Lionel Hampton “unidentified title”
The first instance that I can find of an integrated jazz band in a sound film comes from the 1929 RKO feature THE DELIGHTFUL ROGUE.
The first instance that I can find of an integrated jazz band in a sound film comes from the 1929 RKO feature THE DELIGHTFUL ROGUE.
The Chanticleers is a relatively obscure vocal harmony group, one that performed together for many years but was mentioned only occasionally in the trades. The
There is a nice little “backstory” to this clip, which is a real swinging SOUNDIE. I had met Red Callender a number of times, although
While the big band that appears on screen in the 1947 black cast feature SEPIA CINDERELLA is billed as “Walter Fuller’s Orchestra,” it is actually Mercer Ellington’s
SEPIA CINDERELLA is one of the finer independent black cast films produced during the late 1940s, and in terms of quality it is no better or
There are, sad to say, very few examples of jazz filmed live in theater, ballroom or nightclub settings during the period 1930-1950. Most of what
Thrills of Music: Ray McKinley and his Orchestra is a superior band short from 1946, featuring drummer and vocalist Ray McKinley, a handful of terrific soloists
I have often thought, with so many great Jewish songwriters — the Gershwins, Irving Berlin, Lorenz Hart, Harold Arlen, Oscar Hammerstein, Jerome Kern and many
Now, quite a few “ifs” here, all referring to the 1930s and beyond: If you were a highly skilled musician … that is, you knew
Back in 1960 the United States Information Agency filmed and released overseas an astounding 26 half hour compilations of performances from the Newport Jazz Festival.