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 #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
From the Record Shelves #23 – San. Instrumental virtuosity and inventive arrangements are two things to enjoy when you listen to University Six. The seven piece group comes from California Ramblers, the most successful white dance orchestra of its time and place; New York in the twenties (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #22 – Too Busy. Kansas City has a good standing within the history of jazz and even their best hot dance band belongs to the elite in that genre. Or should we call them a jazz band? The creativity and jazz content (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #21 – Somebody Loves You. When USA went into the depression era one of the most popular orchestras led by Ted Lewis had to face a severe decline in record sales. Buying records became a luxury and then the competition from radio (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #20 – Swanee Shuffle. The Charleston Chasers was a New York studio group whose jazz content and top-notch musicianship was guaranteed and provided by men like the Dorsey Brothers and Benny Goodman. Formally their music was (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #19 – Four or Five Times. The pioneers of jazz guitar are in focus on this cd, playing solos or performing with small ensembles. On the chosen track there is first a guitar intro before the clarinet playing of Jimmie Noone takes over (…) read moreread more
From the Record Shelves #18 – Good Little Bad Little You. Edward Cliff ”Ukulele Ike” Edwards should be famous to generations of music lovers thanks to his role as Jimmie Cricket and the one who sings When You Wish Upon a Star but I doubt if many people know this (…) screen-reader-textread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #17 – Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet. Those quartet recordings have a nice ”living room jam” feeling about them. The four musicians, veterans out of New Orleans Jazz, have nothing to prove, they just use their experience (…) read more and listenread more and listen