[Dixielandjazz] Fwd: Fw: Keep (it) Swinging

Mon Jan 11 13:54:45 UTC 2016

If the videos don't open, click on "Joe Sodja - A Forgotten Musician and
Entertainer," which opens the Keep it Swinging website.  Playing the music
right now.

Enjoy!
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שולח: *Keep (it) Swinging, *
נושא: *Keep (it) Swinging*
Keep (it) Swinging <http://keepitswinging.blogspot.com/>
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Joe Sodja - A Forgotten Musician And Entertainer
<http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/KeepitSwinging/~3/jVBXZerRlns/joe-sodja-forgotten-musician-and.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email>

Posted: 10 Jan 2016 11:48 AM PST
<http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Uf98rnTTneg/VpKpWjJf3tI/AAAAAAAAD30/xoqO5itNkfM/s1600/Joe%2BSodja_LP%2Billustration.JPG>
Joe
Sodja (1911-1992)The name of *Joe Sodja* does not pop up frequently nor is
easily found in the usual reference books and articles about jazz or
popular performers, and the info found on the internet only provides
fragmentary details about his career. However, below I'll refer what I
found available about Joe Sodja - a remarkable, but forgotten musician and
entertainer.
<http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-53SYKoGQs8c/VpKqEiZB0_I/AAAAAAAAD38/XYQDVmOfqcI/s1600/Joe%2BSodja_YouTube.jpg>
Joe
Sodja 1938 - YouTube still shotThis inserted photo of Joe Sodja is a still
shot from a Vitaphone (soundie) film featuring *Fred Rich
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rich> *and his orchestra recorded in
1938. Joe Sodja performs as a guest appearance at the end of the film
playing a version of *Chinatown, My Chinatown* accompanied by Fred Rich's
band.
<http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hEL1sHPL6wg/VpKrGg0vPzI/AAAAAAAAD4I/XlsC_9NLQ-s/s1600/Vitaphone%2Bad_Fred%2BRich%2B%25281938%2529.jpg>
Excerpt
of Vitaphone trailerThe Vitaphone soundie has been uploaded at YouTube and
is inserted below, Joe Sodja performs *Chinatown, My Chinatown* starting at
8:19

Joe Sodja's performance in the Vitaphone film shows his extraordinary
dexterity as a guitarist combined with a humorous attitude appealing to a
wide audience expecting to be entertained. This stage appearance seems to
have been a successfull choice, although his attitude may seem outdated
nowadays. Nevertheless, Joe Sodja had success and spent most of his career
as a professional performer in the popular field of entertainment business.
But in 1937 he also had a short stint in a regular jazz setting, when he
had the opportunity to record a session under his own name for the Variety
label as *Joe Sodja's Swingtette* accompanied by some top notch jazz
artists of the time: *Joe Marsala *(cl),* Frank Froeba *(p),* Artie Shapiro
*(b) and *George Wettling* (d). The session was recorded in New York on
June 18, 1937 and four sides were cut, but only two of them were issued.
The discographical info is inserted below
<http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iOn__TwKfds/VpKsPw7riLI/AAAAAAAAD4U/V6Ug0ffUhPg/s1600/Joe%2BSodja%2527s%2BSwingtette_disco%2Binfo_TL.JPG>
Info
excerpted from Tom Lord's discography vers. 9.0 (click to enlarge)This
session by Joe Sodja is the only registered jazz session during his career,
moreover the recording of *Limehouse Blues* is the only tune from the
session that has been reissued. It was reissued in the 1970s on a double LP
by Columbia Records titled *50 Years of Jazz Guitar* featuring various
artists.

