Up there with ‘The Dad Joke’ in terms of cringe-worthiness, the rich history of jokes about jazz may not always be laugh-out-loud funny, but they do give a light-hearted insight into the camaraderie, resilience and spirit of the jazz world over the years. The late nights, constant artistic struggle and often underpaid life of a …
Arguably one of the more niche types of jazz – and one that doesn’t fit neatly into the genre’s timeline – Electro Swing nonetheless highlights jazz’s sensibility for borrowing from other musical styles. In this guide, we find out more… Also known as “swing house”, electro swing is a genre of music that developed in …
Whilst Poinciana by Ahmad Jamal may seem, on the surface, to be simply the title track of another great jazz album by the pianist, it’s influence runs much deeper, as we’ll see in this article… Written by Nat Simon and Buddy Bernier in 1936, the song takes its roots from a Cuban folk song entitled …
The National Library of Norway has just announced the release of thousands of photographs of Jazz greats, which are now available to browse digitally on their online archive. The Norwegian music journalist Randi Hultin (1926–2000) opened her home to many of the great jazz legends. She documented her life in the company of artists such …
Arguably the most iconic photo in jazz history, the 1958 snap of 57 legendary jazz musicians on the steps of a Harlem brownstone gives a fascinating look into the late 1950s New York scene… Critic Whitney Balliett once described jazz as “the sound of surprise”, but within the genre the surprises come in other guises …
There can be very few jazz fans who have not been acquainted with Jazz At the Philharmonic in one way or another. It’s also difficult to imagine how post war jazz would have evolved without these wonderful concerts and recordings, as we unravel in this article… What started out as a couple of concert performances, …
France has long had a love affair with jazz, and likewise many of the great exponents of this great American music also had a love affair with the French lifestyle and people. In this article, we take a look at some of the key musicians and albums which have played an important role in the …
You’ve probably heard of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, but what about the story behind the style of jazz they pioneered? In this article we dive into some of the fastest jazz of the 20th Century to discover what is bebop? So, how to define bebop? Musically it’s a style of jazz that developed in …
Tim Cappello (born May 3, 1955) is an American musician, composer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist. Cappello is mainly known for his work as the Tina Turner sax player in the 1980s and 90s, as well as turning heads with his iconic performance in the 1987 vampire film, ‘The Lost Boys’. After struggling with heroin addiction during …
Whilst not unusual for a record label to have a single driving force at its core – someone whose personal concept and vision for the music is translated into the albums they record – CTI Records is perhaps one of the most impressive examples. Named after its founder, record producer Creed Taylor, the label lived …