Features

Nat Morison – patriarch, devotee of early New Orleans jazz, Mets fan, host of the annual Welbourne Cakewalk/Stoke Stomp, and treasured friend of many in

From The Ragtime Ephemeralist to Rusty Brown For some time now I have wanted to interview Chris Ware for The Syncopated Times. Over the years

I’ve played a b’zillion jazz piano and banjo gigs over the past 60 years. None can compare, however, with my long-time gig at Capone’s Chicago

With reservations, I’ve chosen to weigh in on the debate started by the publisher’s column asking: Is the term “Dixieland Jazz” racist? Almost everyone will

Ask a Lindy hopper to describe blues dancing and most will evoke spacious ballrooms, the lights turned low in the wee small hours after most

D.A. Pennebaker was a filmmaker, born in 1925, died on August 1, 2019. He was one of a small group of filmmakers who created a

In the language of jazz, “doubling” means playing more than one instrument (not at the same time, c.f. Wilbur Sweatman and Rahsaan Roland Kirk). Doubling

The ukulele Martin 1K, the “Dick Konter” of the early 1900s, is perhaps the most famous ukulele in the world. It traveled on the plane

While soldiers fought across Europe, one American jazzman wrote a song urging leaders to “Stop the War.” But was Wingy Manone sincere in his plea?

While listening to cornetist Nat Adderley light it up during a recent listening session, I thought “Why does he play this aggressive style on cornet

Good friend, wise mentor, engaged and storied musicianer, active community leader, strong role model, curator and caretaker of jazz, spirited character: Jim Cullum. This is

The music teaching career of Peter Davis began when he was hired as the warden at the Colored Waif’s Boys Home in New Orleans and

I’ve written a lot about how jazz is portrayed in film, but never paid specific attention to how we jazz trumpet players have been portrayed.

During the 20th Century music became big business, but the 21st Century may lead us back to an older mode of existence for artists. In

Times are tough for school music programs, and for print publications. Here’s an idea that can help with both. Now you can buy a half

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance offers us one of American film’s great moments. U.S. Senator Ransom Stoddard (James Stewart) has gained his position of

Soon we’ll come to the end of life’s journey,And perhaps we’ll never meet anymore;Till we gather in Heaven’s bright city,Far away on that beautiful shore.

Pioneering Lindy Hopper and jazz dancer Norma Miller, known as “the Queen of Swing” to modern Lindy Hoppers, passed away May 5, 2019 from degenerative

Red Allen, Tommy Ladnier, Baby and Johnny Dodds, Pops Foster and many others giged with bandleader Fate Marable, who ran the bands for the Streckfus

One of the wonderful things about jazz music is the enormous back catalogue of B-sides and rarities waiting to be rediscovered, even by long-time fans

British politicians are the bad jazz musicians of Europe. Smugly self-absorbed, they honk tone-deaf, repetitive solos out all time and tune with their confused, Continental

Teddy Wilson (November 24, 1912 – July 31, 1986) was one of the most consequential figures in jazz right when jazz was making its greatest