vintage music!

[skwerl-hat]

i like this thread!
the early crooners just slay me

annete hanshaw (sp?)
rudy valee
smith ballew
bing crosby (when he was a young fellow especially)
ukealele ike edwards


also hello to anyone here i havent been introduced to yet

 

[Uncletoad]

Hello. First post. Being a musician I thought I'd weigh in here first. I think the finest music composed and performed in the late 30's into the War years was by Duke Ellington. The band from '38 to '41 was amazing. The players during that era had distinct and singular musical personalities. Ellington used this to great advantage by writing around these players personalities in his composing rather than asking them to accommodate their playing to his ideas. His arrangements and compositions are considered by many to be the best of American composition from the 20th century. The CD "The Blanton Webster Years" has a lot of those tunes in it. I'd start there. The original "Black Brown and Beige" recordings and "Braggin in Brass the Immortal 1938 years" also document that high point in the band's output. There is much great music all around that era but it's my opinion that it all funnels out from the Duke.

 

[Rosie]

Wow!

Thanks guys, I'll get very busy with all of this. Thanks again!

 

[Mr_Misanthropy]

Skerwl-hat,
I really dig that avatar. Gin or vodka?

 

[skwerl-hat]

thanks Misanthropy
well i would have said gin originally but i recently tried stoli vodka a favorite of one of my idols mr sinatra and now ill never go back :-D are you a connoseur?

 

[mysterygal]

welcome to the lounge skwerl-hat and uncletoad!
I could listen to Nat King Cole's voice all day, love it! so soothing
I also love Sinatra

 

[Mr_Misanthropy]

Yes Skwerl-hat, I suppose I am something of a connoisseur. But, our martini talk is a tad fftopic: ... but never fear, you inspired me to start a new thread.

 

[skwerl-hat]

hah thats true... glad you were inspired

 

[The Reno Kid]

Nat, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman...

Hi, another newbie. I find that I like just about anything pre-1945 (and quite a lot of post '45). I really enjoy the Nat King Cole Trio. Oscar Moore (with Nat's trio) was a guitar pioneer. It seems like any of the big bands that I listen to rub me the right way. I'm especially fond of Glenn Miller, although his contemporaries tended to run him down (esp. Artie Shaw) because they didn't think he was jazzy enough.

Western Swing (Bob Wills, Milt Brown, Spade Cooley) are all a lot of fun. If you haven't listened to any, give it a try. I even have a couple of Sons of the Pioneers albums. I guess when it comes to the golden era, there really isn't much I don't like.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Ok, any one ever see this label? I mentioned it in my last post I think but, here's an image of what it looks like! I want more on this label!

I have some of those on brown shellac, I bought part of a collection in '94 that had several 20's dance band numbers on Perfect, I remember thinking the brown shellac was kind of different for a 78.
They are fun 20's numbers to spin.

 

[Quigley Brown]

Check out the original 78's, Big band era 78's are generally fairly cheap, toss 'em on a schoolhouse type Califone phonograph, and you can hear them the way they were intended.

They'll outlive modern self destructing CD's.

They're self destructing? Yikes! I'd better get them transfered onto 78s.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

The metal layer in CD's can, and will oxidize, when that happens the laser in your CD player will no longer be able to read the CD.

I've seen it in Laser Discs, CD's, and DVD's, it's not a new problem, and one the industry doesn't like to talk about.

 

[Wild Root]

Hi, another newbie. I find that I like just about anything pre-1945 (and quite a lot of post '45). I really enjoy the Nat King Cole Trio. Oscar Moore (with Nat's trio) was a guitar pioneer. It seems like any of the big bands that I listen to rub me the right way. I'm especially fond of Glenn Miller, although his contemporaries tended to run him down (esp. Artie Shaw) because they didn't think he was jazzy enough.

Western Swing (Bob Wills, Milt Brown, Spade Cooley) are all a lot of fun. If you haven't listened to any, give it a try. I even have a couple of Sons of the Pioneers albums. I guess when it comes to the golden era, there really isn't much I don't like.

Hey there Reno, I liked what you say. I enjoy early Nat King Cole Trio, some times it's just the right stuff to set the mood. I also love western swing! I have a CD of Milt Brown, it's fun stuff!! Bob Wills... Aah Haaa! Also a fun one! Say, there's a bad out this way in CA that call them selves the Lucky Stars... they play on vintage instruments and wear authentic 40's western outfits! They play really good! I love their music, they're a great band!

Glenn Miller:
What can I say, I couldn't agree more with you! Why is that most people today run him down? Oh yeah, they say he was too commercial and he wasn't Jazzy enough. Well, I have news for those guys... he wasn't a "Jazz band" he was a popular "Dance Band". If his music wasn't any good, he wouldn't have made gold records and also become a huge success with our fighting men in WWII. I understand that for some, if they hear "In the Mood" one more time, they'll tear their hair out! So, they write off all the wonderful songs he recorded with his pre-war band and his war time band. Well, before I go off the deep end, I'll just say that I'll defend that Band Leader to my dieing day.

I also love Coleman Hawkins! His sax is really smooth! I enjoy his style. What about Chick Webb? Any one know of this guy? His music was very popular at the Savoy in the mid to late 30's. He died at a young age due to spinal-bifida. He was in pain most of his life but, he pounded out some hot rhythm nevertheless! I believe he also gave Ella Fitzgerald her start!

