Where is Minnie? Calloway 1932

This clip is Cab Calloway and his Orchestra in the 1932 movie "The Big Broadcast"

By 1930 the Cotton Club in Harlem had become the premier jazz venue in the country, and Cab Calloway and his Orchestra was hired as a replacement for the Duke Ellington Orchestra while they were touring. (There is some speculation that Mafia pressure was responsible for Cab's hiring.) Calloway quickly proved so popular that his band became the "co-house" band with Ellington's, and Cab and his group began touring nationwide when not playing the Cotton Club. Their popularity was greatly enhanced by the twice-weekly live national radio broadcasts on NBC at the Cotton Club. Calloway also appeared on Walter Winchell's radio program and with Bing Crosby in his show at the Paramount Theatre. As a result of these appearances, Calloway, together with Ellington, broke the major broadcast network color barrier.
In 1931, he recorded his most famous song, Minnie the Moocher. That song, St. James Infirmary Blues and The Old Man Of The Mountain were performed for the Betty Boop animated shorts Minnie the Moocher, Snow White and The Old Man of the Mountain, respectively. Through the magic of rotoscoping, Cab not only gave his voice to these cartoons but his dance steps as well. Cab took advantage of this and timed his concerts in some communities with the release of the films in order to make the most of the attention. As a result of the success of "Minnie the Moocher" he became identified with its chorus, gaining the nickname "The Hi De Ho Man." In 1943 he appeared in the high-profile 20th Century Fox musical film, Stormy Weather.

Kansas City Blues Basie 1957

Jimmy Rushing was the grand-daddy of all big-band blues singers, fronting many bands, especially the Count Basie band from the '30s through the '50s. Here he is in a 1957 broadcast together with a Count Basie Orchestra. This is the Kansas Ciy Blues.
The back up of his vocal is by Ben Webster on tenor. The solos in between the vocals are by trombonist Dickie Wells, trumpet player Roy Eldridge and tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins.

Freshmen's Hop Original Prague Syncopated Orchestra 1993

The Czech singer Ondrej Havelka fronts the Original Prague Syncopated Orchestra and does faithful and charming versions of jazz and popular songs from the 1920s and 30s.
Ondrej Havelka has quite an artistic background: his mother Libuse Havelkova was a well known actress, while his father Svatopluk was a composer.
Ondrej Havelka is a real renaissance man: he is an accomplished actor and director. And, as his career in music began to take off, and he found himself playing at ever bigger venues, he also became a very impressive tap-dancer.
In 1995 he started his own group the Melody Makers.
In the 1980's he sang in English but during the communist days they couldn't perform on Television or on the radio with their English repertoire.
Ondrej said "we could play only Czech songs (laughs) on official television or radio. We played concerts for people in theatres and halls and jazz clubs, and then we could sing in English."
The music they play is from inter-war period, an era many Czechs regard as the greatest in their history. Ondrej Havelka says some people tend to idealise the First Republic, as it's called, but argues that in some ways it really was a golden era.

Dickie's Dream Basie 1957

When he was two he sat on Count Basie's knee, one of the first things he remembered and that's why this clip is dedicated to my new Youtube friend Napoleon. Napoleon lives in Lausanne Switzerland and is a jazzfan, a jazz festival organizer and has a collection of hundreds of hours of video. His friends Harry Sweets Edison and Ray Brown gave him his nickname Napoleon.

Dickie's Dream
The Count Basie Band in 1957, that's to say a band where all the musicians at some time had played in the Basie Orchestra
In this all star feature I recognize most of the players. First solo is by Ben Webster ( you see also shots of Billy Holiday hanging around and talking to Hawkins), next trombonist Benny Morton , then a trumpeter I don't recognize, following that is Gerry Mullligan, then trombonist Vic Dickenson. After that the high note man Roy Eldridge, then other trumpet players Joe Wilder, Emmett Berry and Joe Newman. The big sound of Coleman Hawkins followed by the specific recognizable trombone sound of Dickie Wells.
All together an impressive big band with Basie on piano, Jo Jones on drums and Freddie Greene on guitar .
This is a piece of jazz history on film not done before. Aren't we lucky we can witness this jazz event some 50 years later.

I'm the drummer Lopez Vincent

Vincent Lopez was a very popular society bandleader and made recordings as early as 1920 and still making them in the fifties.
Most of the thousands of tunes he recorded were not much of interest for the jazz lover. Here is a clip from 1932 featuring his drummer

Sugar Foot Stomp Portena JB 1991

Martin Muller and his Portena Jazz Band from Buenos Aires in Argentina has been the leading band from South America to play the early big band jazz music. The band started in the mid sixties and I believe is still together
In this clip we see the band in an performance in Spain in 1991

Heebie Jeebies Portena Jazz Band 1991

Martin Muller and his Portena Jazz Band from Buenos Aires in Argentina has been the leading band from South America to play the early big band jazz music. The band started in the mid sixties and I believe is still together

Hot and Anxious Portena Jazz Band 1991

Martin Muller and his Portena Jazz Band from Buenos Aires in Argentina has been the leading band from South America to play the early big band jazz music. The band started in the mid sixties and I believe is still together
In this clip we see the band in an performance in Spain in 1991

Black Bottom Stomp Giordano Vince 1987 

Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks is New York's leading orchestra playing jazz from the twenties and thirties. In this clip from 1987 Vince, in this tune on bass, does a wonderful version of Jelly Roll Morton's Black Bottom Stomp. with some fine and exciting trumpet work by Peter Ecklund and with Dick Wellstood playing the stride piano.

