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 #52 – Wild Cherry. Today we hear some territory jazz. San Antonio, Texas had several big bands in the thirties and one of them was led by the drummer Boots Douglas. That the music is rare you can understand from the battered picture (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #51 – Love Is Just Around the Corners. On today’s record the music is not fantastic, stupendous or something in that order to my ears. It’s more like another evening at work for the guys. But sometimes you want to have your morning coffee (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #50 – Cette chanson est pour vous. I like Jean Sablon. There is intimacy in his voice. He had been in New York and Hollywood and had heard Bing Crosby who influenced him deeply, and he has a similar quality as Bing that he gets close to you (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #49 – Careless Love. This record is an invitation to join an alternative musical universe, populated by so called “moldy figs” the enthusiasts of the revival movement. I have for many years myself been a member of the Swedish Bunk Johnson Society (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #48 – Bugle Call Rag. As I remember it, it was quite a shock when I put on this record for the first time. I didn’t expect such playing in 1932 with a small group playing a free improvised ensemble. I suppose that Eddie Condon plays (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #47 – Savage Rhythm. The band worked in the shadow of Duke Ellington’s Orchestra under the same manager, Irving Mills who also gave them their name. It’s top class early 30s Harlem jazz that we hear (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #46 – John Hardy’s Wife. It’s hard to pick out one tune from this double album because once you get in an “Ellington mood” you like everything. I’ve chosen a tune written by Mercer Ellington (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #45 – Stardust. In the 20s his orchestra was considered the leading one but in the beginning of the following decade Fletcher Henderson and his men had to struggle like everyone else in the music business (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #44 – Salty Dogs. When Johnny Dodds arrived in Chicago from New Orleans he was not so young, 28 years and with a fully developed clarinet style. He had the ability to (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #43 – South African Blues. Personality is the key word of the record. Roy Palmer sounds like nobody else on his trombone, yet the effective New Orleans style of playing is evident. (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #42 – Something About an Old Love. I was happy to find this record recently. It swings and Bunny Berigan’s trumpet playing is always a pleasure to listen to. But there is another special thing about this tune (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #41 – It’s a Lonesome Old Town. The double LP contains the last recordings of McKinney’s Cotton Pickers which are put together with sessions from 1939-40 by Don Redman’s Orchestra (…) read more and listenread more and listen