Bud Freeman Improvisation Tips – Phantom Dancer 22 June 2021

Bud Freeman, is the Phantom Dancer feature artist this week. You’ll hear his Summa cum Laude Orchestra from a 1940s radio broadcast. He was known for his improvisations on tenor sax and I quote from some of his tips on improvisation below.

The Phantom Dancer is your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV hosted presented by me, Greg Poppleton.

Hear past Phantom Dancer mixes online now at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/.

Meanwhile, this Phantom Dancer mix will be online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 22 June, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

BUD

In 1922, Freeman and some friends from high school formed the Austin High School Gang. Freeman played the C melody saxophone with band members such as Jimmy McPartland and Frank Teschemacher before switching to tenor saxophone the next year. The band was influenced by the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and Louis Armstrong. 

In 1927, he moved to New York City, where he worked as a session musician and band member with Red Nichols, Roger Wolfe Kahn, Ben Pollack, and Joe Venuti. One of his most notable performances was a solo on Eddie Condon‘s 1933 recording, The Eel, which became Freeman’s nickname for his long snake-like improvisations.

Freeman played with Tommy Dorsey‘s Orchestra (1936–1938) and Benny Goodman‘s band in 1938 before forming the Summa Cum Laude Orchestra (1939–1940). About this band, Freeman said,

“I had this band and the guys were late all the time. I didn’t want to have to hassle with them. I didn’t want to mistreat them, so I said, “Fellas, should we quit?”… we were good friends. They started to come on time.”

Freeman joined the U.S. Army during World War II and headed a U.S. Army band in the Aleutian Islands.

After the war, Freeman returned to New York and led his own groups. He also worked with Buck Clayton, Ruby Braff, Vic Dickenson, and Jo Jones. In 1960, he wrote the book and lyrics for the Broadway musical Beg, Borrow or Steal,  which included the ballad “Zen Is When”, later recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet on Jazz Impressions of Japan (1964). He was a member of the World’s Greatest Jazz Band in 1969 and 1970. In 1974, he moved to England and continued to record and perform. He returned to Chicago in 1980 and continued to work into his eighties.

He wrote two memoirs (You Don’t Look Like a Musician (1974) and If You Know of a Better Life, Please Tell Me (1976)) and an autobiography (Crazeology) with Robert Wolf.

IMPROVISATION

In a 1970 interview with Studs Terkel, Freeman said about jazz and improvisation,

“Jazz is a music that came out of the black man’s oppression, yet it allows for great freedom of expression.”

“There’s been a lot of untruths told about improvisation. Men just don’t get up on stage and improvise on things they’re not familiar with. True improvisation comes out of hard work. When you’re working at home, you work on a theme and you work out all the possibilities of that theme. Since it’s in your head, it comes out of you when you play.”

“I practice because I want to play better. I’ve never been terribly interested in technique, but I’m interested in facility. To feel comfortable, so when the idea shoots out of my head I can finger it, manipulate it. Something interesting happens. You’ll hear a phrase and suddenly you’re thrown into a whole new inspiration.”

22 JUNE PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE Community Radio Network Show CRN #497
107.3 2SER Tuesday 22 JUNE 2021 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2SEA Eden Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am 2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Monday 6 -7pm 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Tuesday 12am – 1am 2MCE Bathurst Wednesday 9 – 10am 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
Set 1	1940s One Night Stand Radio
Apurksedy (theme) + Hop, Skip and Jump	Gene Krupa Orchestra (voc) Carolyn Gray	‘One Night Stand’ Meadowbrook Ballroom Culver City Ca AFRS Re-broadcast 31 Mar 1946
You’re My Thrill	Charlie Barnet Orchestra (voc) Betty Perry	‘One Night Stand’ Casino Gardens Ocean Park Ca AFRS Re-broadcast 3 Jan 1947
How High the Moon + Brahm’s Lullaby (theme)	Buddy Morrow Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Blue Room Hotel Lincoln NYC AFRS Re-broadcast 27 May 1946
Set 2	Jimmie Grier Orchestra
After All Is Said and Done	Jimmie Grier Orchestra (voc) Dick Webster	‘Cocoanut Grove’ Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1933
A Secret Love	Jimmie Grier Orchestra (voc) Kenny Allen	‘Cocoanut Grove’ Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1933
Kiss by Kiss + Music in the Moonlight (theme)	Jimmie Grier Orchestra (voc) The Three Cheers	‘Cocoanut Grove’ Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1933
Set 3	Trad Radio
Have Your Chill	Coot Grant and Kid Socks Wilson	‘This is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NYC 3 May 1947
Yellow Dog Blues	Coot Grant	‘This is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NYC 3 May 1947
A Good Man is Hard to Find	George Brunies	‘This is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NYC 5 Apr 1947
Set 4	Bud Freeman
Theme + I Ain’t Gonna Give You None Of My Jelly Roll	Bud Freeman’s Summa cum Laude Orchestra	Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 20 May 1940
Secrets in the Moonlight	Bud Freeman’s Summa cum Laude Orchestra	Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 20 May 1940
Shake Down the Stars + Medley	Bud Freeman’s Summa cum Laude Orchestra	Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 20 May 1940
Sierra Sue	Bud Freeman’s Summa cum Laude Orchestra	Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 20 May 1940
Set 5	Benny Goodman 1938-39
Chicago	Benny Goodman Orchestra	‘Camel Caravan’ WBBM CBS Chicago 6 Sep 1938
Lilacs in the Rain	Benny Goodman Orchestra (voc) Mildred Bailey	‘Camel Caravan’ WEAF NBC Red NYC 18 Nov 1939
Open + The Spring Song	Benny Goodman Orchestra	‘Camel Caravan’ WEAF NBC Red NYC 9 Sep 1939
Set 6	1930s-40s Swing Discs
Popcorn Man	Ray Ventura Orchestra (voc) Betty Allan	Comm Rec Paris 1938
Rumba Azul	Lecuona Cuban Boys (voc) Alberto Rabagliati	Comm Rec Paris 1936
Le Boogie de Paris	Jacques Helian Orchestra	Comm Rec Paris 1946
Cafunga	Bruguera	Comm Rec Paris 1936
Set 7	Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street
Winnin’ Boy	Jelly Roll Morton	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 14 Jul 1940
Open + Get Happy	Esquire All Stars	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 16 Jan 1944
Body and Soul	Bobby Hackett	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 23 Jun 1940
Honeysuckle Rose + Close	Esquire All Stars	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 16 Jan 1944
Set 8	Medleys
Twilight in Teheran	Buck Ram All-Stars	Comm Rec New York City 18 Sep 1944
High On an Open Mike	Frank Navarro	‘Saturday Night Swing Club’ WNEW New York City 12 Apr 1947
Sabroso	Slim Gaillard	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Birdland WJZ ABC NY 7 Jul 1951

