Saturday Matinee – Miss Tess, J.D. McPherson & 2 DooWop Documentaries

Miss Tess & The Bon Ton Parade perform “That Oo Oo Oo” in October 2009. According to the Utoobage comments, she’s playing an electrified 1920 Weymann archtop. This is early morning roadtrip music for me. I love it.

J.D. McPherson at Sun Studios 2014. Jump to 02:30 for kickass rockabilly.

Doowop wasn’t called “Doowop” until the 60s or so, so here’s a Rhythm & Blues Documentary instead. Yeah it’s  kinda sucky, so try this:

Have a great weekend folks, and remember that this three-day weekend is not a holiday honoring BBQs and bloviating politicians.

Memorial Day honors those who gave their lives in the name of Freedom.

Saturday Matinee – Tuba Skinny with Erika Lewis, Leon Redbone, Brent Johnson & The Call Up

Tuba Skinny on a hot, steamy New Orleans day, playing James Scott’s “Climax Rag”  from 1914. Pay attention to the girl on cornet – she knows exactly how to do it right – and before you assume that the girl on bass drum is only there for eye candy, check this out:

That’s Erika Lewis & Tuba Skinny performing at The Louisiana Busker Fest in Abita Springs 21 April 2013.  BTW, the band is from Tasmania. Now, how ’bout some Leon?

Leon Redbone made his debut in 1976 with his album “On The Tracks.” Here he is on SNL, and here’s Mr. Redbone’s  home page.

Mike Imbasciani with Brent Johnson & the Call Up doing a heavy swamp rock take of Chick Willis‘ “Stoop Down Baby.”

There are enough links up there to keep you out of trouble for a few hours. Have a great weekend folks, see you back here tomorrow for more fun stuff.

[Update: Tuba Skinny is from Louisiana. Thanks to Lulu for the correction.]

1920s Jazz Band – Who were they?

Early Jazz Band Unknown

Anyone know who these guys were? I’m guessing mid-late 1920s, tried to identify the trumpet player with no luck. The clarinet/baritone sax player is the only one wearing spats, so he may be the band leader.

[Found here. Click to enlarge.]

Saturday Matinee – Carol Kaye, Tal Wilkenfeld & Jeff Beck, Jaco Pastorius, and Some Guys Jamming “Mercy Mercy Mercy.”

You’ve probably never heard OF Carol Kaye, but you have certainly heard her music, especially on bass. Pure awesome.

Tal Wilkinfeld & Jeff Beck 2009(?).

Jaco Pastorius was brilliant on bass, but had serious mental problems.

Mercy Mercy Mercy. This jam cranks, but that can’t be  Stanley Jordan on bass (or guitar, or any other instrument) despite the Utoobage description, yet someone was playing a 6-string bass…

Have a great weekend, folks. Rock on.

Saturday Matinee – Fireflies, Pete Daily & Red Nichols

Timelapse of fireflies by Vincent Brady [via].

Pete Daily‘s “Over The Waves” from 1951: Daily on cornet, Burt Johnson trombone, Pud Brown clarinet, Skippy Anderson piano, Len Esterdahl banjo, Bud Hatch tuba and Hugh Allison drums.

Red Nichols & His Five Pennies rocked your grandparents, assuming your grandparents were entirely cool and bitchin’. (Of course they were.)

Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more inanity.

Saturday Matinee – Chet Atkins & Leo Kottke; Rodrigo y Gabriela; Sidney Bechet, Django Reinhardt & Louis Armstrong

This video featuring Chet Atkins and Leo Kottke is entitled “Shut Up, Garrison.”

Here’s Rodrigo y Gabriela pickin’ and poundin’ on “El Diablo Rojo.”

Buncha great performers in that clip, including Sidney Bechet, Django Reinhardt & Louis Armstrong.

That should hold y’all for a while. Have a great weekend, folks, and remember to pick up after your dogs (the ones you voted in).

Saturday Matinee – George Jones, Caravan Palace & Acoustic Alchemy

R.I.P. “The Possum” George Jones (1931-2013).

Caravan Palace “Rock It For Me” [h/t to Bunkarina].

Acoustic Alchemy, led by Greg Carmichael and Miles Gilderdale on guitars, Fred White/keyboard, Greg Grainger/drums and Gary Grainger/bass, Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, CA.

Looks like that’ll do for this edition of The Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend.

Saturday Matinee – Jonathan Winters, Manu Chao, Gnarlemagne & Billy Cobham/George Duke Band

Jonathan Winters (1925-2013) was the most talented improvisational comedian ever. R.I.P.

Manu Chao, Live Baionarena – Dia Luna Dia Pena. Chao’s got an interesting background that explains a lot of  his leftist politics.

Gnarlemagne‘s “Funky New Orleans” is some fun nasty ska.

“The Red Baron” by The Billy Cobham – George Duke Band, live at Montreax Switzerland in 1976. Very cool funk groove, featuring George Duke, John Scofield, Alphonso Johnson and Billy Cobham.

That’ll do for another edition of The Saturday Matinee. Have a great weekend folks.

Saturday Matinee – Imelda May, Jimmy & The Rackets; Ron Levy & Ronnie Earl; J. Geils, Duke Robillard & Gerry Beaudoin

Imelda May is way cool. That’s her version of  Buddy Holly’s “Looking For Love” which was also covered by The Stray Cats. It was never covered by Andy Tielman as far as I know, but here on The Saturday Matinee, one vid and three links just don’t make the nut.

Yep. That’s Jimmy & The Rackets as if I had to tell you, but now I’m torn between two more vids to post. I’ll resolve the dilemma by posting them both, back-to-back, because each of them made me smile for different reasons. Have a great weekend folks, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.


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Saturday Matinee – Good, Bad & the Ugly Showdown, Wildebeest, Iron Butterfly, Stan Kenton, Bunny Berigan & Jimmy Dorsey

Aside from the more serious rhetorical oratory of the GOP Convention (previously discussed on The Blogmocracy and elsewhere) Clint Eastwood’s performance was the perfect break. It would have been the perfect warm up act for any candidate running against Obama, and he nailed it. Addressing the Empty Chair:

“What do you want me to tell Romney?
[…]
I can’t tell him to do that.
I can’t tell him to do that to himself.”

He nailed it with wit, timing, and sarcastic humor. He’s an actor who knows how to ad lib when the situation requires it. How much of his presentation was scripted and how much was off-the-cuff doesn’t matter. It worked.

Now on to more lighthearted fun.

via Chiqui.

Papa Strutts had an unfortunate adventure recently that required us to donate most of his belongings. Among those was a vinyl record collection that included this:

I didn’t have that classic album. While I was collecting Zappa, Papa Strutts was collecting Aerosmith, and he was way ahead of me on jazz.

There’s some classic Stan Kenton, composing with bizarre rhythms and intentional dissonance. Yet he owed a great deal to his predecessors, like Jimmy Dorsey & Bunny Berigan.

Who was also  influenced by Red Nichols:

The interesting part of music, and jazz in particular, is that there is no single musician who can take claim for any particular classic. Everything is derivative until someone like Miles Davis comes along and rearranges the blocks.

Have a great weekend folks, and maybe we’ll rearrange some blocks tomorrow.