Hey, y’all! Hope you’re doing your best. It’s Tuesday again, and we’re back on the air this week! Read on down to learn more about what we’re playing tonight on datafruits.fm!
A lot of turn-of-the-century fictional detective-man types have ended up in some off-kilter film adaptations; Mike Hammer's '90s TV incarnation and about half of everything Sherlock Holmes has ended up portrayed in immediately come to mind.
One of the most niche, however, belongs to Philo and Italy, with a very by-the-book three-episode miniseries featuring WWII Italian fascist lieutenant turned television actor Giorgio Albertazzi as Vance released in 1974.
Perhaps it suits Vance though, seeing as in the original novels author S.S. Van Dyne claimed that at the end of his career, Vance ended up "gone to Italy to live". Not sure how old Philo (or Van Dyne, for that matter) would feel about the caseman being portrayed by a former member of Mussolini's army, though. History is weird sometimes, man.
Talkie Time: Philo Vance: The Case Of The Strange Music / Hurdy Gurdy Murder
In the original novels, Philo Vance was an obnoxious dilettante with an obsession with LoGiC anD ReASoN that’d make your average Daily Wire host blush, a cynical and vaguely horny disposition so bad that Ogden Nash once wrote that he “needs a good kick in the pants”, and a blatantly fake British accent.
The radio adaptation doesn’t carry the British accent over for good or for ill – and it could be good, seeing as my beloved fop Nero Wolfe exists, and he’s fairly entertaining. It does, however, mostly star Jackson Beck in the title role (at least in the two episodes we’ll be looking at tonight), and while he does drop the faux Britmash, he does not shut the fuck up about “logic and reason”, despite half the situations he finds himself dropped into being filled with unreasonable characters and illogical malarkey.
Oh, and organ playing. Lots of organ playing. Not even a joke: There’s little to no sound effects or foley in this particularly program, and they seem to have made up for it by dragging in the old lady from the loft of the local Lutheran church and letting her take care of the noise section.
And speaking of keys making noises, we’ll be giving two of his more musical cases a listen this week. First off, we’ve got “The Case Of The Strange Music”, which originally aired on August 9, 1945.
Starring the Broadway star Jose Ferrer rather than Jackson Beck as Mr. Vance, this installment sees Mr. Facts Man getting dragged around by his nose by his secretary, right through the carnival gates and straight into a murder case.
Next up, we’ve go “Hurdy Gurdy Murder”, originally aired on May 24, 1949. In this one, a carnival organ grinder finds himself iced, and Vance ends up having to figure out who did the job…and no, it’s not the aforementioned Lutheran key-slinger, despite the fact that she ends up on the keys for more interludes in this episode than the hurdy-gurdy man himself has lines.
Here’s a fun game you can play this evening: take a shot every time someone says “hurdy gurdy”.
… Actually, don’t do that. You’ll end up dead before he solves the case.
The Jazz Program: Bugge Wesseltoft Has Conceptions Of A Jazz, Part 1: New Conception Of Jazz / New Conception Of Jazz: Sharing
And yes, according to Discogs,, "Film Ing" is how it's meant to be read.
A few nights ago, I promised you all a two-night set of Bugge Wesseltoft’s “New Conception Of Jazz” series, with the next set coming next week.
Turns out, I missed the mark a bit–we played reruns the next night due to lack of time to pen the write-up, and last week I ended up completely off the air due to passing right out after finally clearing out the last of the old apartment and forgetting what day of the week it is–but I did promise you a Part 2, and we’ve got that Part 2 for you of everyone’s favorite Norwegan jazz-punk this evening.
First off, we’ve got 2001’s “New Conception Of Jazz: Moving”, released in 2001 on the Jazzland Recordings label. And, to close out the two-night set, we’ve got the final release in the set, we’ve got 2004’s “New Conception Of Jazz: Film Ing” (and yes, the spelling is stylized like that), also on Jazzland.
Thank you to everyone who’s been sitting waiting patiently for the close of this little series while I get everything back together; I promise these two albums are worth the wait.
That’s all for this week! I am finally done with the move from Moline, and hopefully I’ll have a lot more time on my hands for everything studio-related now that I’m not spending six to eighteen hours a week driving back and forth to get everything closed out. And yes, this program counts as studio related, so heavens willing and hell permitting there won’t be any more reruns for a good long while.
By the way: if you’re reading this the day of, and you can make it in tonight, you should come hang out in the chat with us on Datafruits! We’ve got a good crowd of folks in the chat every week, and whether you have a suggestion for a future show or just want to hang out and chat with fellow jazz enjoyers, you’re welcome here with us.
You’re all amazing and don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not. Stay safe out there, and I’ll see you back again next week. Same time, same station.