Three years ago this month, I set forth on a journey of perpetual astonishment with the first issue of The Syncopated Times. “How did I even do that?” is what I wondered upon sending out the first batch of files to the printer—and I have asked the same question every month since. There was the idea of a publication when I started, and standing timbers left by my predecessor as an indication of what walls might go where. But all I really had was a hammer and nails, a pile of boards, and access to a few instructional videos on how to build a house.
Three years on, I feel I have cause to celebrate. Publishing my thirty-seventh issue feels like the triumph of rank amateurism over conventional wisdom. That’s only fitting: The Syncopated Times is anything but conventional. It’s still the only national monthly publication reporting on the world of pre-modern jazz and ragtime from more than just a historical or nostalgic perspective, but celebrating music that still lives in performance and evolves according to its own lights.
Fortunately, where my own astigmatism (actual as well as philosophical) prevents me from seeing distant signposts, I now have people on board who can discern what’s down the road. I am deeply lucky to have an associate editor, Joe Bebco, who has even more of a feel for what’s going on now that I do, who can make connections with excellent artists who
