A very late post about my very special Christmas present

Tags

Christmas, Chuck Galey, Cool Cat, Illustrations, Jazz Cats, Present

You may remember that a while back I wrote a post about some special Jazz Cats from New Orleans.

Well, look what I got for Christmas!

But that is not all. I opened the book and guess what I found?

The book is signed to me by Mr. Galey, who made the illustrations for the book!!!

A little more detail. He even did a drawing of me! Isn’t that great?

Well, that was an amazing present. Thank you so much Mr. Galey. I hereby declare you are one cool cat yourself!

And you should all buy the book about the coolest cats that ever lived in New Orleans!

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Jazz Cat Series: Tom Cat Blues

Tags

Hot Jazz, Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver, Trad Jazz

Rebloggin’ cuz this is a very fine song and I like it a lot

All That JazzCat!

The Tom Cat Blues. This is a song close to my heart. Why, do you ask? well, let me tell you.

The Felis catus (a.k.a Felis silvestris catus or Felis domesticus) often called the housecat, is a small carnivore mammal of the family of felines of which the Jazz Cat Jay is a proud member. Some of our remarkable traits include social nature, obvious body language, love of play and high intelligence. And a great love of music, of course.

A group of cats is referred to as a “clowder”, a female is called a “molly” or “queen” and a male cat is called a “tom”.  Which I am.  A tom cat, that is.  Ergo, this song is about me.

Now, back to the song.  Tom Cat Blues was composed by one hep cat called Joe “King” Oliver.  King Oliver is one of the greatest figures of Early Jazz…

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Tabby The Cat!

Tags

Anita O'Day, Stan Kenton, Tabby The Cat

Since my blogging days started over at Blogger, I figured I should reblog some of my favourite posts for you -WordPress crowd, to see. Hope you enjoy it!

All That JazzCat!

For my first post I thought I’d let my paws peruse teh Internets so I could share with you one of my favorite vintage jazz songs. See, being a hepcat it’s important to me to be able to share with you the wonderful world of jazz because, well, I don’t spend all day staring out the window and licking my feet, you know.

Can you guess why it is one of my favourite songs? MOL

This version is by Anita O’Day from her short stint (11 months) with Stan Kenton and his orchestra in 1944

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Six Cats and a Prince

Tags

Count Basie, Kansas City Seven, Kansas City Six, Lester Young, Six Cats and a Prince

Not THAT Prince

ANYway…

During Count Basie’s so-called Kansas City years, he had the opportunity to play with Benny Moten’s band, amd even taken over the direction of it due to some internal problems.

This era in Basie’s career is very important in that this is when he enrolled a certain hep cat called Lester Young who -just like JazzCat Jaz, played the tenor sax.  together, Basie and Young gave us what is no doubt Basie’s signature piece, One O’Clock Jump [favourite of many a Swing Cat].  But that is material for another post.

Jazz Cat Series: Hep Cats’ Holiday

Tags

Cats & the Fiddle, Hep Cats

Greetings, my fine and dandy, swingin’ kittehs!

In today’s installment of this furry hurly burry with no worries, I present to you Hep Cats’ Holiday.

This track – by The Cats and the Fiddle, was recorded in July, 1940 and released in September that same year.

You like Swing? You like vocal prowess? You like to get those paws tappin’ and head swingin’? You, my swell chaps, can then feast your ears right meow!

Jazz Cat Series: Tom Cat Blues

Tags

Blues, Hot Jazz, Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver

The Tom Cat Blues. This is a song close to my heart. Why, do you ask? well, let me tell you.

The Felis catus (a.k.a Felis silvestris catus or Felis domesticus) often called the housecat, is a small carnivore mammal of the family of felines of which the Jazz Cat Jay is a proud member. Some of our remarkable traits include social nature, obvious body language, love of play and high intelligence. And a great love of music, of course.

A group of cats is referred to as a “clowder”, a female is called a “molly” or “queen” and a male cat is called a “tom”.  Which I am.  A tom cat, that is.  Ergo, this song is about me.

Jazz Cat Jay pondering about life, the universe and everything

Now, back to the song.  Tom Cat Blues was composed by one hep cat called Joe “King” Oliver.  King Oliver is one of the greatest figures of Early Jazz and his style of collective improvisation is what we know today as Hot Jazz.  Not only that but he was the mentor or world’s beloved Louis Armstrong.  King Oliver recorded this song in 1924 with Jelly Roll Morton, another great figure of Jazz,  on piano.

Enjoy!

Jazz Cats Series: Wholly Cats

Tags

Benny Goodman, Hep Cats, jazz, Jazz Cats, Swing Music

Here’s a very swingy song from the King Of Swing himself.  As the original poster says Plenty of bounce here with a swing powerful enough to drift a bulldozer”.  I like that cat!
This version was recorded in 1940, with an amazing personnel.  Benny Goodman on Clarinet, Cootie Williams on trumpet, Georgie Auld on tenor sax, Charlie Christian on guitar, Count Basie on piano, Artie Bernstein on bass and Harry Jaeger on drums.
Enjoy!

This is from 1941. Same personnel. Only one missing is Count Basie

 

Jazz Cat Series: Pussy Cat Rag

Tags

Halfway House Orchestra, Hep Cats, jazz, Jazz Cats, music, video

Greetings, hepcats! Time for some more music! Well, every time is time for more music, right? This one comes from the rip-roarin’ 1920s, Pussy Cat Rag by Halfway House Orchestra. If this doesn’t get yer paws movin’, then you ain’t breathin’! Enjoy!

Jazz Cat Series: Felix the Cat

Tags

Bix Beiderbecke, Felix The Cat, Hep Cats, jazz, Jazz Cats, Paul Whiteman

Sorry, it’s been so long since my last Jazz post. I’ve been very busy what with being the poster boy for some really cool Jazz-related events. I’ll try to be more prolific in the future.Here’s song I like a lot. It’s about another very famous hep cat, my cousin Felix.

Felix The Cat

This song was released in 1928 and was done by Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra with Bix Beiderbecke on Cornet.

Enjoy!

Tabby The Cat!

Tags

Anita O'Day, Hep Cats, Jazz Cats, Swing Music, Tabby The Cat, video

For my first post I thought I’d let my paws peruse teh Internets so I could share with you one of my favorite vintage jazz songs. See, being a hepcat it’s important to me to be able to share with you the wonderful world of jazz because, well, I don’t spend all day staring out the window and licking my feet, you know.

Can you guess why it is one of my favourite songs? MOL

This version is by Anita O’Day from her short stint (11 months) with Stan Kenton and his orchestra in 1944