Mike's Noise

Welcome to Mike's Noise!

You've found the web home of Michael Laprarie from Oklahoma City, OK. a politically conservative emergent Christian blogger/writer and family man.

My Virtual Victrola website has settled into its new home.  Hop over and check it out.  Traffic so far has been very good.  If you know someone who is a record collector or who likes vintage music and movies, spread the word!

I'm also blogging at www.palinsmearsdebunked.com, a political weblog tracking the press coverage and political punditry -- and yes, malicious rumors -- surrounding Republican Vice Presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin.

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Please continue to pray for those who have been kidnapped in Israel and Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Virtual Victrola for April 14, 2007: You're Driving Me Crazy!

For this week's Virtual Victrola, two rare versions of Walter Donaldson's great song, "You're Driving Me Crazy," plus a choice vintage Max Fleischer animated cartoon featuring his famous "follow the bouncing ball" sing-along chorus.

Our first version of "You're Driving Me Crazy" was recorded on Dec. 8, 1930 by the Ben Selvin orchestra and released on the Velvet Tone label as by "Lloyd Keating and his Music."  Velvet Tone was one of several cheap 'dimestore' record labels owned by Columbia Records.  The Ben Selvin orchestra was, for all intents and purposes, the house orchestra of Columbia Records.  Selvin's output was released on Columbia's different labels under his own name and under a confusing variety of pseudonyms.  Although the session files do not list the personnel in the orchestra, many collectors believe that Benny Goodman (who appeared on dozens of Ben Selvin records during this time) is the clarinet soloist.

Download lloyd_keating_youre_driving_me_crazy.mp3

Next up is a great version of this song recorded for the Hit of the Week label by "The New York Twelve," which according to surviving recording ledgers is probably a contingent from the Harry Reser orchestra.  Reser was a prominent New York recording artist and led numerous groups during the late 1920's and early 1930's.  Although Reser is best known as a banjo virtuoso, he is heard briefly on this side playing the guitar.  The soloists are probably Murray Kelner on violin and Bob Effros on trumpet.  Much more about this recording here.

Download the_new_york_twelve_youre_driving_me_crazy.mp3

Finally, here is a delightful Max Fleischer animation from 1931 entitled "Jungle Festival," featuring a Fleischer Screen Songs segment (Quicktime video download, 15 Mb).  The music is "You're Driving Me Crazy" and the Screen Songs singer is ... well, extra points if you can guess who it is. (or you can open the extended section and find out.) 

These pre-code Fleischer cartoons are playfully goofy, often bizarre and sometimes sprinkled with dark humor.  They are an interesting contrast to the Disney shorts of the same period, in which Walt Disney emphasized slapstick humor, romance, and an overall air of wholesomeness.

(If you don't know the singer, click below to find out who she is.)

Virtual Victrola for April 7, 2007: Belle Mann

Yes, I have once again fired up the Virtual Victrola.  Eventual plans include moving these posts to their own URL, but for now I will continue the series on my blog.  Enjoy!

Mike

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The advent of the microphone and the two technological breakthroughs that grew out of it -- radio and electrically recorded phonograph records -- helped launch the careers of dozens of new singers during the 1920's.

The microphone allowed singers to deliver lyrics in a softer, more subtle manner.  They could also tell stories and interject spoken asides between the verses of songs.  When records began to be made electrically, these new "whispering" singers, both male and female, became some of the first stars of the new medium.

Honey-voiced male singers like Gene Austin, Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallee, and Smith Ballew eventually came to be known as crooners.  And during the brief years of 1928 - 1930 the combination of radio, talking motion pictures, and the public's fascination with the "vamp" persona exemplified by Clara Bow's smash film hits "Mantrap" and  "It" gave rise to the mythical flapper girl, the playful and high spirited damsel whose nightlife was a perpetual blur of boyfriends, wild parties, and bootleg liquor.  Suddenly "flapper girls" were in demand everywhere, and popular recording and stage stars such as Annette Hanshaw, Helen Kane, Zelma O'Neal, and Libby Holmann eagerly stepped in to fill the role.

But one of the most enigmatic of the 1920's flapper singers was a young lady named Belle Mann.  Almost nothing is known about her, and despite extensive Internet research and correspondence with other collectors I was unable to even find a photograph.  Belle Mann is certainly worth discovering though, as you will find out when you hear her sing.

