20 February 2024
(Until 20 February)Rex Stewart – Trumpeter, Composer, Chef – Phantom Dancer
Greg Poppleton's Phantom Dancer swing jazz radio show
Rex Stewart was an American jazz cornetist, composer and chef.
The Phantom Dancer is your weekly non-stop mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio and TV every week.
LISTEN to this week’s Phantom Dancer mix (online after 2pm AEST, Tuesday 20 February) and weeks of Phantom Dancer mixes online at, at https://2ser.com/phantom-dancer/
REX
Rex studied piano and violin and dropped out of high school to become a member of the Ragtime Clowns led by Ollie Blackwell.
He was with the Musical Spillers led by Willie Lewis in the early 1920s, then with Elmer Snowden, Horace Henderson, Fletcher Henderson, Fess Williams, and McKinney’s Cotton Pickers as a cornetist.
In 1933 he led a big band at the Empire Ballroom in New York City.
From 1934-45, he was in the Duke Ellington Orchestra, co-writing “Boy Meets Horn” and “Morning Glory” amongst others.
He supervised recording sessions by members of the Ellington band, then left to lead “little swing bands that were a perfect setting for his solo playing.”
He toured in Europe and Australia with from 1947 to 1951.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vqia2Vo-k0
STEWART
In the early 1950s, he worked in radio and television and wrote jazz criticism for the Los Angeles Times and DownBeat.
He hosted a jazz radio program in Troy, New York, and owned a small restaurant for a short time.. While living in France, he attended the Le Cordon Bleu school of cooking and dedicated his life to becoming a chef.
Stewart moved to Los Angeles, where he reunited with musicians from the Ellington band and played jam sessions in clubs. He was a studio musician for The Steve Allen Show and with George Cole he hosted two radio shows: Dixieland Doings and Things Aint What They Used to Be.
Stewart continued to be a witty lyric artist, as shown in The Big Challenge, a recording of sessions he and Cootie Williams led together in 1957.
Jazz Masters of the Thirties is a collection of articles he wrote as a jazz critic
He made a cameo appearance in the film Rendezvous in July (1949) directed by Jacques Becker. He also appeared in Hellzapoppin’ (1941) and The Sound of Jazz (1957) telecast.[2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzsJUbKwIN8
20 Feb PLAY LIST
Play List – The Phantom Dancer 107.3 2SER-FM Sydney LISTEN ONLINECommunity Radio Network Show CRN #641 | ||
107.3 2SER Tuesday 20 February 2024 | ||
Set 1 | Jazz on 1940s TV | |
The Squirrel | Miles Davis, Lucky Thompson, Kai Winding, Buddy DeFranco, Al Haig, Oscar Pettiford, Shelly Manne | ‘Jazz Concert’ WPIX TV NYC 17 Jan 1949 |
Fine & Dandy | Kenny?, Oscar Pettiford, Shelly Manne | ‘Jazz Concert’ WPIX TV NYC 17 Jan 1949 |
Anthropology + How High the Moon | Miles Davis, Lucky Thompson, Kai Winding, Buddy DeFranco, Al Haig, Oscar Pettiford, Shelly Manne | ‘Jazz Concert’ WPIX TV NYC 17 Jan 1949 |
| Body & Soul | Charlie Ventura (baritone sax), Al Haig (piano), Oscar Pettiford (bass), Shelly Manne (drums) | ‘Jazz Concert’ WPIX TV NYC 17 Jan 1949 |
