Sometimes it’s impossible to predict how a risk could pay off, or if a gamble is worth taking. Fortunately this year the unknown was underlined by known factors, namely from my past experiences crewing on ships as a piano player on the high seas. This made flying to San Juan
His guitar mastery made him a top first-call artist in the New York recording scene for decades. His quiet and friendly manner made one club owner say that Bucky could be the governor of New Jersey if he wished, because everybody who ever met him liked him. I’m proud to
Here are two points of view expressed by poets of unequal stature: Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter . . . (John Keats) Sharing is caring. (Barney the Purple Dinosaur.) Most human beings have some possessiveness, necessary if we are to survive. We want to find
“Behind every great man, there is a great woman.” How many biographical articles have opened with that trite old aphorism? It acknowledges—quite rightly—that many of the great scientific and cultural achievements of the ages would not have been possible without a supportive spouse or sibling keeping geniuses clean and fed.
Hal Smith: Jeff, This month’s column was intended to be the first in a series of articles about the New Black Eagle Jazz Band; a collaboration between you and the Eagles’ trombonist Stan Vincent. However, you’ve mentioned it will be such a large project your schedule doesn’t allow meeting this
Two steamboat jazz bands were the talk of the Mississippi River in 1920. One became famous. The other remains obscure. The famous band, of course, was Fate Marable’s Metropolitan Jaz-E-Saz Band on the Streckfus steamer St. Paul, featuring teenaged Louis Armstrong on cornet and other future jazz legends.1 This is
Duke Ellington’s compositions have been sung so often, particularly those that he wrote prior to the early 1950s, that it is surprising that it was not until 1931 when he hired Ivie Anderson that he had a regular singer with his orchestra. During the Swing Era, most big bands employed
Before researching him, I had assumed that there wouldn’t be much on Frank S. Mazziotta, but I was wrong. As historians, we can only hope for situations like this, where the research exceeds our expectations. I do historical walking tours of Little Italy, and Mazziotta’s story is very similar to
Aside from the weather and just about everything else, it’s been a good month. This is the sort of old-fashioned winter we had when I was a kid—though when I was a kid I could handle it. Rather than the usual one-day snow dump (the St. Patrick’s Day surprise), angels
43rd annual JAZZ BASH BY THE BAY (Monterey, CA) March 7-9 The 43rd annual Jazz Bash By the Bay Monterey takes place March 7-9, 2025, in the beautiful Conference Center and Portola Hotel & Spa with eight venues. Invited bands and artists for 2025 include After Midnight, Blue Stree, Bye
I’ll be ranting in this edition of “My Inspirations,” so if you’re (understandably) in the mood for some humor or uplift, you might want to skip this and head over to another article. Who knows? Once I’m done writing this diatribe, I may decide to scrap it, in which case
The Joplin/Hayden collaboration Kismet Rag (1913) is probably Scott Joplin’s most underrated composition. The piece’s opening section is a bit challenging to play, requiring pianistic finesse. The transition connecting the C and D sections could be smoother, but the pickup note certainly suffices and sounds just fine. The B section
After a good experience on my first cruise (the coast of Alaska and British Columbia in 2023), I was open to cruising again. Such an opportunity appeared on the back page of this paper for many months: JazzFest at Sea. The cruise advertising referred to a review in this paper
Albany Leon “Barney” Bigard was born in New Orleans on March 3, 1906. Bigard began on the E-flat clarinet when he was seven. He took lessons from Lorenzo Tio, Jr., and he played both the clarinet and the tenor sax in New Orleans with a variety of bands. In 1924
The Central Coast will be swinging again during the 45th Annual Jazz Bash by the Bay in Monterey, CA! This year’s event focuses on Hot Jazz of all styles, as well as Blues, Ragtime, Swing, and Gypsy, promising to be bigger and better than ever before. With over 150 hours
Thirty years ago at Hamilton College in Kirkland, N.Y., Milt Fillius Jr. and his fiancé, Nelma “Nikki” Nenneau, teamed up with jazz singer Joe Williams to launch an oral history project that eventually blossomed as the Fillius Jazz Archive. Now celebrating three decades of producing more than 500 videotaped interviews
The Mellon Foundation has launched a $35 million initiative to support the preservation and evolution of jazz and spotlight the cultural legacy of veteran jazz artists. Central to this initiative is the Jazz Legacies Fellowship, a $15 million program in partnership with the Jazz Foundation of America (JFA). The organization
Ideas are the easy part. If we had a million dollars to promote hot jazz, ragtime, and swing we could find ways to use it. As things are, everything we do is on a total budget of roughly $60,000 a year. I have been looking through recipients of jazz grants
The House of Swing at Columbus Circle presented two compositions commissioned by Wynton Marsalis for his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Terry Waldo appeared on stage after an intermission to announce modestly—Waldo World. He represented is as the beginning of “Ragtime Into Swing” starting with the banjo, followed by “Bix
Ricky Riccardi, who has his dream job as the Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum, began his trilogy of definitive Louis Armstrong biographies with a singular
Paul Whiteman was a formidable figure in jazz/popular music history. The facts of Whiteman’s career have been well covered by The Syncopated Times. His place in jazz history is complex.
