1930

The Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra has always been a bit difficult to evaluate. Contemporary observers rated Lunceford's big band at the top with Duke Ellington and Count Basie but, when judging the music solely on their records (and not taking into account their visual show, appearance, and showmanship), Lunceford's ensemble has to be placed on the second tier…

"The Blue Angel" will always have a place in film history as the movie that brought Marlene Dietrich to international stardom. At the time it was made, at the birth of the sound era in 1929, it was seen as a vehicle for Emil Jannings, the German actor who had just won the first Academy Award for best actor. Dietrich's overnight stardom inspired distributors to recut the film, ending it with one of her songs instead of his pathetic closing moments, and this restored version shows the entire film for the first time in years.

Tiny Parham (who was actually rather large) was most significant as an arranger/bandleader in Chicago who recorded many memorable sides from 1927-1930. After growing up in Kansas City, Parham toured the Southwest with a territory band and then settled in Chicago in 1926. In addition to accompanying blues singers and cutting sides with Johnny Dodds, Parham recorded extensively with His Musicians, bands that mostly consisted of now-obscure Chicago players; best-known are cornetist Punch Miller and (in 1930) bassist Milt Hinton. Parham's arrangements were often atmospheric, and such numbers as "The Head-Hunter's Dream," "Jogo Rhythm," "Blue Melody Blues," "Blue Island Blues," "Washboard Wiggles," and "Dixieland Doin's" were particularly memorable…