大象传媒

A note from Paul...

"There's a birthday salute to Duke Ellington, active in bandleading and piano-playing for half a century, starting in the late twenties. He was a prolific composer too with songs such as Satin Doll, It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing (so very true!), Don't Get Around Much Any More, I'm Beginning to See the Light, and dozens of others.

And it's Bing's birthday on May 3. He recorded with Ellingon's orchestra in 1932, and in later years Ellington was an occasional guest on Bing's radio programme. I'll be playing some tracks from a newly released collection of radio recordings from the fifties, brilliantly remastered to sound as though they were recorded yesterday.

And there's Blossom Dearie (good name to have in Spring), pianist and vocalist. One critic described her as having a voice so small that "without a microphone it would not reach the second floor of a doll's house". But that small voice had an incredible depth of expression, and her piano-playing had strength and wit.

Read all about it, but it's better by far to listen."