Lew Shaw

Lew Shaw started writing about music as the publicist for the famous Berkshire Music Barn in the 1960s. He joined the West Coast Rag in 1989 and has been a guiding light to this paper through the two name changes since then as we grew to become The Syncopated Times.  47 of his profiles of today’s top musicians are collected in Jazz Beat: Notes on Classic Jazz. Volume two, Jazz Beat Encore: More Notes on Classic Jazz contains 43 more! Lew taps his extensive network of connections and friends throughout the traditional jazz world to bring us his Jazz Jottings column every month.
Musical Instrument Museum

Jazz Jottings April 2017

The Musical Instrument Museum, which is rated Phoenix’s top attraction, is featuring an exhibit of inlaid guitars, which will be on display for the next

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Chuck Berry circa 1958

Chuck Berry dies at 90

CHUCK BERRY, 90, on March 18 at his home in Wentzville, Missouri. A guitarist, singer and songwriter, he is considered “the Father of Rock and

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Svend Asmussen

Svend Asmussen dies at 100

SVEND ASMUSSEN, 100, on Feb. 7 in Copenhagen, Denmark. A swing-style violinist known as The Fiddling Viking, his playing career extended from 1923 to 2010.

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Pianists With Justice OConnor

Jazz Jottings March 2017

Stride pianists extraordinaire Stephanie Trick and husband Paolo Alderighi presented “A Supreme Evening of Jazz” at a scholarship benefit concert for the Sandra Day O’Connor

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