William (Popsie) Randolph Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson 'OH, LADY BE GOOD!' CLICK FOR AUDIO The Gershwin Brothers’ “Oh, Lady Be Good!” from the 1924 Broadway musical "Lady, Be Good," has been jazzified many times, with versions by Ukulele Ike, Ella Fitzgerald, Artie Shaw, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and others. But this October 1938 rendering is one of the more unusual and unlikely: a duet featuring Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson, with Wilson on harpsichord instead of piano, his regular instrument. It’s more than just a novelty, though, since Wilson demonstrates that almost any instrument can be made to swing when in the right hands, and Goodman offers a skittering solo.

William (Popsie) Randolph Bunny Berigan ‘I CAN’T GET STARTED’ CLICK FOR AUDIO By late 1938, Bunny Berigan had been required to play “I Can’t Get Started,” his hit from the year before, so many times that some of the bloom had probably come off the song for him. But here, playing with an all-black ensemble at an impromptu session for the WNEW disc jockey Martin Block, the white trumpeter sounds startlingly energized. His tone is strong and bright, and the band, with members from the Jimmie Lunceford, Fats Waller and John Kirby groups, sounds relaxed and confident. On-air interracial interactions at this time tended to feature blacks sitting in with whites, not vice versa, so this performance is interesting both for sociological and musical reasons.