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"Divaville Lounge" with Sarah O (archive)

step into the lounge!

Sunday, January 4, 2026 | 14:00 to 16:00 | jazz/pop vocalists

http://www.divavillelounge.org

Artist	Song	Album	Label	Comments
Al Jolson	When The Red Red Robin Comes Bob-Bob Bobbin' Along	Brunswick-3222	Brunswick	Jolson was the biggest star of the day. This song was a big hit in 1926

Don Clark's Biltmore Hotel Orchestra v/ Bing Crosby and Al Rinker	I've Got the Girl	Rhythm King: The Earliest Recordings	Naxos Nostalgia	This is Crosby's very first recording although his voice isn't distinguishable here. His first solo would be in 1927, "Muddy Water"
Fred Astaire w/ George Gershwin (piano)	The Half of It Dearie Blues	The Complete London Sessions	EMI	Astaire's first recording. He is accompanied by George Gershwin on piano. Gershwin and the Astaires (Fred and his sister Adele) were good friends in the early-mid 20s. They dreamed of putting on a Broadway show together, which they did with Lady Be Good. Note Astaire and Gershwin talking to each other during the dancing portion of the recording
Josephine Baker	Brown Eyes, Why Are You Blue	Josephine Baker 1926-1927	Document	This is from Baker's second recording session (both were I think in October 1926). In the first session she was backed by a band; the second was simply Baker accompanying herself on banjo
Ben Pollack & His Californians	He's the Last Word	Victor 20425-B	Victor	band features Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller, who both made their recording debuts with the Pollack orchestra a few weeks before this recording was made. I choce this one because Goodman has a solo making this the first recording where you can really hear him
Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers	Black Bottom Stomp	Jazz Greats Vol. 17		this was the first recording session of the Red Hot Peppers (though not for Morton himself, he had been recording for several years). Sadly, Morton's influence on the jazz world was already coming to an end

Blind Lemon Jefferson	Long Lonesome Blues	Blind Lemon Jefferson - Complete Recordings 1925-1929 Vol. 1	Document	Jefferson's recording debut was actually in Dec 1925 when he made two gospel recordings. This in January 1926 was from his first blues recording session
Bessie Smith w/ Buster Bailey & Fletcher Henderson	Jazzbo Brown From Memphis Town	The Complete Recordings, Vol. 3	Columbia	Smith was a major star at this time, with a lavish, successful touring show
Carlos Gardel	Del barrio de las latas	La Historia Completa de Carlos Gardel Vol. 27		Gardel is the single most important figure in the history of tango
Paul Robeson w/ Lawrence Brown	On Ma Journey	Songs Of My People	RCA	Robeson has recorded this song multiple times, but this performance is my favorite of all his recordings

Duke Ellington and His Kentucky Club Orchestra	East St. Louis Toodle-Oo	Vocalion A 1094	Vocalion	Ellington's first hit and his first important composition. He re-recorded this the following year for (I think) Okeh; that recording is better known today
Fats Waller	The Rusty Pail	The Complete Recorded Works Volume. 1	JSP	fascinating to hear Waller turn the pipe organ into a jazz instrument
Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra	Kansas City Shuffle	The Bennie Moten Collection 1923-32	Acrobat	Moten was the most prominent band in the Kansas City music scene which also included the "territory bands" who toured the central part of the US, as far south as Dallas
The Dixie Stompers (Fletcher Henderson's orchestra)	The Stampede	Fletcher Henderson The Definitive Collection		At this time the Henderson band included Coleman Hawkins
Louis Armstrong and the Hot Five	Cornet Chop Suey	"Satchmo" Ambassador of Jazz	Verve	Armstrong's work with the Hot Five and Hot Seven in this era are the most important recordings of his career and among the most important jazz recordings ever made. This one really show off his chops

Louis Armstrong and the Hot Five	Heebie Jeebies	"Satchmo" Ambassador of Jazz	Verve	there is a myth that during this recording Armstrong spontaneously invented scat singing. This is not true, scat had been around for years before, but it's a terrific story & a great example of Armstrong's mythos
Johnny Dodd's Black Bottom Stompers	Wild Man Blues	Definitive Dodds 1926-1927 - The Complete Stompers	Retrieval	Johnny Dodds and his brother Baby Dodds were New Orleans musicians who were in the King Oliver band along with Louis Armstrong. Dodds also recorded with the Hot Five and Hot Seven
Nathan Glantz	Yiddisha Charleston	From Avenue A to the Great White Way	Columbia Legacy	this song isn't historically significant, I just love it
Ted Weems & His Orchestra	Chick, Chick, Chick, Chicken (Lay a Little Egg For Me)	Essential Ted Weems 1923-1930	Retrieval	another song that's in this show because I love it. Weems was a moderately successful hot bandleader, in the 30s he started doing "sweet" music and gave Perry Como his first big break
Jean Goldkette & His Orchestra	Sunday	Legendary Bands of the 20's	Pro Arte	at this time Bix Beiderbecke was in the Goldkette orchestra, having left the Wolverines

Sexteto Occidente	Miguel, los hombres no lloran	The Music of Cuba: 1909-1951		there was a long and vibrant musical history in Cuba that went largely unrecorded until the mid-20s when recordings started being made. The Sextetro Occidente was founded by Maria Teresa Vera
Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang	Black and Blue Bottom	Eddie Lang & Joe Venuti: The New York Sessions 1926-33	JSP	Lang & Venuti pioneered the use of their instruments in (guitar for Lang, violin for Venuti) jazz. They were boyhood friends who recorded together often until Lang's death in 1933
Ruth Etting	'Deed I Do	Love Me Or Leave Me	ASV Living Era	Etting was a major star in the 20s, known as "America's sweetheart of song," but largely forgotten today. Doris Day starred in LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME, a movie about her life
Sophie Tucker w/ Ted Lewis and His Band	Some of These Days	Sophie Tucker: Jazz Age Hot Mama		Tucker was the queen of vaudeville, known for her raunchy songs and comedy. Her nickname was "The Last of the Red Hot Mamas"

Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra	Valencia	Billboard Pop Memories: 1920s	Rhino	according to the charts in Wikipedia (which is never wrong) this was the top song of 1926
Jan Garber and His Orchestra v/ Benny Davis	Baby Face	Victor 20105-B	Victor	every song in this set was a hit in 1926 according to Wikipedia
Gene Austin	Bye Bye Blackbird	The Voice of the Southland	ASV Living Era	this is how Wikipedia says they come up with these charts: "The following songs achieved the highest positions in Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 and record sales reported on the "Discography of American Historical Recordings" website during 1926:[6] Numerical rankings are approximate, they are only used as a frame of reference."
Ted Lewis and His Band	I've Found a New Baby	Masterpiece Collection		this is the most jazz of any charting recording in 1926 - it's not the Hot Five but it's pretty good jazz!
Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra	The Birth of the Blues	Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra: The King of Jazz		compare this to "I've Found a New Baby" and it seems all the more baffling that Whiteman called himself the King of Jazz
Gertrude Lawrence	Someone to Watch Over Me	I Got Rhythm: The Music of George Gershwin	Smithsonian Collection	Lawrence was primarily a stage actress, her singing style exemplifies the acoustic era