In my spare time, I enjoy performing clarinet and alto sax in a Dixieland jazz & blues band at various venues.
Enjoy my recordings; I had lots of fun performing them with the band. Our audiences always have a toe-tapping, good old time!
Enjoy my recordings; I had lots of fun performing them with the band. Our audiences always have a toe-tapping, good old time!
Ballin' the Jack
"Ballin' the Jack" is a popular song written by Jim Burris. It introduced a popular dance of the same name with "Folks in Georgia's 'bout to go insane." It became a ragtime, pop, and trad jazz standard, and has been recorded hundreds of times by many prominent artists.
| ballin_the_jack.mp3 |
Basin Street Blues
"Basin Street Blues" is a song often performed by
Dixieland jazz bands, written by Spencer Williams. The song was published in
1926 and made famous in a recording by Louis Armstrong in 1928. The famous
verse with the lyric "Won't you come along with me/To the
Mississippi..." was later added by Glenn Miller and Jack Teagarden. The
Basin Street of the title refers to the main street of Storyville, the
notorious red-light district of the early 20th-century New Orleans French
Quarter. It became a red light district in approximately 1870.
| basin_street_blues.mp3 |
Bill Bailey
"(Won't You Come Home) Bill Bailey", originally titled "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?" is a popular song published in 1902. It is commonly referred to as simply "Bill Bailey". Its words and music were written by Hughie Cannon (1877–1912), an American songwriter and pianist. It is still a standard with Dixieland and traditional jazz bands. The simple 32-bar chord sequence of its chorus also underpins many other tunes played mainly by jazz bands, such as "Over the Waves", "Washington and Lee Swing", "Bourbon Street Parade", "My Little Girl", and the final themes of "Tiger Rag" and "The Beer Barrel Polka".
| bill_bailey.wma |
Bourbon Street Parade
"Bourbon Street Parade" was written by Adolphe Paul Barbarin, a New Orleans jazz drummer,
usually regarded (along with Baby Dodds) as one of the very best of the pre-Big
Band era jazz drummers. Barbarin was the composer of a number of pop tunes and
Dixieland standards, including "Come Back Sweet Papa", "Don't
Forget to Mess Around (When You're Doing the Charleston)", "Bourbon
Street Parade", and "(Paul Barbarin's) Second Line".
| bourbon_st_parade.mp3 |
Down by the Riverside
"Down by the Riverside" (also known as "Ain't Gonna Study War No More" and "Gonna lay down my burden") is a gospel song. It was first published in “Plantation Melodies: A Collection of Modern, Popular and Old-time Negro-Songs of the Southland”, Chicago, the Rodeheaver Company, 1918.[1] Alternative titles: “Ain' go'n' to study war no mo'”, “Ain't gonna grieve my Lord no more”, “Ain't Gwine to Study War No More”, “Down by de Ribberside”, “Going to Pull My War-Clothes” and “Study war no more”.
| down_by_the_riverside.mp3 |
Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue
"Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue (Has Anybody Seen My Girl?)" was a popular song of the 1920s. The song title comes from the first and last lines of the chorus and causes some confusion: it can sometimes be referred to as "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue" or "Has Anybody Seen My Girl?" but the 1925 title includes both of these.
| five_foot_two.wma |
Jazzoo
"Jazzoo" is a vintage swing tune that is the perfect change of pace to any concert. Not hard, but very effective, the whole band l enjoys this tuneful piece and all audiences love it! The light swing style has everyone's toes tapping!
| jazzo.mp3 |
Lazy River
"Lazy River" is a song by Hoagy Carmichael and Sidney Arodin. Online music guide Allmusic describes it as "easily one of the true pop classics of all time". It is also known as "Up a Lazy River" or "Up the Lazy River".
| lazy_river.mp3 |
Moscow Nights
"Moscow Nights" is a Russian song originally created as "Leningradskie Vechera" ("Leningrad Nights") by composer Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi and poet Mikhail Matusovsky in 1955. The British jazz group, Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen, had a hit with the song in 1961 under the title "Midnight in Moscow". This version peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1962; in March that year, and it spent three weeks at number one on the American Easy Listening chart.
| midnight_in_moscow.wma |
Minnie the Moocher
"Minnie the Moocher" is a jazz song first recorded in 1931 by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, selling over 1 million copies. "Minnie the Moocher" is most famous for its nonsensical ad libbed ("scat") lyrics (for example, "Hi De Hi De Hi De Hi"). In performances, Calloway would have the audience participate by repeating each scat phrase in a form of call and response. Eventually Calloway's phrases would become so long and complex that the audience would laugh at their own failed attempts to repeat them. "Minnie the Moocher" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
| minnie_the_moocher.mp3 |
Petite Fleur
"Petite Fleur" (Small Flower) is a instrumental written by Sidney Bechet and recorded in January 1952 with the Sidney Bechet All Stars. In 1959 it was a big hit for Chris Barber's Jazz Band. Following the Chris Barber instrumental recording, lyrics were added by Fernand Bonifay and Mario Bua in the same year.
| petit_fluer.mp3 |
Shake that Thing
“Shake that Thing” was written by Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer who started his career in New Orleans, Louisiana. Widely recognized as a pivotal figure in early jazz, Morton is perhaps most notable as jazz's first arranger, proving that a genre rooted in improvisation could retain its essential spirit and characteristics when notated. Reputed for his arrogance and self-promotion as often as recognized in his day for his musical talents, Morton claimed to have invented jazz outright in 1902.
