Make Believe Ballroom

An hour of some great favorites of the 30s and 40s with some wonderful stories about the records we play.

An hour of some great favorites of the 30s and 40s with some wonderful stories about the records we play.

An hour of some great favorites of the 30s and 40s with a look at one of the early founders of the Make Believe Ballroom.

An hour of some great favorites of the 30s and 40s with a look at Benny Goodman's clarinet teacher and some of his star pupils.

After several episodes of specials and tribute shows this week's MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM is back with our usual potpourri of grand music and stories from the 30s and 40s.

This week's show pays tribute to Jimmy Durante who would have celebrated his 127th birthday in February of 2021.

Join Jeff Bressler for this week's MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM as he pays tribute to RCA Victor's budget label, Bluebird records.

This week a very special 86th Anniversary Edition of the Make Believe Ballroom. Join Jeff Bressler as he takes us back to present the history of the show which began its broadcast odyssey on February 3, 1935.

This week the program features records that highlight some of the great crooners, vocalists, and vocal groups of the 1930s and 1940s.

A couple of Kings, music novelty, and many artists you might never have heard. The best of Big Band, Jazz, and Swing on this week's edition of the MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM.

Many of our most beloved remakes of songs came originally from the music of the 1930s and 1940s. This edition of the Make Believe Ballroom plays original first-time recordings of some of our favorite music.

Listen to a special edition of the MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM where Jeff Bressler plays only Grammy Hall of Fame inducted records from the 1930s and 1940s. The Grammy Hall Of Fame was established by the Recording Academy's National Trustees in 1973. The Hall of Fame honors recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance that are at least 25 years old. Inductees into the Hall are selected a...

On this week’s MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM – A Philadelphia Cowboy, the Canadian Bing Crosby, Swinging Polka, In the Mood pre Glenn Miller, some 1800’s tunes that went Big Band, a salute to FDR plus more music and great stories from the big band era.

On this weeks MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM – A song that is child’s play, Oscar, Oscar, Oscar, two brothers from Akron, plus Alice Faye, Dorothy Lamour, Herbie Kay, Billie Holliday and much more of your big band era favorites.

A salute to the Holiday Season and the impact the music of the 1930s and 1940s has had in creating the beloved Christmas canon.

On this edition of the MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM – A special birthday song, a records heartache, first time ever recording, from the top to the bottom, a song Fred Astaire refused to sing, a mystery singer, plus many more records and stories of the wonderful music of the 30s and 40s.

On this week’s MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM: Rhumba, a bandleader's mark as a composer, battle of the jazz violinists, from goat to Goodman hero, a grave song, the unheralded Robert Johnson and much more music, trivia, and historic stories.

On this weeks edition of the MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM – a visit from the past, some clues to a famous female vocalist, one bandleader's loss is another’s big gain, some British nobility, some recorded rarities, and a whole lot more music and stories of the big band, swing, and early jazz era.

On this edition of the MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM a great Helen O’Connell quote, jazz, swing and hillbilly all rolled into one, Tiny, Shorty and Big, the history behind the Make Believe Ballroom, and along the way Ella and Louie, Vaughn Monroe and much more music and history of the era.

On this week’s show – Name a big band era hit that became a famous celebrity’s theme song, Dolly Dawn and Her Dawn Patrol, well-known bandleaders who didn’t play an instrument, the “fastest girl drummer in the world,” a West Indian big band leader and so much more!

On this weeks MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM Jeff Bressler features two regal names, a great depression musical sales item, Frank Sinatra has the kids screaming and swaying, Glenn Miller’s first female singer, a popular bandleader who has to wait 12 years for his first record hit, an organist grinds it out, a Bunny Berigan classic solo, some early R&B and a whole lot more music and stories.

A wonderful MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM this week on public and community radio stations across the US and UK as we look at a marvelous big band era French jazz and swing quintet, a singer who liked being off the radar, a Broadway flop that still produced a musical gem, artists who produced popular 1st-time recordings, a little known big band star, an orchestra leader who was actually a laugh, some Kans...

On this weeks edition of the MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM heard on public and community radio stations around the country: a Benny Goodman Band members universal achievement, the musical history of a famous telephone number, a mid-big band show – no show, what happened when you turn a band upside down and some roadhouse productivity along with the music of the Andrews Sisters, Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman...

On this weeks MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM over Public Broadcasting and Community Radio stations across the county we feature Gene Krupa, Anita O’Day and Ray Eldridge along with a little boogie with Will Bradley, Freddie Slack and Ray McKinley, a Nat King Cole legend, Ginny Simms sings with Kay Kyser, a monumental Battle of the Bands, also Bing Crosby, Connie Boswell, Count Basie and much more!

On this weeks MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM Louis Armstrong and his small band the Hot Five, Larry Clinton and his Orchestra, in addition to Cab Calloway we can’t forget his famous sibling, the Chairman of the Board with a novelty tune, Dick Jurgens and Eddy Howard, the priceless International Sweethearts of Rhythm, the Mills Brothers and England’s own Sid Phillips.