They're self destructing? Yikes! I'd better get them transfered onto 78s.

lol lol lol Here I was planning to transfer my 78's to CD's!

=WR=

 

[The Reno Kid]

Glenn Miller:
What can I say, I couldn't agree more with you! Why is that most people today run him down? Oh yeah, they say he was too commercial and he wasn't Jazzy enough. Well, I have news for those guys... he wasn't a "Jazz band" he was a popular "Dance Band".

Glenn Miller made this very point himself in an interview I read a few days ago. He said explicitly that his band was not a jazz band. I think the point that a lot of people miss when they make these kinds of criticisms is that Glenn Miller (and many others, thankfully), played for an audience. The reason why I have no use for most modern jazz (or modern art, etc.) is that it seems to be aimed more at other artists than at a general audience--and intentionally so. I get the impression that a lot of people who aren't musicians (or artists) are "fans" of this stuff because they think it makes them appear more cultured or hip or whatever. I may be wrong on this one but...

Lord knows I've tried to listen to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, etc., but I just can't get into the freeform anarchy of it. I remember hearing some jazz quartet playing "Autumn Leaves." To me, it sounded like four very talented musicians improvising at the same time with no clear connecting theme. In a word, chaos.

What about Chick Webb? Any one know of this guy? His music was very popular at the Savoy in the mid to late 30's. He died at a young age due to spinal-bifida. He was in pain most of his life but, he pounded out some hot rhythm nevertheless! I believe he also gave Ella Fitzgerald her start!

Chick Webb was the man! He was badly deformed and in awful pain most of the time, but man, he could pound those skins. He did give Ella Fitzgerald her start. If for no other reason, he deserves immortality for that. In fact, I believe Ella led the Chick Webb band for a while after he died. There was a battle of the bands one night at the Savoy between Chick Webb and Benny Goodman. While most in attendance thought both bands were in top form, it was pretty much universally agreed (even among Goodman's players) that Chick's band was the clear winner.

I'll keep my eyes open for the Lucky Stars. A lot of California bands make their way to Reno on a fairly regular basis. They sound like a lot of fun.

 

[Sefton]

Well, I am a bit of a fanatic for music from the 1920s and 1930s. Anything Blues or Jazz or rural music. I'm not very interested in anything after about 1940 (there are exceptions, of course!). I just feel that the best music is played on acoustic instruments. It seems very odd to me that when you go see live music now you have to wear earplugs to protect your hearing from the music that you are paying to "enjoy". Enough of the ranting. Today I was listening to 1920s Hawaiian slide guitar by King Bennie Nawahi. I also listened to the great Roy Smeck. More Hawaiian guitar and banjo, ukulele. Great stuff!

 

[Benny Holiday]

Reno, you're a man after my own heart

Lord knows I've tried to listen to Miles Davis, John Coltrane, etc., but I just can't get into the freeform anarchy of it. I remember hearing some jazz quartet playing "Autumn Leaves." To me, it sounded like four very talented musicians playing improvising at the same time with no clear connecting theme. In a word, chaos.

I caught a documentary on Miles Davis once, and one of the featured 'hard bop' tunes was simply four guys all playing a different song. No one can convince me otherwise! Having studied musicology, I can dig what they were trying to do, but musically, for me, anyway, you can only push the boundaries so far.

As for Glenn Miller - what's so bad about being commercial? The songs were brilliantly written and performed. I'm with you and Wild Root 100%.

Miller's friend and well-known jazz critic George T Simon once wrote that if Chick Webb was recorded with today's sound equipment, the tones and colours of his playing would surpass that of any other jazz drummer he could name.

 

[K by the bay]

I agree with Reno about the jazz cacophony. I like a recognizable melody. I like Ella but not Billie Holiday. It would be interesting to hear her sing "Happy Birthday To You". Rosie, have you tried Ethel Waters? You might like her. The Magic of the Andrews Sisters is a good cd. I really like Whispering Jack Smith. I like Dick Powell singing I Only Have Eyes For You too. In fact Wild Root resembles him if that's you in your pic.

 

[Nathan Dodge]

The poster who mentioned the "Blanton-Webster" Ellington band is dead on! THE best band and the best bandleader ever! Who kept it all together while all of those bands decayed in a state of nostalgic toothlessness...and while the "Free Jazz" of the late sixties and early seventies is a big turnoff for me, I happen to LOVE the bebop era (let's say around 1945-1955) and to generalize it as "cacophony" is just plain wrong...

 

[Caledonia]

I'm a great fan of anybody else's choice in music. I love dancing and driving with the CD up. Check that - dancing, and driving with the CD up. But have a ridiculously bad memory ear. So, I've noted down everything everybody's said and will hugely enjoy it. Dredging it up - Nat King Cole, Cole Porter, Billie Holliday, Sinatra, Crosby, and the gang, lady who went through the 50s into the 60s........Got it! Aretha Franklin (spelling mistake I think), and oh so many others that I love when I hear them and can't ever remember. And my deepest respects and apologies to them all.

 

[VintageJess]

Another Glenn Fan

I just LOVE Glenn Miller. I enjoy Artie Shaw as well. I could listen to Billie Holiday forever, and Ella Fitzgerald too.