Radio 4: 11:30 Tue 14 Feb 2017
Jazzed Up: How Jazz changed Britain
Jazzed Up: How Jazz changed Britain
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My life, each morning when I dress, is four and twenty hours less. (J Richardson) -
Thanks Pianorak.Originally posted by Pianorak View Post
Had you not drawn attention to this I would have missed it. I've only just now seen it here. Anything on R4 not highlighted in RT for special attention escapes my attention, I'm afraid. -
There's a repeat on Radio 4 on Saturday 18th Feb at 3.30pm(just before JRR).Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post
JRComment
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Indeed so - and this excellent programme is a 3-parter, part 2 a week today should be available by clicking on the link below after the broadcast:Originally posted by Jazzrook View Post
They've certainly done their homework for this - even managing to find a clip from a woman vividly recalling the experience of being at one of the ODJB's performances at the Hammersmith Palais in 1919.Comment
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I caught the end of the programme about Ken Johnson and will be listening the programme later on line. The Ken Johnson band has always been something of a disappointment for me because they were reputedly brilliant but their records are not too numerous and include a lot of pop material from the day with vocals by Al Bowlly who I find to be awful and enough to make you even think fondly of Adele! He seems to be amazingly incongruous singing in a big band that had aspirations to match the great Harlem bands of the day. I seem to recall hearing a version of "Tuxedo Junction" which was very good but I always wish they had recorded a greater body of work and one which better reflected their quest to be the greatest jazz orchestra in the country. There are some settings of Shakespeare that I can recall hearing too and, as much as I like the Bard, I would have much preferred this band to be belting out a blues!
The one question that I always want to know was what happened to all the scores this band played. Were they all lost in the air raid and I wonder if anyone has ever considered trying to perform their jazz repertoire and maybe resurrect Johnson's repertoire. I believe that there is a proportion of arrangements held in places like the Library of Congress in the States where access can be gained to jazz orchestrations of historic importance and it would be nice to know that something similar might exist in the UK to allow Johnson's band to be restored to it's true and proper reputation.Comment
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Many thanks for link PianorakOriginally posted by Pianorak View Post
good start -enjoyed personal reminiscences - but reserve judgement until I have heard rest of the series.Comment
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I just chanced across it switching on R4 halfway through the programme. Unlike R3, marking up R4 programmes isn't exactly top of the list.
My life, each morning when I dress, is four and twenty hours less. (J Richardson)Comment
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