Only one U.S. president came close to becoming a jazz musician. Bill Clinton has often humorously stated that, while playing the tenor-sax as a teenager,
The High Society New Orleans Jazz Band was founded and is co-led by pianist Conal Fowkes and trumpeter Simon Wettenhall. Long-time musical friends, they were
The group Paul and His Gang is best known in the United States for its 1996 Stomp Off recording Take Your Tomorrow. The band was
Harry James (1916-83) was not only a virtuoso trumpeter with his own exciting style but the leader of the most popular big band of 1942-46
JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH Two of the finest stride pianists to emerge during the mid-to-late 1940s (along with Dick Wellstood and Don Ewell) were
For the 100th article in my series of Jazz Profiles, this is the first time that a non-musician is the subject. John Hammond is considered
What are the most exciting and essential classic jazz recordings that have taken place since the end of World War II? An impossible question to
Back in 1976, the British clarinetist and soprano-saxophonist Pete Allen left his day job to join Rod Mason’s group. By the fall of 1978, Allen
In the 1960s and ’70s, it was very rare for any African-Americans, other than survivors from the early days, to be playing Dixieland and pre-swing
JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH In 1950, Duke Ellington’s son Mercer and journalist Leonard Feather founded the Mercer label. The small company lasted for less
John Petters is a veteran British jazz drummer who has appeared on quite a few hot trad jazz sessions starting in 1977. Self-taught, he has
Omer Simeon (1902-59) was one of the top jazz clarinetists to emerge during the 1920s yet he is overshadowed in the history books by such
LOUIS ARMSTRONG’S 70 GREATEST RECORDINGS Although I have long wanted to write about Louis Armstrong for The Syncopated Times, since Ricky Riccardi’s trio of books
While the string bass was part of the early New Orleans jazz scene from its start, with Jimmy Johnson (1876-1937) and his bass being seen
J. Mayo Williams, who was nicknamed “Ink” due to his dark skin, had two often simultaneous careers. He is best remembered today as a pioneering
Albert Ammons was born in Chicago on March 1, 1907. Both of his parents were pianists and he began playing when he was ten. One
What are the most exciting and essential classic jazz recordings that have taken place since the end of World War II? An impossible question to
What are the most exciting and essential classic jazz recordings that have taken place since the end of World War II? I accepted the challenge
Bix the Cult Figure A legend among many musicians and fans even during his relatively brief life, Bix Beiderbecke was jazz’s first cult figure. After
The word that best describes the Hot Toddies Jazz Band’s Live From Somewhere Nowhere is celebratory. The performances by the seven-piece band which is led
At a dinner party hosted by Scott Asen, the founder of Turtle Bay Records, pianist-singer Champian Fulton and altoist/clarinetist Klas Lindquist performed a set of
