Event reviews, movie reviews, and anything that isn’t an Album Review or Book Review.
To those who would deem ragtime deceased, Bob Darch, pianist and entertainer from the revival era, had a ready rejoinder: “Ragtime Dead? Hell, it ain’t
Once again it was our pleasure to spend a week of relaxation with a group of brilliant musicians at the annual JazzFest at Sea in
One could fill a bookshelf with Louis Armstrong biographies, and any film that would tell the great man’s complete story would have to be many
Hotshot pianist Emmet Cohen brought his well-traveled trio with bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Kyle Poole to Ithaca College August 26, 2022, for a freewheeling
Invoking Lady Day and Frank Sinatra has obvious benefits and risks. While it can attract an audience, it can also invite comparisons. When Catherine Russell
The ghosts of George Lewis, Kid Thomas, Jim Robinson, Kid Ory, and the other wonderful New Orleans Jazz revivalists happily roam the fields and shires
It would be impossible to put together a documentary on the brilliant cornetist Bix Beiderbecke today without relying exclusively on third-hand accounts. Since Bix passed
For the first time since 2020, now able to return to Carnegie Hall after the long pandemic “intermission,” the American Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leon
For almost 30 years Shanghai Jazz in Madison New Jersey has been sought out by both musicians and fans of various jazz styles. Tom Donohoe
Sometimes the ownership of a property changes rapidly. That happens whenever proprietor Tom Donohoe introduced Catherine Russell to a house always packed with her devoted
Throngs of live-music lovers descended upon the much anticipated “Sounds of Mardi Gras” festival in Fresno, California. We were almost giddy to attend this always
Considering that Israel is a country about the size of New Jersey with a population of about nine million, I would guess that per capita,
The weekend of June 4-5 belonged to the virtual concerts and symposia of the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival Foundation. That would ordinarily have been
Dr. Ian Hominick at the University of Mississippi in Oxford produced a fine 2021 virtual program to keep the Old Time Piano Playing Contest at
Billie Holiday has inspired a number of books–often with conflicting views–that try to get a handle on her tumultuous and complex life. There’s an autobiography
As much as I’ve missed dancing during the pandemic—more than I can express, really—it’s not something I’ve sought out online. People have put a ton
I remember reading Bill Hoffman’s fine column last year in The Syncopated Times describing his first visit to a West Coast Ragtime Festival (WCRF) and
This film has received a lot of kudos and I can understand why: it’s an excellent piece of filmmaking. There are no energy let-downs throughout
Rhonda and Jeff Cardinal did it, they pulled off the 2020 virtual Jazz Jubilee by the Sea. When Covid hit in March we really thought
W.C. Handy lived the American Dream during the time that the nature of that dream crystallized around larger than life men like Thomas Edison and
Just when you thought it could not be done, the Sutter Creek Ragtime Pandemic was held on August 15, 2020. This event reminds me of
The Basin Street Regulars had finally lined up a band for its March Sunday session and it looked like it was going to be a
What is the best way to spend a Thursday night on the California Central Coast? The best way is by a warm fire, with a
On the second weekend in February the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Fresno was filled with the “Sounds of Mardi Gras.” All four venues are located