Phyllis Diller One Liners

Growing up, I ran to the TV whenever I heard Phyllis Diller’s voice. Her look, her wit, were breaths of fresh air. Plus, it was very rare to see her on Australian TV, which made her appearances even more exciting. Here are some of her one-liners that have suddenly sprung up all over the internet…

“Whatever you may look like, marry a man your own age. As your beauty fades, so will his eyesight.”

“The reason women don’t play football is because 11 of them would never wear the same outfit in public.”

“Best way to get rid of kitchen odours: Eat out.”

“A bachelor is a guy who never made the same mistake once.”

“I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them.”

“Most children threaten at times to run away from home. This is the only thing that keeps some parents going.”

“Any time three New Yorkers get into a cab without an argument, a bank has just been robbed.”

“We spend the first twelve months of our children’s lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve years telling them to sit down and shut up.”

“Burt Reynolds once asked me out. I was in his room.”

“What I don’t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day.”

“The only time I ever enjoyed ironing was the day I accidentally got gin in the steam iron.”

“His finest hour lasted a minute and a half.”

“Old age is when the liver spots show through your gloves.”

“My photographs don’t do me justice – they just look like me.”

“I admit, I have a tremendous sex drive. My boyfriend lives forty miles away.”

“tranquillizers work only if you follow the advice on the bottle – keep away from children.”

“I asked the waiter, ‘Is this milk fresh?’ He said, ‘Lady, three hours ago it was grass’.”

“The reason the golf pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can’t see him laughing.”

“You know you’re old if they have discontinued your blood type.”

“Housework can’t kill you, but why take a chance?”

“Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shovelling the sidewalk before it stops snowing.”

WeAudition – 25% Discount Offer for Actors

Actors – to self tape or rehearse, I highly recommend using WeAudition where you can work with skilled actors from around the world. Use promo code GREG25 to get 25% off the subscription fee. Join at WeAudition.com

Max Roach Most Important Drummer – Phantom Dancer 20 April 2021

Max Roach was one of the most important drummers in history. The bebop pioneer was also a composer and is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist.

The Phantom Dancer – your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV hosted by me, Greg Poppleton.

Enjoy a whole library of Phantom Dancer mixes online now at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/.

This show will be online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 20 April at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/

 

1940s

Max Roach began playing drums in his church at age 10. At 18, in 1942, Duke Ellington booked him to fill in for Ellington drummer, Sonny Greer, at the Paramount Theatre, NYC. He made his first professional recording backing Coleman Hawkins in 1943.

In 1945 he played on Charlie Parker’s pioneering bop records and he backed bop pioneers Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk and Bud Powell on radio and discs. Radio airchecks of these collaborations will be heard on this week’s show.

STUDY

In the late 1940s, Roach traveled to Hailti to study with the traditional drummer Ti Roro.

He studied classical percussion at the Manhattan School of Music from 1950 to 1953, working toward a Bachelor of Music degree. The school awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in 1990.

 

Long involved in jazz education, in 1972 Roach was recruited to the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He taught at the university until the mid-1990s.

 

1950s

In 1952, Roach co-founded Debut Records with bassist Charles Mingus. The label released a record of the 1953 Massey Hall Concert featuring Parker, Gillespie, Powell, Mingus, and Roach. The label also put out the groundbreaking bass-and-drum free improvisation, Percussion Discussion.

