The Jimmy Jazz Archive

I just found a killer web page of radio shows by Jim Baldwin. It features cream of the crop 1920’s & 30's music by the likes of Adrian Rollini, Annette Hanshaw, Ben Bernie, Boswell Sisters, Cliff Edwards (Ukelele Ike) , Benny Goodman, and many more. I highly recommend it.
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Charlie Chaplin-Musician

At least as early as A Woman of Paris (1923), Charlie Chaplin was involving himself closely in the musical accompaniment for his films. The coming of talking pictures found Chaplin understandably reluctant to abandon the universally understood medium of pantomime, but:
“One happy thing about sound was that I could control the music, so I composed my own. I tried to compose elegant and romantic music to frame my comedies in contrast to the tramp character, for elegant music gave my comedies an emotional dimension."
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Moondog

He howled at the moon before Allen Ginsberg, freewheeled it to New York from the Midwest before Bob Dylan, and was more adept at self-fashioning than either of them. An object of fixation for the high-profile bohemia of the ’50s and ’60s — from Charlie Parker to Leonard Bernstein to Dylan and Ginsberg — he never saw the mainstream success of the fashionable artists who championed him. Moondog (born Louis Hardin in Marysville, Kansas) was attractive to the avant-garde partially because he was unmarketable (though Columbia records briefly tried, releasing two Moondog records in the late ’60s/early-’70s): blind, homeless, stubbornly eccentric and always dressed in his customized translation of Viking attire, he was an outsider in the most fundamental sense. A composer, poet, street performer, and inventor of instruments, he went without all but the most basic comforts and dedicated himself fully to his art.
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Order Moondog Biography/CD From Amazon

Playboy’s Theme

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Hugh Hefner, who was generous enough to autograph my original sheet music for Playboy’s Theme (written by Cy Coleman for the Playboy After Dark television series).
Listen To Henry Mancini’s Version Of Playboy’s Theme Here

Jumpin' Jivin' Johannesburg

Authentic Selection Of South African Township Swing Classics From The '50s & '60s. Shuffling drumbeats, serene horn lines, and sweet vocal melodies all come together in the vintage sounds of township jive and South African Jazz. From traditional Kwela flute music and improvisatory Marabi, to bass-heavy Mbaqanga and very influential American Jazz recordings, both township jive and South African Jazz were born.
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History Of African Jazz
Further 50s & 60's African Jazz Suggestions

Mighty Mouse Theme

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Hot Box Dancers

The Goldwyn Girls as The Hot Box Dancers in Guys & Dolls (starring Marlon Brando & Frank Sinatra,1955).
View Hot Box YouTube Vid.
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David Stone Martin & Stan Getz

David Stone Martin was a prolific artist, most noted for his jazz album cover graphics spanning the 1940's through the early 80's. Stan Getz At The Shrine is a classic, well worth checking out.
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Origins of Fellini 8 ½ Music

In Fellini’s film 8 ½, the character La Saraghina (the sardine lady) as portrayed by actress Eddra Gale, danced to a cool quirky mambo song that I have recently discovered to be titled “Fiesta/Bianca”,originally recorded in the 1930s.
Click Here To Listen To "Fiesta" by Oscar Joost.
Click Here For Saraghina Clip from 8 1/2.

Roots Of Surf Music

Some years before the popularity of Dick Dale, The Ventures, and The Beach Boys, legendary surf movie director Bruce Brown was using jazz music from the west coast for his film soundtracks. Most notably, “Slippery When Wet” featuring woodwinds player Bud Shank.
Click here For Full Article.
Order Slippery When Wet DVD From Amazon.

Celebrity Passings 2008

Over 50 Major Talents Passed On In 2008. Click Here For List.

Happy New Year From Patsy Cline

Patsy with Sonny Hawthorne and His Blue Rhythym Boys, at the Fire Hall in Lorton, Virginia, New Year's Eve 1957

Jazz Trumpet Legend Freddie Hubbard-R.I.P.

Jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, who played on some of the most notable records of the 1960s and '70s, died today in a Los Angeles-area hospital, where he had been since suffering a heart attack last month. The Grammy-winner was 70.
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Mamie Van Doren & Conway Twitty

I just found this cool page of the Films Of Conway Twitty. It’s fun & quirky, part of a larger site called The Meeker Museum.

Eartha Kitt R.I.P.

"I am learning all the time.
The tombstone will be my diploma."-Eartha Kitt
In an era when manufactured "celebrities" are as common as drab backyard sparrows, Eartha Kitt, who died on Christmas day of colon cancer at age 81, was the kind of strange, wondrous, exotic bird you lay eyes on once and never forget.
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Eartha Kitt Official Site

Brando Vs. Dean

It’s been said that James Dean idolized Marlon Brando to such a degree that Brando became annoyed with him. Dean even took up conga drumming because of Brando’s love for Afro-Cuban percusiion.

Dave Brubeck Quartet 1954

The Stroh Violin

This now pretty rare instrument had been developed and patented by Johann Matthias Augustus Stroh at around 1900 for use in the Phono Industry due to its more focused and more voluminous sound compared to normal violins and got more attention during the last years , by being used on recordings by bluesman Tom Waits, amongst others.
This quality instrument comes out of south-east-asian manufacturing with a lot of attention to details.
Strohviolin.com
Inside The Early Recording Studios

Last Of the Great American Songwriters

Dave Frishberg is one of the last of the great American songwriters. His lyrics are masterful, as is his piano playing. Click Here For The Official Frishberg Website. A Conversation With Dave Frishberg.

Gleason Dug Dali

Jackie Gleason's 1955 chart-topper Lonesome Echo features more lush interpretations of standards such as "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," "The Thrill Is Gone," "Deep Purple," and "How Deep Is the Ocean." The album also features striking cover artwork by surrealist master Salvador Dali.