From the Record Shelves #292- PanamaFrom the Record Shelves #292 – Panama – This is probably one of the best Dixieland sessions ever made. Four tunes were recorded on November 27, 1943, and this is one of them. The group was called “Wild Bill” Davison and his Commodores. Extatic, exiting (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #53 - Stairway to the StarsFrom the Studio #53 – Stairway to the Stars Out of my home studio comes this: a couple of choruses on a tune that I’ve never had the chance to play in public. Behind it are two musicians of great fame from the 1920s: violinist Matty Malneck and pianist Frank Signorelli (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #2910- Then I’ll Be HappyFrom the Record Shelves #291 – Then I’ll Be Happy – The LP starts with 1923 and Fletcher Henderson had a good and interesting orchestra already. The brass instrumentalists play with conviction and feeling and the saxophone team of Don Redman and (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #52 - Waiting at the End of the RoadFrom the Studio #52 – Waiting at the End of the Road I saw the King Vidor 1930 film Hallelujah on TV once. It must have been in the 1960s or early 70s. Irving Berlin composed wonderful music for this early talkie, and the theme that goes through it is (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #290- I Love a PianoFrom the Record Shelves #290 – I Love a Piano – This double LP with more or less well-known tunes from the great Irving Berlin contains a rarity. It is very unpretentious, and that is the point here. Just a man with a piano love song (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #289- She's Just My SizeFrom the Record Shelves #289 – She’s Just My Size – I was lucky to be able to hear the two most famous big bands in the world when I was very young. Duke Ellington and Count Basie had in common total control over their orchestras (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #51 - Bill BaileyFrom the Studio #51 – Bill Bailey Now, this time I just wanted to give some air to my instruments and play a simple (nothing is simple in jazz, let’s rather say uncomplicated) tune to see what it makes. If someone wants to learn and practice playing traditional jazz with solos and (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #288- What Kind O’ Man Is You?From the Record Shelves #288 – What Kind O’ Man Is You? – There are a few entries in the discographies of this wonderful Hoagy Carmichael composition. A couple are made in modern times, and among them is a version with my band, because we were (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #50 - Deep NightFrom the Studio #50 – Deep Night Sometime in the late 1960s, I arrived at the last moment at the cinema. The movie had just started. The film was Bonnie and Clyde, and it started with the original version of this fascinating song, written and performed by Rudy Valley (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #287- All the Whores Like the Way I RideFrom the Record Shelves #287 – All the Whores Like the Way I Ride – This happens sometimes. I’m not very inspired to listen to something, but I put on a record anyway with a very familiar sound, like with Louis Armstrong’s All Stars or, very differently (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #286- Sho’ Is HotFrom the Record Shelves #286 – Sho’ Is Hot – In the beginning, the voice sounds like a radio announcer of New Orleans jazz in the 1940s, but then it evolves into something else: a kind of vaudeville number with a good trumpet playing in the back and sometimes (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #49 - Song of the WandererFrom the Studio #49 – Song of the Wanderer Here is a song that is not so complicated and thus fits well for use in a collective ensemble format. The lyrics are, as you see, utterly basic, and life is not easy for the wanderer… (…) read more and listenread more and listen