Year: 2024
From the Studio #4 – Alexander’s Ragtime Band – I don’t know if it is this, White Christmas, or maybe another tune that was the most successful in the eyes of their composer, Irving Berlin (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #190 – Strut Miss Lizzie – On the back of the sleeve of this LP that I bought secondhand there are the autographs of Tony Parenti and Max Kaminsky, and they also wrote the date, October 20, 1968. I have no idea where they played that day (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #189 – I Wonder What’s Become of Joe? – This is happy music. First of all, the aim is to entertain and make people dance. Secondly, it’s made during the Roaring Twenties (1926) when many young people in the US had a good time. Then, thirdly (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #188 – Beedle Um Bum – This is one of the first LPs that I bought in my life, and it is still one of the best. I had seen it in a shop, and when I had saved up the money I went back. This was in the 1960s, and I was naive when I was shocked because (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Studio #3 – Squeeze Me – When I have the time and energy, it’s fun and instructive to attempt to record a big band arrangement. In the 1920s, ten or nine, even 8 piece orchestras were considered big bands, normally consisting of three saxes and a brass section (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #187 – Tell Me Cutie – The picture of Natty Dominique on the cover is anything but sharp, and the music is a little bit the same. One of the best numbers is this one, on the B-side of the LP, where Dominique is not present. Instead (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #186 – Bogalousa Strut – I will not even try to put words to the magic of this band from New Orleans. You just have to listen and hear nine people working in the same direction with a perfect tempo. Cornet player Sam Morgan had been leading bands (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Studio #2 – Say It Isn’t So – I play and record some in my home studio. Sometimes it’s a quick jam session thing, sometimes I get inspired to do a little bit more, and then as third mode I feel that I need to do a whole arrangemen (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #185 – Darkness on the Delta – “By one of the truly outstanding dance orchestras of the big band epoch,” it says on the cover. And I’m quick to agree. But I’m not sure why, because they do things that I normally don’t like. The singers (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #184 – Stompin’ ’em Along Slow – This LP was a shock to me. I had heard Eddie Lang before and liked him a lot, but when I heard Lonnie Johnson’s solo recordings sounding like a one-man band I could hardly believe my ears (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #183 – My Old Kentucky Home – I will not call this recording great, and I don’t think that it was intended to be either. It’s just entertainment for the moment, music to put you in a good mood (and as such it is great!) by some of the guys (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Studio #1 – A Porter’s Love Song to a Chambermaid – The first out is A Porter’s Love Song too a Chamber Maid. The tune is much less complicated than the title and it’s a good one for a jam session. On classical recordings there is one by Jimmie Noone (…) read more and listenread more and listen