Welcome, music sloots, to another edition of Manor Music Monday, today with a swingin' sister to kick you into the New Year with a big smile on your face - and these days, we need something to smile about, don't we? Please make sure and join DJ Li'l Scratch tonight at the Manor's exclusive after hours joint, "Liquor in the Front!" There, he'll be spinning tunes from a performer who started out as part of the "Cool School" sound on the West Coast in the 1940s and 50s, which was yet another movement that acted as a counterpart to bebop. If bebop was "hot-hot-hot" - being loud and fast (and competitive) - Cool Jazz was its "cool" counterpart, or chill, understated and sometimes intellectually detached. You know them when you hear them: Chet Baker with his fragile, whispered delivery; Peggy Lee with her minimalist singing, doing as much as possible with the teensiest amount of volume; and Chris Connor, famed for her vibrato-less v...

Greetings music sloots, and welcome to another edition of Manor Music Monday! As we near the winter holidays, I think back to the year we've all had - and how we all need a break from the madness. For me, vocal jazz always does the trick. So what do we need tonight? We need DJ Li'l Scratch, who'll be cranking tunes at the Manor's own "Moist Muffin Lounge and Dinette." What will he be playing? A gal you may not have heard of, and I bet'cha you'll take her for granted once you listen to her - or at least the first time around. Some things sneak up on you. Confused? I'll explain. When I first played Pam Garner's 1960 LP, "Pam Sings Ballads For Broken Hearts," I was contemplating the herculean effort it might take to rearrange and scrub my work station (contemplation is such hard work!). The LP ended and I thought, "Meh, Pam's okay." My desk remained a mess. But a day later, while preparing chicken breasts and realizing that...