Month: November 2023

From the Record Shelves #70 – Try and Treat Her Right. Louisville, Kentucky had two band leaders in the twenties who were fighting to get the recording contracts. Still they depended on each other and played with each other’s groups. Clifford Hayes who played (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #69 – Ash Tray Blues. Papa Charlie Jackson (November 10, 1887 – May 7, 1938) has always been a favorite of mine. His strong voice, his swing, his control over his instrument the six-string banjo, his wit, the intelligent lyrics and (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #68 – Dreaming of You. The singer has herself organized the record company. In this release of an LP with some of her best early performances there is a comment from her regarding every track. Spivey record production has (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #67 – Too Bad. Here we have 18 numbers with George Olsen and his Music from the period of transition from acoustic to electrical recordings. Most of them are made prior to the orchestras big commercial hit “Who” (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #66 – Close Shave. Already as a tuba player with Fletcher Henderson at the end of the 1920s, John Kirby was impressive. After changing to double bass his work became an important link to more modern bass line playing (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #65 – Chicago Mess Around. When Paramount made recordings in Chicago in the 20s the musical direction was given among others to Lovie Austin. She had a solid musical education and was at the time working at the Monogram Theater in the city (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #64 – Crazy Rhythm. It’s a good example of how jazz music travels and inspires. After the visit of Django Reinhardt and his “Quintette du Hot Club de France” in Stockholm in 1939 some Swedish musicians decided to form a Swedish version (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #63 – Manhattan. I have always aimed at the strategy of turning defeat into victory. For example already as a teenager in school I had the following method. When I was feeling sick and felt that the flu was coming (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #62 – Always in All Ways. There is a lot to choose from on today’s record, mostly small groups with unusual combinations of instruments and with organ, bassoon, harp and washboard among them. And the LP has as much as 10 tunes on each side (…) read more and listenread more and listen