Ms. Mann's first appearance on records was the result of an October 1928 date with Ben Pollack's Park Central Orchestra.  This session produced the successful coupling of "She's One Sweet Showgirl" and "Buy, Buy for Baby."  At the time of this recording, Ben Pollack's orchestra was one of the most popular dance bands in New York City. They played regularly at the posh Park Central Hotel and featured a number of outstanding jazz soloists including Jimmy McPartland on cornet, Jack Teagarden on trombone, and Benny Goodman on clarinet.

Download belle_mannben_pollack_shes_one_sweet_showgirl.mp3

Download belle_mannben_pollack_buy_buy_for_baby.mp3

Belle Mann must have been a hit at the Victor studios, because she sang for the next two years as a "house vocalist" for Victor studio bands, and orchestras under contract with Victor.  Here are two records that she made with the company's top house band, the Victor Orchestra directed by Nat Shilkret.  Both of these songs are genuine 1920's classics and perfectly fit Belle Mann's style: the lively DeSylva-Brown-Henderson hit "I Want To Be Bad," and the urgent "Wishing And Waiting For Love." 

Download belle_mannnat_shilkret_i_want_to_be_bad.mp3

Download belle_mannnat_shilkret_wishing_and_waiting_for_love.mp3

In the early 1930's Belle Mann faded into obscurity along with a number of other stars who blazed a brilliant but short trail through the Roaring 20's.  Perhaps some day a diligent researcher will shed more light on the delightful Belle Mann.

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Another selection featuring Belle Mann is available at Dismuke's Hit Of the Week. (scroll down 2/3 of the page and look for "Gems From Follow Thru" by the Victor Light Opera Company)

RIP Anita O'Day 1919 - 2006

Anita O' Day, one of the last great surviving jazz singers of the Big Band era, passed away this morning at her home in West Los Angeles.  She was 86 years old.

From her website:

Indestructible.  There is really no other word to describe Anita O’Day. Her legacy in the world of music goes back to the mid-30s as a singing-dance competitor in the popular walkathons of the day—that is, until a truant officer returned her to school. When asked her name, she answered “O’Day,”pig Latin for dough. Which she hoped to make a bunch of. She was soon discovered by a club owner in Chicago, and within a year destiny would guide her right to the top as the lead singer for the Gene Krupa Orchestra. Anita brought to the big band her own swinging style. She had no use for gowns; she was a member of the band who’s instrument was her voice, so she donned the same uniform that the other band members wore—a suit. She stayed with Krupa’s outfit for five years, then after one year with Stan Kenton, scoring numerous hits for both. She began her solo career in 1947.

From the Washington Post obit:

Her vibrant appearance in the 1959 documentary "Jazz on a Summer's Day," a film about the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, made her an international celebrity and brought her important dates in Japan and England.

Then, in 1966, she nearly died of a heroin overdose in a bathroom in a Los Angeles office building. The experience rattled her, and she quit heroin at once. Most of her money gone, she spent the rest of her life struggling financially.

In the early 1970s, she was living in a $3-a-night hotel in Los Angeles but she revived her career over the next decade, culminating in a profile of her on the CBS newsmagazine "60 Minutes."

She received her first Grammy nomination in 1990 for "In a Mellow Tone" and was given an American Jazz Masters award in 1997 by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Anita will forever be remembered for the clingy black dress, fringed black hat and white gloves that she wore in the film.  Ironically, she later candidly confessed that she had absolutely no recollection of her performance at Newport.  Years of alcohol and drug abuse robbed her of many things including the memories of her most prosperous years.  Still, she survived the needle, the bottle, two rotten marriages, depression, and dire financial straits, continuing to perform (though often precariously) well into her 80's.

Here is Anita singing a remake her big hit "Let Me Off Uptown" with Roy Eldridge and the Gene Krupa big band, from Krupa's 1956 Verve album "Drummin' Man": Download gene_krupaanita_odayroy_eldridge_let_me_off_uptown.mp3

Here is a nice video tribute to Anita, which includes a segment of her performance of "Sweet Georgia Brown" from Jazz On A Summer's Day.

Here is a young Anita performing "Thanks For The Boogie Ride" with the Gene Krupa big band in 1942.  Roy Eldridge is the trumpet man.

This is the classic performance of "Tea For Two" from Jazz for A Summer's Day.  The old timers might recognize the old Marlboro cigarettes jingle that pops up at the end, as Anita trades phrases with her pianist.  (You get a lot to like in a Marlboro - filter, flavor, flip-top box)

All About Jazz published this profile of Anita just a few days ago.

So long Anita.  It sure was groovy.

