Celebrate Music: Two Quick Picks

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If you’ve been to the library, its webpage, or its social media presence lately, you’ve probably noticed that our Black History month theme, Celebrate Music, is in full effect throughout the library system. With so many great sounds floating around, it can be difficult to pick just one to explore, so here’s a sampler duet of music-related materials you might enjoy.

Starting at Zero, Jimi Hendrix. Alan Douglas (his producer) and filmmaker Peter Neal took it upon themselves to edit letters, interviews, random napkin scribbles, and other writings Hendrix left behind into a coherent, poetic facsimile of an autobiography. As he walks us through his early life, time in the Army, and first forays into musicianship, Hendrix reveals himself to be a thoughtful, passionate young man with a vision larger than his abilities could express. After leaving for England and becoming part of the scene there, his writing grows more confident and sure, and his dedication to his practice begins to produce the results of those wild, extraordinary visions. Reading this book will make you want to sit down and listen through the entire Hendrix catalog again (we can help you with that), and wonder what rock music would be like today if he had lived even a little longer. The book’s companion website is equally stunning, too.

Kansas City Lightning, Stanley Crouch. Turning from the Screaming Eagle, we go back through time to the man called Bird and the musical community that nurtured and influenced him. Crouch’s book, the first of a two-part biography of Charlie Parker, mingles tales from the musician’s childhood and growth to maturity with the stories of the men who became his mentors, comrades and rivals, a list that includes–but is not limited to–Lester Young, Chu Berry, Buster Smith, Jay McShann, and Walter Brown.  This alone would have been terrific, but Crouch takes it a step further and a generation back to paint the entire portrait of the Kansas City jazz scene, with such luminaries as Count Basie, Bennie Moten, and Walter Page and their legendary bands. If this book doesn’t keep you hopping back and forth between the page and the library catalog–and/or YouTube–you might want to check to see if you still have a pulse, because this book swings. Hard.

It’s really difficult to pick just two musicians to talk about when your choices range from Jelly Roll Morton to Janelle Monae, but I’ve always been partial to jazz and classic rock. Luckily, other library workers throughout the Carnegie system have created a dazzling array of music-related programs, including a screening of ROCKSTEADY: The Roots of Reggae on 2/18/14,  that explores your full range of choices. Which African American musical artists are you celebrating this month?

–Leigh Anne

Girl Singers

When I was a teenager, I came upon a record album in my parents’ huge LP collection, along with some cassette tapes and even some eight tracks. It was a Reader’s Digest multi-record album called The Swing Years. I can’t recall what made me pick it up and put it on the turntable but, when I did, it immediately made me smile. I soon became familiar with many of the great big bandleaders as well as their lead singers. I even got to hear (and meet!) Tex Beneke, Helen Forrest, Ray Eberle, and Helen O’Connell when they performed at the local summer music venues where I lived.  I even have a friend who plays trombone in one. To this day, swing and big band music hold a special place in my heart.

But what fascinated me most were the girl singers, those glamorous female singers who fronted the bands in a gorgeous dress.

Here were some of the big ones in no particular order:

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• Jo Stafford: beginning with the Pied Pipers , she progressed to lead singer for Tommy Dorsey’s band before launching a solo career with her husband, arranger Paul Weston.
• Peggy Lee: she got her start with Benny Goodman before embarking on a solo career. Lee was also a songwriter, composer, and arranger.
• Helen Forrest: this powerhouse sang with three of the biggest big bands ever: Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, AND Harry James before going solo and dueting with crooner Dick Haymes in the late 1940s. Juicy tidbit: she was in love with Harry James before he fell for film star, Betty Grable.
• Connie Haines: Tommy Dorsey’s girl singer with the Pied Pipers before Frank Sinatra eclipsed them all.
• Helen O’Connell: the lead girl singer for Jimmy Dorsey’s band, Tommy’s brother. Incidentally, Jimmy Dorsey’s lead male singer was Bob Eberly, Ray Eberle’s older brother (who sang with Glenn Miller).
• Ginny Simms: also a minor film star (she starred with Abbott & Costello in Hit the Ice), she sang with Kay Kyser and Woody Herman.
• Anita O’Day: “The Jezebel of Jazz” sang with many bands including Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, and Gene Krupa.
• Doris Day: Long before she became a huge film star and, later, an animal activist, Day sang in Les Brown and His Band of Renown.
• Marion Hutton: This Hutton was chosen over her erratic sister Betty to sing with the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

-Maria, with thanks to my co-worker, Tim, for previously mentioning FM 90.5 Rhythm Sweet & Hot, which plays music of the swing era on Saturdays from 6-8pm.