News

Bob Wilber, one of the finest clarinet and soprano saxophone players, died on August 4th at age 91. Bob was a direct link to his

Listen in your mind with me for a moment and hear the joyful “strummings” and vocals of an Ian and Regina Whitcomb routine. Recall the

Pianist Ed Clute, who was featured in the February 2016 issue of The Syncopated Times, has achieved worldwide recognition for his incredible playing, thanks to

The Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation (SJIRF) has recently announced the Larry Karp Memorial Fund Award Program. The award will recognize and educate young ragtime

Jimmy Mazzy has been well known in the traditional jazz world since the early 1970s. He’s played banjo for The Paramount Jazz Band of Boston,

For the third year, the Preservation Hall Foundation has held an award ceremony inducting important New Orleans musicians into their Legacy Program and announcing their

Movement to save it wins temporary injunction. In June 1923, pioneer record producer Ralph Peer and New York-based Okeh Records took their newly-invented portable recording

The Big Chris Barber Band will carry on but Chris Barber has decided that at 89 its time to retire from full time playing. Barber

Jeff Barnhart and Joel Schiavone announced that their annual weekend House Party will not take place this year. Since 2012, Jeff and Joel’s gem-like event

Famed Harlem Ballroom to Throw Open its (Digital) Doors Once More In May of 1937, around 4,000 swing fans crowded a ballroom to see two

During an especially poignant moment at this year’s Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, David Reffkin presented the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award to Swedish ragtime performer, composer,

Lew Shaw’s  Jazz Beat: Notes on Classic Jazz is now an e-book/print on demand paperback. First published in 2013 it includes forty-seven recent profiles of

April 5, 1917, Scott Joplin was buried at St. Michael’s Cemetery, East Elmhurst, NY. A 16-year-old girl already occupied the grave, and a 25-year-old man

 The Steele Family created a grant for the Sun Valley Jazz & Music Festival to promote a youth program. In honor of this bequest this

Back in October 2016, I was lucky enough to catch a couple sets of Jeff Barnhart playing piano duets with British-born boogie woogie master Carl

For years I have flown across the country in order to attend West Coast festivals because they are different from the events we have in

Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) is celebrated every April in recognition of the significant contribution that jazz music has made to society. First established in 2011

We collected these Irish highlights from the National Jukebox, a Library of Congress effort to digitize early 78 RPM records (pre-1925) and make them available

Dan Levinson recently posted a conversation on Facebook that he had with his young daughter Aven regarding her musical tastes. It bears sharing with our

Cynthia Sayer will be in New York City on Fri, March 8 (which also happens to be International Women’s Day), giving a show called “Hot

An all-ages audience of more than 150 attended the world premiere reading of Bunk Johnson – Out of the Shadows on Saturday, November 10, 2018,

Paul Daspit has retired as director of the San Diego Thanksgiving Festival, a position he has held since 2011. Taking his place is Bill Adams,

“Jazz seems to be cool again in Ventura County,” observed a recent article in the Ventura County Reporter. Local venues, including restaurants, service clubs, neighborhood

The National Jukebox We are working on a story for February about The National Jukebox, a collaboration between the Library of Congress, Sony Records, and several

This campaign was successful and Lew did receive his Jazz Hero recognition. Read about it here: Lew Shaw Named 2017 JJA Jazz Hero Every year the

Look here for the results: Tonight’s Grammy Winners of Interest to Syncopated Times Readers Maria Muldaur’s tribute to singer Blue Lu Barker was nominated for a

Three years ago, Todd Stoll, president of the Jazz Educators Network, wrote a piece on “Teaching Music in the 21st Century,” which was picked up

Every year the Basin Street Regulars raise money to send students to jazz camp, and this year we were able to sponsor twelve students at

In March of this year one of our readers in Europe happened upon a performance of The Bonnie Blues and, he says, “they gave me

His first album, Swing That Music, paid tribute to three Louis’; Prima, Armstrong, and Jordan, delivering an eclectic mix of American classics with personality and

Multi-reedist Dan Levinson led eight of the best trad/swing musicians on the metro NYC scene in a sold-out concert at the 300-seat Bickford Theater in

Updates: Olympia Jazz Festival Names New Director, Will Host Bert Barr Tribute and Last Uptown Lowdown Concert The Olympia Dixieland Jazz Festival, better known as America’s

The New York Times of July 17, 2018, carried a story about Les Lieber’s death at 106. He was a New York advertising executive and

Defunct The Capital City Jazz and Swing Association, successor to the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society, is officially defunct. In a statement posted on the club’s

Jeff Stockham’s Authentic Jazz Syracuse, New York trumpeter Jeff Stockham delivers bold tones, bright as a blaze, round as a bell, and as incisive as

 Jacob Miller is a Portland Oregon based singer/songwriter hailing from Wisconsin. For the last 5 1/2 years, he led a swinging roots music group called,

Will Benefit Music Education and Appreciation in Schools The Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival Foundation in Sedalia, Missouri, has established a Memorial Fund to honor author,

After the opera, ballet, and classical music seasons ended at New York City’s Lincoln Center, a magical transformation took place around the bandshell in Damrosch

Since 2009 the Denver Jazz Club and a series of local businesses, currently Denver Percussion, have sponsored a group of young jazz musicians gathered from area

Texas Shout was a wildly popular column which ran in our predecessor papers, The West Coast Rag and The American Rag. Tex Wyndham is a

David Thomas Roberts has composed over 150 new ragtime pieces in a professional career spanning 40 years. He has become one of the most eminent

Our June issue will feature a profile of the Queen City Jazz Band written by our own Lew Shaw. He’ll cover the history of this

2018 Jazz Hero Ellis Marsalis, Jr. (photo courtesy www.gpacweb.com) Ellis Marsalis, Jr., New Orleans, pianist, educator, NEA Jazz Master and the patriarch of a musical

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar giving the keynote address at the Jazz Congress in January 2018. (photo courtesy Jazz at Lincoln Center) Basketball legend and author Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

 April 30th is International Jazz Day. Events are being held in 200 countries this year and the host city is St. Petersburg, Russia. A concert

There has been a wave of Tuba theft stories circling the internet. It all started when an a reporter at the Wall Street Journal, while

Reedman Ken Peplowski is a virtuosic clarinet and sax player who has notably enlivened his jazz gigs with his wry humor. But what Ken has

The syndicated weekly radio show Judy Carmichael’s Jazz Inspired is partnering with the Patchogue Theatre, 71 E. Main St., in Patchogue, N.Y., on the south

Related Story: Happy International Jazz Day The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has officially designated April 30 as International Jazz Day to

When it comes to creating famous quotes that are destined to be repeated generation after generation, Brian Holland says his father was no Mark Twain.