Al Hirt, The Al Hirt Collection (Razor and Tie)

Harry Connick, Jr., To See You (Columbia)

Fans of Harry Connick, Jr.’s crooner CDs will be pleased to know that Harry’s latest, To See You, abandons the funk experimentation of She and Star Turtle for a return […]

Scott Kirby’s Ragtime

Travel with me, friends, to a time before Fats and Fess, before Jelly Roll and Satchmo, to the primordial bog before jazz and rhythm and blues. Turn-of-the-century America and New […]

New World Funk Ensemble

Under the Umbrella of Traditional Jazz

Jelly Roll Morton, The Piano Rolls (Nonesuch)

Yo-Yo Ma/Edgar Meyer/Mark O’Connor, Appalachia Waltz (Sony Classical)

Lounge Science

So my editor rings me and says, “‘Got a story for ya, Tom. Write an essay on what it’s like to play piano in those lounges where nobody’s paying attention […]

Tom McDermott: All the Keys and Then Some

One night, about ten years ago, I walked into Cafe Sbisa’s on Decatur Street looking for a cup of good coffee and maybe something sweet for dessert.  They sent me […]

Remembering James Booker

On November 8, 1983 pianist James Carroll Booker III was wheeled into New Orleans’ Charity Hospital waiting room, where he died while awaiting medical attention. Rumors have spread through the […]