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38-499: After a decade of growth in subscriptions, deepening of writer pools, and internationalization, Radio Free Jazz expanded its focus and, at the suggestion of jazz critic Leonard Feather , changed its name to JazzTimes in 1980. Sabin's Glenn joined the magazine staff in 1984. In 1990, JazzTimes incorporated exclusive cover photography and higher quality art and graphic design. The magazine reviews audio and video releases concerts, instruments, music supplies, and books. It also includes

76-512: A Delaware company based in Quincy, Massachusetts (Jeffrey C. Wolk, Chairman and CEO; born 1966). Madavor Media relaunched the magazine the same year. Lee C. Mergner — who was Associate Publisher of JazzTimes from as early as 1994 till sometime after September 1999 — became publisher as early as 2001. Glenn D. Sabin (born 1963), one of Ira's sons, was the publisher when the magazine was sold in 2009, and Jeffrey H. Sabin (born 1961), Ira's other son,

114-547: A Massachusetts limited liability company on February 29, 2024. Leonard Feather Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Feather was born in London , England, into an upper middle-class Jewish family. He learned to play the piano and clarinet without formal training and started writing about jazz and film by his late teens. At

152-422: A bet with Club Raymond. At the casino, Pop warns Lucky that he is about to win enough money to marry Margaret. He takes his bet off the table. The club owner wagers Ricardo's contract on a cut of the cards. Seeing that Raymond intends to cheat, Pop cheats too, and Lucky wins the contract. Lucky and Penny are dance partners, but he avoids seeing her alone. He lacks the nerve to tell her about Margaret. Mabel arranges

190-435: A book by Jeffrey Hatcher , began performances on October 27, 2003, running for 44 previews and 84 performances. It opened on December 4, 2003, and closed on February 15, 2004. It was directed by Michael Greif and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell . The film lends its title to Zadie Smith 's 2016 novel Swing Time , in which it is a recurring plot device. Region 1 In 2005, a digitally restored version of Swing Time

228-576: A guide to musicians, events, record labels, and music schools. David Fricke , whose writing credits include Rolling Stone , Melody Maker and Mojo , also contributes to the magazine. JazzTimes.com was redesigned in 2019. Among its most popular stories are the JazzTimes10, which look at the "Top 10" of a specific categories of jazz, from Christmas songs to tunes from the Loft Jazz era. Also popular are its annual critics and readers polls of

266-515: A successful opening. Nevertheless, the film was a sizable hit, costing $ 886,000, grossing over $ 2,600,000 worldwide, and showing a net profit of $ 830,000. The partnership never regained the creative heights scaled in this and previous films. In 1999, Swing Time was listed as one of Entertainment Weekly 's top 100 films. In 2004, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by

304-419: A trip to the country. Lucky resists the temptation to snuggle in a snow-covered gazebo, prompting "A Fine Romance". Pop lets the truth slip about Margaret. In the remodeled Silver Sandal, Penny refuses another proposal from Ricardo. Mabel dares her to give Lucky "a great big kiss". They do kiss behind a dressing room door. Pop lets his sleight of hand become known to Raymond, who insists on competing with Lucky for

342-405: A video programmed format. Royal's efforts as an editor were subjected to widespread criticism on the social media platform X and mockery for grammatical errors, historical errors, a confrontational tone, and a perceived decline in editorial integrity. Particular criticism was leveled at Royal for his use of the magazine to promote his own projects. JazzTimes was transferred to Titles JCMJ, LLC,

380-644: Is a 1935 Auburn 851 Phaeton Sedan . Musical notes According to RKO records, the film made $ 1,624,000 in the U.S. and Canada, and $ 994,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $ 830,000. It was the 15th most popular film at the British box office in 1935–1936. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , the film holds an approval rating of 97%, based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 8.58/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire are brilliant in Swing Time , one of

418-500: Is often singled out as the partnership's and collaborator Hermes Pan 's most profound achievement in filmed dance, while " The Way You Look Tonight " won the Academy Award for Best Original Song , and Astaire topped the U.S. pop chart with it in 1936. Jerome Kern's score, the first of two that he composed specially for Astaire films, contains three of his most memorable songs. The film's plot has been criticized, though, as has

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456-580: The Radio Times as a programme of "Gramophone Records of Dance Music (Swing Time)". He also wrote the regular 'Tempo di Jazz' column in the Radio Times in the mid-1930s. Feather's compositions have been widely recorded, including "Evil Gal Blues" and "Blowtop Blues" by Dinah Washington , and what is possibly his biggest hit, " How Blue Can You Get ?", co-written with his wife Jane, recorded by blues artists Louis Jordan and B.B. King . But it

494-488: The Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) , it is ranked at No. 90. John "Lucky" Garnett is a gambler and dancer who is ready to marry Margaret Watson. Not wanting him to retire, the other members of his dance act deliberately sabotage the event. "Pop" Cardetti takes Lucky's trousers to be altered by sewing cuffs, while

