Ewan Bleach: Jazz a ‘Rave Scene, but with Live Music’
If any modern, British musician embodies Louisiana circa 1920, it must be Ewan Bleach. Seeing him live, audiences would be forgiven for thinking he was
A Little Jug Music: 1926-1927
Jeff Barnhart: This month we’re starting a two-part discussion about the music of the Dixieland Jug Blowers from the mid-1920s. I’ll freely admit I’ve only
Anastasia Ivanova: Russia’s Rising Jazz Star
A jazz musician from any part of the world is to be admired for keeping the art form alive. And 22-year-old Anastasia Ivanova is always
Jazz in San Francisco, 1916-66, Pt. 1: From Terrific Street to Nob Hill
We first met, Jazz and I, at a dance hall dive on the Barbary Coast. It screeched and bellowed at me from a trick platform
Hot Lips Page: Profiles in Jazz
He was one of the hottest trumpeters to emerge from the late 1920s, a major attraction at jam sessions, and a superb blues singer. But
The Swing Era: Reconsidering the Music and the Timeline
Since looking back to when I taught jazz history courses at the Community College of Rhode Island, I have come to realize that my coverage
The Garden of Joy • Bouncin’ Around
This is a set that every Syncopated Times reader should become familiar with. Remember those? Back when every fan shared a cannon of material they
Smoking Time Jazz Club • 6 Blueses, 5 Joys and a Stomp!
Our man Joe Bebco has reviewed several previous works by New Orleans outfit Smoking Time Jazz Club, a longstanding live fixture in the city and
Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and The Beat That Changed America
One of the most popular pastimes in jazz is debating a musician’s status in the jazz pantheon. There are some about whom there is little
Glenn Miller and Me
My mother wanted me to move back in with the family. It was 1974. I was eighteen and already had been living on my own
Roger Marks’ Armada Jazz Band • Sizzling Sessions
In his notes to this CD, Roger Marks informs us all of these tracks, recorded on cassettes and CDs, had lain forgotten in a cake
Fred Hagers’ Trunk
When I started pursuing the legendary scrapbook that once belonged to Fred Hager, one of the aspects of this ultimate treasure was a steamer trunk
Gunhild Carling • Good Evening Cats
When Gunhild Carling says she comes from a musical family she doesn’t mean her dad owned Kind of Blue. Her childhood was closer to the
Reflections of Ray Skjelbred
At the West Coast Ragtime Festival last November I met for the first time Ray Skjelbred (pronounced SHELL-bred in case you haven’t heard it before),
Archeophone Phonographic Yearbook • 1905
Archeophone’s latest entry in their “Phonographic Yearbook” series consists of 27 selections from 1904-05 that were released in the latter year. 1905 was 118 years
Ray Smith Plays Rags, Blues and Stomps
Since its inception, ragtime has appealed to dancers, who happily engaged in the one-step and the “animal” dances—the Bunny Hug, the Grizzly Bear, the Turkey
How KRMA Taught Educational TV How to Teach
Today when I ask younger people where they first discovered ragtime, I get a lot of answers relating to the popular recording media of their
Down at the Jazz Fest in New Orleans!
The Pfister Sisters (Holley Bendtsen, Karen Stoehr & Yvette Voelker) had it right with their hit song about the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival!
Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo was born Gaetano Alberto Lombardo on June 19, 1902, in London, Ontario. Encouraged by their father, Lombardo (who played violin) and his brothers
The Barrellhouse Wailers • Never Look Back
The Barrelhouse Wailers are a hot jazz and blues outfit from Ventura, California. They’ve played together since 2013 and Never Look Back is their third
Sausage Baps and Tribute Bands
By now you faithful readers able to wade through my initial meanderings in each column are hopefully anticipating that they (usually) lead to something worthwhile.
Early Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman became the “King of Swing” when his big band caused a sensation at Los Angeles’ Palomar Ballroom on Aug. 21, 1935, launching the
The Cactus Rag
Lucian P. Gibson is only known to have composed three works, one of which is The Cactus Rag, published by Stark Music Company in 1916.
