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 time, he had started playing at picnics and also in many parades around town. Long after his boy’s home stay, Louis used to return every year to the home to play and to spread his own kind of joy. He always remembered Peter Davis and all kids at the boy’s home his mentor ahs helped and continue to help.

Armstrong started recording his “Hot Five” and “Hot Seven” sessions in the mid 1920’s, which became legendary in his later years. He recorded his first album under his own name, with a title of “My Heart” which was released in 1925 on November 12th. For about three years or so, Armstrong decided to stay in Chicago recording and composing a number of music albums that made him one of the most popular artists worldwide.

Later in It was from that day till the mid 1940’s, that Louis stuck to playing with a big band. He was then thought of as pop singer tag after he released a number of songs that topped the pop charts, compared to his other songs in other genres such blues or instrumental songs.

Louis Armstrong is considered as the first greatest soloist in trumpet in jazz music because of his attitude in doing what he loved to do the most, which also made people happy in sharing and feeling the true music from heart of a true musician.

Good news everyone, I’ve been paid for that last copywriting job that I did, you all know what that implies, it’s about time to hit the mall and pick up that new set of running clothing that I have been waiting to get. Steve, are you up for a treck into London this weekend?

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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 of the most popular jazz bands in America, Benny Goodman is responsible for launching the careers of several jazz greats. Most notably, the ‘King of Swing’ formed the first racially-integrated band at a time when color segregated most of America.

Born to poor Jewish immigrants in Chicago, Illinois, Benny was the ninth of the twelve children of David and Dora Goodman. From the age of 10, Benny’s father encouraged him and his older brothers to take music lessons at the Kehelah Jacob Synagogue. Soon, Benny was in a member of the boy’s club band at Jane Addams'Hull House, where he received lessons from James Sylvester, the director of Hull House. Franz Schoepp, a classically trained clarinetist also continued to instruct Goodman for two years. In his early years, Goodman was influenced by New Orleans jazz clarinetists that included Johnny Dodds and Jimmy Noone. Benny was good enough to turn pro at the age of 16 and joined the Ben Pollack Orchestra which led to his first recording sessions in 1926. This was the beginning of remarkable transformation of a child from the Jewish ghetto to the ‘King of Swing’.

Goodman is responsible for bringing jazz into the commercial mainstream. Lionel Hampton and Teddy Wilson were the first among Benny’s band members to break the color barrier. Moreover, Benny’s charisma and personality did wonders to hold them together as the band went from coast to coast gathering a large fan base. During the 1920s and 1930s Goodman played with bands led by Ben Selvin, and Red Nichols, among others. He got his own band together in 1934, where they played their first gig on an NBC radio program called LET’S DANCE. From then on, it was Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, the beginning of a never ending journey for the group. His 1938 performance at Carnegie Hall turned out to be the best-selling jazz albums of all time.

Benny Goodman’s secret of success can be attributed to his ability to play a popular dance-repertoire for a living and at the same time practice jazz improvisations and western classical music. This gave him a deep understanding of musical freedom, discipline, and a commercial appeal as well. The Swing era gave way to bebop, which saw a decline in big band as well. Benny still continued to weave magic with his clarinet and formed a number of big bands. Fletcher Henderson, Gene Krupa, Stan Getz, Peggy Lee, have all had the distinction of performing with the “King of Swing”. His love for the clarinet made him appear as a clarinet soloist in western classical ensembles in his later years, where he commissioned works from Bela Bartok, Paul Hindemith, and Aaron Copland. Goodman continued to tour in the 1960s and 1970s, until the early 1980s, before his death in New York on 13 June 1986. His music will always bring back sweet memories of a bygone era, and will continue to enthrall audiences young and old for many more decades.

Attention Holiday goers, I have finally been able to figure out what everyone is going to owe me for the Touring caravan insurance for our holiday this spring. Please try and get this to me by Wednesday so I can get it sorted out before we are ready to leave.

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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 as Bob Dylan or create something truly psychedelic. His talents spanned many different genres and he was quite at home making music with strong Jazz undertones or catchy Pop tunes.

His first achievement, that was to catch the attention of the masses, was his 1966 album, ‘Sunshine Superman’. If you have never listened to the music of Donovan then this is a great place to start off. ‘Sunshine Superman’ is a brilliant showcase of his song-writing skills and it has some beautiful tracks on it. For me, songs such as ‘Guinevere’, ‘Celeste’, Season of the Witch’ and the album’s title track are still amongst his best work. Other songs from his repertoire that are worth hunting down include; ‘Hurdy Gurdy Man’, ‘Catch the Wind’, ‘Mellow Yellow’ and ‘Lalena’.

