Before the Hip Hop Hoodios or the long-defunct Tijuana Brass added Latin rhythms to Yiddishe melodies, there was Irving Fields. The pianist who composed the 1946 hit “Miami Beach Rhumba” created the Latin-Jewish genre with the 1959 LP “Bagels and Bongos.”Read More
It’s doubtful that Calamity Jane loved Wild Bill Hickock as much as local lore alleges, but there’s no disputing that the tomboy gunslinger bought groceries from Jacob Goldberg on Main Street.Read More
Shlepping armloads of trousers to an empty rack, his face set with determination and a hint of joy, Steve Felix was working till the bittersweet end of Felix’s, his 101-year-old clothing store in this town of 4,500.Read More
He has hung out with Dizzy Gillespie, played piano with the Rolling Stones, written three books, hosted national radio and television shows, co-run a jazz record label, produced albums by top jazz and pop performers and composed a Grammy-nominated film score. But what’s tickling Ben Sidran’s ivories these daysRead More