It has been 60 years since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy — a national tragedy like very few in the 20th century. One aspect that hasn’t received much detailed examination in the decades since is how the business of making people laugh was affected by that shocking event. …

It’s something none of us really stop to think about (except me, apparently), but there was a time when those little touch-tone buttons on our phones were new and exciting, and represented a big step in the evolution of how we communicate with each other. Consider this: Every telephone we…

The Marx Brothers remain among the film comedy titans of the 20th century, along with Keaton, Chaplin, Fields, and Laurel & Hardy, all of whom will forever reside atop the Mt. Olympus of comedy. …

Was it “The Comedy to End All Comedies”? Not quite, but it remains a comedy classic to this day. Throughout all of film history, no comedy feature has matched the grand scale, brilliant cast of comedians, and physical energy of It’s aMad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, released sixty years ago…

The Sant Andreu Jazz Band has, for most of its 17-year existence, included a great deal of Brazilian bossa nova in its repertoire, extending the music’ popularity — which reached its peak back in the mid-1960s — well into the 21st century among SAJB fans, and among the band’s young…

Those 1960s sure were something, weren’t they? Even if you were just a child at the time, or perhaps not even born yet, chances are better than good that you know at least some of what transpired throughout that particular decade, which saw enough changes and shifts in American popular…

There is something compelling about the way 26-year-old Barcelona jazz guitarist Carla Motis plays. She presents a sort of quiet stillness onstage as she works her way through a jazz standard, whether she’s providing rhythm or taking a solo, either in a small combo or powerful big band. …

Last year at this time, I had just returned from my first Jazzing Fest, the music celebration hosted by and featuring the world-renowned Sant Andreu Jazz Band. As a fan/journalist and new visitor (writing my own independent article as well as for The Syncopated Times), I could not have had…

It’s almost frightening to realize that some films, TV shows, and record albums I first enjoyed as a young(er) person have now existed for 30, 40, or 50 years. Time marches on. But it also stands still, in a very real way, throughout Local Hero, my favorite film of all…