Clarence Williams was a pianist, songwriter, and publisher. But perhaps his greatest contribution was his entrepreneurial spirit. He led fellow black musicians on hundreds of recordings beginning in the 1920s and in the mid 30s Williams made a series of small group records with a convivial sounding washboard band. We feature them this week on Hot Jazz Saturday Night. Listen from 7 to 10 p.m. on WAMU 88.5. The post Hot Jazz Saturday Night: March 25, 2023 appeared first on WAMU ..read more

This week on Hot Jazz Saturday Night we present musical footnotes to last weeks program on cornetist Bix Beiderbecke. We will hear some recordings that weren’t shared with the public until 2005. We will also hear that great pop classic, “She’s A Very Good Friend of a Friend of Good Friend of Mine.” Listen from 7 to 10 p.m. on WAMU 88.5. The post Hot Jazz Saturday Night: March 18, 2023 appeared first on WAMU ..read more

This week on Hot Jazz Saturday Night our focus is on revered cornetist Bix Beiderbecke. Songwriter Hoagie Carmichael once famously described his tone as mallots striking a chime. While playing with orchestra leader, Paul Whiteman, Bix was making small group recordings with sidemen from the Whiteman band under his own leadership — Bix and his Gang — and also continuing to record with Whiteman colleague, C-melody saxophonist, Frankie Trumbauer. Listen from 7 to 10 p.m. on WAMU 88.5. The post Hot Jazz Saturday Night: March 11, 2023 appeared first on WAMU ..read more

On Hot Jazz Saturday Night we play original recordings of jazz, swing, blues, and dance music from the 1920s to the 1940s every Saturday night. And this week is no different. Listen from 7 to 10 p.m. on WAMU 88.5.   The post Hot Jazz Saturday Night: March 4, 2023 appeared first on WAMU ..read more

In 1957, pianist Count Basie signed with the Roulette label, entering what came to be known colloquially as Basie’s atomic era fronting the Atomic Era edition of his band. Many Basie followers consider his five years recording for Roulette as one of the peaks in the band’s long history. Listen from 7 to 10 p.m. on WAMU 88.5. The post Hot Jazz Saturday Night: February 25, 2023 appeared first on WAMU ..read more

Writer Linda Dahl writes that pianist Mary Lou Williams’ playing sometimes reached a level of “nervous passion” lending an edginess and abruptness to her music. Such as the day after she trained from Memphis fighting off a lecherous conductor the entire way. Williams was one of the most gifted early women keyboard composers and arrangers; we profile her this week on Hot Jazz Saturday Night. Listen from 7 to 10 p.m. on WAMU 88.5. The post Hot Jazz Saturday Night: February 18, 2023 appeared first on WAMU ..read more

When we think of songwriter who wrote both music and lyrics, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter should come immediately to mind. However, Walter Donaldson also frequently wrote both. You know his songs better than you think – “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby,” “My Buddy,” “You’re Driving Me Crazy” and plenty more. We could easily fill an evening with Donaldson’s songs and we will on this week’s Hot Jazz Saturday Night.. Listen from 7 to 10 p.m. on WAMU 88.5. The post Hot Jazz Saturday Night: February 11, 2023 appeared first on WAMU ..read more

This week, we explore one of the great collegial relationships in jazz – between tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins and trumpeter Henry “Red” Allen. It’s a partnership that happens in two great bursts separated by a quarter century, first with Fletcher Henderson in 1933, and then when both were working together in New York at the Café Metropole in 1957-1958. Thankfully, it was captured on record and television. The post Hot Jazz Saturday Night: February 4, 2023 appeared first on WAMU ..read more

In the mid-1940s, pianist Art Hodes led and participated on a series of sessions for the Blue Note label. His associates on these recording dates included Sidney Bechet, Max Kaminsky, Vic Dickenson, Baby Dodds and many less well-known musicians, including trombonist George Lugg and clarinetist Bujie Centobie. Listen from 7 to 10 p.m. on WAMU 88.5. The post Hot Jazz Saturday Night: January 28, 2023 appeared first on WAMU ..read more

The Bugle Call Rag is a famous jazz tune, but its composer was not. His name was Jack Pettis, a saxophonist associated with the pioneering New Orleans Rhythm Kings, and who recorded in the late-1920s as Jack Pettis and His Pets. We’ll feature The Pets this week on Hot Jazz Saturday Night. The post Hot Jazz Saturday Night: January 21, 2023 appeared first on WAMU ..read more