Paul Whiteman was one of the biggest selling artists of the 1920s, and led one of the best-loved sweet bands of all time. Sweet bands were society or café orchestras. They played music for listening and as a background for dining and conversing, as opposed to swing bands whose music was the main attraction and played specifically for dancing. Many jazz fans frowned down on … [Read more...] about Song Of The Day – “Rhapsody In Blue” by Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra
Classical
Song Of The Day – “Dance At The Gym” from the Original Soundtrack of “West Side Story” – Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim
Broadway musicals don’t get any better than this! You can keep your Andrew Lloyd Webber with his one song per musical, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim were the real deal! And their musical, West Side Story, has never been bettered. West Side Story was one of the first musicals where dance played as important a role … [Read more...] about Song Of The Day – “Dance At The Gym” from the Original Soundtrack of “West Side Story” – Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim
Song Of The Day – “Aquarium” by Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks has essentially been making the same album since 1968, and fortunately for his fans, that album is a great one. Parks’ fascination with Tin Pan Alley sounds and Depression-Era songwriting has infused his work since the mid-1960s, resulting in albums that sound like original cast recordings from musicals that don’t exist. Over the last two years, Parks … [Read more...] about Song Of The Day – “Aquarium” by Van Dyke Parks
Song Of The Day – “Soulful Strut” by Young-Holt Unlimited
It was a breath of funked out fresh air when “Soulful Strut” hit the charts in 1968, and today the song is one of the most refreshing instrumentals of all time. Eldee Young (bass) and Isaac “Red” Holt (drums) were Chicago musicians who made up the rhythm section for The Ramsey Lewis Trio. After gigging with Lewis for ten years and scoring the monster hit “The In Crowd,” … [Read more...] about Song Of The Day – “Soulful Strut” by Young-Holt Unlimited
Song Of The Day – “The Nutcracker Suite” by Les Brown & His Band Of Renown
The story of The Nutcracker was inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s 'The Nutcracker and the King Of Mice' and was presented to Russian composer, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, by Marius Petipa who was maître de ballet of the Imperial Theater from Dumas. Tchaikovsky was unmoved by the prospect of writing a ballet for the story and was practically strong-armed into doing so. At the same … [Read more...] about Song Of The Day – “The Nutcracker Suite” by Les Brown & His Band Of Renown