Invented in the early 1840s, the saxophone was a relative latecomer to music—and to jazz. But starting in the mid-1920s, with the rise of the big bands, the instrument slowly but steadily evolved from ...

David Thomasson of Covina does more than put technical notes together. He combines skill and spirit to lay down the emotional textures of a song. His deftness at doing both twice won him the ...

“What a stroke of luck,” says Vuckovich, who remembers with a laugh how Long Tall Dexter used to say “Let’s get bent” when he wanted a drink. He loved Gordon’s records and had heard him play at San ...

These two albums give us snapshots of violinist and vocalist Stuff Smith at the apex and finale of his career in jazz. That career started in the '20s - when he, like all musicians of his era, was ...

Tenor saxophonist Sophie Faught is shown at a past performance. Tenor saxophonist Sophie Faught gets compliments on her jazz sounds, some of it original. And Faught gets compliments on her clothing, ...

Teddy Edwards, the bebop-era tenor saxophonist considered one of the crown jewels of Los Angeles’ Central Avenue jazz scene of the 1940s, died Sunday in Los Angeles after a long bout with prostate ...

Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in ...

On his sixth and first-ever live album, The Fate of the Tenor, saxophonist Kevin Sun showcases his working trio in their element, performing at their most electrifying for a live, dive bar audience in ...

Since 2005 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in ...