METRONOME AND ESQUIRE ALL STARS
Current Episode
SSRH 846
August 22, 2026
Celebrating America 250
THE METRONOME AND ESQUIRE ALL-STARS
Part 2
Leonard Feather’s Esquire All-Stars
Commodore (Music Shop) Recording Session
New York
December 4, 1943
Personnel: Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax), Cootie Williams (trumpet), Edmond Hall (clarinet), Art Tatum (piano), Al Casey (guitar), Oscar Pettiford (string bass), Sid Catlett (drums), Leonard Feather (producer)
Second Esquire All-American Jazz Concert
New Orleans Municipal Auditorium
Radio City, New York
Philharmonic Auditorium, Los Angeles
January 17, 1945
11:30 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. (EWT)
Glenn Riggs, New York announcer
Danny Kaye, Los Angeles host
(Blue) (WDSU-WJZ-KECA)
Personnel: Leon Prima and his Band featuring Irving Fazola, Louis Armstrong & Jazz Foundation Six (New Orleans), Benny Goodman Quintet, with Mildred Bailey and Red Norvo (New York), Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra, with Anita O’Day, Art Tatum, Billy Holliday, Al Casey and Sid Catlett (Los Angeles)
Louis Armstrong and the Jazz Foundation Six: Louis Armstrong (trumpet, vocal), J. C. Higginbotham (trombone), Sidney Bechet (clarinet, saxophone), James P. Johnson (piano), Richard Alexis (string bass), Paul Barbarin (drums)
Benny Goodman Quintet: Benny Goodman (clarinet), Red Norvo (vibraharp), Teddy Wilson (piano), Sis Weiss (String bass), Morey Feld (drums)
Metronome All-Stars
RCA Victor Recording Session
Studio #2, New York
January 3, 1949
Personnel: Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro, Miles Davis (trumpet), Kai Winding, J. J. Johnson (trombone), Buddy DeFraqnco (clarinet), Charlie Parker (alto saxophone), Charlie Ventura (tenor saxophone), Ernie Caceres (baritone saxophone), Lennie Tristano (piano), Bill Bauer (guitar), Eddie Safranski (string bass), Shelly Manne (drums), George Simon (producer)
Playlist
(43-12-04) (A-4691-1, Commodore 547) Esquire Bounce, (A-4694-1, Commodore 547) Esquire Blues, (A-4692-1, Commodore 548) My Ideal, (A-4693, Commodore 548) Mop Mop (Boff Boff) (45-01-17) Program open, (New Orleans – Leon Prima) Tin Roof Blues, Rose Room (featuring Mary Osborne, guitar); (New Orleans – Louis Armstrong) Back O’ Town Blues (Perdido Street Blues) (Louis Armstrong, vocal), Arkansas Blues (featuring James P. Johnson, piano), I’m Confessin’ That I Love You, Award presentations to Louis Armstrong & J. C. Higginbotham, Dear Old Southland (with J. C. Higginbotham), Basin Street Blues & segment close; (Benny Goodman – New York): Air Mail Special, Downhearted Blues (Mildred Bailey, vocal), Jack Benny guest appearance, The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise, segment close (Los Angeles – Duke Ellington) Esquire Jump, Tea For Two, Award presentation by Judy Garland to Anita O’Day, Wish You Were Waiting For Me (Anita O’Day, vocal). Midriff; Duke Ellington presents Award to Jack Tatum, The Man I Love, I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby (Art Tatum, piano); Lionel Barrymore presents Awards to Duke Ellington and members of the orchestra; Mood To be Wooed; Jerome Kern presents Award to Bill Holliday; I Cover The Waterfront (Billy Holliday, vocal); Danny Kaye presents Awards to Al Casey and Sid Catlett; Honeysuckle Rose (with Al Casey and Sid Catlett), Leonard Feather introduces all three locations & musicians for a three-way simulcast closing performance), Things Ain’t What They Used To Be (Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong), to Blue Network ID; (49-01-03) (D9VB-0021-1. RCA Victor 20-3361) Overtime, (D9VC-1000-1, Unissued) Overtime
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