From the Studio #38 – Sleepy Time Gal – There was already an instrumental version of the song in 1925 by Fletcher Henderson, and many singers sang it, among them Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards. While it was often either instrumental or vocal in the 1920s, I do a bit of (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #37 – Thanks to You – My life once dragged along without… One happy day… It seems I never had… Those things that make folks glad… But now that’s all been changed about… Since I met you… I have things to be glad about too… Thanks to you dreams came true (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #36 – The Japanese Sandman – Once in Paris, I was asked to sit in with a very fine big band. They wanted to play this tune, and I had to refuse since I didn’t know it. Well, of course I was familiar with a recording by Frankie Trumbauer’s Orchestra with Bix (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #35 – Stars Fell on Alabama – Trombonist Jack Teagarden is associated with this tune for me because he sang and played it on the second LP that I bought in my life, “The King of the Blues Trombon” volume two. There are recordings of it by many, and today (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #34 – Take Me In You Arms – I heard this for the first time about 60 years ago on an LP with the fine singer Ruth Etting in a sentimental rendition. But I think that it can also be used as an instrumental tune to jam on (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #33 – Am I Blue? – Here is another very attractive and useful tune, to be arranged or just played in a jam. Ethel Waters can be seen in an early film singing it. Later versions by Billie Holiday and others have dropped the verse. Normally it’s played in F but (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #32 – The Love I Have for You – In later years, the versatile and charismatic singer Alberta Hunter made a fine recording of this, her own composition. I managed to convince Kiki to put it in her repertoire, and we often play it with her singing (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #31 – It’s the Talk of the Town – Many have sung this: Bing Crosby, Red Mc Kenzie, and Annette Hanshaw, to mention a few, who made their interpretations when the song was new in 1933. There is also a very good instrumental one from the same year by (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #30 – Someday Sweetheart – I don’t think that there is an end to the discussions about whether the Spike Brothers or Jelly Roll Morton are the composers of this beautiful tune. Morton and King Oliver made classic versions in the 1920’s, and we can also dream (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #29 – Just You, Just Me – The tune is from 1929, and its characteristic is that the melody of the chorus starts halfway into the first bar. There are many nice recordings, a dance band recording with Smith Ballew around 1930, and several jazz versions (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #28 – My Blue Heaven – Here’s a tune to make people happy. It’s a good one to start or finish a concert with. Walter Donaldson composed it in 1927, and George Whiting wrote the lyrics. It can be arranged or, as in this version, just (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #27 – Oh! Miss Hannah – I have a 78 rpm disc with this 1924 song by Deppen-Hollingsworth, with the vocal by the group The Revellers. But the most well-known is the version by Paul Whiteman, where Bix Beiderbecke plays his last (probably) solo in that orchestra (…) read more and listenread more and listen