The Phantom Dancer, presented by 1920s-1930s singer and band leader, Greg Poppleton, since 1985, is your non-stop two hour mix of swing and jazz from live 1920s – 1960s radio and TV.

This week, you’ll hear 8 sets including folk singer Susan Reed, dixieland by Kid Ory and Turk Murphy, a set of vocal harmonists including The King Sisters, a set hit songs by Woody Herman and Count Basie from the Avadon Ballroom – all from live radio broadcasts, of course.

You can hear this show online for the next 4 weeks after the 6 Feb broadcast at radio 2ser.com

BLACK, BROWN AND BEIGE

Duke Ellington’s longest and most ambitious orchestral work is heard in part on today’s Phantom Dancer.

From an April 1945 WJZ NYC ‘Date With The Duke’ broadcast out of the 400 Club in New York City we’ll hear live, Work Song and Spiritual.

Duke Ellington introduced it in his first concert at Carnegie Hall, January 23, 1943. He wrote it as “a parallel to the history of the Negro in America.”

It was first performed as a preview at Rye High School in Westchester County, New York, the day before its premiere at Carnegie Hall.

Another performance at Boston’s Symphony Hall on January 28 are the only known performances of the complete work.

Thereafter, Duke Ellington only performed pieces of it, as we’ll hear on today’s Phantom Dancer.

Following ‘Black, Brown and Beige’ on the Armed Forces Radio Service re-broadcast disc, Joya Sherill singing the pop ditty, ‘Accentuate The Positive’. Something of a statement by the AFRS editor, I’m suspect.

The first movement, ‘Black’, is divided into three parts, the Work Song, the spiritual Come Sunday , and Light.

‘Brown’ has three parts, West Indian Dance or Influence; Emancipation Celebration, and The Blues.

‘Beige’ covers “the Afro-American of the 1920s, 30s and World War II,” wrote Leonard Feather in the liner notes of the 1977 release of the original 1943 performance.

Duke Ellington mentions his Carnegie Hall performance of ‘Black, Brown and Beige’ in an interview with Frank Sinatra before playing Solitude at the piano on this week’s Phantom Dancer Video of the Week. A scratchy ‘Songs By Sinatra’ radio broadcast from 1943. He’s then joined by Raymond Scott and the CBS Radio Orchestra.