In 1954, Roach and trumpeter Clifford Brown formed a quintet that also featured tenor saxophonist Harold Land, pianist Richie Powell (brother of Bud Powell), and bassist George Morrow. Land left the quintet the following year and was replaced by Sonny Rollins. You’ll hear this band with Sonny Rollins on this week’s Phantom Dancer from a live radio broadcast.

In 1955, he played drums for vocalist Dinah Washington at several live appearances and recordings. He appeared with Washington at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1958, which was filmed, and at the 1954 live studio audience recording of Dinah Jams, considered to be one of the best and most overlooked vocal jazz albums of its genre.

1960s-70s

In 1960 he composed and recorded the album We Insist! (subtitled Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite), with vocals by his then-wife Abbey Lincoln and lyrics by Oscar Brown Jr., after being invited to contribute to commemorations of the hundredth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln‘s Emancipation Proclamation. In 1962, he recorded the album Money Jungle, a collaboration with Mingus and Duke Ellington. This is generally regarded as one of the finest trio albums ever recorded.

During the 1970s, Roach formed M’Boom, a percussion orchestra. Each member composed for the ensemble and performed on multiple percussion instruments. Personnel included Fred King, Joe Chambers, Warren Smith, Freddie Waits, Roy Brooks, Omar Clay, Ray Mantilla, Francisco Mora, and Eli Fountain.

1980s-90s

In the early 1980s, Roach presented solo concerts, demonstrating that multiple percussion instruments performed by one player could fulfill the demands of solo performance and be entirely satisfying to an audience. He created memorable compositions in these solo concerts.

Roach also embarked on a series of duet recordings. Departing from the style he was best known for, most of the music on these recordings is free improvisation, created with Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Archie Shepp, and Abdullah Ibrahim. Roach created duets with other performers, including: a recorded duet with oration of the “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr.; a duet with video artist Kit Fitzgerald, who improvised video imagery while Roach created the music; a duet with his lifelong friend and associate Gillespie; and a duet concert recording with Mal Waldron.

He also wrote music for theater, including plays by Sam Shepard. He was composer and musical director for a festival of Shepard plays, called “ShepardSets”, at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in 1984. The festival included productions of Back Bog Beast Bait, Angel City, and Suicide in B Flat. In 1985, George Ferencz directed “Max Roach Live at La MaMa: A Multimedia Collaboration”.

Roach found new contexts for performance, creating unique musical ensembles. One of these groups was “The Double Quartet”, featuring his regular performing quartet with the same personnel as above, except Tyrone Brown replaced Hill. This quartet joined “The Uptown String Quartet”, led by his daughter Maxine Roach and featuring Diane Monroe, Lesa Terry, and Eileen Folson.

Another ensemble was the “So What Brass Quintet”, a group comprising five brass instrumentalists and Roach, with no chordal instrument and no bass player. Much of the performance consisted of drums and horn duets. The ensemble consisted of two trumpets, trombone, French horn, and tuba. Personnel included Cecil Bridgewater, Frank Gordon, Eddie Henderson, Rod McGaha, Steve Turre, Delfeayo Marsalis, Robert Stewart, Tony Underwood, Marshall Sealy, Mark Taylor, and Dennis Jeter.

Not content to expand on the music he was already known for, Roach spent the 1980s and 1990s finding new forms of musical expression and performance. He performed a concerto with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He wrote for and performed with the Walter White gospel choir and the John Motley Singers. He also performed with dance companies, including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the Dianne McIntyre Dance Company, and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. He surprised his fans by performing in a hip hop concert featuring the Fab Five Freddy and the New York Break Dancers. Roach expressed the insight that there was a strong kinship between the work of these young black artists and the art he had pursued all his life.

Though Roach played with many types of ensembles, he always continued to play jazz. He performed with the Beijing Trio, with pianist Jon Jang and erhu player Jeibing Chen. His final recording, Friendship, was with trumpeter Clark Terry. The two were longtime friends and collaborators in duet and quartet. Roach’s final performance was at the 50th anniversary celebration of the original Massey Hall concert, with Roach performing solo on the hi-hat.

In 1994, Roach appeared on Rush drummer Neil Peart‘s Burning For Buddy, performing “The Drum Also Waltzes” Parts 1 and 2 on Volume 1 of the 2-volume tribute album during the 1994 All-Star recording sessions.

In the early 2000s, Roach became less active due to the onset of hydrocephalus-related complications.

DRUMMING STYLE

Roach started as a traditional grip player but used matched grip as well as his career progressed.

Roach’s most significant innovations came in the 1940s, when he and Kenny Clarke devised a new concept of musical time. By playing the beat-by-beat pulse of standard 4/4 time on the ride cymbal instead of on the thudding bass drum, Roach and Clarke developed a flexible, flowing rhythmic pattern that allowed soloists to play freely. This also created space for the drummer to insert dramatic accents on the snare drum, crash cymbal, and other components of the trap set.

By matching his rhythmic attack with a tune’s melody, Roach brought a newfound subtlety of expression to the drums. He often shifted the dynamic emphasis from one part of his drum kit to another within a single phrase, creating a sense of tonal color and rhythmic surprise. Roach said of the drummer’s unique positioning, “In no other society do they have one person play with all four limbs.”

