Dinah, Keep Blowing Your Horn
Joe Bebco
July 7, 2020
Last fall I wrote an essay for The Syncopated Times titled, “Reconsidering “Dixieland Jazz”, How The Name Has Harmed The Music”. It encouraged the remaining
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Last fall I wrote an essay for The Syncopated Times titled, “Reconsidering “Dixieland Jazz”, How The Name Has Harmed The Music”. It encouraged the remaining
Don Vappie, who is interviewed in this issue, has had a long career for a man of 64. He drifted into traditional jazz from other
Main Red Hot Jazz Entry: Arthur Briggs’ Savoy Syncopators OrchestraAlso See: Better Days Will Come Again: The Life of Arthur Briggs Title Recording Date Recording
Pianist Freddy Cole died on June 27th in Atlanta, he was 88. Born in 1931 in Chicago, he had called Atlanta home for the last
Jazz is often thought of as America’s first cultural export. This isn’t entirely true. Long before jazz, or even ragtime, America had developed a form
The Archeophone label makes early recordings available to the public accompanied by comprehensive liner notes that are often nominated for Grammy’s. Past efforts have included
A Welcome Perspective To the Editor: Larry Melton’s “Blowing off the Dust” in the June issue was a welcome perspective on the impacts of the
BIX BEIDERBECKE MEMORIAL JAZZ FESTIVAL (Livestream Event) – July 30-Aug. 1 The Bix Jazz Society is excited to announce we are hosting a VIRTUAL JAZZ
Dame Vera Lynn, “Forces’ Sweetheart” of WWII Britain died at home on June 18th, she was 103. Forces’ Sweetheart is an honorific given to women
Glenn Crytzer, facing all the musical hurdles that everyone is right now put on his bandleader hat and assembled an all-star team that could rise
Doug Benson’s work on King Oliver and Wolverines material quickly became benchmarks for what proper audio restoration could reveal. Since those discs in 2007 and
The 2020 Essentially Ellington Festival took place in a virtual form from June 8th to 12th. The online event was much more extensive than in
The Syncopation Society of Berlin is a collaboration of jazz and swing artists who even in normal times work to promote and support each other’s
Dear Festival Organizer, Covid-19 has led many festivals to take this year off. Now is the chance to analyze how you’ve been doing things and
Robert Bell’s Hot Swing Combo has spent the last fifteen years as regional favorites at Midwestern swing events. They are based in Minneapolis and have
This is an outdated Festival Roundup from back in those plague days of 2020. Man that was a bad year… Anyway, look for our most
I downloaded this album the moment I saw it. At the time it was only five tracks with maybe six or seven musicians on board
Gene R. Maurice passed away on April 8, 2020 in Alameda California, he was 93. After service in the Pacific during World War II on
Bob Pilsbury passed away on May 12th in Bedford Massachusetts, he was 93. Bob was the pianist for the New Black Eagle Jazz Band from
Kris Tokarski is a specialist in early jazz and ragtime piano styles based in New Orleans. He plays with Hal Smith‘s On the Levee Jazz
Robert Tuttle Morris Frost died on March 25th of pneumonia complications in California, he was 89. Born in 1930 in Washington DC he was raised
At the end of March cdbaby.com took down all of the storefronts that at one point were a primary way for independent artists to sell
This is an outdated roundup from way back in May of 2020, for the latest festival info find Events on the menu. ZEHNDER’S RAGTIME FESTIVAL
Ian Whitcomb, a consummate entertainer and storyteller who shared his gift in song, on the screen, on the page, and on the radio died on
Tuba Skinny has released about an album a year over their now eleven year history. They were scheduled to record number eleven this April until
The Louis Armstrong Emergency Fund for Jazz Musicians offers one time grants of $1000 to jazz musicians who regularly work in New York City and
Influential saxophonist Lee Konitz died on April 15th in Greenwich Village. His son confirmed the cause was pneumonia after a recent diagnosis of Covid-19, he
Cornetist Peter Ecklund died on April 8th after a long battle with Parkinson’s. In the mid 1960s while still at Yale he began jamming with
New York jazz cornetist John Bucher died on Sunday April 5th from heart complications, he was 89 years old. After graduating from Amherst in 1952
Beloved traditional jazz banjoist and “Manhattan Minstrel” Eddy Davis died of Covid-19 on April 7th. He contracted the virus while visiting an ER after a
A true legend of jazz guitar, John “Bucky” Pizzarelli died of Coronavirus on April 1st, he was 94. He came from a musical family in
I first noticed Hannah Gill in a fundraising video she made with Glenn Crytzer in support of his double disc release of originals and swing
