ARthur Schwartz

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Arthur Schwartz (1900-1984) studied law at New York University, supporting his studies by playing the piano and writing popular songs. He wangled a summer job at Brant Lake Camp, in order to meet and write with Lorenz Hart, resulting in a song called ‘I Love To Lie Awake In Bed’Continue Reading

Sonny Burke

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Sonny Burke (1914-1980) is perhaps best known as a big band leader and arranger, who worked with Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Torme and Frank Sinatra among many others. Burke produced Sinatra’s 1980 triple album ‘Trilogy’ just before his death from cancer. His first significant arranging work came in the 1940s withContinue Reading

Songwriter Shelton Brooks

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Shelton Brooks (1886-1975) was a songwriter and vaudeville performer, best know for his hit song ‘Some Of These Days‘, written in 1910, and for ‘Darktown Strutters Ball’ from 1917. Born in Canada, his family moved to Detroit when he was 15. His early vaudeville career involved impersonating Bert Williams, butContinue Reading

Some Of These Days by Shelton Brooks

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Some Of These Days, was written and composed by Shelton Brooks. It was published in 1910, but first attracted attention after Sophie Tucker recorded it with the Ted Lewis band in 1926. Brooks got the idea for the song after over-hearing an argument in a Cincinatti restaurant, when a girlContinue Reading

Dinah sheet music

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Dinah (1925) was a hugely popular song of the 1920s and 30s. It was written as a late addition to the Ziegfeld musical ‘Kid Boots’ starring Eddie Cantor. The music was written by Harry Akst and lyrics by Sam M Lewis and Joe Young. Ethel Waters recorded the song inContinue Reading

Connee Boswell

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Connee Boswell (1907-1976) was a singer, composer, actress, arranger and multi-instrumentalist, who became popular with the vocal harmony group, The Boswell Sisters, together with sisters Martha (1905-1958) and Helvetia “Vet” (1911-1988), and also had a successful solo career, influencing many future singers. Ella Fitzgerald said “There was only one singerContinue Reading

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Sam M Lewis (1885-1959) was a New York born lyricist, whose first hit song came in 1912 – ‘That Mellow Melody’. Four years later he teamed up with another lyricist Joe Young, and together the Tin Pan Alley duo penned a string of hits until 1930. Lewis and Young workedContinue Reading

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Helen Humes (1913-1981) was the vocalist who replaced Billie Holiday in the Count Basie Orchestra in 1938, staying with the band for four years. She was a prodigious musician, self-taught pianist and trumpeter, and started recording at the age of 13. These early recordings, made in 1927, show a voiceContinue Reading

Nancy LaMott

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Nancy LaMott (1951-1994) was a singer, much admired in New York’s cabaret scene. Born in Midland, Michigan, her first semi-professional experience was singing with her father’s dance band. LaMott suffered from health issues throughout her too short life, having been diagnosed at 17 years old with Crohn’s Disease. After aContinue Reading

Turner Layton

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Turner Layton (1894-1978) is remembered both as a successful performer (with Clarence ‘Tandy’ Johnstone) and occasional songwriter, whose ‘After You’ve Gone’, has been recorded hundreds of times since its composition in 1918. He was born in Washington DC into a musical family. He originally studied to become a dentist, butContinue Reading