I Live My Life (1935)

Singer/actress Judy Garland had a varied career that began in vaudeville and extended into movies, records, radio, television, and personal appearances. She is best remembered as the big-voiced star of a series of movie musicals, particularly The Wizard of Oz, in which she sang her signature song, "Over the Rainbow."

"The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald was arguably the finest female jazz singer of all time (although some may vote for Sarah Vaughan or Billie Holiday). Blessed with a beautiful voice and a wide range, Fitzgerald could outswing anyone, was a brilliant scat singer, and had near-perfect elocution; one could always understand the words she sang…

Louis Armstrong - The Complete Louis Armstrong Decca Sessions 1935-1946 (2009) {7CD Box Set Mosaic MD7-243}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.70 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.14 Gb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 1935-46, 2009 Decca / Mosaic Records | MD7-243
Jazz / Swing / Early Jazz / Big Band / Vocal Jazz / Trumpet

This is the first-ever major retrospective of this period. For the most part, the recordings represent Louis Armstrong leading the big band. Never had Louis sounded more secure, more hip, or more like a star. His example was an important beacon that popular standards were a legitimate repertoire for significant jazz recording stylists.

Although Eddie Condon was a fine tenor guitarist, his true talent was the ability to create a space, be it a band, a radio show, or a nightclub, where the best musicians of his day could play pure jazz. The Classic Sessions, 1928-1949 is a four-CD set that collects the best of these sessions, which include performances by legends such as Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, and Billie Holiday, as well as Condon's regular circle of friends such as Gene Krupa, Bud Freeman, Miff Mole, and Muggsy Spanier. Condon's brand of hot jazz is sometimes mislabeled as Dixieland, and while most of the tracks have the same sense of driving rhythm as New Orleans jazz, many of the soloists, particularly Freeman on tenor sax, were playing lines as melodically sophisticated as anything heard in the more popular swing bands. Condon and his compatriots play classics such as "Liza," "Georgia," "Wolverine Blues," and "Nobody's Sweetheart" with an intoxicating blend of passion, power, and panache. These songs have been played by thousands of musicians since these tracks were recorded, but they have rarely been played as well. ~ Amazon

Dancer, actor, and singer Fred Astaire worked steadily in various entertainment media during nine decades of the 20th century. The most celebrated dancer in the history of film, with appearances in 31 movie musicals between 1933 and 1968 (and a special Academy Award in recognition of his accomplishments in them), Astaire also danced on-stage and on television (garnering two Emmy Awards in the process), and he even treated listening audiences to his accomplished tap dancing on records and on his own radio series. He appeared in another eight non-musical feature films and on numerous television programs, resulting in an Academy Award nomination and a third Emmy Award as an actor. His light tenor voice and smooth, conversational phrasing made him an ideal interpreter for the major songwriters of his era, and he introduced dozens of pop standards, many of them written expressly for him, by such composers as Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Burton Lane, Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, Arthur Schwartz, Harry Warren, and Vincent Youmans.

Count Basie was among the most important bandleaders of the swing era. With the exception of a brief period in the early '50s, he led a big band from 1935 until his death almost 50 years later, and the band continued to perform after he died…

Singer/actress Lena Horne's primary occupation was nightclub entertaining, a profession she pursued successfully around the world for more than 60 years, from the 1930s to the 1990s. In conjunction with her club work, she also maintained a recording career that stretched from 1936 to 2000 and brought her three Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989; she appeared in 16 feature films and several shorts between 1938 and 1978; she performed occasionally on Broadway, including in her own Tony-winning one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, in 1981-1982; and she sang and acted on radio and television.