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 #316 – Take a Good Look at Mine – This is from one of the last Victor sessions by Jean Goldkette’s orchestra. But it’s not the fabulous, ultimately too expensive, 1927 outfit that we hear. Still, there is much to enjoy. They have a light rhythm section with precise drumming, strong brass (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #315 – Wanted – When you listen through a dozen of 1935-37 sessions with different personnel, under the name Red McKenzie’s Rhythm Kings on this CD you suddenly hear something that reminds you of a distinct sound. But it’s no wonder that you think about Raymond Scott (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #314 – I Know That You Know – The opening chorus of the first tune on the LP reminds me of Cotton Club Stomp with Duke Ellington’s Orchestra. It may partly be due to the recording quality of the transcription because this is in the early forties about ten years later and played by (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #313 – High Society – The discography says: “1945 Mon 12th February. Recording for Dr. Frederick B.Exner at C.P. MacGregor Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles.” Four numbers resulted, and Kid Ory, who had assembled a band for the Mercury Radio show about a year earlier (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #312 – Woody’n You – In this tune from December 1947, we hear an inspired Dizzy Gillespie put life with his trumpet into an already very lively arrangement. He originally wrote it for Woody Herman’s Orchestra, and it was released under the title Algo Buono (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #311 – When You Wore a Tulip – They call themselves “Sidney DeParis and his Blue Note Stompers.” Dixieland or New Orleans Revival? Spontaneously I would put any of these two “labels” on the music heard on this LP. If I consider it dixieland, I could compare (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #310 – Little Did I Know – Under the leadership of saxophone player Glenn Gray and with the aid of good management, the Casa Loma Orchestra had success in the 30’s. Here, around the turn of the decade from the 20s, they appear as a mixture of a dance band and (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #309 – Love for Sale – Several things stand out as different or special on this recording, the song and its subject and the arrangement. It’s not one of the bands most happy contributions to the roaring twenties, but now we have reached 1930 and the depression. The band (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #308 – The Gal from Joe’s/Riding on a Blue Note – I had the chance to hear Cootie Williams in Copenhagen sometime at the end of the 70s. He and Russell Procope were playing with a Danish group, including the fine tenor sax man Jesper Thilo (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #307 – I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise – The main attraction on this Paul Whiteman LP is the outstanding recording of Rhapsody in Blue. But there are also some early successes, including Whispering, the real big one from 1920 (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #306 – Just Too Soon – The pianist as a solo instrument should imitate an orchestra, said Jelly Roll Morton, and his follower Earl Hines is surely one of these one-man bands. The tempo and the timing on a number like this are bound to (…) read more and listenread more and listen
From the Record Shelves #305 – Medley – Biopics are more or less irritating, but much is forgiven in this one because of the good acting of Danny Kay and the participation of Louis Armstrong. Maybe it should be seen as a film loosely inspired by the life of Red Nichols or (…) read more and listenread more and listen