Joe Venuti

Joe Venuti (1903-1978) is regarded as the first great jazz violinist. He recorded prolifically in the late 1920s and early 1930s and his work of this era has often been reissued on LP and CD. His duets with guitarist Eddie Lang are considered classics.
A notorious practical joker, Venuti's career declined after the 1930s, but he was rediscovered in the 1970s, making appearances at jazz clubs and on TV until his death.
== Links to Peel ==
The records of Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang, and the small-group sessions recorded under Venuti's name, were popular with British record collectors and were reissued in the 1960s on the Parlophone label, also home of the Beatles. They were played on the BBC jazz programmes of Humphrey Lyttelton and Peter Clayton, presenters Peel admired. Venuti and Lang's work was popular among pop musicians as well as jazz players; "Jigsaw Puzzle Blues", recorded by Joe Venuti's Blue Five in 1933, was covered by Peel favourites Fleetwood Mac in 1968, as the B-side of their hit single "Albatross".
In 1969 Joe Venuti shared the front page of Melody Maker with Bob Dylan. While Dylan was set to play the Isle of Wight Festival, a news item and photo at the bottom of the page announced Venuti's first visit to Britain since 1934 (some MM staff, like veteran jazz writer Max Jones, were old enough to have seen him then) to play at the Jazz Expo '69 festival. At the time Peel didn't pay much attention, but much later in his career obtained a number of Australian 78s by the violinist, choosing one for the Peelenium 1933 and playing both sides of another as Pig's Big 78s.
== Festive Fifty Entries ==
*None
== Sessions ==
*None
== Other Shows Played ==
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*29 July 1999: Jazz Me Blues (Peelenium 1933)
*20 June 2002: Satan's Holiday (Pig's Big 78)
*09 January 2003: Hell's Bells and Hallelujah (Pig's Big 78)
*17 June 2003: Hell's Bells And Hallelujah (Pig's Big 78)
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
Category:Artists