Set 2 | Django Reinhardt | |
Stagefright (theme) + Djangology | Django Reinhardt (g) Air Transport Command Orchestra | ‘AFN Bandstand’ AFN Paris 26 Oct 1945 |
Honeysuckle Rose | Django Reinhardt (g) Air Transport Command Rhythm | ‘AFN Bandstand’ AFN Paris 26 Oct 1945 |
Are You in the Mood? | Django Reinhardt (g) Air Transport Command Orchestra | ‘AFN Bandstand’ AFN Paris 26 Oct 1945 |
Belleville | Django Reinhardt (g) Air Transport Command Orchestra | ‘AFN Bandstand’ AFN Paris 26 Oct 1945 |
Set 3 | Rex Stewart | |
Back Room Romp (A Contrapuntal Stomp) | Rex Stewart & his 52nd Street Stompers | Comm Rec NYC 7 Jul 1937 |
Take the A-Train (theme) + In a Mellotone | Duke Ellington Orchestra (tp) Rex Stewart) | ‘A Date with The Duke’ Radio City Music Hall WJZ ABNC NYC 10 Nov 1945 |
Riding on a Blue Note + Boy Meets Horn | Duke Ellington Orchestra (tp) Rex Stewart) | Canobie Lake Park NBC Blue Salem New Hampshire 17 Aug 1940 |
Harlem Airshaft + Take the A-Train (theme) | Duke Ellington Orchestra (tp) Rex Stewart) | ‘A Date with The Duke’ Radio City Music Hall WJZ ABNC NYC 10 Nov 1945 |
Set 4 | Bob Crosby | |
Open + Why Should I Cry Over You | Jerry Gray Orchestra (voc) Bob Crosby, Andrew Sisters | ‘Club Fifteen’ KFI NBC LA 14 Oct 1947 |
You Do | Jerry Gray Orchestra (voc) Margaret Whiting | ‘Club Fifteen’ KFI NBC LA 14 Oct 1947 |
You’re an Old Smoothie + I Love the Country | Jerry Gray Orchestra (voc) Bob Crosby, Margaret Whiting | ‘Club Fifteen’ KFI NBC LA 14 Oct 1947 |
Sleep, Kentucky Babe + Summertime (Close) | Jerry Gray Orchestra (voc) Bob Crosby, Margaret Whiting, Andrew Sisters | ‘Club Fifteen’ KFI NBC LA 14 Oct 1947 |
Set 5 | British Dance Bands | |
The Song is You | Henry Hall & the BBC Dance Orchestra (voc) Les Allen | Comm Rec London 4 Apr 1933 |
Please | Ambrose Orchestra (voc) Sam Browne | Comm Rec London 8 Nov 1932 |
Hand in Hand | Lew Stone Band (voc) Al Bowlly | Comm Rec London 3 May 1934 |
Here Lies Love | Ambrose Orchestra (voc) Sam Browne | Comm Rec London 8 Nov 1932 |
Set 6 | Trad Jazz | |
Struttin’ with Some BBQ | Hot Lips Page | ‘Doctor Jazz’ Stuyvesant Casino WMGM NYC 1950 |
Dear Old Southland | Louis Armstrong | Wintergarden Theatre WNBC NBC NYC 19 Jun 1947 |
Ride, Red, Ride | Henry Red Allen | ‘Doctor Jazz’ WMGM NYC 1950 |
St Louis Blues | Louis Armstrong | ‘Damon Runyon Memorial Jazz Concert’ WENR ABC Chicago 11 Dec 1948 |
Set 7 | 1930s Dance Bands | |
It’s Easy to Remember (theme) + Caravan | George Hall Orchestra | Radio Transcription New York City 1937 |
Johnny One Note | Hal Kemp Orchestra | ‘Chesterfield Show’ WABC CBS NYC 1937 |
Lookie, Lookie, Here Comes Cookie | Henry Busse Orchestra (voc) Marion Holmes | Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1935 |
Sidewalks of Cuba + Hot Lips (theme) | Henry Busse Orchestra | Radio Transcription Los Angeles 1935 |
Set 8 | Modern Jazz | |
| In Your Own Sweet Wear + The Trolley Song | Dave Brubeck | Basin Street WCBS CBS NYC Feb 1956 |
| Little Girl Blue + Lover Come Back to Me | Stan Getz | Basin Street WCBS CBS NYC Feb 1956 |
