Year: 2023

From the Record Shelves #110 - After You’ve GoneFrom the Record Shelves #110 – After You’ve Gone. During the pandemic Ate Van Delden’s biography of Adrian Rollini made good company, and he is also involved in this CD release with 26 well-preserved tracks from 1924-27. During this period (…) read more and listenread more and listen

Santa Claus BluesKiki remarked that the song is sad, but I said “so what?”. I’ve always liked sad songs even when I’m not feeling that way. First of all they remind us of the fact that not everybody is happy. Then it can make you remember times when (…) read more and view videoread more and view video

From the Record Shelves #109 - I Ain’t Got NobodyFrom the Record Shelves #109 – I Ain’t Got Nobody. This volume three in the complete output on records by the blues singer Ida Cox has a lot of good music. There are the duets with Papa Charlie Jackson and also “Coffin Blues” one of the saddest tales ever put on a disc. (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #108 - It’s MurderFrom the Record Shelves #108 – It’s Murder. There’s a lot of good jazz with New Orleans roots here, by Johnny Dodds, Red Allen and Lil Armstrong as leaders. And it’s the last mentioned with her “Swing Orchestra” that I choose to listen to today (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #107 - I Like What You LikeFrom the Record Shelves #107 – I Like What You Like. Even if her recording career only lasted eight years there is enough material with Annette Hanshaw to fill a pile of LP records. But it’s hard to think that any of them would be better than this one (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #106 - I Must Have That ManFrom the Record Shelves #106 – I Must Have That Man. Here we have an album dedicated to a man of the rhythm section namely the tuba player Joe Tarto. Included is a lot of information about his career that spanned over more than six decades (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #105 - Yellow Dog BluesFrom the Record Shelves #105 – Yellow Dog Blues. Number three in the Cotton Club series includes some oddities in the house bands book. W. C. Handy’s blues has been interpreted by many and here in 1928 it gets the early Duke Ellington treatment (…) read more and listenread more and listen

Jingle Bells at the MuseumIt’s time for the captain to put you on track to a MERRY CHRISTMAS! (…) view videoJingle Bells at the Museum

From the Record Shelves #104 - He Wouldn’t Stop Doing ItFrom the Record Shelves #104 – He Wouldn’t Stop Doing It. Ikey Robinson was born in Dublin, Virginia in 1904 and became a professional musician at 14. He is worth an LP under his own name and here he’s got one. But five of the eighteen number (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #103 - Let’s Get FriendlyFrom the Record Shelves #103 – Let’s Get Friendly. Today I listen to a Ben Selvin record for breakfast, which puts me in a good mood. Good sound thanks to transfers by Chris Ellis, good work at the original recording studios in New York and (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #102 - Have Your Chill, I’ll Be Here When Your Fever RisesFrom the Record Shelves #102 – Have Your Chill, I’ll Be Here When Your Fever Rises. I think that this was the first record with Louis Armstrong that I bought. Meanwhile, you could turn on the radio and hear his hit Hello Dolly. But it was this early version (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #101 - Say ’Yes’ TodayFrom the Record Shelves #101 – Say ’Yes’ Today. Roger Wolfe loved music and played several instruments, and he was also the son of millionaire Otto Kahn, so with the aid of his father he could put together a dance band that was sometimes (…) read more and listenread more and listen