Event reviews, movie reviews, and anything that isn’t an Album Review or Book Review.
It has been our pleasure over the years to combine sight-seeing trips abroad with visits to diverse jazz clubs, festivals, and concerts in Ascona, Edinburgh,
My title comes from a Thirties phrase for “I really like that,” found in a wonderful Frank Loesser left-handed love song (“Your fuzzy hair, your
People interested in popular music always welcome films that dig into the history of the music they love. A recent documentary about King Records, King
This year our annual visit to England covered two very different Jazz events. First was Bude for our fifth year. For four days at the
How many concerts could you stand in one afternoon? Before August I’d have said two, perhaps three; that four would have my backside numb and
It is nearing 100 degrees as I write this, oppressively humid. I have Doreen’s Jazz New Orleans, vol. 33 “Walkin’ Through The Streets,” her latest
Caffè Lena, Saratoga Springs, May 31, 2025 Many of the songs we choose to sing spring to our lips because they’ve been drilled into our
The jazz world could use a few more Catherine Russells. Not just because this Grammy Award-winning artist is a wonderful singer, with an appealing sound
My festival reports start with apologies for what I didn’t see. This time, I trust readers will let me to atone in private. The Jazz
At 5:15 pm on April 5, my partner asked, “are you going to that ragtime band tonight?” The concert had slipped my mind; I had
This review, only now appearing in the middle of the winter, is a reminder of how enjoyable it was to once again spend some warm
Caffè Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY, Dec. 5, 2024 My grasp of French is tenuous, and that puts it generously. I’m good at classic French dishes
Many years ago back in 2011, when I started coming to Mike Durham’s International Classic Jazz Party, the party felt like a bit of a
In Italian there is a wonderful expression, “sensa parole,” meaning “beyond words.” It’s the only way I can define Ascona in the Italian-speaking canton of
I’m not much of a festival-goer, to be honest. I find myself getting a bit bored after two days of non-stop music and two nights
Arranging is an underrated element in jazz and arrangers have not been given the credit they deserve. Arranging has almost always been considered piecework, paid
Within Dick Hyman’s Century of Jazz Piano (Arbors), a five-disc CD set totaling 121 selections, pianist Dick Hyman seeks to demonstrate the development of jazz
There are two rules I tell everyone when they attend the Whitley Bay International Classic Jazz Party for the first time. One: it’s a marathon,
The Redwood Coast Music Festival was an ecstatic experience, an overwhelming banquet of music and friendship. (If that seems hyperbolic, I can adopt Eddie Condon’s
The Panoram was a sleek, Art Deco style wooden cabinet standing nearly seven-feet tall with a 27-inch ground-glass screen. The cabinets were three-feet wide and
That this festival even happens could be the most striking fact about it. Located more than five hours’ drive from London, and an hour from
On July 27, 2023, I had the pleasure of attending a one-night-only, 90-minute show by The Duke Ellington Orchestra Quintet at the Criterion Theater in
Pershore is a small city in England unknown to most people. Yet it is home of one of the most active Trad Jazz clubs in
For the last several months viewers around the world have been treated to TV news showing Tel Aviv streets regularly filled with tens of thousands
