DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #146: Four Or Five Times

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Muggsy Spanier feat. Sidney Bechet Four Or Five Times

This is the third time I’m featuring “Four Or Five Times”, one of my all-time favorite songs. This version sounds differently, though. Listen yourself: Four Or Five Times Personnel: Muggsy Spanier – trumpet, Sidney Bechet – soprano sax, Carmen Mastren – guitar, Wellman Braud – bass. Muggsy Spanier Francis Joseph Julian ”Muggsy” Spanier (Nov. 9, 1906 – Feb. 12, 1967) was a solid cornet player cultivating the Dixieland style. Some say he was a bit predictable but always enthusiastic and expressive. He started playing the drums, switching to cornet at age 13. Two years later, he started playing professionally. His style was [...]

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DJ Chrisbe’s Song of the Week #83: Queer Notions

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DJ Chrisbe's Song of the Week #83: Queer Notions by Fletcher Henderson & His Orchestra

James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (18.12.1897 – 29.12.1952) was a pianist, composer, arranger and leader of the first great jazz big band. He had a huge influence in early jazz. Henderson had a degree in chemistry and mathematics, but when he came to New York in 1920, the only job he could find was in the music industry because of race discrimination. He worked as a music director and pianist for the Black Swan label. In 1922 Henderson formed his first band with Don Redman. Thanks to Redman’s innovative arrangements, they became quickly the best Afro-American band in New York. When [...]

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Pops like never before! Armstrong Museum Catalog Online

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Louis Armstrong House Museum Online Catalog

As the Louis Armstrong House Museum tweeted yesterday, their Museum Collections are available for online browsing: The Louis Armstrong House Museum holds the world’s largest archives devoted to a single jazz musician. Its collections encompass more than 5,000 sound recordings, 15,000 photographs, 30 films, 100 scrapbooks, 20 linear feet of letters and papers, and six trumpets. Researchers, record companies, publishers, film producers, public school students, and many others routinely use these materials. Since 1994, more than a dozen books and recordings have been published based on research from the collections, including Terry Teachout’s Pops, a notable book of 2010. Source [...]

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