Enjoy my new series with Records from the Shelves

I started out in the 1960s buying vinyl records and some 78’s. Most of the records I bought at any price because I just had to have them. My mother could send me out with money to buy new trousers, but I came back with a record. In the beginning it was mostly the milestones of classic jazz and records by blues artists alone with guitar, because that was the music that I wanted to play myself.

When the CD’s came in the 90s I bought many recordings again since they were more practical to work with, and they often contained transfers of better originals. Furthermore, you could sometimes get everything recorded by a special artist in chronological order. Today I’m back to buying vinyl again most often because I find them cheap, and thus I can take a chance to listen to music that I may or may not like.

I have made many discoveries over the years. Things that may not be as important to me as the cornerstones of classic jazz but are still enjoyable and that gives me a wider spectrum.

Now I’m going to play a record every day and present a tune with a short comment. Early jazz, blues, modern jazz, operatic arias maybe and some bygone popular artist’s recordings. Let’s listen together, and we’ll see what comes up!

From the Record Shelves #222 - The Rooster Crowing BluesFrom the Record Shelves #222 – The Rooster Crowing Blues – Hosea Woods sings, “I used to be a lover, baby, in my younger days. Now I’m old and feeble, but I still got my loving ways.” With recordings like “Walk Right In,” Gus Cannon’s Jug Stompers inspired young people (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #221 - I Want to be BadFrom the Record Shelves #221 – I Want to be Bad – One advantage of the CD format is that it contains more. In the case of hot dance music it means that you get more than a glimpse of the vast output of some orchestras. Even if it still has to be a compilation there is a difference (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #220 - Joseph, JosephFrom the Record Shelves #220 – Joseph, Joseph – Oscar Aleman was a versatile guitar player with a beautiful sound. On this CD we get to hear proof of that on recordings from 1928 until 1943, of which only a fraction can be considered jazz music. But on this swinging track (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #219 - China BoyFrom the Record Shelves #219 – China Boy – Today I enjoy the virtuosity of Benny Goodman and his small group members. Virtuosity must be combined with other things to get my attention in more than, say, twenty second. And here the combination is that (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #218 - Ridin’ But Walking’From the Record Shelves #218 – Ridin’ But Walking’ – As often happens, there is an ugly yellow label glued to the LP sleeve that is impossible to take away. It says that you’re not allowed to exchange the record when the seal is broken. I didn’t because (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #217 - The Wild DogFrom the Record Shelves #217 – The Wild Dog – A big department store in the center of town was closing down at the beginning of the 1990s. It was my favorite place to buy records, so it was sad. Now they had made up a plan to get rid of their stock; they lowered the prices (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #216 - ’Taint So, Honey, ’Taint SoFrom the Record Shelves #216 – ’Taint So, Honey, ’Taint So – It was raining like mad, but I was out on my bike. I had a very important business to take care of, which was buying a record. When I came to Leif Anderson he opened the door wearing his bathrobe. Leif was (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #215 - Sweetie PieFrom the Record Shelves #215 – Sweetie Pie – Fats Waller and Mezz Mezzrow seem like a very odd couple to me, but here they are on a session together. This not-so-remarkable tune gives a good picture of the actual swing of the group, something that is often overshadowed by (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #214 - Just One of Those ThingsFrom the Record Shelves #214 – Just One of Those Things – I started to listen to 78 rpm records when my uncle found an album for me sometime in the 1960s. It contained mostly modern jazz. I enjoyed some of it but didn’t care much about Buddy DeFranco’s (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #213 - Nobody Knows the Way I Feel Dis’ Mornin’From the Record Shelves #213 – Nobody Knows the Way I Feel Dis’ Mornin’ – Here’s another good Sidney Bechet record in the Vintage series. When he became a leader in the recording studio for the first time in his career, Sidney Bechet used the name New Orleans Feetwarmers (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #212 - SundayFrom the Record Shelves #212 – Sunday – The Vintage series made compilations of tunes from special years on some albums. I bought them as they came out in chronological reverse order, starting in 1928 and finish with 1926 which is the album that (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #211 - Dip Your Brush in the SunshineFrom the Record Shelves #211 – Dip Your Brush in the Sunshine – Ted Lewis (1892–1971) had a long career in the entertainment business, with his top hat and clarinet combined with great charm. In this period, at the beginning of the 1930s, he takes on the task of trying to (…) read more and listenread more and listen