May 2024 - Paul – and some of that Jazz

From the Studio #27 – Oh! Miss Hannah – I have a 78 rpm disc with this 1924 song by Deppen-Hollingsworth, with the vocal by the group The Revellers. But the most well-known is the version by Paul Whiteman, where Bix Beiderbecke plays his last (probably) solo in that orchestra (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #247 – Troubled Waters – When this LP just came out in the middle of the 1960s, I borrowed it from a friend and recorded it on reel-to-reel tape. Now I have a well-kept copy that used to belong to the American Library at Stockholm University (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #246 – When You and I Were Young Maggie – You have the feeling that they do nothing special, just play an old tune together, like they always do. And still, it’s a magical moment in 1938. “Together” is the key word here. None is taking down (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #26 – Tea for Two – Vincent Youmans’ ingenious tune with clever words by Irving Caesar has been interpreted by many. I like, among others, a well-arranged version by Don Redman’s Orchestra from the thirties. The changes are a bit too difficult to (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #245 – Tangerine – Maybe you are familiar with this French clarinet player called Maurice Meunier. I wasn’t until I found this record about ten years ago. It doesn’t come as a surprise that there are good ones in France because the French influence is (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #244 – Alone with My Dreams – This is a rather recent CD production. It’s well produced and comes with a booklet full of well researched and interesting information that let’s you know all you need (and more!) about the protagonist (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #243 – Winin’ Boy Blues – Today I’m back with the classic LP’s of likewise classic jazz. Jelly Roll Morton must have been happy, or at least content when, after some miserable years, musically speaking, he entered the studio to front a band with (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #25 – Go Back Where You Stayed Last Night – This tune with a long title also has a very long sequence with the same tonic chord, which can be a challenge when you make an instrumental version like I attempted. The song was written by (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #242 – In the Evening – I made my first trip to Paris in 1969 and came back with an LP featuring one of my idols. It starts with this tune by Leroy Carr. I put it on the turntable, and the outstanding vocal performance, the guitar playing, and (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #241 – Without a Song – In December 1969, Freddie Hubbard (1938–2008) was in Europe, as this live recording proves. That year on July 21, I came home from work, and some relatives had gathered to celebrate my 20th birthday. They were in front of (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #24 – On the Sunny Side of the Street – This is a real standard tune. Louis Armstrong’s different versions have given the song depth, and another favorite is Lionel Hampton’s 1939 recording with the opening chorus by Johnny Hodges on alto sax (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #240 – Close Fit Blues – In Clarence Williams rich output of records between 1927 and the Depression, there are two distinct kinds: the washboard bands and the ones with a tuba, and this LP has material from the latter category. The aim with which (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #239 – Barbara Surrenders – Today’s soundtrack to my breakfast is not happy—not a very positive one. And how could it be when Johnny Mandel’s great jazz score was written for a dramatic and tragic, reality based film in which Susan Hayward (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #238 – Sing On – Today I will not say much myself; instead I give the word to Richard Hadlock, who wrote the liner notes in 1986: “New Orleans jazz, music which strikes many listeners as ingenuously blithe and sportive, is, for its players, a life and (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #23 – These Foolish Things – I don’t think that this song needs to be as sad as it happens to sound in my present version. Apart from classic versions by Bing Crosby, Al Bowly, and Billie Holiday, my best memory of the tune is from the film Daddy Longlegs (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #237 – Here Comes My Ball and Chain – I treasure this RCA Vintage Series LP record. The Coon-Sanders Nighthawk Orchestra from Kansas City became famous through national radio broadcasts, starting in 1922. A couple of years later they moved (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #236 – Farewell Blues – I have a faint memory of seeing his name as a piano accompanist to a striptease act here in Malmö, Sweden, in the 1960s. I was too young to be allowed into that venue. Claude Hopkins (1903–1984) had a long career (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #22 – Little Girl – I was a bit ambitious and put in some saxophone work and a bit of my trombone when I recorded this. I think that the tune deserves it. I have many favorites among the 1920s pop songs and also from my early memories. As a teenager (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #235 – What’s New – When I started to buy records I did not have much money, and the records were expensive. I may remember it wrong, but in my mind the price of a record in the 1960s was about the same as a pair of jeans. I had to concentrate on (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #234 – Melancholy – There’s a special atmosphere in this fine recording featuring Johnny Dodds and Louis Armstrong. This is April 1927, and the couple plus drummer Baby Dodds recorded the tune again only a few weeks later (…) read more and listenread more and listen