Sandy Brown Jazz
What's New
January 2026
Conga Player by Justin Bua.
"The Conre to see on his website here.
Parliamentary Jazz Awards 2025
At an event
Could Iron Maiden Play Jazz?
AccordSaulo Jennings is probably right!
Video Juke Box
Click on the pictures to watch the videos..... or take pot luck and click on the picture of the Juke Box and see what comes up.
Here is Joehe event.
The Wasnd and recorded here in 1935. There is more about them here.
Trumpe new album Rites & Revelations [See Recent Releases]
Here is a
Trudgtcase (video here)
Pianist Releases]
Two Ears, Three Eyes
Brian O'Connor LRPS from Images of Jazz took these pictures of Georgia Cecil's gig at at the Watermill Jazz Club in Dorking in October when she was singing a selection of songs and standards from her new album accompanied by Ferg Ireland (bass); Euan Stevenson (piano and keyboard) g This Is Love.
Rehearsal
Bill Evans In Copenhagen
Below is quite a long rehearsal video (45 minutes), but it is worth watching at least some of it. Pianist Bill Evans is often shown in pictures and videos crouched over his piano (as in the picture above), but the rehearsal video gives us a different picture of the man and his approach to his music.
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In 1966 the Bill Evans was on tour. That October he arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark, for a concert that included Swedish singer Monica Zetterland and Danish drummer, Alex Riel. Before the concert he wanted to check on the piano, on where the band would be positioned, and to run through the approach to the tunes they would be playing that included Who Can I Turn To and Autumn Leaves. As he talks about the tunes, note how bass player Eddie Gómez's bass particularly is responding to what Bill says and plays:
Anagram
Tracks Unwrapped
Exploring the stories behind the music
Miys
The tune, also spelt either as 'Milenburg Joys' or 'Millenburg Joys'. was written by Jelly Roll Morton, who called it ‘Milneburg’ Joys. Milneburg is a settlement on the banks of Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans where Elysian Fields Avenue ends. It was named after the Scot, Alexander Milne, who developed the land in that area. In the 1700’s it had been called ‘Port Pontchartrain’ because of its location. It was local people who started calling it ‘Millenburg’, and the only reference to Port Pontchartrain that survived was the "Port Pontchartrain Lighthouse", and then that was taken out of operation in the 1920s.
Bass player Ron Drakeford says: "As a bit of interest, the shore areas of Lake Ponchartrain were socially very active at weekends when people were not working and out relaxing. To the North of Lake Ponchartrain lies the area of Mandeville and the popular venue for jazz was the "Dew Drop Inn " on Lamarque St. This building is still in existence and has been purchased and donated to the community by Jaqueline Vidrine to keep it for posterity. The likes of Buddy Petit, Bunk Johnson, Sam Morgan and Kid Ory were regular players."
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Here is a recording of Jelly Roll Morton playing the tune with the Friars Society Orchestra in 1923 for the Gennett label.
New025
Doer
by Howard Lawes
The All Party Parliamentary Jazz Group (APPJG) is one of many informal groups of members from both of the U.K. Houses of Parliament that seek to further the interests of cultural, sporting and other activities in society. APPJG aims to increase parliamentarians' understanding of the jazz industry and promote jazz to a wider audience and its most prestigious annual event is the the Parliamentary Jazz Awards. These awards recognize and celebrate the achievements of jazz musicians, venues, personalities and organisations in the UK jazz network. Further information about the group and its work can be found here. Many of the awards recognise excellence that has been achieved over extended periods but since 2014 an award has been included for 'the best Jazz Newcomer of the year'. In 2025 this award was presented to alto saxophonist, Donovan Haffner and over a Zoom call Donovan talked about his life leading up to this major landmark in his career.
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Parents often play a very important role in the musical development of their children and for Donovan, having a mother who is a music teacher was decisive. Having decided he didn’t like the recorder, Donovan began playing the piano at age 7 and
Did You Know?
