Greetings music vixens, and welcome to another edition of Music Manor Monday, today with a little Italiano flair, va bene ? Tonight, you can find out what this means by moseying on over to Pompino Club and Winery, where DJ Li'l Cat will be playing some tunes from a very special singing principessa . Quick, which jazz luminary also worked as a featured actress in "The Godfather" and "The Godfather II?" There's only one. If you guessed Morgana King, you're right! She played Carmela Corleone, the wife of Don Vito Corleone, or Marlon Brando, in both movies. Interesting side note: the character's first name is never mentioned in either movie, and because she's played by Morgana, she gets to sing a small bit from  "Luna Mezz'o Mare" during the wedding reception scene. The scrappy daughter of Sicilian immigrants, Morgana thrilled audiences from a young age. At 16 years old, she was embraced by New Orleans’ Black audiences at Bohemian Ca...

Greetings, lascivious sloots and layabout loons, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with sass, class and just a touch of Rachel Dolezal (not really, but kinda) (intrigued, aren't you?). I speak of Ruth Olay, a one-of-a-kind singer who started out "passing" as Black while touring with a group of talented Black musicians, all of whom carefully guarded her secret, since, at that time, "mixed" groups were forbidden and they all enjoyed playing together. Some risks were worth taking and her dark complexion and short, naturally curly hair, owing to her Hungarian ancestry, made it easy to fool eagle-eyed bookers and club owners.  Only years later did she break through, finding moderate success after appearing on TV's "The Jack Parr Show." Years previous, it was none other than her friend Ivie Anderson who gave her one of her first big breaks when she invited her to sing with Duke Ellington's band.  Tonight only, at the Manor...

Greetings, music trollops, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with a little opera, a little Broadway, and a big serving of jazz. Confused? Don't be. Back in the day, whenever a musical opened on The Great White Way, the cast album would frequently rise to the top of the music charts. But wait - there's more. When "My Fair Lady" opened on Broadway, for instance, and released its cast album, what followed were seemingly endless LPs in which singing stars and celebrated jazz luminaries released their own versions of "My Fair Lady." Want to hear jazz notable Shelly Mann kick it with "My Fair Lady?" Step right up ! And on and on. With many musicals, it was an embarrassment of riches, like when "West Side Story" hit the boards and then the record stores . My grandmother, who was way into jazz, was all over these albums. Want to know - and hear - what this transformative music trend was all about? Then make sure and swi...

Greetings, music hors, and welcome to another edition of Music Manor Monday. Hold tight as we skip-to-me-lou to the recent past, or the early 2000s, a time where you could whiz-bang down the street on Razor Scooters, sashay around in Heeleys , and blast irritating songs like "Hey Ya" by OutKast if you really wanted to work my last nerve. "Fo shizzle my nizzle," as the kids said back then. Right about that time, "nu jazz" - which blended jazz, funk, soul and electronica - reached an amazing creative peak. The heyday didn't last long, since the continued rise of Hip-Hop all but obliterated mainstream niche genres. It's a shame. There was an intelligence at work with nu jazz, which often took existing standards and souped them up to sometimes sublime effect. The long-running  Saint Germaine  series is a good example of this, where jazz tunes from the 1930s and 40s was reinvented, electro-jazz-style, "for the new millennium." Yet at its very ...

Greetings, hootchies, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with added oomph! and hotch-cha! Oh, and a visit to your local AA meeting and local sanitarium. What does that mean? You'll definitely want to know, so make sure to sashay over the Manor's newest nightery, "Midnight Salami" where DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing some very snazzy tunes by a gal who went through it - and how! - and triumphantly lived to tell.  And now, behold the lady who put the "yum" in "dayum!" Yes, it's Lillian Roth, the wowza actress and singing star who hit it big in the early 1930s in several Hollywood movies, like the delirious " Madam Sin ." She began her road to success years earlier on Broadway, in concert halls, and in the Ziegfeld Follies, like their 1928 "Midnight Frolics" show, which she performed in as a not-so-demure 18 year-old: Then it all came crashing down. Big time. There was the sudden death of her fia...

Greetings, hormigos, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with a li'l Creole spice, and who doesn't want that, amirite? Today's fetching jazz and R&B singer wasn't just born to Creole parents in Louisiana, she was also a gifted songwriter and violinist. And, yes, she slayed in the 1940s and 50s. DJ Li'l Scratch can't wait to play all of her tunes for you tonight, so be sure to swing by "Rim Job," the Manor's after-hours club and car wash. You won't be sorry. Savannah Churchill is that good.  And get this: unlike most Black singers of her day, Savannah didn't start singing and performing at her church - "Wait, what?" you say - but instead at her school, where she also excelled at the violin.  With her stunning beauty and fair complexion, she could have easily passed as white, which surely would have benefited her career. However, she steadfastly embraced her Black heritage.  It wasn't long before she ...

