Greetings, music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday. Today is a Monday in which all of Hollywood has yet to awaken and most of America has already forgotten about who won what last night at the Emmys. It's also a day when DJ Li'l Scratch is eager to introduce us to yet another forgotten Mademoiselle of Music™, this time a jazz crooner who was also a songwriter and a sharp-eyed businesswoman. Tonight, make sure to swing by the Manor's exclusive Muffin Puffin After Hours Lounge and you'll hear all about this smart 'n fiery sex-bomb songstress. Her name is Nancy Steele, a va-va-voom performer who began her career as a commercial artist in Philadelphia and New York City in the late 1940s and early 50s. At the same time, purely as a hobby, she was taking voice lessons, and her teacher was so impressed, he urged her to pursue a professional career. With that bit of encouragement, it didn't take long for our Nance to snag a prime gig at the ve...

Greetings, music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Music Manor Monday! Tonight at the Manor's exclusive Kweef Korner Lounge, DJ Li'l Scratch will introduce a forgotten artist who'll remind you of people nowadays that give their children names like Kathron or Mellowdee or Creeklyn or Amaziyah and other such fuckery. Back in the day, all you had do was an an extra letter to be dIfFeReNt. Like an extra "n." As in Annita. No, really. I'm not sure why this was done. It's like meeting someone named "Johnn" or Suue" or "Maaggy" (and how do even you pronounce Annita?) (do you stutter?). Regardless, the one and only Annita Ray had a unique career. In the 1960s, she and singer Diane Hall were known as "girl bookends" for bandleader Ray Anthony - or singing window-dressing for the more "important" Ray and his musicians. By that time, Annita was likely used to being undervalued. But she kept on keeping on, even reco...

Greetings, music hors, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday - with a shout-out to those 'Muricans celebrating Labor Day. Are you doing a cook-out today, maybe going for a dip in the pool? More importantly, are you blasting festive music? Nothing accompanies festive music better than a side of cheesecake, dont'ya think? Speaking of, do you know the lithesome lass featured below? I bet you do, but only in her later incantation. Have you guessed yet? B et’cha haven't. Voila! It's Jaye P. Morgan. Surprised? If you only know her from her 1970s and 80s-era game show appearances - she was hilarious as a judge on "The Gong Show" (and stunned live audiences by flashing her breasts during commercial breaks) - that was just one teensy part of her career which started when she was only 3 years-old in her family's vaudeville act. Later, at age 18, she was hired as the primary vocalist for the Frank DeVol orchestra. Yet she was anything but the normal k...

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...