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 #340 – If I Never See You as Long as I Live – It was in March 1925 that Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards recorded this song. He was immensely popular in the twenties with his ukulele and his beautiful voice, often adding an imitation of a kazoo in the process of performing (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #339 – Papa De-Da-Da – Step into the time machine and travel back a century. On March 4 in 1925, a band under the leadership of Clarence Williams was in the studio to record and promote one of his own compositions (in partnership with Spencer Williams). His wife, Eva Taylor (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #338 – My Gal, My Pal – This was recorded in March 1925, a hundred years ago, but it still hasn’t reached its “best before date” limit. The lively performance was recorded in Buffalo, New York, with portable recording equipment and released on Okeh. The band that managed (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #337 – A Monday Date – Earl Hines wrote the tune and recorded it the same year, 1928, with Louis Armstrong, and that’s an unbeatable version. But this is not bad either; there is a lot to enjoy: Earl’s own piano solo, the demonstration of impeccable clarinet technique by (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #336 – Original Dixieland One-Step – Arranged Dixieland with the usual repertoire is normally not my cup of tea, but when it’s as here played by some veterans of a status like Frank Signorelli, Jimmy Lytell, Miff Mole, and Chauncey Morehouse on piano, clarinet, trombone, and drums (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #335 – Yardbird Suite – A classic jazz record is, for me, one that you have played many times. You may know it by heart and just have to close your eyes to hear it within you; you don’t even have to put it on, but if you do, you’re happy. This is one of them, and it is one of the few (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #334 -My Blue Heaven – As a person, Artie Shaw survived all of his competitors in the big band business, and at the end, he was rather critical of them, especially when it came to their choice of repertoire. But in a spoken interview that introduces the album, he is very proud of his (…) read more and listenread more and listen
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 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 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 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 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