Yes, you hear that man with the horn?
Well, this is the story of the men behind the horn
Said horn, in this case, being a trumpet
And in this instance we intend to scrutinise the jazz trumpet
And since first things 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 this spread out
And have an effect on other men with the 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 the horn with a 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 the horn we go into the ranks of another great band
This time, Benny Goodman's wonderful organisation
Where we find a young guy with all the flavour 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 heads, 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 the horn not mentioned
We offer our humble apologies
And to the aforementioned
Let us say that this has been a minute particle of the appreciation we feel for your contribution to music
Many thanks from us
And our man with the horn, Charlie Shavers