Joan Dragon: From Your Father’s Mustache to Suncoast
Bill Hoffman July 27, 2020
Suncoast Jazz Festival director Joan Dragon has had a long and varied worklife, in and outside the music world. Having never attended this festival, I
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Suncoast Jazz Festival director Joan Dragon has had a long and varied worklife, in and outside the music world. Having never attended this festival, I
The renowned French quartet Paris Washboard made a brief trip across the pond in February to play four concerts in my neck of the woods.
At the West Coast Ragtime Festival in November I sat down for about half an hour for a wide-ranging conversation with multi-instrumentalist Matt Tolentino, who
Combined with my trip to the West Coast Ragtime Festival as reported last month, I attended for the second time the San Diego Jazz Fest
Sometimes too much of a good thing is, well, too much. Such is the case with the West Coast Ragtime Festival, which I attended for
The eleventh annual Central Pennsylvania Ragtime & American Music Festival took place on September 20-22 in Orbisonia and Mount Union. There was a slight change
What are you—yes YOU—doing to keep traditional jazz alive? That was the recurring theme of my recent conversation with Vince Giordano, leader of the Nighthawks,
The 48th annual Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival occurred from July 31 through August 3 at the perennially over-air conditioned Rhythm City Casino in Davenport,
The Thursday afternoon concert featured new pieces by contemporary composers such as Vincent Johnson, Marty Mincer, John Reed-Torres, and Martin Spitznagel, the latter two playing their own works. This added a welcome variety
This event with a hopelessly long but descriptive name occurs annually on Memorial Day weekend on the beautiful University of Mississippi campus in Oxford. This
In late April I spent a week in New York, volunteering at the NY Hot Jazz Camp as I have done every year since its
In my December 2017 column, I reported on my short visit to New Orleans, concluding that “I shouldn’t wait another 23 years to return.” I
Jazz Travels writer Bill Hoffman turns over his column to Katie Cavera this month: Spend two minutes (or less) with Katie Cavera and you’ll know
The word “unique” is often misused, perhaps most frequently when someone describes something as “rather unique.” It’s either unique—one of a kind—or it isn’t. But
Over Thanksgiving weekend I attended the San Diego Jazz Festival for the first, and hopefully not last, time. The 39th annual installment organized by America’s
Jeff (Barnhart) and Joel (Schiavone)’s House Party started small nine years ago, but has outgrown several venues as its reputation has spread. At first it
The sixth annual New York Hot Jazz Festival, held Sunday, September 30, at the McKittrick Hotel on West 27th Street in the Chelsea section of
The tenth annual Central Pennsylvania Ragtime and American Music Festival convened on September 21-23 at its now regular location, Orbisonia and Rockhill Furnace. I know—that’s
The 47th annual Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival in Davenport, Iowa, got off to a rousing unofficial start on Thursday, August 2, with a free
I have fewer opportunities to hear live jazz when I’m at my summer place in Potsdam, New York, a trade I’m willing to make to
This column’s title includes the word “travels.” This installment is no different, but this time the travels weren’t mine. Neville Dickie, the renowned British stride
The venerable Montauk Club, a mansion overlooking Prospect Park in Brooklyn, was the site of the CD release party for Glenn Crytzer’s Ain’t It Grand?
The 3rd annual New York Hot Jazz Camp, which took place during the first week in April, culminated in the Gotham Jazz Festival from noon
In the past two months or so I attended release parties in Manhattan for two CDs that have already been reviewed in TST: The Unheard
Andrew Greene of the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra talks about leading a ragtime ensemble, the importance of the Maddox Collection, accompanying silent cinema, and more.
January 16 marked the 80th anniversary of Benny Goodman’s historic Carnegie Hall concert. The event was commemorated at two New Jersey locations ten days and
The New York Hot Jazz Fest Stage is a small part of Winter JazzFest, an eight-day event of—as its organizers claim—“communal celebration, open discourse, and
Last March I reported on the Chicken Fat Ball, an annual early January event in Maplewood, NJ. This year’s installment was held on January 7,
Since this is a nationwide newspaper, I normally don’t report on local jazz events unless it’s to draw your attention to a noteworthy individual or
In late October I finished a bicycle trip in New Orleans, where I had allotted two days to indulge my other passion, traditional jazz. I
The New Venue The 46th annual Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival took place on Thursday, August 3, through Saturday, August 5, at its third change
Davenport The Bix Beiderbecke Museum and Archive opened officially on August 3, the first day of the 46th annual Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival. It
In June I attended two CD release parties in New York City: trumpeter and vocalist Bria Skonberg’s on the 2nd, and reedmen Will and Peter
I first encountered 15-year-old pianist Daniel Souvigny at last year’s Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, MO. I saw him again a few months later
The Centennial Concert I have attended three historically significant events at Carnegie Hall. The first two were in 1988: on January 16, the re-creation of
Since this is a newspaper of national, indeed worldwide, circulation, I normally do not report on single-day events that readers who live beyond a several-hour
February 26, 2017 is widely, though not universally, recognized as the 100th anniversary of the first recorded jazz. The day was commemorated with many concerts
The 54th Chicken Fat Ball took place on Sunday, January 8 at the former Women’s Club in Maplewood, NJ, a well-to-do suburb about 20 miles
As a natural sequel to last month’s column, I traveled to Pittsburgh to interview ragtime pianist and Rivermont Records owner Bryan Wright at his home.
I didn’t have far to travel to write this installment—25 miles to my hometown of York, PA—to interview my friend Bob Erdos. Bob, as many
Like the Central Pennsylvania Ragtime and American Music Festival that I reported on last month, Jeff and Joel’s House Party is a small event in
I write this report with some trepidation, hoping that it will not spoil a good thing. The Central Pennsylvania Ragtime and American Music Festival has
I’m in the advantageous position of being retired and living not all that far from New York City, that hotbed of trad jazz (and, I
I’ve attended the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival in Davenport, Iowa five times, starting in 2001. This year’s installment was perhaps the best ever—top-notch bands
I had heard good things about America’s Classic Jazz Festival in Lacey, WA, but living on the other side of the country, I had never
Sometimes too much of a good thing is, well, too much. That was the case at this year’s Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival in Sedalia, Missouri.
The first-ever New York Hot Jazz Camp is now in the books. It was conceived, organized, and overseen by my good friends Molly Ryan and