While this is common today, when Clarke and Roach introduced the concept in the 1940s it was revolutionary. “When Max Roach’s first records with Charlie Parker were released by Savoy in 1945”, jazz historian Burt Korall wrote in the Oxford Companion to Jazz, “drummers experienced awe and puzzlement and even fear.” One of those drummers, Stan Levey, summed up Roach’s importance: “I came to realize that, because of him, drumming no longer was just time, it was music.”

In 1966, with his album Drums Unlimited (which includes several tracks that are entirely drum solos) he demonstrated that drums can be a solo instrument able to play theme, variations, and rhythmically cohesive phrases. Roach described his approach to music as “the creation of organized sound.”

20 APRIL PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINE   Community Radio Network Show CRN #486
107.3 2SER Tuesday 20 April 2021 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2SEA Eden Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4am 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4am 2BRW Braidwood Monday 3 – 4am 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Friday 10 – 11am 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 5LCM Lofty FM Adelaide Friday 1 – 2pm 4RPH Brisbane Sunday 3 – 4am 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Sunday 5 – 6am 3BBR West Gippsland Sunday 5 – 6pm
Set 1	Swing Bands 1944 Radio
Theme + Kentucky	Bob Strong Orchestra (voc) Bob Fiola	‘One Night Stand’ Glen Island Casino New Rochelle NY AFRS Re-broadcast 20 Aug 1944
Blue Skies	Boyd Raeburn Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Roosevelt Hotel Washington DC AFRS Re-broadcast Feb 1944
Isle of Capri + Close	Gay Claridge Orchestra (g) Mary Osbourne	‘One Night Stand’ Chez Paree Chicago AFRS Re-broadcast 7 Aug 1944
Set 2	Vincent Valsanti (Ted Fio Rito)
Your Blase + Sophisticated Lady	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
Dreaming + Was It a Dream? + It’s June in January	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Bill Thomas	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
OK Toots + Close	Vincent Valsanti Orchestra (voc) Don 1, 2 and 3	Cocoanut Radio Transcription TRANSCO Los Angeles 1934
Set 3	Trad Radio and TV
Open + Sweet Georgia Brown	Al Hirt	‘Jazz Band Ball’ WWL CBS New Orleans 18 Aug 1956
Down Among The Sheltering Palms	Eddie Condon Group (voc) Johnny Mercer	‘Eddie Condon’s Floor Show’ WPIX TV NYC 1948
Blues	Eddie Condon Group (voc) Johnny Mercer (piano) Mary Lou Williams	‘Eddie Condon’s Floor Show’ WPIX TV NYC 1948
Set 4	Max Roach
Koko (theme) + Hot House	Barry Ulanov’s All-Star Modern Jazz Musicians (drums) Max Roach	‘Bands for Bonds’ WOR Mutual NYC 13 Sep 1947
Daahoud	Max Roach – Clifford Young Quintet	‘Basin Street’ WCBS CBS NY 6 May 1956
Oo Bop Sh’Bam	Charlie Parker Quintet (drums) Max Roach	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 22 Jan 1949
Scrapple From The Apple	Charlie Parker Quintet (drums) Max Roach	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 22 Jan 1949
Set 5	1930s Dance Bands
Open + Goody Goodbye	Ted Weems Orchestra	‘Beat the Band’ WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1940
Way Down Yonder in New Orleans	Ray Noble Orchestra	‘Coty Hour’ WEAF NBC Red NY 13 Mar 1935
Alice Blue Gown	Ozzie Nelson Orchestra	Blackhawk Restaurant WGN Mutual Chicago 30 Mar 1940
White Star of Sigma Nu	Joe Haymes Orchestra	Grill Room Hotel McAlpen WABC CBS NY 29 Jan 1935
Set 6	Sydney Swing Singers 1938-44
Annie Laurie	Jim Davidson and his ABC Dance Orchestra (voc) Alice Smith	Comm Rec Sydney 2 Jun 1938
Say a Prayer for the Boys over There	George Trevare Orchestra (voc) Joan Blake	Comm Rec Sydney 1943
A-Tisket A-Tasket	Jim Davidson and his ABC Dance Orchestra (voc) Alice Smith	Comm Rec Sydney 2 Jun 1938
Jungle Jive	George Trevare Orchestra (voc) Elsie Wardrope	Comm Rec Sydney 1944
Set 7	Hal Kemp
When Summer is Gone (theme) + Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?	Hal Kemp Orchestra (voc) Skinnay Ennis	‘Lavena Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1934
There’s a Small Hotel	Hal Kemp Orchestra (voc) Maxine Gray	‘Lady Esther Serenade’ WEAF NBC Red NY 26 Aug 1936
Penny Serenade	Hal Kemp Orchestra (voc) Audience	Aircheck 1938
42nd Street + When Summer is Gone (theme)	Hal Kemp Orchestra	‘Lavena Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1934
Set 8	Charlie Parker
S.K. Blues	Joe Turner	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Oct 1945
Empty Head Blues	Ivie Anderson	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Oct 1945
Love My Baby	Joe Turner	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Oct 1945
Improvised Blues	Johnny Otis and ‘Jubilee’ All-Stars Orchestras	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Oct 1945

Self Tapes – How To Make One…

Self tapes for film, TV and commercial roles began for auditioning actors before the pandemic. Lockdowns during the pandemic sped up the adoption process. Now auditioning digitally is much more common than auditioning in a casting office.