My Pretty Girl Giordano Vince & Willcox Spiegle 1987

Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks is New York's leading orchestra playing jazz from the twenties and thirties. In this clip from 1987 the band plays the famous 1927 Jean Goldkette arrangement "My Pretty Girl". One of the members of that 1927 band was still alive and in shape to play well. We see Spiegle Willcox playing his trombone part some 50 years later.

Emaline Portena Jazz Band 1991

Martin Muller and his Portena Jazz Band from Buenos Aires in Argentina has been the leading band from South America to play the early big band jazz music. The band started in the mid sixties and I believe is still together
In this clip we see the band in an performance in Spain in 1991

Zonky Portena Jazz Band 1991

Martin Muller and his Portena Jazz Band from Buenos Aires in Argentina has been the leading band from South America to play the early big band jazz music. The band started in the mid sixties and I believe is still together
In this clip we see the band in an performance in Spain in 1991
p.s Martin Muller wrote me an email a few months ago to thank me for posting these clips. I hope he'll send me some films of the band as it is, today in 2007, some 16 years later.
The Argentinians certainly know this jazz well!!

Borneo Giordano Vince 1987

Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks is New York's leading orchestra playing jazz from the twenties and thirties. In this clip from 1987 Vince, in this tune both on bass and on bass saxophone. A hot cornet solo from Randy Reinhart in this Frankie Trumbauer tune recorded in 1928 with Bix Beiderbecke on cornet

Blues in F Basie Count 1957

In 1957 one of the best jazz films ever made was called "The Sound of Jazz" I just checked Amazon.com and the DVD is still available at a bargainprice of US$ 17.99.
This clip is a Basie jamsession with solos of Coleman Hawkins tenor sax, Dickie Wells trombone, Gerry Mulligan bariton sax, Joe Wilder trumpet and of course Count Basie on piano

St Louis Blues Rollini Adrian 1937

Richard Himber had one of the top "sweet" dancebands of the 1930s. Previously, he was first violinist for Rudy Vallee's Connecticut Yankees, and it was Vallee who encouraged and financed (a gift, not a loan) Himber's first orchestra. Himber's orchestra usually played in the most prestigious hotels and ballrooms and had access to the topflight musicians of his era - for recordings, if not for routine, nightly performances. Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Bunny Berigan, Blue Barron, and other future bandleading notables are among the sidemen.
In this film Mr Himber is filmed in three clips from 1937. In the last clip the famous Adrian Rollini trio is featured together with the quartet of violinist Wladimir Selinsky.
Adrian Rollini (1904-1954) was a child prodigy on piano; at age four he played a recital at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel (34th sreet and 5th Avenue) in New York. He led his own band at age 14 and began playing with the California Ramblers in the early 1920s. The California Ramblers were one of the most recorded bands of the 1920s. The band also featured Red Nichols, Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey. The California Ramblers played popular tunes of the day with a Jazz influence. While in that band Rollini developed his distinctive style of bass saxophone playing. He played in Red Nichols' Five Pennies and appeared on many of Red's recording sessions. He also worked with Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra and recorded with Cliff Edwards and Bix Beiderbecke and his Gang. In 1934 he put together some recording sessions that featured Jack Teagarden, Bunny Berigan and Benny Goodman.
Wladimir Selinsky was born in Russia in 1910. A child prodigy violinist, he emigrated to the United States in 1925 at the age of 15. During his early years in the United States, he worked as a concert master and assistant conductor on Broadway. He also performed in various orchestras conducted by Bruno Walter, Leopold Stokowski, and Pierre Monteux.

Krupa Gene & Lionel Hampton 1958 

Lionel Hampton and drummer Gene Krupa are fronting a big band. Lionel Hampton does some clever pianowork as well.
All part of the show!
The Show?
The 1958 Timex watch sponsored TV show!

Deep Purple Herman Woodie 1962

Woodie Herman and his Big Band during a studio recording in the Netherlands in 1962. The band play Deep Purple. Woodie has an almost Johnny Hodges like approach in his playing of this tune. There are two tenor saxophone solos by Larry Cavelli and by Sal Nistico. One might also notice a very young Jake Hanna on drums

Sing sing sing Krupa Gene

Gene Krupa plays Sing sing sing, the drumshowpiece he made famous with Benny Goodman's Orchestra in the 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. Now more than 30 years later, probably very early seventies, Gene performs it with an Orchestra obviously under the direction of his former collegue Lionel Hampton. Lionel plays a nice vibes solo as well.

Rockin' in Rhythm Royal Society Orch. 1990

Don Neely and the ten piece Royal Society Jazz Orchestra, from San Francisco, are renowned for authentically capturing the exciting sound of Big Band Swing, Hot Syncopated Jazz, Blues, and music of the Cotton Club. Innovators such as Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Paul Whiteman, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Bix Biederbecke, and Louis Armstrong are among the RSJO's inspirations. But you will discover immediately upon seeing them live or listening to their recordings, that the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra has an intriguing personality and style of its own.

The Groove Merchant Jones Thad/Mel Lewis 1969

In a 1969 concert in the Doelen Theater in Rotterdam the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Big Band played in some sort of competition called " the Battle of the Bands". Obviously this orchestra of famous American Jazz musicians was the superior force. It is good that from the Dutch Radio/TV archives some of these performances were preserved. We see a clip of the band playing "The Groove Merchant" with the introductory piano solo work of Roland Hanna.(note a friend in Holland send me this video. After posting Ramona Hanna emailed me to thank me for the memory. I send her the clip on DVD)