532-532: The American Musical , Swing Time is "a strong candidate for the best of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals". The Oxford Companion says that, although the screenplay is contrived, it "left plenty of room for dance and all of it was superb. ... Although the movie is remembered as one of the great dance musicals, it also boasts one of the best film scores of the 1930s." "Never Gonna Dance"

570-547: The age of 80. He was the father of lyricist and songwriter Lorraine Feather . With Langston Hughes Swing Time (film) Swing Time is a 1936 American musical comedy film, the sixth of ten starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers . Directed by George Stevens for RKO , it features Helen Broderick , Victor Moore , Betty Furness , Eric Blore and Georges Metaxa , with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Dorothy Fields . Set mainly in New York City ,

608-691: The age of twenty-one, Feather made his first visit to the United States, and after working in the UK and the US as a record producer finally settled in New York City in 1939, where he lived until moving to Los Angeles in 1960. Feather was co-editor of Metronome magazine and served as chief jazz critic for the Los Angeles Times until his death. Feather made a significant contribution to

646-572: The contract. He loses. Margaret arrives, and Lucky asks her to meet him the next day. While Lucky is indecisive, Penny becomes heartbroken. Lucky finds her in the deserted club, where he learns that she has agreed to marry Ricardo. Asked about the future, he sings "Never Gonna Dance", segueing without dialogue into their dance to "The Way You Look Tonight". The next day, Margaret tells Lucky that she wants to marry someone else. Everyone laughs until Pop announces that Ricardo and Penny will be married that afternoon. They rush to intervene and manage to pull off

684-741: The development of jazz broadcasting in Britain, first devising three Evergreens of Jazz programmes broadcast in August and September 1936, using George Scott-Wood and His Six Swingers. Leonard Feather's Swing Time , which was first broadcast National Service in January 1937, probably derived its programme title from the 1936 American RKO musical film , songs from which were featured in BBC gramophone recitals several times in December 1936. Initially trailed in

722-457: The duo's most charming and wonderfully choreographed films." On Metacritic , the film has a weighted average score of 91 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". At the 1937 Academy Awards , Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields won the award for Best Music, Original Song , and Hermes Pan was nominated but did not win for his choreography for "Bojangles of Harlem". In 1999, Entertainment Weekly named Swing Time as one of

760-526: The film follows a gambler and dancer, "Lucky" (Astaire), who is trying to raise money to secure his marriage when he meets a dance instructor, Penny (Rogers), and begins dancing with her; the two soon fall in love and are forced to reconcile their feelings. Noted dance critic Arlene Croce considers Swing Time to be Astaire and Rogers's best dance musical, a view shared by John Mueller and Hannah Hyam. It features four dance routines that are each regarded as masterpieces. According to The Oxford Companion to

798-615: The lyrics to the jazz song " Whisper Not ", which was recorded by Ella Fitzgerald on her 1966 Verve release of the same name. In 1984, Feather was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music . Feather's archives are part of the International Jazz Collections at the University of Idaho Library. Feather died from complications of pneumonia in Encino, Los Angeles , California, at

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836-468: The others begin a crap game. After the tailor refuses to modify the pants, Pop returns with them, unaltered. Margaret's father phones to say that he has sent everyone home, but the call is intercepted. When Lucky finally leaves for the wedding, his troupe bets the bankroll that he will not get married. Lucky mollifies Margaret's father by saying that he was "earning" $ 200. Judge Watson tells Lucky that he must earn $ 25,000 to demonstrate his good intentions. At

874-608: The owner of the Silver Sandal nightclub. Lucky and Pop check into the hotel where Penny and Mabel live. Lucky fails to win a tuxedo for the audition by playing strip piquet . They miss the audition, and Penny gets mad at Lucky again. He and Pop picket in front of Penny's apartment door for a week. Mabel intervenes, and Penny forgives him, agreeing to a second audition. At the Silver Sandal, bandleader Ricardo Romero, who wants to marry Penny, refuses to play for them. The club owner cannot force him because he lost Romero's contract in

912-464: The performance of Metaxa. More praised is Rogers's acting and dancing performance. Rogers credited much of the film's success to Stevens: "He gave us a certain quality, I think, that made it stand out above the others." Swing Time also marked the beginning of a decline in popularity of the Astaire–Rogers partnership among the general public, with box-office receipts falling faster than usual after

950-554: The quarter out of her purse when she drops her things, but she thinks that Lucky did it. Lucky insists on following Penny to her job as a dance school instructor. He accepts a dancing lesson from her agency to apologize. After a disastrous lesson ("Pick Yourself Up"), Penny tells him to "save his money". Her boss, Mr. Gordon, overhears and fires her. He also fires Mabel Anderson for complaining that Pop ate her sandwich. Lucky dances with Penny to prove how much that she has taught him. Gordon gives Penny back her job, and sets up an audition with

