World Class Syncopation at 2026 Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival
“Eureka!” the thundering cry of the Gold Rush! In 1848, gold was discovered at John Sutter’s Mill in Coloma located on the outskirts of Sacramento.
Monk Rowe interviews Bob Wilber (1998)
Bob Wilber was born in New York City on March 15, 1928. He began performing professionally while still in high school, playing clarinet and saxophone
Bix House Musicians Discuss Home History, Renovation Plans
Friday, July 31st, was the second day of the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz festival. But for a select group of musicians in the festival it
The Beiderbecke Mystique: Preserving a Jazz Landmark
A group of relatively-young musicians who are devotees of the legendary Bix Beiderbecke and his music have banded together to form a legal entity (Bix
Armchair Critics, Angry Purists, and Other Garden Pests
I’ve been a YouTube watcher for a long time, and I’ve been posting video since 2009. If YouTube could collect a penny from every anonymous
AI, the End of Physical Media, and the Future of Record Collecting
My friends on Facebook will have noticed that I have been posting a lot of commentary and links about the reports of books being sliced
Harry Connick, Jr. Keeps a Promise to his Mom
Some performers spend their careers chasing Carnegie Hall. Harry Connick Jr., however, spent much of his career avoiding it. That isn’t a typo or a
Gary Giddins on Life, Music, and the Art of Criticism
If the contributions Gary Giddins has made in the last 50 years to the dissemination of Jazz and Jazz history were all listed here, they
Reedman Dan Levinson’s Back (and Ready to Play)!
Dan Levinson has been one of the most prolific reedmen on the jazz circuit over the past four decades, both as a leader and sideman,
Bixophile Musicians Adopt Bix’s Endangered Boyhood Home
You’ll read my report of the Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival in next month’s issue, but something happened there last month that deserves your immediate attention
What’s in a Jazz Nickname?
I once met a fighter pilot whose call-sign was “Ice.” I remember thinking it was one of the coolest nicknames I’d ever heard. Obviously this
Praise for “The Miller Effect”
To the Editor: As a consequence of travel, I’m a month behind in my reading of the April edition of The Syncopated Times. Thus, I
From The 2026 Davenport Bix Fest
The 55th annual Bix Beiderbecke Jazz Festival got off to a rousing start on Wednesday, July 29 at Jim’s Knoxville Tap in nearby Milan, IL
From the 2026 Evergreen Jazz Festival
This July 24-26 marked the 23rd Evergreen Jazz Festival in the Front Range of the Rockies (elevation 7500 ft.) about 30 miles southwest of Denver.
Dan Announces His Return
TST readers will be happy to know that reedman Dan Levinson is back in action after six months following a medical procedure that cast doubt
Eddie Miller • New Orleans Tenor Sax
Ella Fitzgerald • Live at Falkoner Theatre
Dawn Lambeth • I Get Ideas
Scott Hamilton • In The Still Of The Night
Earl Bostic • Flamingo
Saxophobia: Celebrating the Sax Craze of the 1920s
Saxophobia: Celebrating the Sax Craze of the 1920s
George M. Cohan’s Broadway
The Ghosts of Harlem: Sessions with Jazz Legends By Hank O’Neal
Cool Heat—Anita O’Day and Her Dangerous Jazz Life
More Than The Music by Hank O’Neal
The Rediscovery of George “Nash” Walker: The Price of Black Stardom in Jim Crow America
Helen Humes and Big Joe Turner: Profiles in Jazz
Helen Humes and Big Joe Turner never recorded together and do not seem to have ever shared a vocal, but their careers had several things
Ma Rainey: Profiles in Jazz
Of all of the classic blues singers of the 1920s who were able to record, Ma Rainey’s history went back the furthest. In an interview
Andy Kirk and Jay McShann: Profiles in Jazz
Kansas City was one of the centers of jazz during the 1920s and ‘30s. One of the main benefits of having a corrupt political boss
Jumping and Jiving at the Jazz Jubilee!
And a little bit of wailing too! What a fantastic Labor Day weekend celebration at the 11th Annual Hot Jazz Jubilee in Sacramento—great bands, venues,
A Little Night Music…
While the rest the world is scorching, Tucson welcomes monsoon rains and its afternoon cooling effect. The monthly Tuesday night Pop-Up Piano Bar group has
Hot Summer Nights = Hot Jazz!
