The 1950s brought a warmth to American living rooms that no television screen could match. Families gathered around their ...

The strings go zing-zinging on Professor Visits Harlem. Quite unlike any other anthology you're likely to have run into of late, we're treated to three decades of jazz string ensembles, starting off ...

The 1940s and 1950s were frightening decades for bass players. In addition to big-band timekeepers like Jimmy Blanton, Don Bagley, Chubby Jackson and Ray Brown, there were thumping small-group upright ...

George Wein, who set the standard for what outdoor music gatherings would become with his leadership of the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals from the 1950s into the 21st century, died Monday at his ...

It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing — all you’ve got to do is stagger your timing. For decades, fans of jazz music have debated why some songs have swing — the characteristic swaying ...

The very name and lingering memory of Louis Armstrong conjures up fervent thoughts in the mind of the musician. It fuels both sideman and soloist with a kind of earthy musical reverence. That's ...

In 1931, Duke Ellington and Irving Mills even dedicated a song to the phenomenon of swing which they called "It Don't Mean a Thing, If It Ain't Got That Swing". Yet, to this day, the question of what ...

A skinny man wearing a monocle, tailcoat, cravat, brogues and pink Lycra leggings struts across stage, nodding to Ella Fitzgerald. As the First Lady of Song's flawless tones give way to thundering ...