One of the major American composers of the last 100 years is New Yorker Salvatore Antonio Guaragna (1893-1981). His more than 800 compositions include such songs as ”At Last” and “That’s Amore.” Under the name Harry Warren, he also wrote the song that became the first gold record in history: “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” as well as one of the 25 most performed songs of the 20th century: “I Only Have Eyes For You.”

In 1936, jazz band leader/composer/arranger/conductor Joe Haymes was billed as “smooth,” “smart” and “sophisticated” as well as “one of the creators of modern swing.” For more than five years Haymes had weekly radio broadcast with his Columbia Broadcasting Orchestra, consisting of five brass, three saxophones and four rhythm.

Last Thursday, I posted Mary Lou Williams and Paul Webster’s 1938 composition “What’s Your Story, Morning Glory,” which must have sounded familiar to a lot of jazz fans. For the melody that was composed a decade later by Pennsylvanian Joseph Francis “Sonny“ Burke (1914-1980) and became known as the jazz standard “Black Coffee,” was based on this melody.

Last fall, Thisbe Vos was planning to visit her family in the Netherlands. But then the Corona crisis and social distancing intervened. So instead of bringing Thisbe to Laren at Easter, I’d like to bring Laren to her instead.

Before Pennsylvania-born trumpet player Roy Eldridge (1911-1989) joined Gene Krupa's band as a featured soloist, he fronted his own bands in Chicago and New York. From New York City he broadcasted regularly from the Arcadia, a dancing hall on 52nd and 53rd streets.

Walking along the high street of the town where I live, I was looking at all the Valentine's Day displays in the shops and wondered who or what was in the hearts of 1930s musicians. Louis Armstrong was quit clear about this when he once said "That trumpet comes before everything -- even my wife! That's why I married four times. The chicks didn't live with the horn. They got too carried away, all but the last [Lucille]."

Next to "Ain't Misbehavin' ", "Honeysuckle Rose" was Fats Waller and Andy Razaf's most successful song. Fats made the original Victor recording in 1934 and this soundie was produced in 1941.

90 Years ago -- on January 24, 1930 -- a group of six jazz musicians, who were all in their twenties, went into the Vocalion recording studio in Chicago, Illinois, to record two tunes. The Cellar Boys first waxed Lewis composition “Wailing Blues.”

At the beginning of January 1938, Count Basie and his band members had a busy traveling schedule. On New Year’s Day they played at a dance at the Roseroom in Boston, Massachusetts. Then on January 2 -- 82 years ago today -- they swung it out at a dance in Hamilton Park, Waterbury, Connecticut. The next day they were back at the Decca Studio in New York City for their first recording session of 1938. Remember that by this time Basie had made less than 30 records under his own name. This is “Georgiana” with fine tenor solo work by Lester Young.

Within a few days a huge amount of money will be spent on firework displays all over the world to celebrate the beginning of the Twenties. But it will probably be nothing compared to a night in November 1833 when “Stars Fell On Alabama.”

Some of you may have celebrated this Christmas amidst the present Australian heat wave, for others it might have been a cold and rainy holiday season. And maybe you were among the lucky ones who experienced a traditional white Christmas. No matter what the temperature is, always remember “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm.”

60 Years ago today, U.S. newspapers published a column on “Last-Minute Gifts” which Richard Spong wrote for Editorial Research Reports. The 1959 gift suggestions he mentioned varied from “$25,000 Worth of natural crown sable” for the ladies and “a set of cashmere underwear, tops and bottoms, at a mere $115” for the men. In the realm of music, he suggested “you could give the Ella Fitzgerald five-volume Gershwin record album, costing only $100, and probably a better bargain than anything else herein.” Today’s Santa’s can still present a CD-version of the Verve album, or you can listen to it in its entirety on YouTube’s Timeless Music Box channel.

In 1936 Louis Prima wrote “What Will Santa Claus Say?” He recorded it with his New Orleans Gang in Chicago, Illinois, on November 16, 1936.

Eddie Duchin was a very popular “sweet-society” pianist and bandleader from 1933 until his death in 1951. Brian Rust jazz discography says this about Duchin: “As might be expected, his many records are not likely to interest the jazz enthusiast, but the following is exceptional” -- composer Harold Arlen and lyricist Ted Koehler’s 1931 composition “Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea.”

The last great trombone hit record was trombonist Buddy Morrow’s arrangement of Jimmy Forrest’s composition “Night Train,” recorded by Buddy Morrow and his Orchestra for RCA Viktor on April 12, 1952. It sold over a million copies, “although I never earned good money from recording,” Morrow said later.

Pianist Pine Top Smith gained posthumous fame when a decade after composing his “Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie” it was arranged for Tommy Dorsey’s big band by Deane Kincaide. A bestseller in 1938, 1944 and 1945 it became Dorsey’s best-selling record after the war, with over 5 million copies sold.

Earlier this week one of our oldest as well as eldest members, Dutch double bass player and composer Frans Ronday died at the age of 90. Frans always responded to our posts and was active himself on Facebook from time to time, sharing interesting music videos. One of those he especially liked was this bass duet by Ray Brown and Christian McBride in Charlie Parker’s 1945 composition “Now’s The Time.”

“Am I Blue” is one of the great American songbook classics which has been recorded by dozens of jazz musicians and vocalists. New Yorker Harry Akst (1894-1963), of "Dinah" fame, composed the melody in early 1929. On June 17, 1953, Dinah Washington recorded her rendition of this song for her EmArcy album After Hours With Miss “D”.

Spurred on in the 70s by Mary Lou Williams and Erroll Garner, jazz vocalist Sarah Vaughan began to play the piano again during her 80s concerts. Such as during her interpretation of “Once In A While,” a 1937 song by American composer/violinist/organist Michel Edwards (1893-1962) and the Austrian born lyricist Mozes David “Bud” Green (1897-1981) who grew up in Harlem.

In 1986 pianist Teddy Wilson (1912-1986) and seven other American musicians made a tour of Europe with a tribute to Benny Goodman concert. During a performance in Gouda, I was fortunate to be standing pressed to the left side of Mr. Wilson’s piano, looking down on his slender fingers dancing over the 88 keys. During the intermission we talked briefly and when I asked him how he had met Goodman, he nodded in the direction of vibraphonist Red Norvo and said "at a party at his place.” Their introduction to each other took place in the mid Thirties and shortly thereafter Goodman and Wilson made their first trio record together: “After You’ve Gone.”