The Century Room downtown is a go-to place on hot summer nights in Tucson. Besides showcasing our local talent, there are many visiting artists on
Texas Shouts #19-21: Chicago Style Dixieland
Set forth below are the combined 19th-21st “Texas Shout” columns. This three-part essay appeared in the July, August, and September 1991 issues of the West Coast
Texas Shout #43 Downtown New Orleans Style Dixieland
Downtown New Orleans, you see, offers a significant proportion of something for everyone. If you like virtuoso soloing, you have Armstrong, Noone, Bechet, and Morton;
Texas Shout #15 How to Improvise Solos
Set forth below is the fifteenth “Texas Shout” column. It first appeared in the March 1991 issue of the West Coast Rag, (now Syncopated Times.) Because
The West Texas Jazz Party: Sixty Years of Classic Jazz in Odessa, TX
The West Texas Jazz Party continues to hold the top spot when it comes to longevity for jazz parties, having celebrated its 60th anniversary in
Mike Durham’s International Jazz Party: What a Blast!
At 4 am on a Monday last year, I ambled down the front steps of the Village Hotel, humming “Clap Yo’ Hands” from Michael McQuaid’s
Jazz is Where You Find It: Fest Jazz 2025 in Brittany
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,
Emile Berliner’s Unique Recording Method
Here the unusual recording system for Berliner is illustrated. Throughout Berliner’s existence in the United States, he did not use recording methods typical of the
The “Voice of Edison”: Arthur Collins
It is difficult to determine who the most popular singer of the acoustic era was, and while many of the time claimed this title for
The First Drag Queen on the Phonograph
When historians think of the first famous drag queens, most will consider the liberated ones of the 1920s. Usually Julian Eltinge and Gladys Bentley come
The Heartbreak and Inevitability of Saying Goodbye
If I could take anything from my mom, it would be her pathological optimism—the optimism of a single woman with a kid, a cat, and
‘Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh!’
How I wish I could fact check with a time machine! As with many formative strong childhood memories, music swirls in and out of the
The Lost Hook Tapes
It really is a waiting game based on luck and endurance. I am banking on the idea that if you stick to your artistic career
The Odd Brilliance of P.T. Stanton
Horn player P.T. Stanton was a creative, original and mysterious musician who left his signature on the second wave of the Great San Francisco Jazz
Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy
“It seemed the perfect way to fight my war.”– Josephine Baker No American was ever more beloved by the French nation than Josephine Baker. In
Bush Street above Powell in San Francisco: The Club Hangover Story, 1949-61
Club Hangover was the foremost Dixieland and New Orleans Jazz nightclub on the West Coast in the 1950s. The intimate nightspot featured music six nights
Ain’t No Wrong Notes in Jazz
It is easy to be impressed by jazz musicians… if you are not one yourself. We are, after all, an impressive bunch. And I know
Bad Moon Rising
Jazz musicians are a mischievous bunch. I doubt that’s a surprise to any of you, as the history books are filled with stories of pranks
The New Syllabus
There’s been a lot made in the news in recent times about systemic issues in our education system. As I understand it, there seems to
‘Smiley’ Wallace, Beloved in Ragtime Community, Dies at 93
When Mary Grace Lanese called to tell me “Smiley” Wallace had died at age 93, on October 2, delightful memories of a long friendship with
Help Save Ragtime’s History
I was recently contacted by a gentleman in New York who has had to curtail playing the piano due to the challenges of aging and
Fifty Years Later, Here We Are!
We got old. Fifty years added to our twenties, thirties, and forties in 1974 equals old for those who have managed to survive. And. for
Charles A. Sengstock Jr., who documented Chicago’s early jazz scene, has died.
Charles A. Sengstock Jr., a music historian who documented the largely overlooked history of Chicago’s white dance bands and theater orchestras, died July 16 in
New Orleans sax player Elliott “Stackman” Callier has died
Elliott “Stackman” Callier, a saxophonist who split his life between New Orleans and Portland and spent decades as one of the city’s most in-demand horn
Bassist and Music Entrepreneur Mitchell Player has died
Mitchell Player, a bassist and music entrepreneur who became a fixture of the New Orleans traditional jazz scene, died September 9 in New Orleans of