The mere announcement of a new Fat Babies album should inspire most readers of The Syncopated Times to run out and buy it. They are
I haven’t been this excited about discovering a new band in a long time. I mean T-shirts and bumper stickers excited. Part of my interest
On March 24th 2018 we announced the launch of Syncopatedtimes.com on our Facebook page. At the time we only had 300 followers. A total of
I can thank drummer Hal Smith for sending this great little album my way. Without his endorsement I might have easily skipped over it in
The Funkrust Brass Band is a 20-piece “post-apocalyptic disco-punk brass band playing all original music with megaphone vocals, heavy tuba bass lines, thundering percussion and
Russell Welch is a name that comes up again and again as I explore the new crop of New Orleans musicians. I’m delighted to cover
Duke Ellington has inspired a unique devotion among his most ardent fans. In contrast to many cults built around music legends the Ellingtonians are focused
“The Man on the Street”, Mal Sharpe, died on March 10th, he was 83. As he told it he moved to San Francisco after seeing
At 62 Tim McInnes felt pursuing his musical ambitions had become now or never. He revisited his childhood Schaum method piano training and began to
We collected these Irish highlights from the National Jukebox, a Library of Congress effort to digitize early 78 RPM records (pre-1925) and make them available
Guitarist Charlie Baty died on March 6th at 66. In 1976 he founded Little Charlie and The Nightcats with harmonica player and vocalist Rick Estrin.
If YouTube views are any indication Tatiana Eva-Marie leads one of the most popular traditional jazz bands going. A Swiss-born actress and vocalist she’s on
The long awaited third album from what can only be called a swing revival supergroup is finally here. Recorded last summer at the Minneapolis Uptown
Despite the name The New Orleans Swinging Gypsies aren’t a Hot Club group, but they are more influenced by Django than most of the local
Have you noticed Hollywood counts on European actors when they need a pitch perfect American accent? Christiane Beinl, who leads Vienna’s Stompin’ Lickers hones in
Martin Wheatley is a London born master of all string instruments with a specialty in the banjo styles of the ragtime and early jazz era.
The Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society Jazz Festival will be Online in 2020 Join our Free Live Stream Friday July 31st and Saturday August 1st. Sign
New Orleans is the only American city seemingly impervious to the natural fading in popularity of musical styles. Jazz had a thirty year reign nationally
William Pillucere, Jr., known as “Billy”, was a professional bassist who specialized in classic jazz and could be heard at many festivals, particularly around Florida.
British Trad banjoist Louis Lince died February 3rd after a brief battle with cancer, he was 77. His career in music began in Skiffle groups
Bob Adams, a banjo player and the founder of Ohio’s Buffalo Ridge Jazz Band passed away on January 17th, he was 82. His last public
With a specialty in the music of mid century Parisian cafes, few groups are as uniquely suited to a Valentines’s Day show as Tatiana Eva-Marie’s
The Bums at Fagan’s has been reissued in tribute to the namesake of Toledo’s annual GrugelFest, Ralph Grugel, who is credited with bringing the Dixieland
Jack Sheldon, a top West Coast Jazz trumpet player who went on to a television career died on December 27th, he was 88. Several generations
After Hurricane Katrina clarinetist Evan Christopher spent two years in Paris exploring the legacy of Django Reinhardt. The result was a band joining Christopher’s classic
The following remembrances ran in our pages this year.
Charlie Halloran is one of the most in demand and reliable trombone players in the tight knit network of young trad jazz players in New
At 41 reedman David Lukács has already been playing the classic jazz circuit internationally for over 20 years. In 1998 he won the Kobe Jazz
A new release from Frog and Henry feels as real and exciting to me as taking home a fresh pile of 78s. Started as a
Together since 1971, The Galvanized Jazz Band has had an amazingly stable line up but they’ve also enticed many friends to join them on stage.
David Horniblow, clarinet, Andrew Oliver, piano, Nicholas D. Ball, percussion. If you’ve been reading my reviews for the last few months you’ll know that this
“Wow, wow, wow! He knew everybody!” That was my impression through the first half of Clive Wilson’s new memoir about chasing his love of traditional
Allan Vaché is a veteran of the Jim Cullum Jazz Band and appeared for years on the Riverwalk Jazz radio show. He is known for
Thomas Lee Duncan, the eponymous Dr. Dubious, died on November 29th, he was 81. A clarinet player, he was born in Cleveland, OH but relocated
