Features

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

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

When looking at music history, it is easy to focus on the canon—artists of undisputed importance who more often than not have achieved some kind

Sound recordings as documents of stylistic development are an integral part of jazz research. Being able to hear musical transformation and evolution over a period

It all began innocently enough in the late 1960s when Dave Oppermann, a business person by day and a sing-along piano player by night, and

Colin Yates’ musical resume straddles the Atlantic, encompassing two very different styles. He was born in South Yorkshire, a county famed for collieries and their

On November 11, 1918, a 17-year-old Louis “Dipper” Armstrong, driving a coal cart around his down-and-out New Orleans neighborhood, heard a commotion. World War I

I do most of my swing dancing in Sheffield, South Yorkshire—proud home of British steel, a hub of the Industrial Revolution and birthplace of Arctic

Over the years I have lost track of the “Complete” Joplin sets that have been produced. The first such effort I acquired was Richard Zimmerman’s

Jack Sheldon (November 30, 1931-December 27, 2019) and Chet Baker (December 23, 1929- May 13, 1988) are two trumpeter/vocalists with a great deal in common.

Of all the Lindy Hop videos on all of YouTube, one stands out as my clear favourite. Shot at Lindy Focus XI in 2013—at the

“Immorality: the morality of those who are having a better time.” — H. L. Mencken In 1900, editorializing on jazz and “other black music,” Etude

Like many of his musical peers, Joseph “Wingy” Manone had an enthrallingly eventful rise to fame; a rollercoaster railroad ride, documented in his 1948 book

Discerning influences – why musicians sing or play or write the way they do – can be as straightforward as recognizing a stolen/borrowed lick or

This fall Syncopated Times reporter Steve Provizer met with Ted Gioia, author of many important jazz histories, to discuss his latest project Music: A Subversive