The story of Ernie Fields begins, as it must, with the visit from John Hammond. This was in the late 1930s, when Hammond was prowling the country to find the
Harry “The Hipster” Gibson (1915-91) was a unique character in jazz history. In some ways he was the jazz equivalent to rock and roll’s Jerry Lee Lewis although he appeared
Hello, reader—it’s been a while. (Happy New Year, by the way!) A while since I wrote, a while since I danced—a while since I did anything
Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano have created something truly special with their new album, Painting the Town. Celebrating two decades of marriage and a deep love
Of the fourteen tracks on this CD, ten have not been previously issued. The four tracks previously issued (on Southland LP 220: Mike Lala and His
JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH The music at the Super Bowl halftime shows are famous for being pretty forgettable (some would say horrendous) except for those viewers who enjoy overblown spectacles, performers who lip synch to their recordings, inane lyrics, tasteless costumes, and drum machines. But there was one Super
By the time that the concert on Live In Paris (from Apr. 24, 1962) was performed, Louis Armstrong had been a world traveler for quite a few years. With the constant traveling, his live performances had a fairly predictable repertoire. Knowledgeable Armstrong fans can sing along with many of his
Throughout his career and during the nearly 60 years since his death, Paul Whiteman (1890-1967) and his music have been both overrated and underrated. The most popular bandleader of the 1920s, Whiteman was crowned “The King Of Jazz” in 1923. The title may have seemed beneficial at the time when
With the rapid evolution of jazz and the emphasis on coming up with new ways to play the music, there have been periods when certain styles that had been considered fresh and innovative were thought of as old hat just a few years later. The collapse of the big band
Vol.10, No.3, March 2025
Ryan Calloway: Master of Music, Art, and Dance, by Hal Smith
The Palmetto Jazzerites: Steamboat Jazz, by Allen Welsh
Sylvia Fine Scored Some of Hollywood’s Favorite Musicals, by Dave Doyle
Caribbean Carnival New Year with Piano-Shaped Pool, by Dave E. Hull
JALC Debuts Waldo World and New Orleans Humbug, by Daniel Kassell
Locked Doors and Silences, commentary by Michael Steinman
Conversations with Bucky Pizzarelli, by Schaen Fox
Jazz Birthday of the Month: Barney Bigard, by illustration by Sara Lièvre
Static from my Attic, by Andy Senior
My Inspirations: My Three “Must-Get-Theres”, by Jeff Barnhart
Ragtime Vignettes: Kismet Rag, by Brandon Byrne
Quarter Notes: Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, by Shelly Gallichio
Frank Mazziotta: An Immigrant in Edison’s Studio, by R.S. Baker
Jazz Travels: JazzFest at Sea: January 17-27, 2025, by Bill Hoffman
Profiles in Jazz: Duke Ellington and his Singers, Pt.2, by Scott Yanow
Ain’t Cha Got Music: FH5+2 Goes South, by Jeff Barnhart & Hal Smith
Festival Roundup, compiled by Joe Bebco; illustration by Joe Busam
It’s YOUR Paper: Syncopated Media Seeks Grants, Donations, by Joe Bebco
Beginnings and Endings at the Monterey Jazz Bash, by Jeff Barnhart
Hamilton College’s Fillius Archive Celebrates 30 Years, by Russ Tarby
Mellon Foundation Announces $35 Million Jazz Initiative, by Joe Bebco
CD Review: Gretchen and the Sidecar Six, by Dave Doyle
Nights at the Turntable, CD reviews by Scott Yanow
Book Review: Stomp Off, Let’s Go by Ricky Riccardi, by Scott Yanow
Book Review: Beyond the Bandstand: Paul Whiteman, by Steve Provizer
Book Review: Going Back to T-Town: Ernie Fields, by B.A. Nilsson
CD Review: The Southland Recordings (1958-1960), by Bert Thompson
CD Review: Painting the Town by Comstock & Fasano, by Brian Sheridan