Virtual Victrola: May 27 Edition - "Swinging At Decca" Jan Savitt and his Orchestra

Note to readers: Virtual Victrola regulars will immediately scold me for actually posting this entry much later than its listed post date.  Other time commitments, in addition to a major computer crash and rebuild, have seriously hampered my ability to research and post music during the last two months.

Because other commitments continue to take my time, I will be suspending the Virtual Victrola for a short time after this post.  It's not gone for good, just for a few weeks.  Promise!

And some vintage music may continue to find its way here ... just stay tuned.

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Our final "Swingin' At Decca" entry highlights the orchestra of Jan Savitt, one of the better big bands to come out of Philadelphia in the 1930's.

Of all the leaders who achieved success for themselves during the Big Band Era, there were probably only a handful of men with as unlikely a background as Jan Savitt.  Savitt was born Jacob Servetnick in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1908.  His parents immigrated to America and settled in Philadelphia when Jan was in his early teens. 

Young Savitt was a prodigy on the violin, and was invited to join the Philadelphia Orchestra at the astonishingly young age of fifteen.  Later, Savitt served as orchestra concertmaster under the baton of the great Leopold Stowkowski.  At the age of 19, Savitt organized a nationally-recognized string quartet.  Savitt's quartet became a regular feature on Philadelphia radio and soon their broadcasts were picked up by CBS and broadcast coast-to-coast.  Radio station WCAU offered Savitt a job as the station's musical director, but soon after station KYW offered him even more money.  And it was out of the studio orchestra that Jan Savitt's Top Hatters was first born.

Savitt's Top Hatters began recording for Victor Records in 1937 after becoming a regional success both on radio and in person.  The band featured a "shuffle rhythm," a kind of "oompah-oompah-oompah-oompah" rhythm played with the left hand on the piano.  Savitt was an enthusiastic leader but not a jazz musician, so his early bands sometimes played too fast or too loud.  But audiences supported Savitt and his popularity steadily grew.

By the time Jan Savitt began recording for Decca Records in 1939 his band was polished and could swing with the best of them.  He also featured two very good singers, a girl named Carlotta Dale and a young African-American man named George Tunnell who preferred the stage name "Bon-Bon."  Unfortunately Bon-Bon was forced to endure the racial discrimination of the era, often signing in as the band's valet in order to stay at the same hotel as the rest of the band.  But he was an engaging and popular singer and audiences loved him.

Jan Savitt recorded his biggest hit for Decca at the end of 1939.  "720 In The Books" was actually the band library's number for this instrumental.  But it proved so popular with audiences that lyrics were added -- even though the title was never changed.  You can hear Savitt's signature "shuffle rhythm" in the opening bars of the record.  George 'Bon-Bon' Tunnell is the vocalist.

Download jan_savitt_720_in_the_books.mp3

Jan Savitt recorded his version of Erskine Hawkins' "Tuxedo Junction" not quite two weeks before Glenn Miller waxed the version that went on to become a million-seller and a Top Ten hit in 1940.   Savitt's version is taken at a much quicker tempo that Miller's, and while Miller's arrangement invokes images of a lazy train depot on a hot summer's day, Savitt approaches the tune as a hot swing number.

Download jan_savitt_tuxedo_junction.mp3

When the radio networks refused to honor the royalty demands of ASCAP (which owned the copyrights to virtually every popular song published in the United States) ASCAP responded by banning their songs from radio play.  In response, broadcasters created BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated), but in order to fill the void left by the ban of ASCAP songs bandleaders were forced to use material that was already in the public domain.  The classical repertoire lent itself nicely to this purpose, and Savitt's formal training as a classical violinist certainly proved to be an asset for him.  This version of Max Werner-Kersten's "Bummel Petrus" (Jolly Peter) transforms the piano piece into jazz arrangement that owes a lot to the "Big Band Dixieland" sound of the Bob Crosby
Orchestra.

Download jan_savitt_jolly_peter_bummel_petrus.mp3

Our final Savitt selection is one of his best swing tunes, "Kansas City Moods". Originally issued as the flip-side of "Tuxedo Junction," it was this song that ended up being a big hit for the Savitt Orchestra.  A final note to dispel some possible confusion:  Savitt recorded for Victor/Bluebird under the name Jan Savitt and his Top Hatters; he recorded for Decca as Jan Savitt and his Orchestra.