| shake_that_thingy.mp3 |
St. James Infirmary Blues
"St. James Infirmary Blues" is an American folksong of anonymous origin, though sometimes credited to the songwriter Joe Primrose (a pseudonym for Irving Mills). Louis Armstrong made it famous in his influential 1928 recording.
| st_james_blues.mp3 |
Saint Louis Blues
"Saint Louis Blues" is a popular American song composed by W. C. Handy in the blues style. It remains a fundamental part of jazz musicians' repertoire. It was also one of the first blues songs to succeed as a pop song. It has been performed by numerous musicians of all styles from Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith to Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Guy Lombardo, and the Boston Pops Orchestra. It has been called "the jazzman's Hamlet". Published in September 1914 by Handy's own company, it later gained such popularity that it inspired the dance step the "Foxtrot".
| st_louis_blues.mp3 |
Summertime
"Summertime" is an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based, although the song is also co-credited to Ira Gershwin by ASCAP. The song soon became a popular and much recorded jazz standard, described as "without doubt... one of the finest songs the composer ever wrote....Gershwin's highly evocative writing brilliantly mixes elements of jazz and the song styles of African-Americans in the southeast United States from the early twentieth century." Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim has characterized Heyward's lyrics for "Summertime" and "My Man's Gone Now" as "the best lyrics in the musical theater". The song is recognized as one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded music, with more than 33,000 covers by groups and solo performers.
| summertime.mp3 |
Tequila
"Tequila" is a 1958 Latin-flavored rock and roll instrumental recorded by The Champs. The word "Tequila" is spoken three times throughout the tune. "Tequila" became a #1 hit on both the pop and R&B charts at the time of its release and continues to be strongly referenced in pop culture to this day.
| tequila.mp3 |
Tin Roof Blues
"Tin Roof Blues" is a jazz composition first recorded by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings in 1923. It was written by band members Paul Mares, Ben Pollack, Mel Stitzel, George Brunies and Leon Roppolo. The tune has become a jazz standard and is one of the most often played early New Orleans jazz pieces.
| tin_roof_blues.mp3 |
When the Saints Go Marching In
"When the Saints Go Marching In", often referred to as "The Saints", is an American gospel hymn that has taken on certain aspects of folk music. The precise origins of the song are not known. Though it originated as a Christian hymn, today people are more likely to hear it played by a jazz band. The song is sometimes confused with a similarly titled composition "When the Saints are Marching In" from 1896 by Katharine Purvis (lyrics) and James Milton Black (music).
| when_the_saints.mp3 |
What a Wonderful World
"What a Wonderful World" was written by Bob Thiele and George Weiss. The song is about appreciating the beauty of our surroundings. Armstrong recorded this for scale, accepting only $250 to make sure the orchestra got paid. This is the song most associated with Louis Armstrong, but it does not represent the body of his work, which consists mostly of Jazz.
| wonderful_world.mp3 |
Watermelon Man
"Watermelon Man" is a jazz standard written by
Herbie Hancock, first released on his debut album, Takin' Off (1962). First version was released as a grooving hard
bop and featured improvisations by Freddie Hubbard and Dexter Gordon. A single
of the tune reached the Top 100 of the pop charts.
| 10_aug_2012_watermelon_man.mp3 |
Dark Eyes
"Dark Eyes" is probably the most famous Russian romance. The lyrics of the song were written by the Ukrainian poet and writer Yevhen Hrebinka in Ukrainian. The first publication of the poem was in Hrebinka's own Russian translation on 17 January 1843. The words were subsequently set to Florian Hermann's Valse Hommage and published on 7 March 1884. The words and music were written respectively by a Ukrainian poet Evheniy Grebenka and a composer Florian Hermann.
| 10_june_2012_dark_eyes_ls100769.mp3 |
South
"South" was introduced by Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra in 1924 and recorded again in 1928, when it became a national hit. It was Moten's most popular composition. Moten's popular Victor 1928 recording of "South" (V-38021) stayed in Victor's catalog over the years (reissued as 24893 in 1935 as Victor phased out any remaining V-38000 series that were still in the catalog) and became a big jukebox hit in the late 1940s (by then, reissued as 44-0004). It remained in print (as a vinyl 45) until RCA stopping making records!
| 10_june_2012_south_ls100767.mp3 |
Tijuana Taxi
The Tijuana Brass band lasted from 1965-1969, but was reformed twice in the next few years. Alpert enjoyed a successful solo career, but realized even better success as a producer. He was the A [Alpert] in A & M Records which he and his partner later sold for some $500 million. Not bad for trumpeter recording multi-tracks in his garage.
| 10_june_2012_tiauana_taxi_ls100768.mp3 |
Wabash Blues
"Wabash Blues" - The author of the original melody of the Wabash Blues is unknown. Though the song was recorded by Isham Jones and his ensemble, the piece was written Joseph E. Maddy. Prior to being called "Wabash Blues", the first name of this significant early jazz standard was called "The Trombone Jazz" and was orchestrated by Joseph E. Maddy in the Summer of 1918 at Kansas City's Electric Park - a then Summer proving ground for vaudeville artists. At the beginning of Jones' career in Chicago he played in the Edgewater Beach hotel dance band with Maddy and the early jazz sax team of Jones on alto and Maddy on tenor were in great demand -- it is through this partnership that Jones came in contact with Wabash Blues.
| 10_june_2012_wabash_blues__ls100761.mp3 |
