Listen To:


Selected MP3s of guitar instrumentals, jazz, big band, and classic easy listening from the original vinyl.

Welcome to Guitars & All That Jazz

Welcome to Guitars & All That Jazz

Guitars & All That Jazz was a radio station that webcast via Live365 for 11 years, ending in June 2011. The playlist consisted of guitar instrumentals, jazz, big band, early rock 'n' roll, lounge music and classic easy listening.

I hope to share some of this music with you via this blog. Most of it will be taken from the original vinyl (LPs and 45s) , cassettes and the occasional commercially unavailable CD.

Here's hoping you'll find something to enjoy. Please note files are available only for a limited time.

I urge you to purchase the digital version of the albums featured, either on CD or via download, wherever possible.

Listen to the Music
There are now two music streams. Click the appropriate player to the right.
1. Guitars & All That Jazz: Five hours of the best in jazz, guitars and other instrumental gems. New songs are added weekly.
2. Tiki Shores: Music to sweep you away to a tropical isle, a South American dance floor or a bossa nova on the beach at Rio. About 4.5 hours of classic exotica music, Latin rhythms and bossa nova.
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Saturday, December 31, 2011

Harry "Sweets" Edison - The Best of Harry Edison




This "best of" for trumpeter Harry "Sweets" Edison, issued in 1980, covers two sessions -- May 5, 1976 and Sept. 22, 1977 -- for the Pablo label. The 1976 session featured Count Basie on piano and both recording dates included tenor saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis.

Ain't Misbehavin' , which you can listen to and download below, has the Count at the keyboard. The MP3 is taken from a cassette copy of the album.

Ain't Misbehavin'

This album has never been available on CD but a 180-gram vinyl reissue has apparently come out in Japan. The Best of Harry Edison is also available from iTunes, but again only in Japan. Go figure.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen - Acapulco 1922



While trumpeter Kenny Ball's one major hit in North America was Midnight in Moscow (#2, Billboard Hot 100, 1962), there were lots of chart successes for Ball and his Jazzmen in their native U.K. Among them was a 1963 cover of Acapulco 1922, the flip side of The Lonely Bull, the first hit for Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass.

The Kenny Ball version hit No. 27 on the British singles chart. The MP3 is taken from a 45.

Acapulco 1922

And from YouTube a Kenny Ball hits medley that includes Acapulco 1922.



Acapulco 1922 is freely available as a digital download from all the usual legal sites (iTunes, Rhapsody, etc.) and has been included in several CD compilations over the years.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Freddy Morgan - Bunch-a-Banjos on Broadway



OK, so banjos aren't your thing -- but give this one a try. It's not nearly as hokey or stupid as the cover implies.

Freddy Morgan comes by his clown face honestly. He was a member of Spike Jones's musical misfits in the 1940 and '50s. Morgan also did voiceovers for radio and TV and was one of the voices on the popular '50s TV show Time For Beany that eventually became Beany and Cecil.

Morgan released several albums under his own name, including Bunch-a-Banjos on Broadway, put out by Liberty Records in 1967. His playing style definitely harkens back to vaudeville and the music halls, but there's also a bit of swing too, as you can hear on You're Just in Love (I Wonder Why) from the 1950 musical Call Me Madam.

You're Just in Love (I Wonder Why)

Copies of this album turn up fairly regularly at online merchants (including HERE). So if this appeals to you, snap one up. Expect to pay $8-12 for a near-mint copy.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Francis Purcell - Guitar Memories


A series of guitar instrumental CDs by one Francis Purcell emerged from Singapore in the early 1990s. Most of these, ranging in quality from very good (Guitar Memories and those subtitled Guitar Indigo stand out) to "avoid at all costs" (several subtitled Guitar Latino fall in this category), have long since been deleted. New and used copies occasionally turn up on Amazon and eBay.

Best of the bunch in my opinion is Guitar Memories. Subtitled Pop Anthology - Hits of Shadows/Ventures, it also contains cover versions of titles by Duane Eddy, Santo and Johnny and the Surfaris, among others.

Below is a link to Purcell's version of Eddy's (Dance With the) Guitar Man.

(Dance With the) Guitar Man

I can find no information on Purcell: no biographical details, nothing. All his recordings appear to be original and digitally recorded and none have been repackaged in any of the uncredited guitar compilations that appear from time to time.

Anyone who has information on Purcell or his recordings, please leave a comment.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Guido Basso - Christmas Today



Yes, I know the holiday season is upon us. But I've got to tell you I'm not a great fan of Christmas tunes.

Be that as it may, may I present a sample of Christmas Today, a 1968 album by Canadian trumpeter Guido Basso and released on RCA's budget Camden label -- presumably only in Canada.

Basso is accompanied by the late Doug Riley on organ on:

White Christmas

The website of the Museum of Canadian Music values this album at $125. You've got to be kidding! If anyone wants to pay that, I'll gladly part with my copy. It cost me all of 25 cents.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Unknown Artists - Studio Sound Orchestra


Where do all those no-name CDs in the discount bins and at the dollar and thrift stores come from? A lot of them (in fact, most of them) originate in Europe -- case in point, the Studio Sound Orchestra's 20 Melodies from Paradise: Romantic Hawaii. It first floated across from the Netherlands in 1989 on both CD and cassette.

Now, most of these anonymous productions aren't even worth the dollar or two you might spend on them. A few are passable and even fewer are worth hearing more than once.

20 Melodies from Paradise happens to be one of the better ones. In fact, it fact it's a pretty good example of the fascination with Hawaiian music in some European countries, notably the Netherlands and Belgium. Such groups as the Waikikis, whose Hawaii Tattoo was a worldwide hit in the 1960s, and the Kilima Hawaiians were widely popular.

In any case, here's a sampling of 20 Melodies from Paradise.

Ajoen, Ajoen

Buyer beware! Much of the material on these anonymous CDS is endlessly recycled, under different titles and even credited to different artists. 20 Melodies from Paradise is also available as Souvenirs from Hawaii. The tracks are in a different order but it's again credited to the Studio Sound Orchestra. You can buy a used copy for as little as 19 cents via Amazon.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Guitars & All That Jazz

Guitars & All That Jazz was a radio station that webcast via Live365 for 11 years, ending earlier this year. It became too expensive and time-consuming to continue the broadcast of guitar instrumentals, jazz, big band, early rock 'n' roll, lounge music and classic easy listening.

I hope to share some of this music with you via this blog. Most of it will be taken from the original vinyl (LPs and 45s) , cassettes and the occasional CD.

Here's hoping you'll find something to enjoy. Please note files are available only for a limited time.



To begin, here's A Day in the Life of a Fool, a selection from saxophonist Eric Kloss's 1967 Prestige album Grits & Gravy. Note that this is the 45 edit of the song taken from a DJ promo; it's about 40 seconds shorter than the album cut.

A Day in the Life of a Fool

And here's a YouTube video of the full album cut.