Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys - MGM 10645 (1950)

Here's the story behind this one...

Hank Williams v, g / Jerry Rivers fiddle / Don Helms steel g / Bob McNett elec g / Jack Shook rg / Ernie Newton sb.

Recorded on January 9, 1950.

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra - Brunswick 3987 (1928)

Hands down, my favorite personality in all of jazz is Johnny Hodges. The unmistakable sound of his alto is otherworldly.

Although he had stints with Lloyd Scott, Sidney Bechet, Lucky Roberts and Chick Webb, he didn't record until he joined Ellington’s orchestra.

Here we have his debut recordings from 1928.

Bubber Miley, Arthur Whetsel, Louis Metcalf t / Joe Nanton tb / Barney Bigard cl, ts / Johnny Hodges cl, as, ss / Harry Carney cl, as / Duke Ellington p / Fred Guy bj / Wellman Braud sb / Sonny Greer d.

Recorded in New York on June 25, 1928.

Cab Calloway & His Orchestra - Perfect 15531 (1931)

Cab Calloway v, dir / Edwin Swayzee, Lammar Wright, Reuben Reeves t / De Priest Wheeler, Harry White tb / Arville Harris cl, as / Andrew Brown bcl, ts / Walter Thomas as, ts, bar, f / Morris White bj / Jimmy Smith bb, sb / Leroy Maxey d.

Recorded in New York on October 12, 1931.

1931 Newspaper Clipping

Blanche Calloway & Her Joy Boys / Mckinney's Cotton Pickers - Victor 22736 (1931 & 1929)

Joe Keyes t / Edgar Battle t, a / Clarence Smith t / Alton Moore, Herb Alvis tb / Booker Pittman cl, as / Leroy Hardy as / Ben Webster ts / Clyde Hart p / Andy Jackson bj, g / Joe Durham bb / Cozy Cole d / Blanche Calloway v.

Recorded in Camden on June 11, 1931.

1931 Newspaper Clipping

Don Redman cl, as, bar, a, dir / Joe Smith, Sidney de Paris, Leonard Davis t / Claude Jones tb / Benny Carter cl, as / Coleman Hawkins, Theodore McCord cl, ts / Fats Waller, p, cel / Dave Wilborn bj / Billy Taylor bb / Kaiser Marshall d.

Recorded in Chicago on November 7, 1929.

1929 Newspaper Clipping

Bud Jackson's Swanee Serenaders (Fess Williams) - Brunswick 3351 (1926)

Fess Williams cl, as, dir / George Temple t / David 'Jelly' James tb / Perry Smith cl, ts / Henry Duncan p / Ollie Blackwell bj / Ralph Bedell d.

Recorded in New York on October 1, 1926.

1926 Newspaper Clipping

Dizzy Gillespie & His Orchestra - Musicraft 447 (1946)

I always like to point out Tar Heel references when it comes to jazz musicians and recordings but I can't quite do it with John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie...he was born JUST below the North Carolina border in Cheraw, South Carolina.

I can, however, connect Cheraw to my family as my grandparents eloped in Cheraw just a few years before these sides were recorded.

Dizzy Gillespie t, dir / Dave Burns, Talib Dawud, Elmon Wright, John Lynch t / Alton Moore, Leon Comegys, Gordon Thomas tb / John Brown, Howard Johnson as / James Moody, Warren Luckey ts / Sol 'Pee Wee' Moore bar / Milt Jackson vib / John Lewis p / Ray Brown sb / Kenny Clarke d.

Recorded in New York on July 9, 1946.

Dizzy Gillespie t, dir / Dave Burns, Elmon Wright, Matthew McKay, John Lynch t / Alton Moore, Joe 'Taswell' Baird, Gordon Thomas tb / John Brown, Scoops Carry as / James Moody, Bill Frazier ts / Sol 'Pee Wee' Moore bar / Milt Jackson vib / John Lewis p / Ray Brown sb / Joe Harris d.

Recorded in New York on November 12, 1946.

1946 Newspaper Clipping