Year: 2025

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