‘Should not be played indoors’: writers on their all-time favourite summertime songs
As the weather heats up, Guardian writers pick their defining summer tracks, from Phoenix and Donna Summer to Stevie Wonder
May 2024
Unheard Louis Armstrong recordings to be released
What a Wonderful World and You’ll Never Walk Alone are among five unreleased tracks on compilation Louis in London, performed at the BBC in 1968
November 2023
‘Fela Kuti was always in his pants’: legendary music photographer Val Wilmer’s greatest shoots
She ate fried chicken with BB King, gave Jimi Hendrix a lift home from a gig and accidentally worked for MI6. The pioneer recalls her favourite subjects – and the ones like Miles Davis she’d rather forget
October 2022
Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues review – swinging doc is a stirring tribute
Freewheeling across the trumpeter’s pathbreaking career, Sacha Jenkins’ immensely enjoyable study speeds through giddyingly rich source material
September 2022
Not a wonderful world: Louis Armstrong tapes reveal how racism scarred his life and career
Audio diaries including previously unheard material tell of the jazz giant’s anger over the prejudice he faced
November 2021
What should be top of the Cop26 pop charts
Letters: Mike Pender champions Bob Dylan; Peter Higginbotham proposes Cliff Richard; Danny Sullivan supports Tom Paxton; Rob Hodgson suggests John Mayall; and Toby Wood recommends Louis Armstrong
September 2021
Louis Armstrong and the spy: how the CIA used him as a ‘trojan horse’ in Congo
From the Guardian archive
Sidney Bechet, master of New Orleans jazz – archive, 1956
August 2021
Jazz on a Summer’s Day review –Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson and more shine bright
A Man Called Adam review – Sammy Davis Jr swings in earnest race-issue drama
May 2021
Marcel Stellman obituary
Record producer and lyricist known for Tulips from Amsterdam who brought the TV show Countdown to the UK
March 2021
Ski-ba-bop-ba-dop-bop: is the scat back?
Serpentwithfeet’s latest track uses the classic jazz technique. But from Bobby McFerrin to Scatman John and Baby Shark, maybe it never went away
December 2020
Not a wonderful world: why Louis Armstrong was hated by so many
Casual listeners think of him as a gentle giant of jazz, but critics and African Americans often saw him as a sell out or ‘Uncle Tom’. A new book aims to show how radical ‘Pops’ really was
July 2019
The week in radio: Moon; The Dying of the Ice; Cold War in Full Swing and more
Radio 4 recreated the moon landing and explored ice instruments, while Radio 3 celebrated Louis Armstrong’s 1965 GDR tour
January 2019
Music blog
Why Earl Scruggs was the Beethoven of the banjo
Emma John: A trip to North Carolina to study bluegrass yielded this lesson: Earl Scruggs was the greatest there ever was
May 2018
When America's hottest jazz stars were sent to cool cold-war tensions
When a US blighted by racial unrest found itself needing to win a global propaganda war, a team of musical ambassadors was assembled. The result was anything but straightforward
November 2017
George Avakian, jazz producer of Miles Davis and more, dies at 98
Russian-born industry titan helped popularise albums and liner notes in a jazz career that began in the 1930s, working with Louis Armstrong
January 2017
Desert Island Discs: 75 defining moments from 75 years of castaways
The show’s first guest was marooned three quarters of a century ago this month. Here are the moments that made Desert Island Discs a radio classic
September 2016
Readers recommend
Readers recommend playlist: songs about hope and resilience
From Beethoven to Bob Dylan, here are the top picks for tracks to get us through hard times
April 2016
Billy Paul: five of the best from the soul maestro who created an all-time classic
From sampling Malcolm X and Martin Luther King to covering Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney, Billy Paul’s greatest moments were often his most unlikely
