Event reviews, movie reviews, and anything that isn’t an Album Review or Book Review.
Most musicians can name milestone moments in their careers where they were introduced to something that changed their perspective on the art. One that stands
Jazz Jubilee by the Sea, held October 24 to 27 on California’s Central Coast, presented a spectrum of early jazz and swing but spotlighted trad,
For those who have not had the pleasure of attending the Classic Jazz Party, it’s hard to explain what a sheer joy and intense musical
The 2019 Jazz Jubilee by the Sea was a real blow-out. World-renowned New Orleans busking-band Tuba Skinny made their first-ever West Coast festival appearance. In
The last thing I expected from my 10th annual visit to the Pershore Jazz Festival was the premiere of an unreleased Benny Goodman tune. Yet
A surfeit of syncopation descended on Southern California’s Orange County on September 7 as RagFest 2019 attracted a goodly complement of enthusiasts to revel in
How does one summarize a four-day festival? Let’s start with the setting. The program lists 35 bands, not all OKOM, or at least my kind
When Marty McGinnis, President of the Valley Jazz Club, announced that Wally Holmes was coming out of retirement, I couldn’t believe my ears. I asked
Northern California’s gold rush town of Sutter Creek, in the Sierra foothills southeast of Sacramento, hosted its annual ragtime festival August 9-11 this year under
Ascona has been described as “ridiculously picturesque” and it is. On the shores of Lake Maggiore in Southern Switzerland, with the mountains sweeping down to
Peter and Will Anderson, twin reed virtuosi, warmed up for their annual Songbook Summit concert series with a well-attended show in the Shea Performing Arts
Veronica Swift, just 25 and the most sought-after young jazz singer on the scene, hit the RIJF for the second time in two years, playing
The second New Orleans Jazz Festival in Tel-Aviv took place on June 20-22, in the Tel-Aviv Museum of Art and in the square in front
The Valley Jazz Club, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to playing and promoting Traditional Jazz in the San Fernando Valley, celebrated its 50th Anniversary on May
In late June, my husband, Jeff, and I attended the 28th America’s Classic Jazz Festival in Lacey, Washington. We went there as part of our
Sedalia syncopated again this year as the 38th Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival attracted aficionados from near and far for four days of revelry in ragtime
Just the fact that it even happened could be the lead story of this festival. Israel is a small country about the size of New
A small but attentive and appreciative group of jazz fans welcomed Emily Asher’s Garden Party to the Bop Stop in Cleveland, Ohio on June 4th
The Dirty River Dixie Band is a traditional, New Orleans-style jazz band hailing from San Antonio, where the group was mentored by veteran cornetist Jim
Maybe because it is the Holyland, the mythical land of prayer and salvation, that Israel was the right setting for the premiere of Eyal Vilner’s
The PBS film The Chaperone is currently making the rounds in specialty movie houses. It is based on the book of the same name by
On Friday evening, May 10, I attended a wonderful event in Scranton. I normally would not report on a one-off such as this, but once
The Syncopated Times has been following Colin Hancock and the Original Cornell Syncopators since they first organized in 2016. At the time they were planning
The 1921 show Shuffle Along was groundbreaking. The first African-American production to be staged on Broadway since 1910, it was the first to feature blacks
