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Here's what stuck me as I put this mix together: In late 1944 the disconnect between music and everything happening in the world is, from different perspectives, both narrower and wider than it has been before. Narrower because the wartime spirit is no longer enough of a novelty to even be notable - almost nobody is writing music about the war, it has just become a background presence in the way any change in culture does. American troops are in Europe now, and that's already just a fact of life. Wider because, in the earlier days of the war, there was a real, visceral sense of the horrors of the conflict, of an existential threat. This dread hasn't just faded into the background as the allies start to look like victory is inevitable, the dread is missing entirely. They know they can't celebrate just yet, but they are keen to start.

In terms of music, we are jammed in the middle of two eras. The big bands are clearly on their way out, broken by the war, the strike, the inability to tour due to fuel rationing - but also because there are much more interesting sounds out there. The individual musicians in these bands have mostly moved on too, to rhythm & blues, to be bop, or to both. Still at this point they probably have a day job playing big band music, but it's already a heritage industry.

The birth of be bop has been underway for a little while already, we can make a case for it existing as early as 1941, but it's only really now that we can feel it emerging into the record. Next year it will fully emerge, to the extent of being recorded in studios, so best leave it until then.

Rhythm & blues is at full levels of excitement this year - unsurprisingly it sounds like people wanted to have a party. Louis Jordan in particular is producing so many absolute classics that it's a wonder he doesn't get more credit for anything more than being a progenitor of rock & roll - a genre only subtley different to Jordan's "jump blues" but one which he nonetheless had no time for. Just imagine dancing at a live performance by Jodan, Lucky Millinder or Cootie Williams, really who needs rock & roll to happen?

One other aspect I've noticed here is the groove - whether it's Arsenio Rodríguez, J.J. Johnson, Boyd Raeburn, Lester Young or Orquesta Casino De La Playa, there is more music than ever before spreading out and allowing itself to build up slowly. We are still a good few years away from the introduction of the LP, so expect only more of this to come.

Finally, let's not forget that we are still in the early days of the Allied invasion of Europe, and consequently there are many journalists on the continent producing a vast amount of interesting content. I've included plenty of this, while trying not to let it interfere too much with the music. If the news footage isn't much to your taste, please be assured that there will be much less in the post-war year mixes. If that's what you're mainly here for then, well, you're in for a treat today.

Introduction

0:00:00 Victor Young - Excerpt from Ministry of Fear

July

(Clip of CAN - Herbert on the bombing of Caen)

August

(Clips from CBS World News Today)

September

(Clip from CBS World News Today)

October

2:02:35 Rev Utah Smith - God's Mighty Hand

November

(Clip from BBC Winston Churchill - The Fruits Of 1944)

December

(Clips from CBS World News Today)