Category Archives: Film Noir

“AN IDENTIFYING JOHNNY HODGES MEDLEY”, said the Duke of Ellington at Carnegie Hall, on December 27, 1947

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Brew

The experts among you will immediately think: ‘Why, for heaven’s sake, did Brew take this medley as the first sound example from the very concert where the Duke and his men performed “LIBERIAN SUITE” for the very first time?’ Well, … Continue reading →

Posted in Blues, Carnegie Hall, Christmas, December, Dedication, Duke Ellington, Etymology, Exoticism, Film Noir, Germans, Jazz Stories & Tales, Invented Truths & Actual Happenings, Jive, Johnny Hodges, Poetry, Portrait, Saxophone, Sonny Greer, Tongue In Cheek, Winter, World War II | Tagged altosaxophone, beauty, big band, blues, cool, great solo, jazz, jazz ballad, language, medley, standard | Comments Off

HAPPY 90th ANNIVERSARY, DORIS DAY !!!

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Brew

You can be sure, dear swingin’ Lady: We all love you, and you will be remembered forever as one of the greatest chanteuses of the 20th Century. You may not be aware of it, but your vocal artistry inspired us … Continue reading →

Posted in April, Big Band Vocalist, Birthday Party, Blogging is swell!, D-Day, Dedication, Doris Day, Film Noir, Harry James, It's been a ball!, Portrait, Spoken Word, Swing Era, World War II | Tagged big band, great american songbook, jazz ballad, jazz soundtrack, love, oldie, world war 2 | Comments Off

HAUNTED HOUSES IN HARLEM, A LONELY COTTAGE FOR SALE & A DESERTED FARM

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Brew

This darkest of all my articles is about mysterious houses I have shot during a recent trip through the eastern part of Germany, the former DDR: Rostock, Magdeburg, Dresden, Leipzig & Görlitz. I was lucky because some of the impressive … Continue reading →

Posted in Artie Shaw, Blues, Dedication, Etymology, Film Noir, Germans, Glen Gray, Henry "Red" Allen, Jazz Adaptation, Jazz Stories & Tales, Invented Truths & Actual Happenings, Portrait, Trumpet, Winter | Tagged bad dream, big band, blues, ghosts, great american songbook, haunted houses, jazz, jazz ballad, jazz soundtrack, living jazz history, love, oldie, soundtrack, standard | 3 Comments

CLAP HANDS, HERE COMES CHARLIE BARNET WHO JOYFULLY PROCLAIMS: “THANKS FOR 50.000.000 HITS @ BREW LITE’s JAZZ TALES!!!”

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Brew

… ??? …Say what? …Oopz, he certainly meant 50.000+ … 😉 Anyway, a big thanks also from me, dear readers! It’s always the right idea to drop by here; especially when you’ll get the chance to listen to the complete … Continue reading →

Posted in Big Band Vocalist, Charlie Barnet, Cherokee, Count Basie, Dedication, Duke Ellington, Etymology, Film Noir, Glenn Miller, Jazz Stories & Tales, Invented Truths & Actual Happenings, Miles Davis, Portrait, Roy Eldridge, Swing Era, Tongue In Cheek, Trumpet | Tagged big band, drum feature, great american songbook, jazz, jazz ballad, jazz vocal, language, living jazz history, race, standard, world war 2 | 4 Comments

RANDY BROOKS — THE FILM NOIR TRUMPETER & HARLEM NOCTURNE — 1945

Posted on December 29, 2012 by Brew

Harlem Nocturne — I prefer this one over Georgie Auld’s rendition of that torch song, I posted recently. Bitter-sweetly sounding altosaxist Eddie Caine is featured here. Not much heard of Randy’s sparkling trumpet. Trumpeter Randy Brooks, one of the forgotten … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Noir, Jazz Stories & Tales, Invented Truths & Actual Happenings, Randy Brooks | Tagged bebop, cup mute, jazz, living jazz history, world war 2 | Comments Off

BLACKBOARD JUNGLE (1955) ∽ BIX, BILL, JOAN & STAN ∽ EXTRACTED ROCK ‘n’ ROLL ‘n’ JAZZ SOUNDTRACK

Posted on August 25, 2012 by Brew

Part 3 of my little series with unofficial soundtracks was not only inspired by Marc Myers, my mutual collaborator, who featured a splendid collection of jazz-trailers recently… — No! – It’s exclusively dedicated to all first-graders who hopefully won’t experience … Continue reading →

Posted in 1955, Anniversary, Bill Holman, Birthday Party, Bix Beiderbecke, Blogging is swell!, Blues, Dedication, Delikatessen...LOLL., Film Noir, Guitar, It's been a ball!, It's gonna be a ball, January, Jazz Adaptation, Jazz History Lecture, Jazz Stories & Tales, Invented Truths & Actual Happenings, Madness, Rock 'n' Roll, Sexism, Spoken Word, Stan Kenton, Trumpet | Tagged bad dream, bad habits, bebop, big band, cold war, cool, drugs, drum feature, great american songbook, jam session, jazz, jazz soundtrack, jazz vocal, living jazz history, love, race, trumpet feature | Comments Off

REAR WINDOW (1954) ∽ LENNY, FRANZ & DER BINGLE ∽ EXTRACTED, PARTLY JAZZY SOUNDTRACK

Posted on August 18, 2012 by Brew

The last article (written in a quasi-cooperation with Marc Myers’ JazzWax) inspired me to take the whole affair to the … rear, so to speak. The same here: No one else has this soundtrack ’cause it was never released. It’s … Continue reading →