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 #35 – Midnight Call Blues. Eddie Lang became one of the most lamented heroes in jazz history when he never woke up after a routine tonsillectomy in 1933. But before that he had made a great impact as a true pioneer of guitar playing which gave the instrument a new role (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #34 – We Were the Best of Friends. The mysterious Blind Blake had a recording career with Paramount Records for six years between 1926 and 1932. “Mysterious” because nothing is known about the dates and places of his birth and death (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #33 – Blind Arthur’s Breakdown. The mysterious Blind Blake had a recording career with Paramount Records for six years between 1926 and 1932. “Mysterious” because nothing is known about the dates and places of his birth and death (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #32 – The Day You Came Along. During the four-year span of this record Bing Crosby’s pursuit of success led him in the direction of becoming one of the greatest stars of all time. His got his ticket to Hollywood (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #31 – Trumpet Tango. Tutti Camarata was a very skilled arranger who began his career as a trumpet player in Jimmy Dorsey’s Orchestra, and it is this instrument that is the subject of the album from 1957 (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #30 – Gee, But It’s Hard. This record has a worn out sleeve. For two reasons. First and foremost because me and a friend as teenagers used to copy and play and sing the tunes on the record and secondly because (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #29 – Someday Sweetheart. I found this record not so long ago. Since I collect records with clarinet plus rhythm section, to listen, enjoy and eventually learn something, I was glad to find this one by a man mostly known for his big band work (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #28 – I’m in the Seventh Heaven. Records that were sold in “dime stores” were cheap and when the depression struck the American people hard in the beginning of the thirties they were still sold and bought while the big companies (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #27 – Bass Ale Blues. We listen to the New York based five-piece group Original Memphis Five (that had nothing to do with the latter mentioned town) develop from 1923 until December 1926. In the early recordings (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #26 – 29th and Dearborn. Like another icon of early jazz, pianist Jelly Roll Morton, Johnny Dodds was unfortunate to have his life ended just before the revival took place. After leaving New Orleans to join King Oliver at 28 years of age (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #25 – He’s Funny That Way. A compilation of rarities recorded in New York and Los Angeles in the early thirties. We get a couple of tracks with vocal groups, The Rhythm Boys and The Ink Spots, a song from a soundtrack with Ruth Etting (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #24 – Senegalese Stomp. I have selected an instrumental number mostly because of its way to immediately start with a hot blues chorus that gives us a chance to hear the great cornet player Tommy Ladnier at his peak when he was a member of (…) read more and listenread more and listen