The Festival Roundup June 2023
SCOTT JOPLIN RAGTIME FESTIVAL (Sedalia, MO) – May 31-June 3 More than 6,000 people attend the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival each June, turning downtown Sedalia
Russell Welch Trio • Live in Asheville
It’s sure nice to have a new live album to review. We haven’t had too many of those come through in the last three years,
Hazel Scott • Great Scott: Collected Recordings 1939-57
Hazel Scott (1920-81) was a brilliant pianist and a pleasing singer who deserves to be remembered. A prodigy, she received a scholarship to Juilliard when
Rudiments of Ragtime 6: James Scott
James Scott is often the second of the three acknowledged great “classic” ragtime composers with Joplin and Lamb. He was born in Neosho, Missouri, but
I Won’t Take It With Me
As I wrote the thumbnail bio of Guy Lombardo for the Jazz Birthday of the Month today, I had vague feelings of déjà vu. This
Hot Jazz Returns to the Upper Mississippi in 2023!
A little over 100 years ago, if you wandered down to the riverfront in Davenport, Iowa, you might have heard hot music emanating from a
Charlie Halloran and The Tropicales • Shake the Rum
Harry Belafonte, the man who more than anyone brought calypso to the masses, died in April. His 1956 alum, titled simply Calypso, was the first
Gene Krupa • 50th Anniversary Issue – Live And Hot
Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa first recorded together back in 1929 with Red Nichols. In 1927, Krupa was the first percussionist to use a full
Eric Comstock & Barbara Fasano: Cabaret Comes to Cleveland
On April 21, husband-and-wife performers Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano brought the buzz they have been creating Saturday nights at Birdland in Manhattan to a
The Dukes of Dixieland • Now Hear This!
The Dukes Of Dixieland, featuring trumpeter-singer Frank Assunto and his brother trombonist Fred Assunto, was one of the most popular Dixieland bands of the 1950s
More NGJB Sidelights
Alaska Memories The fourth of July weekend of 1980 found the NGJB in Juneau, Alaska, on the occasion of the city’s centennial celebration. The band’s
Coen Hofmann, Managing Editor of Names & Numbers, Passes Away
Word has come from the Netherlands that Coen Hofmann, the managing editor of and driving force behind the Jazz discography periodical Names & Numbers, died
Chris Strachwitz, founder of Arhoolie Records, has died.
Chris Strachwitz died on May 5th. Born in 1931 in what is now Poland and displaced at the end of WWII his family settled in
Ragtime “Angel” Danny Matson has died.
Danny Matson passed away on April 25, 2023. Not a musician himself he was a ragtime superfan, a regular attendee of ragtime and jazz festivals,
Harry Belafonte dies at 96
Harry Belafonte died on April 25th, he was 96 years old. Born in 1927, Belafonte grew up in Harlem during the 1930s and 40s. He
Colin Skinner: In Praise of British Big Bands
Many readers might take it as read that US bands do old-time jazz the best. It seems like a fair assumption, on the face of
The Scintillating Enigma of Una Mae Carlisle
In 2007, I came across a batch of poor-quality transfers of African American films from the 1940s. One title, Boarding House Blues (1948), stood out
Integration in the Recording Studio: Eddie Condon’s Story
Interracial Jazz Recordings Before 1935: An Introduction Over the last 20 years, the trend has been to interpret jazz history through the lens of current
Peggy Haine & The Lowdown Alligator Jass Band to Play Again
During her band’s heyday from 1976 to 1992 in Upstate New York, Peggy Haine became as well-known for her spectacular entrances as she was for
James Reese Europe and the Clef Club Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
That James Reese Europe would lead his band in concert at Carnegie Hall was inevitable…but the event has been historically overlooked. The band leader had
Three Recordings of “Goose Pimples”
Jeff Barnhart: Hal, as you recall, we omitted one recording in our discussion of the New Orleans Owls (TST, March-April 2023) to work out a
Jimmy and Marian McPartland: Profiles in Jazz
Cornetist Jimmy McPartland and pianist Marian McPartland were married for 22 years (1945-67). Their careers in jazz, if taken together, spanned a remarkable 90 years,
More Explorations and Discoveries in NYC
Back at the beginning of February, when the Northeast experienced a serious cold blast, I went back to New York City for more historical trespassing
“Millions for Sports, but Not One Cent for…”
I’ll admit to having a conflicted relationship with organized sports. Now before you turn the page, I promise this month will include some musical moments,
