Greetings, music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday! Today, DJ Li'l Scratch is completely chillaxed from a vaca across the pond and so needs a bright and lively singer to shake him alive - but with joy, mind you, only joy. It's a singer we're all familiar with, but have perhaps taken for granted. She has, after all, been in most of our lives since the very beginning, yet look - and listen - closely, because she's an astonishment that keeps on giving. Tonight at the Manor's exclusive "Pitch-a-Tent" bar and grill, DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing scads of her bestest tunes ever.  Are you surprised it's Pearlie? You shouldn't be. In 1957 alone, Pearl Bailey's self-titled LP was one of seven released under her name. That's seven as in s-e-v-e-n. Can you imagine any pop-tarlet even approaching that kind of output today?  Her career lasted decades, so let's just bounce-bounce-bounce around a few career and person...

Greetings, hors, and happy Manor Music Monday! Are you coherent? Can you stand? Or more to the point, do you miss that hour so cruelly lopped off on Saturday night? Perhaps you're feeling a bit loopy. Or exotic? Or more to the point, if you're feeling the voodoo that you doo (doo), then by all means, run, skip or skedaddle to "Social Lube," the Manor's exclusive cocktail lounge and nail salon, because tonight only, DJ Li'l Scratch will be playing outta sight tunes. Do you recognize this fella? Probably not, but you've definitely heard his music, and if you were around in the 1960s, then you know him very well, because there's no better practitioner of exotic lounge music. In fact, he's considered the best. Yes, it's Les Baxter, who started out as a popular swing band leader, then segued into "exotic" music in the mid-1950s, collaborating with the starry likes of Yma Sumac.  From there, he carved out his own path, and trust me, his mus...

 (Full disclosure: I'm not 100% sure if this Chevy is a '55 or a '56, but I chose '55 just because, so please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) 1955 was an eventful year. A 15-year-old Black girl named Claudette Colvin didn't give up her seat on a bus to a white woman. She was pulled off the bus and physically harassed as she was taken to the police station, but she became a plaintiff in a case that led to bus segregation being ruled unconstitutional. The Broadway smash hit "Peter Pan" starring Mary Martin was shown in its entirety on NBC, becoming the most-watched TV special up to that time - and it was IN LIVING COLOR! In 1955, Marian Anderson became the first Black performer to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC, and Nat King Cole had a gigantic hit with a lovely little song that seems appropriate for this time of year: Happy Open Post darlings! Photo Credit: AK

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 ...