Download jan_savitt_kansas_city_moods.mp3

Although his Decca recording contract ran out in 1941, the handsome and likable Savitt continued to record for Victor/Bluebird and remained active during the war years, eventually adding a sizable string section to his orchestra.  A cerebral hemorrhage in 1948 cut his life tragically short at the age of 40.

ADDED: Thanks to a comment left by Stephen Danko, here two links (one) (two) that include quite a bit of geneaological information about Jan Savitt. 

Virtual Victrola: May 20 Edition - "Swinging At Decca" Chick Webb and his Orchestra

This week's Virtual Victrola "Swinging At Decca" entry spotlights the diminutive Chick Webb who, despite his painful physical handicaps, led the most exciting swing band in Harlem during the 1930's

Webb was born in Baltimore, MD in 1909.  At an early age he contracted tuberculosis of the spine, which left his spine curved and stunted the growth of his legs.  Webb took up drumming with hopes that it would strengthen his legs and help his stiff joints.  His drum set included special pedals and other devices that allowed him to play the bass drum and high-hat cymbals with his feet, just like other drummers.  In his late teens, he moved to New York and began sitting in during jam sessions with other Harlem musicians.

At the urging of Duke Ellington, Webb formed his own band when he was just eighteen years old.  The band was a hit at Harlem's famous Savoy Ballroom, and would continue to be the top band at the Savoy throughout the Swing Era.  Though Webb was small in stature, he was a tough leader and an astute businessman.  He drilled his band thoroughly and inspired them with his energetic drumming.  Although he had no formal training and could not read music, his dynamic playing, exciting fills, and powerful solos were a force to be reckoned with.

Webb also enjoyed competition immensely, and during the 1930's the Savoy Ballroom booked the nation's top swing bands, including the bands led by Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman, and Count Basie, in a series of "battles" against the Webb band.  Needless to say, Webb's "homefield advantage" led to a string of consistent victories as judged by the Savoy's enthusiastic patrons.  But numerous musicians continually testified as to Webb's greatness and the superior quality of his band.  Benny Goodman's drummer Gene Krupa later remembered:

I'll never forget that night, the night Benny's band battled Chick at the Savoy -- he just cut me to ribbons -- made me feel awfully small ... That man was dynamic; he could reach the most amazing heights.  When he really let go, you had a feeling that the entire atmosphere in the place was being charged.  When he felt like it, he could cut down any of us.

Webb's other important asset, and the one thing that directly led to his commercial success, was his girl singer, a shy teenager discovered by one of Webb's friends at a local talent competition -- Ella Fitzgerald.  At first Webb was hesitant about hiring her -- she was not particularly attractive and she could not dance.  But after she wowed the dancers at a Yale prom, she was in.  The band loved her as much as their audiences did, and she continually turned out superior vocal performances that culminated with two huge hit records: "A Tisket A Tasket" in 1938 and "Undecided" the following year.

Jack Kapp signed the up-and-coming Webb orchestra to an exclusive Decca recording contract in the fall of 1934, and Webb recorded dozens of sides for Decca during the next five years.  Here are four of them:

Virtual Victrola May 13 Edition: Swinging At Decca: The Bob Crosby Orchestra

This week the Virtual Victrola continues to Swing At Decca, and features the music of one of the most unique bands of the Swing Era, Bob Crosby and his Orchestra.

Most music enthusiasts know the Crosby orchestra as a "dixieland" band, and truly the band integrated more traditional New Orleans jazz sounds into its blend than any other big band of the time.  But they were a fabulous ensemble that worked together with mostly the same personnel for over a decade, and produced some of the most thrilling and unique swing of the era.

The band started out as "Pollack's Orphans," a name jokingly given to the group by other musicians after the band as a whole gave its notice to its former leader, Ben Pollack.  The band had gotten fed up with Pollack's leadership and cheesy self-promotion, but because of the strong friendships that had developed among the musicians, the band felt that they could make it on their own.  After a few anonymous record dates and enough freelance work to keep the boys in the band from starving, their agent suggested finding a good front man to lead the band.  Trombonist Jack Teagarden (who unfortunately had just signed a five year contract with Paul Whiteman's orchestra) and New Orleans trumpeter Louis Prima didn't work out.  Finally, someone suggested Bob Crosby.

Bob was Bing Crosby's youngest brother, 21 years old at the time and working as a singer with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra.  From their first meeting onward, the boys in the band liked Bob, and although he couldn't play an instrument proficiently, he was a pleasant singer and -- most importantly -- he was a natural at fronting the band: warming up the audience, announcing the tunes, introducing the musicians, and handling the vocals on ballads.  He turned in his notice to the Dorsey Brothers and began leading his new band, now billed as The Bob Crosby Orchestra, in March of 1935.

