Me
LP Biograph BLP-C1
It’s rewarding for me to listen to American dance bands from the 20s and beginning of the 30s. We often get good melodies and fine inventive arrangements well played by the best musicians around, and then if we come to the period around 1930, there is this fascinating escapism that sends you positive vibes still today.
And if it is spiced with a short solo from one of the young jazzmen, the value and interest rise substantially. Here we have a lively performance of a tune with a short title by Irving Berlin, sung by the everywhere present Dick Roberson.
The name of the band is “Lloyd Keating & His Music” and we get good “hot” contributions from Mannie Klein on trumpet, Tommy Dorsey on trombone, and of course, from the protagonist of the LP, Benny Goodman. He was 22 years old here in 1931, and you can foresee his future as a bandleader and jazz icon. He plays lead, stating the melody, accompanies the vocal, and then plays a short fiery solo that raises the temperature before the final chorus, where we hear Dorsey and Klein. The unknown tuba player also has a role in the play.