that 1942 marked a watershed in Britain’s toe-tapping habits. That was the year the US
