phillip holmes wrote:

> Imagine an orchestra populated by actors/waiters who were overactors.
> Imagine all these trumpet players with handkerchiefs doing their best
> Louis
> or with the jacked up bell and pooched out cheeks of Dizzy. Or the
> trombone
> section that showed up thought it was a Basie gig.

Actually, there are some wonderful Basie and Duke Ellington "shorts"
they show on the Turner Classic Movie (TCM) channel with the "real"
musicians "playing" in the bands. Some the "Duke's" shorts also
available on VHS and DVD are,

> (1929) Hollywood Rhythm: The Paramount Musical Shorts 1929-1941, V. 3
> - Blue Melodies

> (1929) Hollywood Rhythm: The Paramount Musical Shorts 1929-1941, V. 2
> - Jazz Cocktails

> (1929-1904) Black Artists Short Subjects V. 1

and many more listed just on this one web page:

http://www.littleman.com/movies/people/8/000004248-Duke-Ellington.html

And, one can't forget that classic W.W.II film:

> Stage Door Canteen [VHS] (1943)
> The greatest collection of stars in an "All Out for Victory" musical
> blockbuster. The story is a simple soldier-meets-USO-girl love story,
> but what a supporting cast! Katharine Hepburn, Helen Hayes, George
> Raft, Paul Muni, Harpo Marx, Ed Wynn, Edgar Bergen and Charlie
> McCarthy, and more, with music by Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Guy
> Lombardo, and their orchestras.


Rod Stephens