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...

Greetings music prostitots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with an added squirt of maple syrup. "Why?" you enquire. DJ Li'l Scratch will happily provide the answer tonight at the Manor's "Pickle Gobbler After-Hours Musique and Mani-Pedi Lounge," where he'll be getting his claws did and playing hot tunes by Canada-Land's hottest jazz vocalist. Canada, as you know, has many wonderful singers, like Joni Mitchell, and many we'd like to return-to-sender, like The Biebs, but few croon jazz as well or as famously as our lady below. Her career spans fifty years, and she's not only a celebrated singer, but a consummate musician and composer.  Stand back, ya'll, Ranee Lee is in the house. And she's no ordinary jazz diva. Born in Brooklyn, where she sang in high school and toured with several jazz bands, she later made Canada her permanent home - Montreal, to be exact - and first toured not as a singer, but as a succ...

Greetings, music sluts, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday. Did you know, it's also National First Ladies Day, which celebrates American President's wives. This is not to be confused with Ella Fitzgerald, who was known as The First Lady of Song , but if you'd like to celebrate First Ladies and Ella, who am I to stop you? Meanwhile, DJ Li'l Scratch has a surprise for you tonight at the Manor's "Low Hangers Lounge," where he'll be spinning tunes by a two-time Grammy-nominated artist who got her start singing with her local church choir, then won a talent contest as a fourteen-year-old at the legendary Barrelhouse Club in Watts, Los Angeles, co-owned by the equally legendary musician, composer and bandleader, Johnny Otis . He promptly recorded her first songs and insisted she join his tour. Esther Phillips, or "Little Esther" as she was first known on an early handbill, was a master at R&B, blues, jazz, pop, soul and...the ...

Can you believe we’re headed into summertime already? Wheeeeeee! Is your swimsuit bod ready yet? Are you hankering for some good tunes by the pool? Then head over in your finest scanties to "Five-Finger Slippy," the Manor's popular new jazz and supper club, because DJ Li'l Scratch is spinning tunes by a terrific jazz singer who only put out a handful of LPs. We're talking the incomparable Frances Wayne. Ain't she lovely? Or "bella" as her parents might have said, since she was born of Italian immigrants in Boston. As for her singing, sometimes when you have it, you know it and you know it early - and so does everyone else around you. Frances hit New York city as a teenager and almost immediately found herself in high demand, singing and touring with the Charlie Barnet and Woody Herman bands, amongst others, and creating a solo sensation at nighteries in NYC and L.A. In short order, she nabbed a recording contract, later scoring one of her biggest hit...

Welcome, music sloots, to another edition of Manor Music Monday, where we can all jam with music and share it with everyone in the Manor. Better still, at the Manor's "Deez Nuts" after-hours lounge, DJ Li'l Scratch will be spinning tunes from a melodious missy we'll all enjoy. Intrigued? Wanna know who? For that, let's time travel back to the 1930s, shall we? Hold tight. Wheeeeee! Phew, that was fast (I think I hurt my coccyx!). But here we are - and there she is. The lovely and talented Midge Williams. "Midge whooooooo?" you may ask. I did, too, but she looked so fetching years ago when I saw her on CD covers and in photos that I decided to find out what her deal was. What I discovered is a largely unheralded jazz singer who really ought to be in every jazz lovers library. Why? Start with her creamy-smooth vocals, which curl flirtatiously around the lyrics in songs like "It All Begins And Ends With You" or "I'm With You Right Or W...