Fourth of July Present

Fourth of July Present

Fifty Shades of Baby

I know I said a year ago or more that I would not share any more demos from my next album, but I changed my mind. Here’s a rough mix of “Baby Knows.” I had a recording session yesterday and brought in a sax player. I love what he did. i think you will too.

On The Threshold of Freedom

On The Threshold of Freedom

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

{frisco} A Playlist From Hal Smith To Accompany His Interview On Lu Watters’ Yerba Buena Jazz Band

{frisco} A Playlist From Hal Smith To Accompany His Interview On Lu Watters’ Yerba Buena Jazz Band

LISTEN TO THE EPISODE AT FRISCO: THE SECRET HISTORY.

Yesterday, I published wherein I interviewed drummer and jazz historian Hal Smith. We discussed the music scene in San Francisco in the 30s and 40s and how one man, Lu Watters and his band The Yerba Buena Jazz Band, saved traditional jazz after the emergence of swing music.

I asked him for a playlist our listeners. He provided this list of songs and youtube links with extensive commentary. Thank you, Hal!

{frisco} 27—Lu Watters and his Yerba Buena Jazz Band Save Trad Jazz, An Interview With Hal Smith

Click here to listen to the episode.

In this episode, I interview drummer and jazz historian Hal Smith. We discuss the music scene in San Francisco in the 30s and 40s and how one man, Lu Watters and his band The Yerba Buena Jazz Band, saved traditional jazz after the emergence of swing music. The musicians, the clubs, and how an girlfriend’s irate father with a pistol put Lu and his band on the front page, launching their career. 

All in all, fascinating story!

One Man’s Opinion Of Moonlight

Pop Down The Years