A Christmas Yuleblog

One of the very first letters that came to my PO box was from Denise of South Charleston, West Virginia. She writes: " I noticed that your blog had a review and an option to download the album / music in July, 2006 . I have been looking for this recording off and on for many years " . Yes and no. I did indeed review a copy of Pete Fountain's "'Candy Clarinet': Merry Christmas From" but never offered it as a download. That job had already been filled by my good friend Ernie when he offered this album at his blog last December. But... Shortly after this review was posted, Ernie sent me a link to an eBay auction that was offering a STEREO copy of the Fountain album that he wanted as an upgrade. Then it hit me - I already had a copy of the stereo version somewhere in the stacks of LPs I owned! After some shuffling, I did indeed find it! I offered to send it to Ernie so he could transfer it over and share it as an upgrade at his blog. Ernie - gr...

Here is the next review... Not only is this yet another album I downloaded from Ernie at his blog last year, but I have I been obsessively listening to this album for the past week. I'm hoping that this spasm of typing will get this album out of my system. I fear it won't. It will be like any other addiction - you go cold turkey, it gnaws at you, you crave the fix, and eventually you give in. Up front: This was one of my favorite albums downloaded last year. Now you may be asking to yourself "Who is Pete Fountain?". Others might be asking "Okay, is this a hypothetical question or just a segue into today's history lesson?" In any case, Pete Fountain is one of the premier clarinetists of this or any era. Born in 1930 in New Orleans, Fountain was surrounded by Dixieland from the cradle to his formative years. This was the era of Benny Goodman and Irving Fazola , a New Orleans clarinetist who greatly influenced the young Pete. Fountain quickly de...