January 2025 - Paul – and some of that Jazz

From the Record Shelves #333 – Azure – Bunny Berigan’s big band is not considered one of the best ones of that era, and I’ve always found their music a bit sad. Maybe it’s a reflection of the bandleader’s unhappy existence at the time. But they had their good moments, such as this one (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #77 – A Blues Serenade – This nice, little 16-bar melody is quite haunting and has a fitting title. In an early Vitaphone short, we can see Jimmy Lytell as he performs it on clarinet with The Capitolians. It’s written by Mitchell Parish in collaboration with pianist Frank Signorelli (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #332 – Virginia – In the shadow of his evergreen masterpieces, George Gershwin wrote many songs, and it’s not until I reach the last side of the double LP that I manage to sing along with familiar strains. You can wonder why some tunes became jazz standards (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #76 – I Left My Sugar Standing in the Rain – Inspiration for this song came first and foremost from a recording by Bing Crosby with Paul Whiteman’s Rhythm Boys, where they incorporate it with Mississippi Mud. Later I found a favorite also in an excellent recording by Adrian Rollini (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #331 – Perdido – As a youngster, I heard both Basie and Ellington performing live here in Malmö, Sweden. They and other visiting orchestras were a great inspiration, and as a result, we’ve had and still have a number of efficient big bands, and I’ve listened to a few. But (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #75 – Every Now and Then – I used to play and sing this song with a New Orleans Revival orchestra, and it was quite a success. I got inspiration from one of my 78 rpm records with Red McKenzie. Here’s the lyrics: “Ev’ry now and then there’s a long-ing in my heart, Ev’ry now and then (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #330 – Five Pennies – The title of the LP, Rare Vertical Jazz, refers to the recording system used by Edison. Their discs were different: You needed special equipment to play them, and the playing time of a record was longer than the normal three minutes. No reliable records (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #74 – He’s Not Worth Your Tears – This song got fame from a recording by Jimmie Noone with a vocal chorus by Mildred Bailey. I do an instrumental version. But if you’re out of luck in love and want to give air to your woes, the words are here: “The story’s over he’s gone away (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #329 – Lover Come Back to Me – I once watched a master class of tuba playing where the teacher scaled it down to, ”There are only two types of songs: pirate songs and love songs!” This could represent the two sides of a tenor sax player: the hard-swinging, often riff-based playing and (…) read more and listenread more and listen