Greetings, fellow chippies, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today highlighting one of my favorite genres: Swing Era Jazz! Popular from the late 1920s through the mid-40s, its distinctively bouncy Big Band sound - those "swinging" eighth notes make the rhythm seem uneven and springy - guarantees that my spirits will soar and I'll be up on my feet. You, too? Then you're in luck, because tonight, at the Manor's exclusive "Jumpin' Junk" after-hours bar and dinette, DJ Li'l Scratch will be spinning one of its finest practitioners. In other words, it's time for some high-kicking fun with swing legend Ivie Anderson.  When I did a search to find pictures of her, it seemed like she was always laughing, or making others laugh. Below, she's having a fine old time with the fabulously named jazz trumpeter,  Hot Lips Page . And, yes, I would have. Ivie knew how to put on a show. Born in Gilroy, California, she was orphaned as a ch...

Greetings, fellow tramps, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday - this week with an extra-long holiday hangover. But you know the solution to that, don't you? More cocktails! Obvi. And tonight at the Manor's swingin' club, "Pocket Rocket," bartenders will be serving Hank Panky cocktails , while DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing outta-sight tunes performed by a somewhat forgotten chanteuse who richly deserves rediscovery. I speak of Rita Moss, a dazzling jazz-pop vocalist whose "Talk To Me Tiger" from 1966 is a thrilling, one-of-a-kind LP. Known for her stunning four-octave range, Rita only recorded five full-length LPs (that I can find), and trust me, you'll never forget her once you've heard her. She's often compared to  Yma Sumac , but I think of her more as a precursor to  Minnie Riperton , what with her eerily floating, way-up-high soprano, ersatz instrumentations and jazz-pop stylings. The title track is actually the LP...

Greetings, favored whores, and welcome to another kicky edition of Music Manor Monday, today with extra social protest 'n such. What do I mean by that? Find out tonight at the Manor's "Sloppy Sausage" after hours club. There, DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing tunes by one of the best white blues singers ever. No, for reals. She was a genuine blues and jazz legend whose abilities are as "rare as a 20 karat diamond," according to no less that Louis Armstrong. Jazz critic Leonard Feather called her “Bessie Smith in stereo.”  In other words, Barbara Dane is the real deal. A fervent fighter for social justice - when that meant more than tickling a keyboard - Barbara's career took off when she moved to San Francisco in the late 1940s. There, she caught the eyes (and ears) of blues devotees all 'round town. Even Ebony , in what was said to be the magazine’s first profile of a white woman, was impressed by both her music and her no-holds barred advocacy f...

Greetings, ham-handers, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with two, count 'em, two, fabulous artists, plus a ginsu knife, free shipping and consensual tickles 'n kisses. Both artists, dont'cha know, were very early practitioners of rockabilly, blues and R&B. Intrigued? You really should be. Their music is perfect for anyone's summer playlist and pair quite well with mojitos, mint juleps or Bellini cocktails on the porch or by the pool. They're excellent for barbeques and backyard parties, too, especially the ones that get sloppy and last till the early yawning hours. Tonight, if you head over to the Manor's "Tooty Booty After Hours Lounge And Pizzeria," DJ Li'l Scratch will be laying down their tracks, so make sure you stop by. But first, take two steps back (at least) for Miss Lula Reed: Imposing, isn't she? Mentored in her hometown as a youth by Professor Harold Bogs , a blind Ohio pastor and gospel singing recor...

  Welcome, music sluts and slutinos to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with several dollops of mystery, intrigue and wait, what? Let me explain. As you may know, there are countless jazz vocalists from the mid-to-late 1950s who are lost to time, and I'm not talking about the already-established, like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday or Peggy Lee. I'm talking about the up-and-comers who were inspired as children by those giants of jazz, and come the 1950s, were at last ready to make their own mark.  Many didn't get the chance, and others, who released one or two LPs, suddenly had the plug pulled, their dreams abruptly dashed. The cause of all this? The rise of rock n' roll, a force so sensational, so overwhelmingly popular, that it changed the music landscape overnight. And forever. Who wants to hear the new jazz vocalist, the record companies figured, when you can sign that rising rock 'n roller who's firing up all the kids at the club?   Newbie jazz...