20's and 30's Jazz

2020-06-27 20's and 30's Jazz

I always think of Brian as though he always knew everything about popular music since way before he came to Amherst, when I met him. But there were some records I can remember him acquiring in Amherst that must have introduced him to some of the music he came to know much better. One of those was "Reefer Songs", an album of 20'd and 30's jazz songs about marijuana, that came out in 1976. Brian's knowledge grew widely, but this show reminds me of that album, because it has several of those songs. Some different versions from what was on that album: Fats Waller's "You're a Viper" is later, actually 1943, but irresistibly camp. Evidently, Brian had also been listening to the music of Martinique, since a good few of those songs are on this fine show as well.