Author name: Mike Shaw

I’m sure you know the song “My Funny Valentine.” It’s from Babes in Arms, a 1937 musical by Rodgers and […]

It’s no stretch. Jazz is an expression of democracy. So much so it was outlawed in Nazi Germany, and later

The other night I was watching a report on the unrest on college campuses over the Israel-Hamas War and heard

In a recent blog we talked about The Great American Songbook, the collection of songs composed in the first half

One of our favorite things to do with our Music Life and Times podcasts is to interview other musicians about

The other night my trio performed at an event where the crowd was so loud we could hardly hear ourselves

One of my favorite pastimes is writing about jazz for ArtsATL.org, the Atlanta arts community website. In 2009, as the

On August 10, pianist Joe Alterman released his latest album, Joe Alterman Plays Les McCann: Big Mo & little joe,

One of the differences between playing classical music and jazz is that jazz is all about improvisation. Never play the

Especially if you’re playing it. Because as you play, you have to believe. Singers know that you have to sell