Month: April 2026

From the Record Shelves #371 – Doin’ the New Lowdown – Chris Albertson produced an album in 1960 with veterans Elmer Snowden and Cliff Jackson. The former is the banjo player most famous for starting an orchestra called The Washingtonians that would be (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #370 – Just a Little Lovin’ – Grady Martin and his Slew Foot Five is described as a country jazz band from Nashville. It’s fun to hear them, and it’s curious that they were put together with Bing Crosby in the role of just a refrain singer. I like the contrast between Bing’s laid-back singing and the eagerness of the group (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #369 – The Skunk – Today’s hot jazz is a tune recorded in New York but with strong influence from New Orleans. The latter town is the hometown of the records bandleader and banjo player Buddy Christian (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #368 – Forty and Tight – It’s a lot of music from a quartet. The Beale Street Washboard Band recorded this in 1929 in Chicago. Herb Morand plays trumpet, and Frank Melrose, who composed the tune, is at the piano, but most of the swing (…) read more and listenread more and listen