The Enigin Pez

Louis Armstrong Jazz Soloist Extraordinaire

Satchmo is the most identifiable jazz player and he is renowned for his great music on trumpet solos and vocals. Louis Armstrong, the real name of Satchmo, was born on the 4th of August 1901. Armstrong was sent to a boy’s home when he was just twelve years old. He was with other boys firing a gun in the air. At the home under the guidance of Peter Davis the caretaker, Armstrong learned how to handle the cornet. In no More

Why Benny Goodman is The King of Swing

Jazz lovers would be familiar with Carnegie Hall, which has the distinction of hosting jazz greats for almost a century. Among those greats was Benjamin David Goodman, fondly known as Benny Goodman by jazz lovers. The American jazz musician, bandleader, and clarinetist, was aptly titled as ‘King of Swing’, by his followers. Goodman was able to break the barriers of poverty and with his clarinet went on to become the most successful jazz musicians in the Swing Era. Being one More

I’m Just Mad About Donovan.

Anyone who likes the music of the sixties will have at least one Donovan album in their record collection. He was at the forefront of the Hippy scene for a number of years and was popular with many different people. ‘Donovan’ is one of those names which will always go hand in hand with memories of the sixties scene.

But Donovan was not limited to writing music on one particular level. He could pen just as good a protest song More

Don’t Mess Around With Jim.

In 1973, the world lost a wonderful singer-songwriter by the name of Jim Croce. He may have only been here for thirty years, but he managed to record six great studio albums and release eleven brilliant singles.

If he hadn’t of died then Jim Croce would have gone on to become a very successful musician. He will always be best remembered for wonderful tracks such as; ‘Time in a Bottle’, ‘Lover’s Cross’, ‘Bad, Bad Leroy Brown’ and ‘I Got a More

Long Live Retro.

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I don’t know how much I like the term ‘Retro’ when I think about music… The trouble is that it tends to make you feel a little bit old when it means stuff that you grew up with!

Even so, there is no denying that Retro music is a treasure chest that is full of all manner of gems. There are some More

Classic Albums - American Beauty.

The Grateful Dead had already released ‘Workingman’s Dead’ in 1970 so it was a bit of a surprise when it was followed within a few months by ‘American Beauty’. Like its predecessor, the album was a lazy mix of Rock and Roll, Bluegrass, Folk and Country. It would prove to be the greatest record they ever made.

1970 was the height of the Hippy scene in the US; a time when youth wanted change. Rather paradoxically, ‘American Beauty’ helped the More

Classic Albums - Tea For The Tillerman.

‘Tea for the Tillerman’ is one of the best albums of the seventies. Cat Stevens recorded some wonderful songs and it is actually difficult to pick out only one of his albums as a ‘classic’. ‘Mona Bone Jakon’, ‘Teaser and the Firecat’ and ‘Catch Bull at Four’ were all fantastic records; however, ‘Tea for the Tillerman’ is probably the most universally accessible.

Anyone who likes the Folk/Hippy music of the sixties and seventies will have heard many of Cat Stevens’ More

The Golden Age of Rock And Roll.

I have always had a great love for the Rock and Roll music of the fifties and early sixties. There were some wonderful songs around back then and a lot of it was very innocent. There was certainly no shortage of singers and bands to listen to! Such greats as Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, The Marcels, Sam Cooke and, of course, Elvis Presley were all busy churning out hits back then.

Dancing is something that I have never been any More

The Sad Song of The Blues.

The old Bluesmen of America’s Deep South were extremely influential on music. The first Blues originated from several different styles of music, namely; Slave songs, Spirituals and Chants. Many Blues songs tell stories of poverty, hardship, injustice and unemployment. Being black in America was tough and many songs told it how it really was.

If there had been no Blues then there would have been no Rock and Roll. Without Rock and Roll we would never have had many other More

The Songs of Matt Monro.

Out of all the crooners from the old days, Matt Monro has always stood out for me. His songs seemed to have more about them than people like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole.

Matt was born in December 1930 and he was twenty-six when he finally got his big break as a singer. Before this time he had many different jobs including one as a bus driver in London. He experienced only a minor amount of success and by More