I’m your Uncle Marty as The 3D RadioActivity reaches number 488, where we’ll drill down into the most superlative music for the third time. Martha Stewart might say, “it’s a good thing”, we’re going beyond those tangibles that are far more than superior, they’re The BEST. Get your helmet ready for next time as we take the RadioActivity […]
Song Of The Day – “Streamline” by Artie Shaw
“Benny Goodman played clarinet, I played music.” Such was the animosity between the two main clarinet-playing band leaders during the height of the big band era. While both musicians were exemplary, Artie Shaw was far more inventive in his soloing, composition style, use of instrumentation and crucially, in the arena of arrangements. Shaw held a […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Bruca Manigua” by Ibrahim Ferrer
He became the bolero king of Cuba…forty years into his recording career. From his humble beginnings, orphaned at age twelve and forced to busk on the streets singing to survive, to becoming the Grammy-winning “Nat King Cole of Cuba,” Ferrer’s story is indeed a tale of rags to riches, but he wasn’t alone and shared […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Long Yellow Road” by Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band
Contrary to popular belief, the Big Band Era didn’t end in the 1950s when the popularity for the form diminished in sales. Big bands have continued throughout time and still exist today. One of the premier big bands of the mid-to-late 1970s was the Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band. The group released a clutch of […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Swinging On A Star” by Bing Crosby
This Academy Award winner for Best Original Song was composed by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke for the 1944 film “Going My Way” in which Bing Crosby plays a priest. The song’s genesis came out of a meeting at Crosby’s house between him and Van Heusen to discuss music for the film. Crosby son […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Seven Come Eleven” by Charlie Christian w/ The Benny Goodman Sextet
The world of music is scattered with “what ifs,” such as “What if Waylon Jennings didn’t give his seat up to Buddy Holly on the ill-fated flight that took his life?,” or “What if John Lennon hadn’t been murdered…would there have been a Beatles reunion?” One of the more intriguing what-ifs in my book is […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Get Happy” by Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
This gem comes from relatively early in Benny Goodman’s career. He had only begun leading a big band a year or two earlier and he was beginning to make a name for himself and feel his first brushes with success while performing at and broadcasting from the Palomar Ballroom in Hollywood on the “Let’s Dance” […]
Song Of The Day – “Everybody Step” by Chick Webb & His Orchestra featuring Ella Fitzgerald
Chick Webb was known as “The King of the Savoy” where he and his orchestra would regularly win battles of music against the other leading big bands of the day including Benny Goodman. He stood tall amongst big band drummers even though his diminutive frame was only a tad over four feet tall. Can you […]
Song of the Day by Eric Berman – “She’s A Great, Great Girl” by Roger Wolfe Kahn & His Orchestra with Jack Teagarden
Singer, trombonist, Jack Teagarden, came from a musical family. His mother taught piano, his father was an amateur trumpeter and his siblings were also professional musicians. “The Big T” sang like he played trombone very lyrically and infused with the blues. During the 1920s he collaborated with the cream of the Jazz crop including Bix […]
Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Clink! Clink! Another Drink” by Spike Jones and his City Slickers
Spike Jones and His City Slickers were among the many performers showcased in “Soundies,” short musical films designed to be played in special jukeboxes. In “Clink! Clink! Another Drink” (1942), Del Porter leads the chorus and there’s a featured vocal by Mel Blanc, the voice of many legendary cartoon characters (including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, […]
