When he died in 1943, Harlem-born Thomas “Fats” Waller had taken all he’d learned from his mentor, the ragtime-stride pianist James P. Johnson, and established a reputation as an instrumentalist/songwriter/performer that dwarfed Johnson’s, casting a long shadow over subsequent keyboard giants, including Erroll Garner, Count Basie, and Art Tatum. Though Waller’s first recordings brought stride piano into the …
This three-disc set is a gold mine for anyone with even a passing interest in the music, the poetry, and the people of the beat era. The stars–Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs–are here, of course. But so are the players (Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan), the architects (Kenneth Patchen, Kenneth Rexroth), the cutups (Lenny Bruce, Lord Buckley), the pretenders (Rod …
These trio performances predate the trio’s Capitol hits, but they show without a doubt that Nat Cole had his formula firmly in place well before “Straighten Up and Fly Right”. The jivey, early-’40s cocktail swing is already in full flower. While the Trio’s Capitol Records output is truly the most dazzling work of Cole’s career, these early Decca …
Box sets are an unlikely way to begin collecting an artist, but there’s an addictive pull to Fats Waller’s work. He was a larger-than-life personality who could leap from earnest sentimentality to outright mockery in the next breath, or take a lightweight novelty tune and make it far more novel with a few verbal and musical touches. While …
The truth is that Suzy Bogguss, whose early music reflected her love of Western tunes and yodeling, never really fit into assembly-line Nashville. Rarely did her major-label producers allow her to reveal her true self. This time, she reveals nothing but that. Masterfully produced by Asleep at the Wheel’s Ray Benson, she’s at home with every tune, be …
That irresistible boogie woogie beat spread like wildfire in the ’30s and ’40s, as you’ll hear on this budget box boasting 75 classic tracks including: Boogie Woogie Tommy Dorsey; Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy The Andrews Sisters; Basie Boogie Count Basie; Boogie Woogie on St. Louis Blues Earl Hines; Boogie Albert Ammons Sextet; Honky Tonk Train Blues Meade “Lux” …
Grammy Award-winner Jason Roberts’ latest CD, That’s My Home, spans straight-ahead country and Western Swing to jazz and big band. That’s My Home features Roberts on vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar, clarinet, steel guitar and other well-known musicians like Rick McRae on guitar; Butch Miles on drums; Eddie Rivers and Johnny Cox on steel guitar; Kevin Smith on bass; …
94 sides from when this legendary showman was making a name for himself in Harlem at the Cotton Club! Includes Minnie the Moocher; Kickin’ the Gong Around; Minnie the Moocher’s Wedding Day; Reefer Man; You Gotta Hi-De-Ho (to Get Along with Me); The Scat Song , and more. …
These three pianists popularized the rhythmically rambunctious style of piano-playing known as boogie woogie, and with more than 25 tracks between them, this import offers a great overview. Ammons and Johnson duet on most of the tracks (Walkin’ the Boogie, Sixth Avenue Express, etc.), but all three take solo turns, as well as joining together for a poundin’ …
Two albums of mostly movie themes done Vaughn-style equaled two Top 5 albums in 1960; in fact, A Summer Place went to #1! That album includes, along with the title track, `Tammy’; `Tracy’s Theme’; `Climb Every Mountain’; `Que Sera, Sera’; `The Terry Theme from Limelight’; `True Love’; `The Sound of Music’; `The Three Penny Opera (Moritat)’; `Some Enchanted …