From the Record Shelves #186 - Bogalousa StrutFrom the Record Shelves #186 – Bogalousa Strut – I will not even try to put words to the magic of this band from New Orleans. You just have to listen and hear nine people working in the same direction with a perfect tempo. Cornet player Sam Morgan had been leading bands (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #183 - My Old Kentucky HomeFrom the Record Shelves #183 – My Old Kentucky Home – I will not call this recording great, and I don’t think that it was intended to be either. It’s just entertainment for the moment, music to put you in a good mood (and as such it is great!) by some of the guys (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #170 - The Co-EdFrom the Record Shelves #170 – The Co-Ed – It’s interesting to reflect over how quickly the musicians and the bands influenced each other within the fast developing early jazz idiom. Here we have a group from New Orleans that under the name Crescent City Jazzers (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #123 - Maryland, My MarylandFrom the Record Shelves #123 – Maryland, My Maryland. Ted Lewis used to ask the audience: “Is Everybody happy?” I guess that the answer was “yes”. Momentarily happy, because they had in front of them an entertainer with a good band that could spread joy around (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #115 - High SocietyFrom the Record Shelves #115 – High Society. I have an extensive double CD with the Six and Seven-Eight String Band, but today I play the LP that that was my first encounter with this classic New Orleans group. When you read the line-up of the band (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #108 - It’s MurderFrom the Record Shelves #108 – It’s Murder. There’s a lot of good jazz with New Orleans roots here, by Johnny Dodds, Red Allen and Lil Armstrong as leaders. And it’s the last mentioned with her “Swing Orchestra” that I choose to listen to today (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #102 - Have Your Chill, I’ll Be Here When Your Fever RisesFrom the Record Shelves #102 – Have Your Chill, I’ll Be Here When Your Fever Rises. I think that this was the first record with Louis Armstrong that I bought. Meanwhile, you could turn on the radio and hear his hit Hello Dolly. But it was this early version (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #95 - Don’t Give Me SympathyFrom the Record Shelves #95 – Don’t Give Me Sympathy. According to Edmond Hall himself, this nice little song was one that they often sang and played at home when he was small, and it stems from the 1890s. Home was in Reserve, Louisiana but Edmond (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #89 - Brotherly LoveFrom the Record Shelves #89 – Brotherly Love. There are several good and interesting and for the most part obscure recordings on this LP. It’s difficult to make a choice of one.But here’s one from September 1926 that contains some seconds that constitutes the high point for me (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #74 - Somebody’s Been Lovin’ My BabyFrom the Record Shelves #74 – Somebody’s Been Lovin’ My Baby. This is a good record with a compilation of some of the best female blues singers of the 1920s and with good sound. Most of the singers express anger, desperation and such but (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #73 - Just PretendingFrom the Record Shelves #73 – Just Pretending. From 1925 when an electric system had just been taken in use the record companies could make tours in the south and find suitable subjects for recording. On several of these tours they came to New Orleans (…) read more and listenread more and listen

From the Record Shelves #70 - Try and Treat Her RightFrom the Record Shelves #70 – Try and Treat Her Right. Louisville, Kentucky had two band leaders in the twenties who were fighting to get the recording contracts. Still they depended on each other and played with each other’s groups. Clifford Hayes who played (…) read more and listenread more and listen