I reviewed a very special album from the UK-based Down for the Count a few months ago. They are a jazz collective, something like James
The Christmas albums I reviewed this year progressed from full band to big band to orchestra and on up to orchestra with strings and vocal
DJANGO BY THE SEA (Kittery, ME) Sept. 29 – Oct. 1 The premiere annual Gypsy Jazz festival in New England takes place at The Dance
Morgan Powell, a composer and jazz trombonist, died on August 20th, he was 85. A graduate of the famous University of North Texas Music Program
William Shepherd, Jr. died on August 29th, he was 89. He toured with the Tommy Dorsey/Warren Covington Orchestra in the late 50s before turning to
Frans Sjöström, a Swedish saxophonist who modeled his style on Adrian Rollini, died on August 19th, he was 78 years old. He was one of
While fishing for excuses for being beyond my deadline, I told the publisher this was the most important jazz release we have ever covered. For
My personal Instagram account celebrates “Lost Formats”. I have shared photos of wire recorders, cylinder records, Betamax videos, and stereoscopes. I once shared a picture
HOT JAZZ JUBILEE (Sacramento, CA) – Sept. 1-4 Join Us Labor Day Weekend 2023 for Sacramento’s Premier End of Summer Celebration! Hot Jazz Jubilee will
British born drummer Barry “Kid” Martyn died on July 17th, he was 82. He first heard New Orleans jazz on Alistair Cooke’s Letter from America
Tony Bennett (August 3rd, 1926 – July 21st, 2023) was the last of the original crooners. Younger than Frank Sinatra and others with whom he
Trombonist Tom Artin died on July 27th, he was 84. He began playing in junior high school under the direction of composer John Harbison, in
Clarinetist Ryoichi Kawai (1940 – August 2023) founded The New Orleans Rascals in 1961 as an extension of the Original Dixieland Jazz Club of Osaka
Let’s see just how far off the beaten tracks I can go in this column! If your 78 RPM collection casts its net wide enough
Spain has an abundance of traditional jazz that would surprise most Americans. Enric Peidro brings players from America including Jonathan Stout, Glenn Crytzer, and Dan
The Wit’s End Brass Band is a large community band in New Orleans “gathered and guided” by Shaye Cohn of Tuba Skinny. Founded in 2012,
All I know about The Rag Messengers is that they hail from Montpellier, France, and play New Orleans jazz as hot as the weather there
Down for the Count is down for anything. The UK based collective includes 30 musicians on call in various formats, all of them within this
A reader suggested this album to me just in time for summer and I’m glad they did! I was expecting just another ukulele album but
It’s time I went off the beaten tracks again. I’ve made a point in this column of covering bands from Europe, Asia, Australia, and South
Harriet Choice died on July 13th, she was 82 years old. In 1968, she became the first jazz critic at the Chicago Tribune had ever
Where jazz came from has been a compelling topic for over 100 years. It is hard to picture now, but in the 1920s there was
