Tag: 1930

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 #304 – Give Me Your Telephone Number – According to the label, J. C. Higginbotham, an extraordinary trombone player, is also the composer of this nice 32-bar conventional popular tune with an additional likewise conventional (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #54 – Cheerful Little Earful The three saxophones got a role in this little play with an uplifting tune from the otherwise critical year of 1930. It was composed by Harry Warren, and the lyrics by Ira Gershwin and Billy Rose are quite witty and positive (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Studio #52 – Waiting at the End of the Road I saw the King Vidor 1930 film Hallelujah on TV once. It must have been in the 1960s or early 70s. Irving Berlin composed wonderful music for this early talkie, and the theme that goes through it is (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #284 – The Terror – On the label, it reads “Marvin Smoley and his Syncopaters.” Many record collectors coming across this very hot record may have scratched their heads wondering who this obscure band leader was. In fact, he wasn’t one (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #277 – You Can’t Be Mine – The year is 1930, and both the tune and the opening sound point forward in my mind. The tune, because it was recorded a few years later by Billie Holiday, and the sound, because the tune opens with a flute solo (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #269 – I Lost My Gal from Memphis – This tune is often played at a murderous tempo; at least this is what happens when it comes into the hands of a French jazz band in traditional jazz style. Especially the reed players love to show off their skills (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #203 – Black Dog Blues – Among the good music on this CD there is the ragtime guitar master Blind Blake who is in a class by himself. Further on the disc, there is this track that made me think of early Bob Dylan. I don’t think that he would (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #201 – Memories of You – Even if I often delve into more obscure things, I now and then have to play a Louis Armstrong record just to set things straight. Like many other successful artists in the US, he and his managers could choose to (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #195 – Honey That Reminds Me – There is a lot of hot swinging stuff on this LP, most of it rather well known, but today this medium recording caught my attention. There is no composer listed on the LP, but I’ve learned from another source (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #169 – High Society Blues – There is no doubt that the jazz music born in the US was superior to the European attempts in the beginning, and it still may be so today, but around 1930 England was a competitor to American dance music (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #155 – The Basement Blues – While listening to this LP, I reflected about the magnificent photo on the cover. It’s said to have been taken in Paris 1929, but that doesn’t fit since I recognize Tommy Ladnier playing his trumpet there, and he was not (…) read more and listenread more and listen