Bob Howard made a remarkable number of recordings during 1935-38, enough to fill up five LPs. With the popularity of Fats Waller, Howard was signed by Decca as competition but he never came close despite the utilization of some notable sidemen. Howard moved to New York in 1926 and performed as a solo act. He was a fixture on 52nd Street in the 1930's, including at the Hickory House, Park Central Hotel and the Famous Door among others. Howard recorded five selections during 1931-32 for Columbia (three solo sides that included his vocals and two duets with trumpeter Manny Klein). A decent pianist, Howard stuck exclusively to goodtime vocals during his Decca period and among the other players on his records were Benny Carter (on trumpet and alto), trumpeters Bunny Berigan and Marty Marsala, clarinetists Buster Bailey, Barney Bigard, Cecil Scott and Artie Shaw, pianists Teddy Wilson…
While as an interpreter he is remembered most readily as an advocate of the piano music of Ludwig van Beethoven, Artur Schnabel's own favorite among the so-called "Great Masters" was Franz Schubert. Largely, Schnabel was able to record his little sips of Schubert in between great heaping gulps of Beethoven, and over a period of eighteen years managed to amass the 5 CDs worth of music that makes up Music and Arts' magnificent Artur Schnabel: The Complete Schubert Recordings. This set is "complete" in the sense that it includes every disc of Schubert that Schnabel made and approved for commercial release.
26 tracks recorded by Kalama's Quartet (in both its quartet and quintet phases) between 1927-1932, as well as a 1935 recording attributed to Mike Hanapi. Varying in approach from folk balladry to uptempo jazz and hillbilly-flavored numbers, it's ebullient music that's most distinctive when the steel guitars are to the fore. The group also varied their vocal arrangements, but are most noted for the numbers featuring sweet falsetto vocals, such as the Hawaiian standard "Wahine Ui." It not only embodies some of the best attributes of vintage Hawaiian music, but also contains clear seeds of a high, pining sound that would be echoed by such later country and pop singers as Roy Orbison and Marty Robbins.