Louiixon
There seem to be a number of versions of this story. Here is one apparently according to pianist Tommy Flanagan:
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"The grouthat I figure why not just smile and accept it as true? With so many variants, things like this can’t be made up!!"
Who Am I?
I was born said I was quite good; what people probably don't know is how I was keen on deep sea diving! I finally passed away in 1998 but I hope people remember my music.
The answer is HERE
Time Out Ten
Somgo
Bins
For this item you need to be able to stop for ten minutes.
We are often moving on to the next job, the next meeting, scrolling down social media, taking the next call ......'Time Out Ten' asks you to stop for ten minutes and listen to a particular piece of music; to find a time when you won't be interrupted, when you can put in/on your headphones and chill out. Ten minutes isn't long.
Sometime Ago is a song written by Sergio Mihanovich, an Argentine jazz pianist, singer and composer of Croatian and Serbian descent. Apparently the song found its way to the US by way of Jim Hall, who discovered it when playing with Gato hat writer sums it up well.
Take Two
Where we take two different jazz interpretations of a song
Toot
It's too darn hot
It's too darn hot
I'd like to sup with my baby tonight
Refill the cup with my baby tonight
I'd like to sup with my baby tonight
Refill the cup with my baby tonight
But I ain't up to my baby tonight
'Cause it's too darn hot
Cole Porter wrote the song Too Darn Hot for the musical show Kiss Me Kate in 1948 and a film version was made in 1953 by MGM.. The story line was based on the Shakespeare play The Taming Of The Shrew. The song is staged as a production number where the song represents the company of the show taking a break offstage during the intermission of their play - there is a video here.
The original lyrics are interesting in that they are 'of their time' in referring to The Kinsey Report, although they were changed for the film to "According to the latest report".​
The Story Is Told
An nk
Apparently, according to bassist Bill Crow, one of Oscar Peterson’s favourite pranks was to fool around with his trio members’ bass and guitar strings before a performance. He would then keep Herb Ellis or Ray Brown busy with conversation right up to the second before they started to play. Of course, Peterson would start the tune and Ellis or Brown would flounder wi
Insight
A series in which musicians give us insight into the background of one of their recordings
Desga
by 5
From the title, people would be forgiven for not relating it to Glasgow, Scotland! "Like Stan Getz, whose melodic fluency carried jazz into dialogue with Brazilian music, the album leans gently on Latin rhythms. Its phrasing and harmonic choices at times nod towards the understated, rhythmic style of João Gilberto – his intimate guitar comping providing a parallel to Despedida La Bodega’s Spanish twist. This affinity with Latin jazz mirrors the album’s cultural resonance, deepening its Glaswegian storytelling."
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Listen to the atmospheric Rainy Night In Shettleston:
Jazz Remembered
Ernie Felice
by Jari Salo
A particular feature in the history of 'Accordion Jazz' has been its popularity in Finland - an article about jazz accordionist Art Van Damme is here). Ernie Felice was an American jazz accordion player who became a member of the Benny Goodman Orchestra. Ernie learned to play the accordion as a child in the 1920s in San José, California and by the 1930s he was playing and touring with The Four Sharps, a band from San Francisco. After the War, he joined the Benny Goodman Orchestra before signing up his Quartet with Capitol Records in 1947. The Quartet featured Ernie on accordion and vocals, Dick Anderson (clarinet), Chick Parnell (bass) and Dick Fisher (guitar). Then after 1950 he seems to have disappeared from the scene.
Jari Salo in Finland has been trying to find out what happened and sent us this article. (Jari sent it to us in Finnish, so we apologise if things are lost in the translation): "People will probably remember Ernie Felice from his time with Benny Goodman in 1947, but he disappeared at the end of 1950. Had he died or what happened?"