He may now be 63 years old, but Donovan shows no signs of calling it a day. He still goes out on tour regularly and is involved in several different projects, both with other musicians and people such as David Lynch.

They do not make singer-songwriters like Donovan Leitch anymore. Whichever segment of his 46 year recording career you choose to look into you can be guaranteed to find some amazing and truly beautiful songs. Whoever it was that dubbed him as being ‘The Poor Man’s Dylan’ all those years ago was incredibly narrow minded and irrefutably tone deaf.

By the way, I just looked up this great business who agreed to give us a good discount on the Packaging Solutions for the new band. Whats the general opinion!

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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 Name’.

Jim had turned his back on music several years before. He had become very disillusioned with the whole thing and had sold all of his guitars except for one. During this interim period he had taken a job as a truck driver and had also done some construction work. When he finally did get back into recording music again, many of his songs were written about the people with whom he had worked.

The ‘big time’ had been a very near thing for Jim Croce. His songs had got better and he was becoming better known all the time. When he boarded the doomed light aircraft with several of his companions he had been playing a concert less than an hour before. The plane crashed because it failed to gain enough altitude at the end of the runway; there was only one tree in the area and Jim’s plane found it.

Jim Croce may be gone but his music will always remain. He has been a big influence on musicians from all kinds of different genres; even Freddie Mercury wrote a song about him for Queen’s ‘Sheer Heart Attack’. His music still sounds just as good today as it did when he first wrote it. Jim Croce’s songs have got a timeless quality about them and his gentle voice is like that of an old friend.

Just a bit of news before I run, my slightly quirky boss is on this whole kick about a day of team building ideas london. Turns out in a couple of weeks time I will be expanding upon long-lasting work based relationships with all of the people that I go to the office with. Wish me luck everyone (at least I get a paid trip)!

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Before I begin, everyone check out this Enigin Scam blog, they are really great and need your support!

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 great bands around today but the music of years past will always be very special. Songs such as; ‘ A Whiter Shade of Pale’, ‘Imagine’, ‘Unchained Melody’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ will never sound old. In fact, you can’t really envision anyone managing to write anything now that has the same timeless and immortal quality about it. Those kinds of songs were magical and everything at the time of their conception was in the right place. You cannot make yourself sit down and write something that is on par with ‘Bridge over Troubled Water’.

Be honest, when you think about the music of today can you really imagine it having the same amount of magic about it in another thirty years’ time? Coldplay, for example, are an excellent band; but even brilliant songs like, ‘Yellow’, ‘Clocks’, ‘The Scientist’ and ‘Fix You’ will not have the same class about them in years to come (no offence Chris Martin).

There will never be another Beatles; Elvis will not rise again and The Bee Gees cannot be replaced. When we refer to ‘Retro’ music we may as well be talking about ‘Magic’ music. The old Blues songs such as, ‘Smokestack Lightning’, ‘Mannish Boy’ and ‘I Put a Spell on You’ are snapshots of an Age that will never come about again.

You cannot recreate the Roman Empire, even if you want to.

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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 young to rediscover and connect with the musical roots of their country. Instead of showing them something new, the album actually put them in touch with the past.

As soon as it opens with, ‘Box of Rain’ you know exactly what you are going to get. It is an album that is easy to listen to and full of sentiment, gentle humour and warmth. Many of the tracks became The Grateful Dead’s most famous songs. ‘Sugar Magnolia’ and ‘Ripple’ had to be in each of their live performances afterward; if not, then it would probably have resulted in there being a riot!

The album featured some beautiful slide guitar and wonderful harmonies; ‘Attics of My Life’ and ‘Brokedown Palace’ are both totally sublime as far as vocals go. ‘Candyman’ is probably the only moment on the album where something a little less savoury is touched upon but even this is done a way that makes it sound supremely cool.

‘American Beauty’ is very much an album to listen to in the summer. Gerry Garcia’s lazy vocals and ultra-laidback pedal steel guitar gives every song a sunny, dreamy feel and it will leave you feeling pretty chilled out yourself. The 1970s gave us several records with this type of sound and atmosphere but there is something a little special about ‘American Beauty’.

And one last thing before I go, I have just found a really great blog on Enigin. It has all sorts of innovative energy saving suggestions and campaigns, and some pretty enjoyable posts as well! You should all check it out!

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‘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’ songs and ‘Tea for the Tillerman’ is a showcase for a lot of his most famous ones. ‘Hard Headed Woman’, ‘Wild World’, ‘Father and Son’, ‘Into White’ and ‘Sad Lisa’ are all tracks that you may well have heard, even if you didn’t realise it.

