Articles by Dixieland / New Orleans / Swing

So You Don't Like Jazz

Thirty Essential Transformative Guitarists

by Alan Bryson
September 9, 2026

"Best guitarist" lists are inherently subjective--often nonsensical. They rank the unrankable, folding popularity, technique, cultural impact, sales, and personal taste into a single hierarchy. This list takes a different approach, acknowledging thirty guitarists who transformed the instrument itself: they created new techniques, pioneered fresh concepts, expanded its sonic vocabulary, and changed how those who followed them played. Each left the guitar different from how they found it. Thirty names could easily be a hundred, so a word on a ...

Big Band in the Sky

Ronell Johnson: A New Orleans Life and a Horn Played with Joy

by Thomas Cole
June 25, 2026

Born in Marrero, LA, on the West Bank of New Orleans, I am the youngest of four boys, all musicians. In addition to L.B. Landry High School, I attended St. Augustine High School, a local college preparatory school for boys. Membership in St. Augustine's Marching 100 band was significant in my music training. Ultimately, it was at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA) where my commitment to music was greatly developed, which led to a B.A. in ...

Take Five With...

Take Five with Clarinetist Davide Sgarra

by AAJ Staff
June 1, 2026

Meet Davide SgarraDavide Sgarra is an Italian jazz clarinetist and saxophonist based in Brooklyn, New York. Born and raised near Varese in northern Italy, he went on to earn his Bachelor of Music from the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague in the Netherlands and his Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music in New York City. A specialist in the New Orleans clarinet tradition, Davide performs regularly across the New York jazz scene and has played in venues including ...

Live Review

Gunhild Carling and her Jazz Band at Joe Henderson Lab

by Steven Roby
May 27, 2026

Gunhild Carling and her Jazz Band Joe Henderson Lab San Francisco, CA May 24, 2026 About 45 minutes before showtime, Gunhild Carling was her own roadie. Meticulously, she arranged her merchandise table at the Joe Henderson Lab--custom-designed ties in the center, posters, bags, and her paintings to the left, and albums and CDs filling the right. After a brief chat with early arrivals, she disappeared into her dressing room to prepare. What followed was ...

In Pictures

A Musical Odyssey - Wandering The Streets of New Orleans

by Thomas Cole
May 25, 2026

Locals will tell you there are four seasons in New Orleans: football season celebrating the New Orleans Saints (affectionately dubbed the “Ain'ts" in reference to their perennial losing ways), Mardi Gras season when the town turns upside down and business grinds to a halt no matter how urgent, the dreaded hurricane season and, finally, festival season beginning with free concerts of local music for three days every spring at French Quarter Fest, culminating with the heralded Jazz & Heritage Festival, ...

The Great American Songbook

The 1920s: Jazz Becomes America's Soundtrack

by Joan Merrill
April 2, 2026

With the end of both World War I and the deadly flu pandemic that killed untold millions of people, the United States welcomed the new decade with open arms and a sense of optimism. The 1920s were one of the most eventful periods in American history. The Prohibition Era, from 1920 to 1933, gave rise to gangster bootleggers like Al Capone running speakeasies. Women got the vote with the 19th Amendment in 1920 and were inspired to rebel ...

Radio & Podcasts

Judy Carmichael - Part 2: From Disneyland Sets to New York Jazz Glory

by Mike Jones
April 1, 2026

"They didn't let anyone sit in at Bradley's unless you were Bill Evans!"This week we continue our conversation with Judy Carmichael as she recalls leaving Disneyland, moving to New York, and breaking into the jazz world. She shares encounters with legends like Roy Eldridge and Tommy Flanagan, the pivotal “Handful of Keys" moment, and how determination and talent won her respect.Judy also reflects on career choices--staying true to jazz instead of commercial work--her friendships and supporters, ...

Radio & Podcasts

Stride, Stories, and Legendary Mentors: Judy Carmichael, Part 1

by Mike Jones
March 25, 2026

This week on The Stereo Image, stride piano virtuoso Judy Carmichael joins Mike for a lively conversation about her musical path--from early inspiration through vintage player pianos and Count Basie records to formative gigs and mentorship under Dave McKenna. She shares insights on learning by ear, the art of solo performance, and how collaborating with top jazz musicians helped shape her distinctive style. ...

Music and the Creative Spirit

Unfiltered - Ben Jaffe at Preservation Hall, New Orleans

by Thomas Cole
February 15, 2026

In the Moment, a yet-to-be-published interview put together for a New Orleans music magazine with Ben Jaffe, creative director of Preservation Hall, was actually the distillation of a conversation rather than a mere moment in time. Nor was it an interview in the dictionary sense of that word; for the most part, the Q and A format was absent. Prepared with a list of maybe fifty questions, fewer than 10 were ever asked. Shy to request two hours ...

Radio & Podcasts

Alyssa Allgood, Michael Dease, Lena Bloch, The Sistering (Lois Deloatch, Nnenna Freelon, Lenora Zenzalai Helm, Kate McGarry)

by Mary Foster Conklin
February 9, 2026

This broadcast includes fundraising for the station, new music from Alyssa Allgood, Michael Dease, Lena Bloch and a single from The Sistering (Lois Deloatch, Nnenna Freelon, Lenora Zenzalai Helm, Kate McGarry), with birthday shoutouts to Lil Hardin Armstrong, Jutta Hipp, Jeanne Lee, Dolly Parton, Caili O'Doherty, Lena Bloch, Lucy Yeghiazaryan, Kaisa Maensivu and Teri Roiger, among others. Happy listening and please support the artists you hear--see them live, buy their music so they can continue to comfort, distract, provoke and ...