Though Crosby was the group's stage leader, the real work of managing the band fell upon tenor saxophonist Gil Rodin, who had been part of the old Ben Pollack band since its earliest days.  And in bassist Bob Haggart the band had a gifted arranger, composer, and musical director.  Also instrumental in the group were drummer Ray Bauduc, guitarist Hilton 'Nappy' Lamare, clarinetists Matty Matlock and Irving Fazola, tenor saxophonist Eddie Miller, and trumpeter Yank Lawson.  These musicians also created a small group inside of the Bob Crosby orchestra named the The Bobcats, which added true New Orleans-style dixieland jazz performances to the band's shows.  And Bauduc and Haggart produced a classic hit with their duo performance of Haggart's "Big Noise From Winnetka," which featured Haggart whistling the tune's melody, accompanied by Haggart's bass and Bauduc's energetic drumming.

Bob Crosby was an exclusive Decca artist from the time he took over the band in 1935 until he disbanded in 1942.  During that time, he recorded dozens of classic swing and jazz performances for the label.  Here are four of them:

Virtual Victrola - May 6 Edition: "Swinging At Decca" Earl Hines and his Orch.

(Note: I'm crunched for time this week, so today I'll post the music and a few short notes.  I'll add label scans and more info in the next few days ...)

This week the Mike's Noise Virtual Victrola begins a new month-long series, "Swinging At Decca," which will feature four great (but largely forgotten) swing bands that recorded for the label -- Earl 'Fatha' Hines, Bob Crosby, Chick Webb, and Jan Savitt.

Decca records was founded in 1934 by Jack Kapp.  Prior to founding Decca, Kapp had worked for Brunswick Records as an artist and repertoire executive.  Kapp felt that he could be more successful in business for himself, and he was right.  Even though America was in the midst of the Great Depression, he succeeded in launching a record label that sold quality records for a bargain price (35 cents) and provided buyers with access to many of the top artists in the country: Bing Crosby, Guy Lombardo, The Mills Brothers, The Boswell Sisters, and The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra were just some of the names that Jack Kapp lured away from Brunswick so that they could record exclusively for him.

Earl "Fatha" Hines was another Brunswick recording artist that Kapp enlisted for his fledgling label.  Hines was very well known in New York and Chicago, and is considered by jazz historians to be one of the top jazz piano stylists of the late 1920's and early 1930's.  Hines' best-known work up until the mid 1930's was the collection of recordings he made with Louis Armstrong as a part of the trumpeter's Hot Seven, including the legendary "West End Blues."  And on performances like "Weather Bird," Hines was able to both inspire and anticipate Armstrong's creativity, and elevated the piano above its traditional role in accompaniment to a new level of co-performance.

After forming his own big band in the 1930's, Earl Hines staked a claim to the Grand Terrace Ballroom in Chicago, where his orchestra served as "house band" until after the Second World War.  He occasionally gave up the stage for brief periods of time and allowed other luminary big bands such as Fletcher Henderson's and Count Basie's to perform there, but for all of dancing Chicago, the Grand Terrace remained Hines' home.

In September 1934, the Hines orchestra made a number of influential recordings for Decca.  Here are four of them: Cavernism (a Hines original), Fat Babes (an original by noted arranger Jimmy Mundy), Sweet Georgia Brown, and Rosetta (the Hines orchestra's theme song, sung by Walter Fuller).

Download earl_hines_fat_babes.mp3

Download earl_hines_cavernism.mp3

Download earl_hines_sweet_georgia_brown.mp3

Download earl_hines_rosetta.mp3

Next week - The Bob Crosby Orchestra.  See you then!

Virtual Victrola - April 29 edition - 4x4's: Jones-Smith, Inc.

On a cold winter's night Chicago in early 1936, record producer John Hammond patiently spun the radio dial in his car, searching for music.  His exploration of the airwaves resulted in his discovery of the Count Basie Orchestra, broadcasting live from the Reno Club in Kansas City.  The band was rough and occasionally out of tune, but their energetic playing and solid, swinging rhythm section thrilled Hammond.  He immediately told his friend Benny Goodman about his discovery, and the two of them made plans to visit Kansas City and hear the band in person.  Upon meeting Basie, Hammond convinced him to take his band on the road, and made arrangements for Basie to begin an engagement at the Grand Terrace Ballroom in Chicago.

