August 2024 - Page 2 of 2 - Paul – and some of that Jazz

From the Record Shelves #284 – The Terror – On the label, it reads “Marvin Smoley and his Syncopaters.” Many record collectors coming across this very hot record may have scratched their heads wondering who this obscure band leader was. In fact, he wasn’t one (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #48 – Wasting My Love on You I need to practice a song that will soon be featured in a concert, so I played the verse, the melody in 1920s style, and a solo chorus. I don’t sing it myself, but if you want to give it a try, I give you the lyrics below (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #284 – Riverboat Shuffle – As always when he is present, Bix Beiderbecke, with his cornet, is the protagonist here. There are several facets of his genius, and here on this session with Frankie Trumbauer’s Orchestra in 1927 (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #283 – Doin’ the New Low Down – Today I enjoy an album with music from a show called “Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1928.” After having successfully produced an album with music from “Showboat,” Jack Kapp at Brunswick Records continued (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #47 – If I Could Be with You –
This song has been in my mind always, it seems, but more precisely since I, as a teenager, heard it with McKinney’s Cotton Pickers as sung by their saxophone player George Thomas. He had (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #282 – New Vine Street Blues – This beautiful mood piece is a remake of an early Benny Moten recording from 1924. Now we are in the depression, and it’s 1930. The number is not a conventional 12-bar blues but has an unusual 24-bar structure and (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #46 – What a Girl! What a Night! –
This song expresses the kind of happiness that a man or woman can feel when bitten by the love bug. The Coon Sanders Orchestra of Kansas City made a version that I immediately liked (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #281- You Call It Madness – I have about five or six favorites among tenor sax players, and Don Byas (1912–1972) is one of them. He had big band experience from Lionel Hampton’s, Don Redman’s, Andy Kirk’s, and Count Basie’s great orchestras (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #280 – Weary Blues – I’m glad that I’m not a critic. Because in that case, I would have had to deal with the cover, the title of the LP, the choice of tunes, their relation to the blues, and so on. And I might also have gotten into the devastating critic’s habit of (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #45 – I’m In the Mood for Love – I sing and play an old favorite that we have used for many years in small groups. It’s the kind of gig where the music may be somewhat in the background but still very important to create an atmosphere (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #279 – I’ll Be Seing You – For many years, there was a favorite music program on Swedish radio called Smoke Rings. The man behind it was Leif Anderson, and he, even if he may have protested himself, could easily be called an icon (…) read more and listenread more and listen