When most jazz fans think of James P. Johnson (1894-1955), it is of a brilliant and pioneering stride pianist who also wrote some notable songs.
What does it mean to be underappreciated in jazz? Most of us can name several musicians we think might not be getting their due. I
Sometime in my mid-teens as my interests in jazz began to take shape, I become aware of the story that racial integration in jazz began
The genesis of this work occurred in 2010 when Steven Bowie dreamt that he was in a book store with Cootie Williams. When he asked
I first became aware of vocalist/banjoist/guitarist extraordinaire Clancy Hayes through my obsession with the Original Salty Dog Jazz Band. When I purchased a copy of
Jazz and comedy have always been intertwined. No surprise. Both are rooted in a sense of timing, creating a personal voice, living a life on
It is difficult not to feel sorry for Frank Sinatra, Jr. Imagine being named after a very famous father and having to convince people your
Blue Steele and His Orchestra recorded for the Victor Talking Machine Company between August 26, 1927, and May 16, 1930, resulting in 16 discs. His
Kyla Titus’s 2014 biography, co-authored posthumously in part with her mother Chica Boswell Minnerly, The Boswell Legacy: The Story of the Boswell Sisters of New
In his just-published book, The Jazz Barn, author John Gennari makes a compelling case as to what transpired at the Music Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts
J. Mayo Williams, who was nicknamed “Ink” due to his dark skin, had two often simultaneous careers. He is best remembered today as a pioneering
This book’s cover features a black-and-white snapshot of the author and four siblings climbing a tree as kids. Below the tree, ten twisted gloved fingers
On Dec. 15, 1944, Major Glenn Miller was on a plane traveling from England to France that disappeared over the English Channel. Piloted by John
Celebrating Bird: the Triumph of Charlie Parker by Gary Giddins Paperback: 208 pages; $17.95 University of Minnesota Press www.upress.umn.edu ISBN: 9780816690411 One of things I
Ricky Riccardi’s Stomp Off, Let’s Go: The Early Years of Louis Armstrong (Oxford University Press, 2025) is not only the best jazz biography that I’ve
Of all of the major jazz orchestra leaders of the 1930s and ’40s, Artie Shaw undoubtedly led the most big bands, six during 1936-49. His
When Andy Senior, esteemed editor of The Syncopated Times, and Larry Melton, a frequent contributor to this periodical and a founder of the Scott Joplin
The standard biographical approach in which the subject is born, did remarkable things, then died gets upended by Jack Chambers’s new Duke Ellington book. Titled
The Boswell Sisters (Connie, Martha and Vet) were arguably the greatest jazz vocal group of all time, ranking at the top with the Mills Brothers
Author Aaron J. Johnson covers a lot of ground in Jazz Radio America, detailing the rise and fall of stations and their changing formats, the
Ricky Riccardi, who has his dream job as the Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum, began his trilogy of definitive Louis
The story of Ernie Fields begins, as it must, with the visit from John Hammond. This was in the late 1930s, when Hammond was prowling
Paul Whiteman was a formidable figure in jazz/popular music history. The facts of Whiteman’s career have been well covered by The Syncopated Times. His place
Harry “The Hipster” Gibson (1915-91) was a unique character in jazz history. In some ways he was the jazz equivalent to rock and roll’s Jerry