Joe Sodja's guitar playing in this swinging version of *Limehouse Blues* is
quite intriguing and remarkable. His approach does not resemble the
commonly applied technique by any of his well known contemporary American
fellow guitarists. His guitar solo style has been compared to *Django
Reinhardt*'s because of the use of fast and long solo runs up and down the
fretboard especially well known from Reinhardt's '*manouche*' approach to
the guitar soloist's opportunities. Sodja's right hand picking technique
seems to have been transferred from a mandolin or banjo approach, which
incidentally seems likely, since he also knew and played these string
instruments. When not playing solo, his approach to comping also resembles
Reinhardt's style - very unusual for an American guitarist at the time.
<http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qfRK2yYpsYo/VpKth6DV8YI/AAAAAAAAD4g/n2i_TZ4ELsw/s1600/joe%2Bsodja_ad%2Billustration.JPG>
Joe
Sodja featured in an ad for Gibson guitarsJoe Sodja was from Cleveland,
where he was born in 1911 in a family with Slovenian roots. He had four
brothers with whom he formed a band, *The Arcadian Melody Pilots*, that
performed locally playing polkas and waltzes at dance hall gigs and was
featured on local radio networks. At that time his great idol and
inspiration was *Harry Reser*, the famous tenor banjo player and
bandleader, and he concentrated on learning and refining his banjo playing
technique. At age 16 he was discovered by talent scout and bandleader *Paul
Ash <http://www.redhotjazz.com/asho.html>*, who had a longer stint at a
theatre in Cleveland with his orchestra. Sodja was invited to perform with
the orchestra as a soloist, and after this engagement he became a popular
solo attraction on the radio, first locally but in the early 1930s he was
discovered and hired by bandleader *Fred Waring
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Waring>*, who had his own programs
featuring his orchestra and invited guest on the NBC radio that reached all
regions of the US. His engagement with NBC and Fred Waring brought Sodja to
New York where he was a regular featured artist in Waring's programs during
the 1930s. He also toured as a soloist on the national night club and
conventional circuit performing light entertainment music besides appearing
in various TV shows from the late 1940s and on. From about 1946 Sodja
started a collaboration with pianist and bandleader *Julian Gould
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Gould>* with whom he recorded 150
transcriptions for Langworth during the following ten years in a trio
setting labeled as the *Joe Sodja Trio*.
<http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qrc6-Lv7Oec/VpKvR12wbLI/AAAAAAAAD4s/Cha7Fb1HmFg/s1600/%2527Sir%2527%2BJulian%2BGould.JPG>
Julian
GouldThe Langworth transcriptions by the *Joe Sodja Trio* - like similar
recordings by other artists -  were not commercially issued but were
strictly decided for radio broadcast only. As far as I know, none of these
transcriptions by the Joe Sodja Trio have since been reissued on LP or CD,
but a couple of examples are available at YouTube. - Here is first Joe
Sodja Trio performing *Guitar Boogie *

Sodja's guitar solo in this version of *Guitar Boogie* shows his
inspiration from *Les Paul*, who had a hit with his version of the tune in
1947. The interplay with Gould's piano is excellent and the result is a
swinging take that withstand repeated listening, I think. The same applies
to the recording by the trio of a version of *Exactly Like You* from the
Langworth transriptions

Sodja's collaboration with Julian Gould also included a recording of a LP
that featured Sodja playing tenor banjo
<http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r4JTWPCZw5s/VpKwg3KzZ7I/AAAAAAAAD44/dGOt5kP5ttY/s1600/lp-cover.jpg>
LP
front cover illustrationThe audio from this LP has been uploaded at
YouTube, here's an example of the duo's playing in the honky tonk style

In 1957 Joe Sodja was hired to participate in a low-budget Hollywood
Western movie titled *The Parson and the Outlaw* where he had a small role
as a newspaper agent, moreover he composed and recorded the soundtrack
music for the movie showing off his banjo playing
<http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BbbqwfmxwiA/VpKxNPzJC5I/AAAAAAAAD5A/MYckVoHm-lA/s1600/movie%2Bposter.jpg>
Original
movie posterThe movie was a success and was followed by a couple more in
the same genre, Sodja again was offered small roles and participated in the
screen play. About the same time there was recorded a couple of solo
performances on screen featuring Joe Sodja showing off his capacity as a
guitar player. To end this presentation of a remarkable musician and
entertainer, here is Joe Sodja playing his version of *The Old Mill Stream *

---
*Jo*
*keepitswinging.domain at gmail.com <keepitswinging.domain at gmail.com>*

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