988-501: The sequence took three full days of shooting; the whole film took several weeks longer to shoot than the normal Astaire–Rogers film. The New York street scenes were shot on Paramount 's back lot, the train station interiors and exteriors at the Los Angeles Santa Fe Railroad Station , and the freight yard scene was shot in downtown Los Angeles. The car used during the "New Amsterdam Inn" number

1026-504: The top 100 films, and in 2004, the film was included in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked Swing Time at No. 90 on their 10th anniversary list of 100 Years...100 Movies . A Broadway musical based on the film, Never Gonna Dance , used much of Kern and Fields's original score. The show, which had

1064-541: The top artists, albums and songs in jazz. JazzTimes.com's most successful month was in February 2015, when it registered more than half a million pageviews. In 2019, it registered 3,736,397 pageviews with 65% of its traffic direct and a quarter of it from organic search. Guthrie Inc. was the founding company of the magazine and suspended JazzTimes in June 2009. Later that year, JazzTimes was acquired by Madavor Media, LLC,

1102-442: The train station, Lucky's dance troupe takes all of his money, except for his lucky quarter because he did not get married. Pop and Lucky board the first freight train to New York. Lucky meets Penny when he asks for change for his lucky quarter, so that he can buy cigarettes for Pop. The cigarette machine dumps a load of coins, so they follow Penny and offer to repurchase the quarter, but she is in no mood to deal with them. Pop sneaks

1140-407: The trouser gag. While waiting for the nonexistent alteration, Ricardo struggles to keep up a pair of baggy pants. An infectious round of laughter causes Penny to call off the wedding, having been wooed by Lucky. Initially, the working titles for the film were I Won't Dance and Never Gonna Dance , but studio executives worried that no one would come see a musical in which no one danced, so the title

1178-476: Was as a writer on jazz (as a journalist, critic, historian, and campaigner) that he made his biggest mark: "Feather was for a long time the most widely read and most influential writer on jazz." Even jazz enthusiasts who did not read his books and articles would have known him from the liner notes that he wrote for hundreds of jazz albums. He was not always a neutral commentator on the jazz scene: "Feather's skill at writing glowing advance press pieces about artists he

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1216-510: Was changed. Pick Yourself Up was also considered as a title, as were 15 other possibilities. Erwin Gelsey 's original screen story was purchased by RKO and, in November 1935, Gelsey was hired to adapt the story. Although he did not receive any screen credit, he was under consideration for screenplay credit as late as July 1936. Howard Lindsay wrote the first draft of the screenplay, which

1254-473: Was considerably rewritten by Allan Scott . Before shooting started in April 1936, Scott was called back from New York to write additional dialogue. Astaire spent almost eight weeks preparing for the film's dance numbers. The "Bojangles of Harlem" number, a tribute to Bill "Bojangles" Robinson , was the last part of the film to be shot, because of the special effects required. To create the effect that Astaire

1292-428: Was dancing with three shadows of himself that were larger-than-life, Astaire had to be filmed dancing in front of a blank white screen on which a powerful light projected his shadow. This footage was tripled in the film lab. Next, Astaire was filmed performing under normal lighting in front of another white screen while watching a projection of the dancing shadow, and the four shots were optically combined. In its entirety,

1330-425: Was general manager at the time. Mac Randall was named editor in chief in 2018 after longtime editor Evan Haga stepped down from his role. Mergner remains a part-time employee for JazzTimes . On February 15, 2023, Madavor Media was acquired by The BeBop Channel Corporation, a public company under the ticker symbol BBOP and headed up by jazz musician and interim CEO Gregory Charles Royal . Royal's tenure with JazzTimes

1368-504: Was marked by a change in editorial directionbefore ultimately ceasing physical printing of the magazine. Royal believed the publication had existed in an "insular bubble for decades — a magazine seemingly written for the consumption and from the perspective of white journalists". Royal also transitioned the print publication to The BeBop Channel Television Network as JazzTimes Television in September 2023 to focus on presenting JazzTimes as

1406-501: Was released, available both separately (in Region 1 ) and as part of The Astaire & Rogers Collection, Vol.1 from Warner Home Video . These releases feature a commentary by John Mueller , author of Astaire Dancing – The Musical Films . On June 11, 2019, The Criterion Collection released the movie in the United States on Blu-ray and DVD formats. Region 2 In 2003, a digitally restored version of Swing Time (in Region 2 )

1444-431: Was to record, including his own compositions on the session, and then reviewing his own productions as if he were an impartial critic, was almost an art form in itself." He also hosted radio shows including Jazz Club in the early 1950s and Platterbrains that aired from 1953 to 1958. Feather organized the first Carnegie Hall jazz concerts, the only two jazz concerts at the original Metropolitan Opera House . He wrote

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