From the Studio #94 – Rosetta – Here’s a jam on another tune that is fit for that purpose. The tempo that I’ve chosen is somewhere between Fats Waller’s (slower) and Frankie Newton’s with a swing ensemble (faster). Earl Hines wrote the tune and recorded it as a piano solo (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #93 – Am I Blue – Today I play one in jam session mode. First there is the verse and then a couple of choruses, mostly played ensemble. In the 80s and 90s we had plenty of sessions to try out tunes like this one. We often met more than once in a week to jam, but now it’s at best once a month (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #92 – Amapola – Here’s an originally Spanish song that, to my surprise, was written already in 1924. Playing it, I can’t help thinking of the omnipresent singer (in the beginning of the 1930s), Chick Bullock, who made a fine recording of it with some great jazzmen (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #91 – I’m Wondering Who – This tune would probably be forgotten if it hadn’t been recorded by “The New Yorkers”. And they would in turn probably also be forgotten, if they hadn’t been consisting of the top white jazzmen including Bix Beiderbecke and Frankie Trumbauer under (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #90 – Angela Mia – The tune was written as the theme song for an early sound film in 1928. It was recorded as “My Angel” by The Paul Whiteman Orchestra around the same time, and it’s also played and sung in a Vitaphone short by The Capitolians featuring several of the (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #89 – Ain’t-Cha Glad – I heard this tune from 1933 first on one of the earliest records I bought, “King of the Blues Trombone” with Jack Teagarden. It is written by the iconic songwriter couple Fats Waller and Andy Razaf. And here’s my recording of it (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #88 – Anytime, Any Day, Anywhere – There are several songs referred to as Anytime with similar chords and similar messages in the lyrics. I used to play and sing one by Clarence Williams, and Leon Redbone did another one. But this, with the longer title, is (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #87 – A pretty Girl Is Like a Melody – Today’s recording features a 1919 tune by Irving Berlin that has been used by many in various ways. I take it at a slow tempo, play the melody, sing a chorus, and make a cornet solo before a short cornet and trumpet ending. (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #86 – After My Laughter Came Tears – Here is a tune that could be played more often. It’s by Roy Turk (1892-1934), a successful songwriter who often collaborated with Fred Ahlert, who then was the composer. But in this case it seems that Turk did the music himself. The lyrics tell (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #85 – A Precious Little Thing Called Love – The tune that comes from my studio today was written by Lou Davis and J. Fred Coots. I first heard it by McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, and later I discovered the one by Annette Hanshaw, among other vocal versions (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #84 – ’Leven thirty Saturday night – This nice little song that I have recorded now was written by bandleader Earl Burtnett and two others and was published in 1929. I first heard it in an English version by Ambrose and his Orchestra, and later I’m also digging it by Fess Williams. (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #83 – I’ll Never Be the Same – I associate this song mostly with Venuti-Lang and Billie Holiday in two very different versions. It was written by Matty Malneck and Frank Signorelli, and it was originally an instrumental with the title Little Buttercup. Gus Kahn wrote the lyrics that (…) read more and listenread more and listen