Hello everyone. This is part two of a series I call the Jerry Atkins Collection. Jerry had a show on Saturdays on the radio station I work at called The Enjoyment of Jazz. He played recordings from his massive record collection and entertained us with stories of his meetings and befriending many of the jazz masters. Sadly, Jerry passed away in 2010. His son, who is also a great jazz musician, donated many of the albums and cds in his father's collection to our station. Jerry collected albums by lots of jazz musicians but he liked the more modern big bands. This week I have pulled out several of the Woody Herman albums in the collection. I have digitized them and cleaned up the ticks and pops and background noise as best I could. So as I pay a small tribute to my friend I hope you enjoy this set of recordings from the Jerry Atkins Collection. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Jerry Atkins was a well known musician, jazz historian, and record collector who lived in Texarkana, Texas until his passing in 2010. His record collection was huge and was donated to the the radio station where I work and produce Big Band Bash. Since most of these albums have not been purchased by the station, I have been digitizing some of them. It is amazing how well the software cleans up ticks and pops and eliminates surface noise from the records. I have decided to present four shows from the many albums that Jerry had. Part one features several albums by Les Brown, Part two will be Woody Herman, Parts three and four will be assorted bands. I hope you enjoy the music from the many record albums in the Jerry Atkins Collection. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Hello everyone. On this week's show I am going to wrap up Songs of the 1920's. We'll conclude the alphabet and then I'll present some odds and ends. This was a fun series to research and present. The 1920's was a time for great music from some of the best composers in America. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

This week continues our look at the songs composed in the 1920s. We start with the letter N and go down to the Letter T. The puzzler is back this week so I hope you have your thinking caps on. Next week we'll conclude our series with the last part of the alphabet along with some odds and ends. I hope you enjoy the music from the big bands as they play the Songs of the 1920s. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Welcome back to this four part series on songs of the 1920s. Today we cover songs from that decade that begin with the letter "E" and go all the way down to "M". I broke my rule for this series by playing two songs on the show recorded by Artie Shaw. I had already recorded the introductions when I discovered I did this but I am sure you won't mind because it is one of his best sides. I hope you enjoy this look back at some of the many hit songs from the 1920s. As usual the puzzle is back so get your thinking caps on. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

This was a repeat of a show from a few years ago. The 1920s were a decade filled with original songs by some of the leading composers of the era. I found a list of many of the popular songs composed in the 1920s and thought it would be fun to listen to those songs as recorded by the big bands of the thirties and forties. Each show for the next four weeks is filled with all of those great songs composed in the 1920s. I did have one rule for myself. In order to make it interesting I only chose one big band per episode. That way one band would not monopolize the show. So get ready to back to the 1920's during the month of August on Big Band Bash. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

This week I feature the two Kays, Sammy Kaye and Kay Kyser. Kay Kyser led a very successful swing orchestra although he didn't play an instrument. Sammy Kaye on the other hand, was a clarinetist and saxophonist but didn't play with his band. Both had unusual attractions: Kyser had "The College of Musical Knowledge" and Sammy had, "So You Want To Lead A Band?". Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

Harry James had a very popular band during the war years. The set of recordings I will be playng from this week are live recordings from the years of 1943 through 1953. Helen Forrest is featured on several of the selections but mostly it is the Music Makers who stand out. I hope you enjoy this set of live recordings by Harry James and His Orchestra. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

This week we are going to continue listening to the many theme songs used by the big bands. Theme songs were usually the first song played by a band when they were appearing or broadcasting live. It let the audience know whose band they were listening to. I tried to find all the original recordings of the bands. I hope you enjoy this look at the Big Band's theme songs. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com

This week I am going to start a two part look at the theme songs of the big bands. Each band had a song or a theme with which they would open and close their performances. I tried to find all the original recordings of the bands. I hope you enjoy this look at the Big Band's theme songs. Please visit this podcast at http://bigbandbashfm.blogspot.com