Ernie Felice with Benny Goodman
"When I started my investigation I found a reference to Ernie being related to a woman's fiancé so I emailed her - there was no reply. Then in 2009 I discovered a clip on YouTube from a film where Ernie had his own show The Ernie Felice Show which was broadcast in Los Angeles around 1959." (Here is the video with Ernie singing and swinging Blue Skies)."
"I investigated the video and discovered that Ernie had a son, Dan Felice. Contacting Dan, I learned that Ernie had left the music business because he did not like the direction in which things were going with the emergence of pop, rock and other mainstream music. He quit playing in one fell swoop. Dan subsequently sent me digital copies of all Ernie's music. A regular visitor on Ernie's TV program was Sue Raney who has told me that Ernie was a nice man and that the programmes were fun to make. I have also found out that Les Paul and Ernie set up their own label - F&M Records - and their first release was (No More Cryin' - a Country Music number with Mary Ford, Ernie and Les Paul playing in the background. Ernie sings I Love You Dearly on the B side."
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"I cannot understand why Ernie is not more widely acclaimed. His band was tight and could play just about anything. He was a real singer, a crooner, a baritone who swung when given a band behind him. In my opinion he is one of the most entertaining musicians and it would be good to see a record company put out a collection of his work."
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Here they are from a broadcast playing I Can't Give You Anything But Love:
"Ernie, at the age of 88, was honoured at the Grammy Museum in October 2010 and there is a video (here) of the event with Ernie talking about his career:"
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"I am regularly in touch with Dan Felice and my daughter visited him in the United States in 2010. Dan has subsequently put up a short video (here) about his father called 'Who Is Ernie Felice?' that starts with the Blue Skies clip and then moves on to others".
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"Ernie also appears in the 20th Century Fox movie With A Song In My Heart, starring Susan Hayward, which is the movie about the music career of Jane Froman": A clip from the movie is here.
The Jazz Quiz
Lonng
In the quiz this month we give you 15 questions about King Oliver. How many can you answer?
The January Jazz Quiz is​
Lens America
Journalist/guitarist Filipe Freitas and photographer Clara Pereira run JazzTrail in New York City. They feature album and concert coverage, press releases and press kits, album covers and biographies and they are valued contacts for Sandy Brown Jazz. You can read Filipe's reviews of album releases here and see Clara's gallery of pictures here.
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Clara took this picture of Below Sky from Lex Korten's album here.
Forum
Jazz In Jail
Last month wk in the 1950s and early 1960s. Among his fans was the Queen Mother, for whom he played twice at Windsor Castle - Ed]
Ernie Felice
Gaston Hinostroza wrivailable through the Discogs site - an example is here - Ed]
Departure Lounge
Information has arrived about the following musicians or people connected to jazz who have passed through the 'Departure Lounge' since our last update.
When this page first started, links to newspaper obituaries were free. Then increasingly advertisements were added and now many newspapers ask for a subscription to read a full obituary. Where possible, we initially link to a Wikipedia page which is still free of charge, but we also give links to newspaper obituaries in case you want to read them.
Recent Releases
A few words about recent releases / reviews:
Apart from where they are included in articles on this website, I don't have a 'Reviews' section for a number of reasons:
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I receive so many requests to review recordings it is impossible to include them all.
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Unlike some publications/blogs, Sandy Brown Jazz is not a funded website and it is not possible to pay reviewers.
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Reviews tend to be personal opinions, something a reviewer likes might not suit you, or vice versa.
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It is difficult to capture music in words, so much better to be able to listen and see whether the music interests you.
For these reasons in particular I just include a selection of recent recordings below where I share the notes issued by the musician(s) as an introduction and links to samples so you can 'taste' the music for yourselves. For those who like to read reviews, these, of course, can be checked out on other sites.
Some Recent Releases
UK
America
Donny McCaslin - Lullaby For The Lost
Henry Threadgill - Listen Ship
Europe and Elsewhere
David Helbock & Julia Hofer - Faces Of Night
Matti Klein Soul Trio -Bouncin' In Bubbleverse