There’s so much written online about how to self tape. Film and TV casting consultant Greg Apps runs a great, no bs self tape course which I personally highly recommend.

Now since a picture tells a thousand words, I’ve put together a 3 minute reel of self tape clips for you to check out what works first-hand. These clips are from self tapes I’ve made that have all won, or received special mentions, in US and Australian competitions. Check it out below. Get good karma by giving it a thumbs up…

Technically, I use a phone (sometimes held in an outstretched hand like in the heart attack scene, other times clipped to the top of a microphone stand), the phone microphone, natural light and imagination. I use DaVinci Resolve to edit.

Weekly US self tape challenges are run by No Good Theater.

Check out my actor website gregpoppleton.com where you’ll see full versions of the clips from the 3 minute compilation in the Self Tape section. And soundtrack your day with aircheck Phantom Dancer radio mixes of live 1920s-60s radio swing and jazz.

Meanwhile, happy self taping.

Cemetery Musings

Impro – Self Tape. Agent: smithandmacdonaldcreativemanagement

New Ad I’m In Passes 400,000 YouTube Views

New ad I’m in has already had more than 400,000 YouTube views…

Visit my actor website – www.gregpoppleton.com

Congratulations to director Mark Alston, all at Rolla Films, 72andSunny, & Citizen Jane Casting for this new ad for Sendle. “Channeling the aesthetic and eccentricity of Wes Anderson’s style,” B&T Magazine

Ad News wrote,

“Courier service Sendle has launched a new online campaign to celebrate the thousands of side hustlers and micro businesses that have used its shipping service during the massive eCommerce boom triggered by COVID-19. The two quirky but stunning creative pieces are based on real life Sendle customers, Zove Beauty and Unicorn Manor, and were developed by creative agency 72andSunny Sydney.

“It has been a very tough year for so many small businesses in our Australian and US markets, so we felt it was time to add a little bit more magic into the Sendle-sphere, and celebrate our inspirational community of shippers,” says Sendle chief marketing and customer officer Eva Ross.

The first piece shows a man testing his jade roller – a centuries-old Chinese skincare tool – on a mannequin in a room full of mannequins. Channeling the aesthetic and eccentricity of Wes Anderson’s style, it plays on the growing beauty device category which has expanded during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our stories encapsulate the incredible talent among the side hustlers and small businesses that use Sendle for shipping, and we wanted to cleverly reveal some of the unique and iconic products that we deliver to their customers,” says Ross. The second piece shows a woman charging a crystal in the moonlight coming through the window in her living room. She appears to be channeling the light from the full moon through her entire body.

The digital courier service noticed that it was delivering an increasing number of crystals and gemstones as people flock to the wellness space. This New Age category has undergone a revolution, shaking the shackles of its hippy era and embracing the modern and health. “It has been awesome working and collaborating with Eva and the broader Sendle team on this campaign,” says 72andSunny Sydney head of product Luke Martin.

“We are stoked to be able to bring some magic to the world with these quirky films and to get the opportunity to write fun little stories about some of the brilliant businesses that use Sendle in Australia and the US.” Sendle spoke to customers during the research phase of the campaign and discovered that 49% are running a side hustle on top of a full time job. 85% also said they were feeling optimistic about the second half of 2020 despite all the challenges this year.

Sendle has developed a campaign that channels that optimism and celebrates its growing community of side hustlers, hence the tag line “Love your hustle, Send with Sendle.” Sendle’s small business campaign runs online on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram in Australia and the US from mid-October to mid-December, and will continue on the Sendle website throughout 2021 for the Wes Anderson fans and lovers of all things mystical.”

Frances Faye – Phantom Dancer 4 August 2020

Frances Faye, cabaret singer and pianist, is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist. Peter Allen credited her as a major influence. He had Faye sing the vocals on the track ‘Just a Gigolo’ on his 1974 album, Continental American.

Personally, I wonder whether the Continental in the name of that album refers to the Continental Baths in New York City where Allen re-launched his career after being rescued by a friend of mine, and Continental Baths owner, Steve Ostrow, who with, Bette Midler, found him unconscious one day on a Long Island beach.

You’ll hear Frances live from a NYC nightclub over NBC in 1956 on this week’s Phantom Dancer. And she’s your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week in a 1979 performance live on Sydney’s midday weekly variety TV show, ‘The Mike Walsh Show’. (Missed this one, I was either at a Chemical Engineering lecture at uni or on a bus working as a conductor. ‘The Mike Walsh Show’ audience were famously all bussed in ‘little old ladies’.)

The Phantom Dancer is your non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV every week. Presented and produced by 1920s-30s singer and actor Greg Poppleton, The Phantom Dancer’s been on-air over 107.3 2SER Sydney since 1985.

Hear The Phantom Dancer online from 12:04pm AEST Tuesday 4 August at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/ where you can also hear two years of archived shows.

As always, the finyl hour is vinyl.

