See, Part 1 A Real New York Story We had been recording double sessions, often earning overtime to complete more difficult or complicated arrangements. We
When Yvonne Marther Fasnacht died—on Sunday, 13 November 2011, aged 101—Variety.com carried her obituary. The top entertainment website remembered a pioneering nightclub owner who helped
Following the publication of “Nick Fatool – the Perfect Jazz Percussionist” (Syncopated Times, Nov. 2019), I have been carrying on a dialogue with Kevin Dorn—a
New Yorkers think of themselves as a pretty tough bunch. But even the coolest, most nonchalant among them has to admit: they’ve never seen a
There is this old joke about two musicians catching up on the latest news, and the conversation goes something like this: Musician One: Did you
I could not have been more pleased when Mike Zirpolo contacted me, and asked me to share my memories about having played for the soundtrack
With the exception of a few lady pianists, Swing Era women sang while the men played; that’s what some less academic, coffee table jazz histories
The role of each instrument in a jazz ensemble has changed as the music has changed, but the most dramatic transformation has been the role
Bob Mielke, a very great jazz artist, a hero on trombone and a dear friend, has just died at 93. For me, Bob defined a
A Happy Accident that Lasted a Lifetime For most of his musical career, Upstate New York banjoman Dick Sheridan has made his bones with trad-jazz
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
Much has been written about Johnny Dodds. Unfortunately the biography by Lambert (1961) that inspires much of it is not well-researched and is mostly a
The title for this talk is both intimidating and academically demanding. We recognize Lucille Salerno’s hand here. The paper was originally presented June 10, 2010,
As a Brit, when I think of US national parks I think Yosemite—thousands of miles of lakes, trees, bears, and continent-threatening supervolcanoes. (Keep an eye
1973 found me in New Orleans exhibiting at an antiques fair. A somewhat pudgy short man wearing a dark suit over his white t-shirt stopped
There is a persistent myth, especially among younger swing dancers, that 1942 marked a watershed in Britain’s toe-tapping habits. That was the year the US
If you can imagine turning on the radio and hearing a song you wrote credited to someone else, you’re probably a believer in the concept
During the summer of 2018 Tuba Skinny had the unique opportunity to perform as part of the Ashton Brothers circus in the Netherlands. We performed
From the dusty recesses of my jazz history archives, I recently came across a slim 32-page pamphlet published in 1942 entitled “America’s Band Leaders” by
Swing dance instructors, like other kinds of teachers, should be a nurturing, accommodating influence. The needs of the student should come first and the expert
In the late 1970s, Bay Area banker Jim Goggin, a longtime friend and fan of Turk Murphy, envisioned a “Turk Murphy Jazz Foundation” – a
In a recent review of the Suncoast JazzFest I noted how much I enjoyed Jason Marsalis covering the Benny Goodman Quartet’s version of “Moonglow”. You
Mathematical sticklers may demur, but I take pleasure in declaring the twenties have finally arrived again. The ringing in of a new decade—a twenties that
Mardi Gras dates back thousands of years to pagan celebrations of spring and fertility, such as the raucous Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Lupercalia. When
