The Jazz Bands that Inspired Us
Hal Smith -with- Jeff Barnhart
November 30, 2025
Jeff Barnhart: Folks, you’ve been with Hal and me for years now as we forensically dissect various bands’ and musicians’ outputs as well as offer
Jeff Barnhart: Folks, you’ve been with Hal and me for years now as we forensically dissect various bands’ and musicians’ outputs as well as offer
Jeff Barnhart: Hal, we’ve been having great fun listening to the 1945 sides made by trombonist Kid Ory and his marvelous band. I have to think
Jeff Barnhart: Gentle reader, last month Hal Smith and I had such fun listening to, discussing, and sharing with you some music recorded by the legendary New
The blue links on song titles go to the referenced recordings on Archive.org. Hal Smith: Jeff, we have discussed Kid Ory’s historic recordings with Jelly
Hal Smith: Brother Kevin, let’s stay on the topic of West Coast drummers and talk about one of the best: Bill Dart. I think it’s
Hal Smith: Brother Kevin, after we wrote about the great Fred Higuera, we decided to take a listen to some recordings by another West Coast
The stage is set for the 2025 Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival; July 31, Aug. 1 and Aug. 2 at the Rhythm City Casino in Davenport.
Hal Smith: Brother Kevin, in our last column we agreed to write something about the “Daddy Of ‘Em All”—Ben Pollack. Besides his wonderful talent as
Jeff Barnhart: Hal, we both enjoyed listening to the Firehouse Five’s first “themed” album, The FH5+2 Goes South, last month that we agreed to cover
Part One of this discussion of Morey Feld appeared in our March 2024 issue, and Part Two was published in May 2024. Hal Smith: Brother
Hal Smith: Ryan, you can be contacted for original artwork, graphic design, swing dance instruction, to lead a band and to perform as a sideman.
Hal Smith: Jeff, This month’s column was intended to be the first in a series of articles about the New Black Eagle Jazz Band; a
JB: Faithful readers, this month my fellow musical forensicist and I will be continuing our exploration of a nine-track LP released by Fantasy Records in
Hal Smith: Well, Brother Kevin—I’ve been looking forward to this conversation for a long time. We’re going to listen to some recordings by a drummer
Hal Smith: Jeff, according to our recent e-mail exchanges, we share a favorite album: Blues Over Bodega, recorded by Lu Watters’ Jazz Band and released
Jeff Barnhart: Hal, one of the highlights for me while exploring the music of cornetist Johnny Wiggs and banjo/guitar/vocalist Edmond “Doc” Souchon was the tasty
Jeff Barnhart: Well, Hal, you’ve done it again. I’ve been grooving on the selections you chose to share the music and story of Edmond Souchon: banjoist,
Jeff Barnhart: Welcome, dear reader! This month, we are continuing our exploration of the music of New Orleans cornet player Johnny Wiggs, whose recorded output
Jeff Barnhart: Hal my friend, you’ve chosen a musician I know little about, but whose work I’ve heard—and very much enjoyed in the past. Since
Hal Smith: Brother Kevin, we have received quite a lot of positive comments for our first article on Morey Feld. Before we begin part two,
Hal Smith: Dear Readers, this month Jeff and I will explore the music of the great jazz pianist Bob Greene. We start with the first
Hal Smith: Well, Brother Kevin…It seems like forever since we “talked shop” for an article in The Syncopated Times. Before another year slips away, what
Jeff Barnhart: Welcome back, dear readers. This month we’re continuing our discussion of a unique traditional jazz group that had its heyday in the 1960s
Jeff Barnhart: Welcome! This month we’re taking a break from poring over recordings created 95+ years ago and concentrating on a Californian group that had
