Results for "Lawrence Welk"

Lawrence Welk

Born: March 11, 1903

Before he became a household name as the host of his own self-titled television show, Lawrence Welk was a hardworking bandleader shaped by the rural Midwest, European folk traditions, and the rhythms of early American dance music. Born in 1903 in North Dakota to German-Russian immigrants, Welk’s first musical instrument was the button accordion, and his early gigs were steeped in polka, waltz, and regional styles that prioritized rhythm and melody for the dance floor.

By the 1920s and '30s, Welk was leading bands across the Midwest, developing a style that would eventually be dubbed "champagne music" - smooth, tightly arranged, and bouyant. Beneath its polished surface, however, his orchestras absorbed the styles of the jazz music that was evolving around them. While his band didn't swing in the way that Goodman or Basie's did, they found great success in foxtrots, rumbas and even jazz standards, bended to match their smoothness.

Danny Scher: Back To School With Thelonious Monk

by Lawrence Peryer
July 30, 2020

A high-stakes election season. Streets filled with rage and protest. Cries for racial justice and equity. The latest news from summer 2020? Of course, but that also describes the American Scene in the summer of 1968, when a high school student in Palo Alto, California, first got the idea to book Thelonious Monk to play his ...

Trout Mask Replica

by Eric Gudas
May 3, 2020

“No Instruction Sheet": Trout Mask Replica's Unfathomable Origin Story If you were a teenager who liked freaky stuff, on a June day in 1969 you could bicycle down to your local record store and buy a brand-new, shrink-wrapped album with a man covering his entire face with an actual fish head on the cover. A double-LP ...