FRANCES

Frances Faye was a second cousin of actor Danny Kaye, whose TV show I used to watch, laughing my head off, as a toddler in the mid-1960s.
She entered showbiz at age 15 in nightclubs.

She made her solo recording debut in 1936 and appeared in the 1937 Bing Crosby movie, ‘Double or Nothing’ in which she sang ‘After You’. She wrote the song ‘Well All Right’ recorded by the Andrews Sisters.

Her act became famous for including double entendres and references to homosexuality. Faye herself was bisexual and hinted at this frequently in her act, playfully altering pronouns in love songs or weave her girlfriend’s name into lyrics of songs.

She recorded albums for Capitol Records, Imperial Records and the jazz labels Verve and Bethlehem Records.

FAYE

Faye was married twice in the 1940s. In the late 1950s, a woman named Teri Shepherd became her manager and lifelong partner. Shepherd discussed her relationship with Faye in Bruce Weber’s 2001 film Chop Suey.

She was arrested in 1955 on a narcotics charge in Los Angeles. Police alleged she and three men arrested at the same time possessed marijuana.

During the 1960s, Faye suffered a number of health related problems brought on by a hip accident in 1958. She nevertheless continued to tour into the early 1980s. Peter Allen credited her as a major influence.

She returned to film in 1978, playing an elderly cocaine-sniffing madam in the Louis Malle film Pretty Baby. She retired shortly afterwards. At the time of her death in 1991, aged 79, she was living with Shepherd.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

And every week, right here, I find the jazzy or the quirky or both combined from YouTube, just for you, as your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week. This week it’s Francis Faye (she’s in today’s Phantom Dancer mix on NBC radio in 1956) live on Sydney TV (The Mike Walsh Show) in 1979 – singing, playing the piano, and being interviewed. Enjoy!

4 AUGUST PLAY LIST

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #448
107.3 2SER Tuesday 4 August 2020 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+10 hours GMT) and Saturdays 5 – 5:55pm National Program: 1ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Sunday 10 – 11pm 5GTR Mt Gambier Monday 2:30 – 3:30am 3MBR Murrayville Monday 3 – 4am 4NAG Keppel FM Monday 3 – 4am 2SEA Eden Monday 3 – 4am 2MIA Griffith Monday 3 – 4pm 2BAR Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4pm 3VKV Alpine Radio Monday 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm 2MCE Bathurst / Orange / Central West NSW Wednesday 9 – 10am 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 7LTN Launceston Sunday 5 – 6am 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am 6GME Radio Goolarri Broome Sunday 5 – 6am
Set 1	Jubilee Show AFRS Radio 1945-46
Open + Instrumental	Cliff Lang	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 7 Oct 1946
Sentimental Journey	Alvino Rey (steel guitar) and The Armed Forces Radio Service Orchestra	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood Aug 1945
Honeysuckle Rose + One O’Clock Jump (theme)	International Sweethearts of Rhythm	‘Jubilee’ AFRS Hollywood 17 Jul 1945
Set 2	Live Exotica on 1950s Radio
Medley	Frances Faye (voc and piano) with double bass and bongos	‘All Star Parade of Bands’ The Cameo WRCA NBC NY 5 Mar 1956
Mocambo Mambo + Quiet Village (close)	Martin Denny	London House WBBM CBS Chicago 1959
Night Must Fall + Nightingale + My Shawl (close)	Xavier Cugat Orchestra	‘All-Star Parade of Bands’ The Last Frontier NBC Las Vegas 30 Nov 1953
Set 3	Radio Band Leaders Who Made Lounge Records in the 1950s
Open + The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else	Enoch Light and his Light Brigade	‘One Night Stand’ New Park Casino Palisades Park NJ AFRS Re-broadcast 1944
Contrasts (theme) + Georgia On My Mind	Jimmy Dorsey Dorseyland Band	‘Marine Corp Show’ Radio Transcription 1950
It’s Delovely + Theme	Sammy Kaye Orchestra (voc) Tony Alamo and Barbara Benson	Astor Roof Waldorf-Astoria Hotel WCBS CBS NY 1951
Set 4	Early 1930s Radio
Virginia	Arthur Rosebery and his Kit-Kat Dance Band (voc) Len Lees	Comm Rec London Dec 1929
Open + It’s The Girl	Freddy Rich and the Friendly Five Orchestra (voc) Freddy Rich	‘Friendly Five Footnotes’ Radio Transcription New York City 1931
Be Cafeful + Close	Billy Jones and Ernie Hare with the De Marco Sisters	‘Tastee Loafers’ Radio Transcription New York City 1934
Set 5	Trad Jazz on 1940s – 50s Radio
Chicago	Jimmy Dorsey’s Dorseyland Band	‘Marine Corp Show’ Radio Transcription New York City 1950
Back and Blue	Muggsy Spanier	‘This Is Jazz’ WOR Mutual NY 22 Mar 1947
Relaxin’ at the Touro	Muggsy Spanier and Eddie Condon Group incl. Gene Krupa (drums)	‘Eddie Condon Jazz Concert’ Town Hall, New York City WJZ Blue NY 23 Sep 1944
Canal Street Blues + Bay City (close)	Turk Murphy’s San Francisco Jazz Band	Easy Street KCBS San Francisco 7 Nov 1958
Set 6	1930s Dance Bands on the Wireless
Hurry Home	Jan Savitt and his Top Hatters (voc) Carlotta Dale	Comm Rec New York City 21 Oct 1938
Old Stamping Ground	Artie Shaw Orchestra (voc) Tony Pastor	Blue Room Hotel Lincoln WEAF NBC Red NY 30 Dec 1938
Back To Back	Teddy Wilson Orchestra (voc) Thelma Carpenter	‘America Dances’ WABC CBS NY and BBC London 1939
In A Mist	Bunny Berrigan Orchestra	WABC CBS NY 19 Nov 1938
Set 7	Guy Lombardo at the 1964 New York World Fair
Band Remote	Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians	Tiparillo Pavilion New York World Fair WCBS CBS NY 1964
Set 8	Bebop Sounds on 1950s Radio
Shaw Nuff	Dizzy Gillespie Rebop Six	Comm Rec Hollywood Dec 1945
Night in Tunisia	Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra	Birdland WCBS CBS NY Jul 1956
A Groovy Little Ditty	Dorsey Brothers Orchestra	Cafe Rouge Hotel Statler WRCA NBC NY April 1956
Imagination	Slim Gaillard Quintet (voc) Slim Gaillard	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Birdland WJZ ABC NY 2 Jun 1951

