Dynamite Ham, "I Believe In You" 2005

Celebrating the 100th birthday of Frank Loesser today, I am sharing a little tribute record I made to him five years ago.  It also contains songs by Dr. Frank of the band The Mr T Experience.  Enjoy!


I BELIEVE IN YOU

Ralph Flanagan "Box Lunch" 1950

Ralph Flanagan was a successful bandleader who is remembered mostly for mimicking the "Glenn Miller sound." This track doesn't sound like Miller at all to me though--it's a good example of big band jazz morphing into R&B.  A live recording from the Hotel Statler in New York.  I think the tenor solo is by Steve Benoric.  Enjoy!

箱の昼食

Hans Brändle, "Karussel" 1943

I can't find much info on the web about Hans Brändle.  The LP I found this song on has limited liner notes, and those are in German.  This appears to have been recorded in 1943, right in the middle of WWII.  I'm not sure how well the Nazis tolerated this kind of swing music.  (Maybe it helped bring about their downfall, bwaahahahaha!!) "Karussel" is a well-recorded, smoothly executed bit of minor key swing.  Enjoy!

DIE GROSSEN TANZ-ORCHESTER

Teddy Powell, "Sans Culottes" 1942

Hey folks, sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I'll try to be more diligent.
Today's entry is "Sans Culottes" written by Bob Mersey for Teddy Powell's orchestra.  It is one of many pop songs to incorporate the famous faux-Arabic riff  The Streets of Cairo or "The Snake Charmer Song" into its chart.  Gramaphone gave the recording a positive-to-mixed review in its February 1942 edition, saying:

Sans Culottes (meaning " Without Trousers ") has its points. Composition is a bright concoction, and although the preponderance of higher frequencies ill the recording have not made the band sound any better, it plays with plenty of verve. The brass and sax teams play good style ; the rhythm department kicks invigoratingly ; and there are lively moments by the trumpet and sax soloists and the drummer.

Of course, I'm a sucker for a hard-swinging, minor key riff with big ensembles.  That's pretty much what this blog is about, after all.

WITHOUT TROUSERS