Dal and Bria on Hot Air

[paul]

Bandleader and sax player Dal Richards turns 90 in a couple of months. Trumpet player and singer Bria Skonberg is still in her early 20s. Yet despite a difference of decades in their ages, the two share the same love of swing and traditional jazz. They'll bring in recordings by their musical gods and goddesses this week, including tunes by Artie Shaw, Louis Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson. And they'll talk about why this particular music sings to them. We'll also hear a couple of tracks featuring Bria singing with Dal's band from their new CD "Dal Richards and Friends". That's on Hot Air, Saturday November 3 at 5:05; 6:05 mountain time on CBC Radio One.

[Guy]

I've wondered about the fact he's played the PNE for 50-something years running. Because when I was a kid, I always used to see Bobby Hales band there. It's possible Richards' band was somewhere else and I just didn't see them.

I asked Bobby Hales in my interview with him. Here's what he said:

Lately the press has been saying that Dal Richards has been at the PNE for 50 years but when I was a kid, I remember seeing your band all the time.

"That's right. Some people have a selective memory. But Dal's a commercial dance band. He's been around for years and he's got a radio show. So he's got some pretty good PR going."

He then went on to say great things about Dal. But I still don't know the answer.

[paul]

Johnny Mercer was born almost exactly 98 years ago -- November 18, 1909 -- in Savannah, Georgia. He had a pleasant voice, sang in the church choir, and wrote his first song at the age of 15. But it would be another eight years before he had a genuine hit on his hands. After that there seemed to be no stopping him. He went on to write lyrics to more than 1,000 songs, including That Old Black Magic, Come Rain or Come Shine and Moon River. Singer, songwriter and record producer Roy Forbes is a big Johnny Mercer fan, and covered one of his songs -- I Remember You -- on his latest CD "Some Tunes For That Mother of Mine". Roy's also an inveterate record collector, and this week he dips into that collection for some of his favourite Johnny Mercer tunes, including one or two featuring Mercer himself singing.