First Radio Wedding 1924 – Phantom Dancer 12 December 2019

WEDDING OF THE YEAR

This week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist with Greg Poppleton, is ‘the Red-Headed Music Maker’, Wendall Hall. Wendall was an early radio star and was the first to be married live on radio on 4 June 1924 to Marion Martin over WEAF New York.

ONLINE

This week’s Phantom Dancer will be online after the 10 November 107.3 2SER Sydney live mix at 2ser.com.
Hear the show live every Tuesday 12:04-2pm on 107.3 2SER Sydney.

WENDALL

This week’s Phantom Dancer goes back to the earliest radio of the 1920s – 39s for its feature artist. Wendall Hall was an American country singer, vaudeville artist, songwriter, pioneer radio performer, Victor recording artist and ukulele player.

RAIN

In 1923, Hall released the song “It Ain’t Gonna Rain No Mo’,” which sold over two million copies in the United States. It was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. The song is also considered the first musical hit on radio. He wrote “Underneath the Mellow Moon” and “Carolina Rose”. Hall also wrote songs with Carson Robison and Art Gillham.

1920s RADIO STAR

Hall began his career in 1922 Chicago as a song plugger for Forster Music. He traveled around the US and stopped in towns to play in music stores, theaters, and radio. In vaudeville he began singing and playing the xylophone. He found the ukulele to be more portable and quickly became an expert with that instrument. In January, 1924 he signed with the National Carbon Company to host the Eveready Hour a pioneer commercially sponsored variety program on WEAF in New York. On November 4, 1924 the program was on a pre-network 18 station “hook-up” to broadcast election returns with entertainers Will Rogers, Carson Robison, Art Gillham, and the Waldorf Astoria Orchestra. Eveready even painted their batteries with a red top to cash in on Hall’s popularity. In 1929 Wendell Hall hosted the Majestic Music Hour and a few years later Gillette’s Community Sing. He made a few musical short films.

On a 1925 European tour he was broadcast over a 21 station hook-up, the largest ever attempted up to that time.

After his radio days were over, Wendell Hall wrote commercials for radio.

TAROPATCH

Hall performed on a variety of stringed instruments, including the standard ukulele, the taropatch ukulele, banjo, and the hybrid banjolele, as well as the tiple. Like so many of the other performers during the era, Hall was a big fan of the instruments created by the C.F. Martin & Company, particularly their Taropatch. Like other performers, he was unsuccessful in obtaining an endorsement deal with Martin, but in response to his letter offering to endorse their product, Martin offered their 20% discount for professional performers and to inlay his name in the head of the instrument.

UKULELE

He published an instruction book, Wendell Hall’s Ukulele Method, with Forster Music in 1925, that was edited by May Singhi Breen. He also marketed a series of custom ukuleles through the Regal Musical Instrument Company of Chicago, with his picture on the head of The Red Head Ukulele and banjolele with red tuning pegs that became collectors’ items for several generations afterward

With the resurgence of the uke’s popularity in the 1950s, Hall was able to land a radio show on WBKB five days a week, the home of the Griff Williams Show which is your Phantom Dancer Video of the Week…

Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney, Live Stream, Digital Radio Community Radio Network Show CRN #417
107.3 2SER Tuesday 10 December 2019 After the 2SER 12 noon news, 12:04 – 2:00pm (+11 hours GMT) National Program: 1 ART ArtsoundFM Canberra Sunday 10 – 11pm Edge FM Bega Monday 3 – 4pm 3VKV Alpine Radio 6 – 7pm 7MID Oatlands Tuesday 8 – 9pm 2ARM Armidale Friday 12 – 1pm 3MGB Mallacoota Sunday 5 – 6am and early morning on 23 other stations.
Set 1	Modernistic 1950s Dance Bands
Artistry in Rhythm (theme) + A Melody To The Trees	Stan Kenton Orchestra	‘Concert in Miniature’ Lakeside Ballroom Dayton OH WLW NBC Cincinnati 16 Sep 1952
Savings Bonds Ad + The Stars and Stripes Forever	Ralph Flanagan Orchestra	‘Treasury Bandstand’ Cafe Rouge Hotel Statler WCBS CBS NY 1950
Wending My May Back Home + Close	Eliot Lawrence Orchestra	‘Jazz Is My Beat’ New York City AFRTS Re-broadcast 1958
Set 2	Early Live 1930s Ragio
Open + Music In My Fingers	George Shackley Ensemble (voc) Veronica Wiggins	‘Nihi Program’ Radio Transcription New York City 1931
Margie + Do You Ever Think Of Me? + Sweet Sue	Jimmie Grier Orchestra	Cocoanut Grove Ambassador Hotel KFI NBC Gold Network LA 1932
Melancholy Moon + Pineapple Ad + It Gonna Rain No More + Aloha Oe	Wendall Hall	‘The Pineapple Picadour’ WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 2 Apr 1931
Set 3	Super Jive From 1937 – 38 Radio
Dark Forest (theme) + Limehouse Blues	Earl Hines Orchestra	Grand Terrace Room WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 3 Aug 1938
A Study in Blue	Larry Clinton Orchestra	Hotel Park Central WEAF NBC Red NY 7 Jul 1939
When It’s Sleepy Time Down South + Camel Hop	Benny Goodman Orchestra	Madhattan Room Hotel Pennsylvania WABC CBS NY 20 Oct 1937
Set 4	1940s Dance Bands
Voglio Fischiettiare (I Like To Whistle)	Nuccia Natali and Vocal Trio with Orchestra	Comm Rec Cetra Turin 1940
The Sheik of Araby	Russ Morgan Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ AFRS Re-broadcast 28 Apr 1944
Medley	Art Kassels and his Kassels-in-the-Air Orchestra	Blackhawk Restaurant WGN Chicago 1947
Set 5	Jazz and Pop on 1940 Radio
It Never Entered My Head	Shep Fields and his Rippling Rhythm Orchestra (voc) Hal Derwin	Radio Transcription New York City 1940
Open + Down For The Count	Glenn Miller Orchestra	Cafe Rouge Hotel Pennsylvania WJZ NBC Blue NY 6 Nov 1940
St Louis Blues	Roy Eldridge	‘Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street’ WJZ NBC Blue NY 21 Apr 1940
Four Beat Shuffle + Pretty Little Petticoat (theme)	Raymond Scott Orchestra	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 1940
Set 6	New Orleans Jazz on Radio
Open + Way Down Yonder in New Orleans	Louis Armstrong All-Stars	‘New Orleans Movie Opening’ Wintergarden Theatre WNBC NBC NY 19 Jun 1947
Open + At The Jazz Band Ball	Eddie Condon Group	‘Eddie Condon Jazz Concert’ Town Hall WJZ Blue NY 30 Sep 1944
I Ain’t Gonna Give Nobody None Of My Jelly Roll	Bud Freeman Summa Cum Laude Orchestra	Panther Room Hotel Sherman WMAQ NBC Red Chicago 20 May 1940
That’s A’Plenty + Relaxin’ At The Touro (theme)	Muggsy Spanier Dixieland All-Stars	Club Hangover KCBS CBS San Francisco 18 Apr 1953
Set 7	Big Bands on 1947 Radio
Who’s Got The Ball?	Harry James Orchestra	The Click WFIL Philadelphia 22 Dec 1947
Kate	Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (voc) The Town Criers	Casino Gardens Ocean Park Ca KECA ABC LA 6 Dec 1947
Everybody Eats When They Come To My House	Cab Calloway’s Caballiers (voc) CC	‘Guest Star’ New York City 1947
Passion Flower	Duke Ellington Orchestra	‘One Night Stand’ Ciro’s Hollywood AFRS Re-broadcast Jul 1947
Set 8	Charlie Parker on WMCA NY 1949
Chasin’ The Bird	Charlie Parker Sextet	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 12 Mar 1949
Confirmation	Charlie Parker Quintet	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 19 Feb 1949
Scrapple From The Apple	Charlie Parker Quintet	‘Symphony Sid Show’ Royal Roost WMCA NY 22 Jan 1949

See My New Actor Showreel

Hi Everyone,

I have a new Drama Showreel for film and TV.

And a new film and TV actor website gregpoppleton.com

As technology has made the making of film more accessable, so the traditional actor showreel has quickly changed.

Greg Poppleton Film and TV actor. Photo by Sally Flegg.

Gone are the days when a reel had to be professionally shot clips from your film and TV credits.

Now casting directors want to see characters. ‘You can film them in your backyard’, one CD said.

So here are three of my characters from self tapes I’ve recorded over the past two months. There’s a forensic psychiatrist talking to a child, a deskbound detective, then a small time crim. Scripts by Chad Schnackel & David Dalton. Enjoy!

Actor Website: www.gregpoppleton.com