Yes, you hear that man with a horn?
Well, this is the story of the men behind the horn
Said horn, in this case, being the trumpets
And, in this instance
We intend to scrutinize the jazz trumpet
And, since first things first should be first
We'll start with the acknowledged
Father of jazz trumpeters, Louis Armstrong
And it's always a thrill to hear "Pops"
As he's affectionately called
Come on with his theme song
"Sleepy Time Down South"
♪
Yeah, there's no doubt about it
Pops will always have a warm spot in our hearts
And I guess, you know, his great talent
Naturally, had to spread out and have
An effect on other men with a horn
So along came a little guy with a new, wild, frantic style
They called him, "Little Jazz."
His name? Roy Eldridge
And The Frantic One kept us on the edge of our seats
With his "After You've Gone"
♪
From deep in the brass section of the great
Duke Ellington band came a man
With a horn with mournful, soulful style
That fitted the band and him to a T
Or should we say a C
Let's listen to an interpretation of Cootie Williams
And his "Echoes Of Harlem"
♪
For our next man with a horn
We go into the ranks of another great band
This time Benny Goodman's wonderful organization
Where we find a young guy with all the flavor
And feeling of his ancestors in his playing
Here's the way we musically picture Ziggy Elman
"And The Angels Sing"
♪
Also in Benny's band we had a fellow whose
Rise to fame and fortune was really meteoric
But he had the goods to deliver
His was a tasteful, yet technical style
That pleased the people, as well as the musicians
Harry James
♪
Hey, hey! Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Wait a--
Wait a minute, fellas
Let's not beat our brains out with this cat
After all, he's got Grable
♪
Well, a short while after this, all Hades broke loose
An atom bomb filled with flatted Fifths and Ninths
Thirteenths and all sorts of musical mayhem
The high priest of said wonderful mayhem
Is the one and only
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie
And we with hallowed hands do his
"Salt Peanuts"
Salt Peanuts
Salt Peanuts
Salt Peanuts
Salt Peanuts
Salt Peanuts
Salt Peanuts
Salt Peanuts
Salt Peanuts
♪
Well, this is about the end of our little chapter
The story, of course, is much too big
To be finished in this way
All you wonderful men with a horn not mentioned
We offer our humble apologies
And to the aforementioned
Let us say that this but a minute particle
Of the appreciation we feel
For your contribution to music
Many thanks from us and our man with a horn
Charlie Shavers