Cat Stevens has always written beautiful songs and many of them are about searching for an answer. This gives them a magical quality and along with amazing production, an emotionally expressive voice and the back-up of the brilliant Alun Davies. With components like these you are guaranteed to be onto a winner. Cat Stevens’ lyrics are pure poetry and his voice is warm and distinctive. When he sings about finding meaning you get the strong impression that he is an old friend who will take your hand and help you in your search.

The music of Cat Stevens is unique; there is no-one else in the same category. This is because Cat Stevens invented his own category. Even today there is no-one else like Cat Stevens; the only songs that can give you any of the same feelings are the ones he now writes, under the name of Yusuf Islam.

‘Tea for the Tillerman’ is a record that everyone should hear. It is a collection of hauntingly beautiful songs that will reach right inside of you and touch your heart.

Final thing, I have just found a really illuminating blog on Enigin. It has all sorts of innovative energy saving ideas and promotions, and some pretty humorous posts as well! You should all check it out!

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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 good at but if I had been around in the Rock and Roll era then I’d have had a damn good go! It looked like brilliant fun and you still get a lot of people who do it in special clubs today. The whole imagery (particularly in America) was so cool; the cars, the suits and the women’s dresses. It must have been absolutely brilliant at the time and really exciting to be a part of it all.

Songs like; ‘Crying in the Rain’, ‘Unchained Melody’, ‘C’mon Everybody’, ‘Sea of Love’ and ‘Blue Moon’ will never sound dated. There is something immortal about the old songs that were recorded back then. Rock and Roll music also had a lot of romance about it; the fifties and early sixties was probably about the last period when women were still looked at respectfully.

It is a shame that those days have been and gone but the songs will always be here. Without Rock and Roll the music of today would never have existed; it formed the groundwork for many of the styles that are now so familiar to us all. Without the music of the fifties we would not have Rock, R and B, Punk, Metal or any offshoots of these genres.

Speaking of which, I have finally been able to figure out what everyone is going to owe me for the Touring caravan insurance quote for our trip to Graceland this month. Please try and get this to me by Thursday so I can get it squared away before we are ready to leave.

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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 styles… Singers such as Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Lightning Hopkins and Howlin’ Wolf had a huge impact on singers that came along in the following years. The Rolling Stones, for example, started out as singing Blues. Even when they became more stylised with their songs the Blues influence is very apparent.

Many bands in the sixties were inspired by the Blues sound. The Yardbirds, Fleetwood Mac, The Animals, Cream and The Beatles all felt the pull of The Blues. There is some wonderful footage of Muddy Waters performing some of his songs with The Rolling Stones. People like Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin all took Blues to the next level by fusing it with Rock and Psychedelia. Of course, the evolution of Blues did not stop there. By the time that the nineties came along, bands such as Nirvana used it to create the Grunge sound.

Blues is one of music’s rawest and most basic of styles; it comes from the heart and it is earthy and full of emotion. It is also one of music’s most influential of styles. Blues did not all change into other genres; it also stayed the same. Even today there are still hundreds of new singers and guitarists who choose to stick to the authentic Blues sound for their songs.

Just a bit of news just before I run away, my insane boss is on this whole kick about a day of team building events in london. It would seem that in a couple of weeks time I will be progressing towards deep-rooted work based relationships with all of the people that I go to the office with. Wish me luck everyone (at least I get a paid trip)!

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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 the end of the fifties he had resorted to recording music for television commercials. Things had taken a rather grim turn and times were hard.

However, by the start of the 60’s, Matt had a few lucky twists of fate. Having done a song for Peter Sellers he was fortunate enough to come into contact with a certain George Martin… Over the next few years things would dramatically change for the better.

The first big hit for Matt Monro was, ‘Portrait of my Love’. It reached number three in the singles chart and there were more great songs to follow. ‘My Kind of Girl‘and ‘Softly as I Leave You’ continued Matt’s rise to fame and in 1963 he recorded the title track for the Bond film, ‘From Russia with Love’.

By now ‘The Swinging Bus Driver’ was becoming extremely popular. He continued to record many other great tracks such as; ‘Autumn Leaves’, ‘Born Free’ (another soundtrack), ‘Yesterday’ and ‘Walk Away’.

In 1977, Matt recorded the melancholy, ‘If I Never Sing another Song’. This had a real sadness about it as he is singing about the success he had known in his younger days.

Matt Monro died from liver cancer in 1985. He had continued to tour right up to his death.

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I have exciting news, the Fashion PR firm called back. Interview tomorrow, everyone wish me luck. I am thinking that I am going to wear my 1960s dress to it as inspired by Mr. Monro… Good Call?

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