From the Record Shelves #296 - Swamp BluesFrom the Record Shelves #296 – Swamp Blues – The Little Ramblers was a logical band name when some members of the California Ramblers wanted to play with fewer people and do something more spontaneous, free from the arrangements, or at least free to (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #234 - MelancholyFrom the Record Shelves #234 – Melancholy – There’s a special atmosphere in this fine recording featuring Johnny Dodds and Louis Armstrong. This is April 1927, and the couple plus drummer Baby Dodds recorded the tune again only a few weeks later (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #225 - New Orleans LowdownFrom the Record Shelves #225 – New Orleans Lowdown – Now I’m back with the early Ellington. The French release of all his recordings in chronological order reached twelve volumes, and I’m lucky to have them. Here you get all the versions of the masterpieces (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #205 - What a Wonderful Wedding That Would BeFrom the Record Shelves #205 – What a Wonderful Wedding That Would Be – Today I listen to a quite worn out 78 rpm record that comes from the collection of Jean-Christophe Averty (1928–2017) who was a French TV-director and a huge fan of early jazz (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #191 - Alligator BluesFrom the Record Shelves #191 – Alligator Blues – Today I listen to a 78 rpm record with material from a classic session. Between May 7th and 14th, 1927 Louis Armstrong recorded one masterpiece after another when his studio group had been augmented from (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #174 - Joe Turner BluesFrom the Record Shelves #174 – Joe Turner Blues – This is another lucky day, starting with the big round sound from the great Johnny Dodds’ clarinet coming out of the speakers. In 1927, “Johnny Dodds’ Black Bottom Stompers” made an attempt to revive (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #157 - SugarFrom the Record Shelves #157 – Sugar – In Eddie Condon’s book We Called It music (1947) it’s said, not by him but by his co-author Thomas Sugrue: “the white musicians that went to the Lincoln Gardens, the Sunset Café or the Nest knew that however (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #137 - I’ve Got a Daddy Down in New OrleansFrom the Record Shelves #137 – I’ve Got a Daddy Down in New Orleans. What strikes me immediately when I put on this LP is the good sound quality. It’s, in reality, very good transfers of originals in good condition that make it possible for us to enjoy the outstanding (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #119 - Ostrich WalkFrom the Record Shelves #119 – Ostrich Walk. Bix Beiderbecke never forgot the tunes that turned him on to jazz. It was after World War I that his brother returned with some records, among them the newly released ones by Original Dixieland Jazz Band. When he got (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #96 - Here Comes the ShowboatFrom the Record Shelves #96 – Here Comes the Showboat. I remember the time when we used answering machines. I tried to be creative and combine the message with music and I used a piece from this recording. It said “Please leave a message after the signal”, and then (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #84 - Five PenniesFrom the Record Shelves #84 – Five Pennies. On the record label of this Brunswick 78 rpm we can read the lineup of the group, Red Nichols and his Five Pennies and our ears can easily confirm it. The timpani of Vic Berton starts off this rather peaceful performance (…) read more and listenread more and listen