But Hammond did not get a chance to record the Basie orchestra for another three years, for Jack Kapp, the shrewd president of Decca Records, met with Basie -- without Hammond's knowledge -- and offered him a recording contract.  Heartbroken and angry at the paltry sum that Kapp offered Basie, Hammond insisted that at least some of Basie's men owed him a recording session.  Basie agreed, and brought a quintet consisting of himself, drummer Jo Jones, bassist Walter Page, trumpeter Carl "Tatti" Smith, and tenor saxophonist Lester Young into a cramped Chicago recording studio on November 9, 1936.

The studio was so small that in order to fit a piano, the musicians, and portly singer Jimmy Rushing all in the same room together, Jo Jones could only bring his high hat cymbal stand and snare drum.  But under Hammond's direction, the group turned out four astounding performances in a date that Hammond later described as, "the only perfect, completely perfect recording session I've ever had anything to do with."

Because Basie was under contract with Decca at the time (though he had yet to record for them) these records were released under the name "Jones-Smith, Inc.", a play on Jo Jones and Carl Smith's last names.  On subsequent reissues and foreign issues, the records were credited either to Count Basie's Blue Five or the Count Basie Quintet.

The Tunes:

Shoe Shine Boy
Download jonessmith_inc_shoe_shine_boy.mp3

Evenin'
Download jonessmith_inc_evenin.mp3

Boogie Woogie
Download jonessmith_inc_boogie_woogie.mp3

Lady Be Good
Download jonessmith_inc_lady_be_good.mp3

Virtual Victrola - April 22 Edition - 4x4's: Gene Krupa's Swing Band

This week, the Virtual Victrola features four recordings by a pickup band under the leadership of drummer Gene Krupa.  The records were made in Chicago in February 1936 and helped establish trumpeter Roy Eldridge as a new force to be reckoned with in jazz.

During the time these records were made, the Benny Goodman orchestra was in the midst of an extended engagement at the Congress Hotel in Chicago.  Benny was Gene's boss, and for this session Gene enlisted mostly fellow Goodman bandmates: singer Helen Ward, Goodman, pianist Jess Stacy, and guitarist Allan Reuss.  To this lineup he added three black musicians: Chicago native and bassist Israel Crosby, tenorist Leon "Chu" Berry, and trumpeter Roy Eldridge.

The real newcomer among these musicians was Roy Eldridge. Eldridge had played on a few recordings made by Teddy Hill during the previous year, and while those performances were good, they contained nothing like the fierce explosion of energy that Eldridge released during this session, notably during his solo on "Swing Is Here."  Perhaps Eldridge, knowing that Goodman had recently employed trumpeter Bunny Berigan, was ready to show Goodman that he was just as capable of sparking a recording session as Berigan was.  Whatever the reason, Eldridge practically launched his career with these records.

Interestingly, Eldridge, Crosby, and Berry all would soon join the Fletcher Henderson orchestra and continue to record as highly sought-after sidemen.  Eldridge remained a top attraction well into his 60's, until a stroke left him unable to play the trumpet.  And he spent several years during the 1940's as a featured trumpeter and singer in Gene Krupa's big band.  The only member of this group to die before his time was Chu Berry, who perished in an automobile accident in 1941, just as he was poised to overtake Coleman Hawkins as the king of the tenor saxophone.

Krupa also brought along Helen Ward, Benny Goodman's girl singer.  Helen was a superb singer and talented pianist who possessed perfect pitch and was as easy on the eyes as she was on the ears.  Her joyous performance on "I'm Gonna Clap My Hands" is a perfect example of how the right singer can add the perfect touch of class to a good jazz recording.  And her vocal on "Mutiny In The Parlor," combined with Eldridge's muted trumpet solo, illustrates how strong jazz players can rescue a mediocre song from the doldrums and turn it into a fantastic performance.
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The Tunes:

I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music
Download gene_krupas_swing_band_i_hope_gabriel_likes_my_music.mp3

I'm gonna Clap My Hands
Download gene_krupas_swing_band_im_gonna_clap_my_hands.mp3

Mutiny In The Parlor
Download gene_krupas_swing_band_mutiny_in_the_parlor.mp3

Swing Is Here
Download gene_krupas_swing_band_swing_is_here.mp3

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Next week, the Virtual Victrola will wrap up the 4x4's feature with Count Basie's first recording session, four classic 1936 sides that introduced the jazz world to the President of the Tenor Saxophone, Lester Young.  See you then!