Frank da CruzI made two CDs, about 80 minutes each, for the 80th Anniversary of Williamsbridge Oval Park, Bronx NY, celebrated Saturday, September 9, 2017. One CD with music of the 1930s, around the time the park was built by the New Deal Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression; the other for the first part of the 1940s, through the end of the New Deal, approximately. These are my own selections but I believe they are representative of the kinds of music heard in the Bronx in those times, and I hope they will be fun to listen to. The 1930s CD, in particular, starts with bang. Listen to any song by clicking on its name in the Title column (the links there go mostly to Youtube; the versions there are not necessarily the same as on the CDs and their quality and volume can vary... also, as always with Youtube, expect to see some ads).
fdc@columbia.edu
10 August 2017, updated 26 June 2024
By the way... In 1942 quite a few of these artists performed in Oval Park and other parks in the Bronx, such as Poe Park, St. Mary's Park, Crotona Park, Claremont Park, Mullaly Park, and Watson-Gleason Playground in a special series of free wartime dance concerts that included the orchestras of Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Cab Calloway, Jimmy Dorsey, Claude Thornhill, and Benny Carter, among others. That was just the first concert series; there were others in 1943 and the following years (e.g. 1946) featuring orchestras such as Cab Calloway, Dizzy Gillespie, Cootie Williams, Lil Green, and Grace Barrie. Also, all thoughout the New Deal there were other concerts featuring the WPA Orchestra as well as local ensembles from schools and companies.
[See longer 1930s-40s music list] [See Oval Park historical photos]
Track | Year | Artist | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1937 | Benny Goodman Orchestra | Sing Sing Sing | #1 hit of 1937 |
2 | 1933 | Billie Holiday w/ Benny Goodman | Riffin the Scotch | Billie Holiday's first recording session (age 18) |
3 | 1938 | Ella Fitzgerald w/ Chick Webb | Franklin D Roosevelt Jones | (If only we could sing this today) |
4 | 1931 | Orquesta Alfredo Brito | Siboney | |
5 | 1937 | Septeto Anacaona | Bésame Aquí | (see photo) |
6 | 1936 | Ella Fitzgerald w/ Chick Webb | When I Get Low I Get High | (Age 19) |
7 | 1934 | Fats Waller | Honeysuckle Rose | |
8 | 1936 | Cleo Brown Quartet | Latch On | |
9 | 1935 | Billie Holiday w/ Teddy Wilson | What A Little Moonlight Can Do | |
10 | 1936 | Cab Calloway | Copper Colored Gal | |
11 | 1936 | Ella Fitzgerald w/ Chick Webb | You'll Have to Swing It | a.k.a. Mr. Paganini (also Martha Raye) |
12 | 1935 | Fats Waller | It's a Sin to Tell a Lie | |
13 | 1933 | Billie Holiday w/ Benny Goodman | Your Mother's Son In Law | Billie Holiday's first recording session |
14 | 1936 | Django Reinhardt | Django's Tiger | Quintette du Hot Club de France |
15 | 1939 | The Ink Spots | If I Didn't Care | The 10th best selling single of all time |
16 | 1937 | Septeto Anacaona | Algo Bueno | |
17 | 1939 | Duke Ellington Orchestra | Take the A Train | |
18 | 1938 | The Andrews Sisters | Bei Mir Bist Du Schön | #4 hit of 1938 |
19 | 1936 | Django Reinhardt | Lady Be Good | Quintette du Hot Club de France |
20 | 1939 | Frank Sinatra w/ Harry James Orchestra | All or Nothing at All | |
21 | 1937 | Billie Holiday w/ Count Basie | Swing Brother Swing | |
22 | 1939 | Glenn Miller Orchestra | In the Mood | #1 hit of 1940 |
23 | 1935 | Cleo Brown Quartet | When Hollywood Goes Black & Tan | |
24 | 1936 | Django Reinhardt | In a Sentimental Mood | Quintette du Hot Club de France |
25 | 1939 | Coleman Hawkins | Body and Soul | Some call this the first modern jazz recording |
Popular Music 1940-1944 |
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Track | Year | Artist | Title | Notes |
1 | 1941 | Peggy Lee w/ Benny Goodman Orchestra | Elmer's Tune | |
2 | 1941 | Anita O'Day w/ Gene Krupa Orchestra | Let Me Off Uptown | With Roy Eldredge |
3 | 1944 | Ella Mae Morse w/ Freddie Slack Orchestra | Patty Cake Man | |
4 | 1942 | Anita O'Day w/ Gene Krupa Orchestra | Harlem on Parade | WWII |
5 | 1942 | Peggy Lee w/ Benny Goodman Orchestra | Why Don't You Do Right? | |
6 | 1940 | Fats Waller | The Joint is Jumpin | |
7 | 1940 | Billie Holiday and her Orchestra | Body and Soul | |
8 | 1940 | Xavier Cugat Orchestra | Perfidia | |
9 | 1941 | Martha Tilton w/ Ben Pollack Orchestra | A Little Jive Is Good For You | |
10 | 1941 | The Ink Spots | I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire | |
11 | 1941 | The Andrews Sisters | Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy | WWII |
12 | 1941 | Anita O'Day w/ Gene Krupa Orchestra | Skylark | |
13 | 1941 | The Ink Spots | Java Jive | |
14 | 1942 | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Kalamazoo | #3 hit of 1942 |
15 | 1941 | Fats Waller | All That Meat and No Potatoes | |
16 | 1941 | Billie Holiday w/ Eddie Heywood | God Bless the Child | #5 hit of 1941 |
17 | 1944 | The International Sweethearts of Rhythm | Bugle Call Rag | see clip |
18 | 1942 | Ella Mae Morse w/ Freddie Slack Orchestra | Cow Cow Boogie | |
19 | 1942 | Machito and His Afro-Cubans | Paella | |
20 | 1943 | Ella Mae Morse w/ Dick Walters Orchestra | Shoo Shoo Baby | WWII |
21 | 1941 | Glenn Miller Orchestra | Chattanooga Choo Choo | #1 hit of 1941 |
22 | 1941 | Billie Holiday and her Orchestra | I Cover the Waterfront | |
23 | 1943 | Lena Horne | Stormy Weather | |
24 | 1942 | Spike Jones | Der Fuehrer's Face | WWII |
[Video: Carnival of Swing - May 29, 1938, at Randall's Island, NYC - The first open-air jazz festival]
Wed Sep 13 15:34:23 2017 |