Ken Lelen

Ken Lelen
Ken Lelen sings great American ragtime, jazz, swing and pop tunes in his concerts and plays vintage acoustic guitars for an authentic, back-in-the day sound.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Concert Themes
Every song tells a story 
Program directors who plan concerts say they want variety in their musical programs so they can appeal to a range of tastes, ages and backgrounds in their audiences. So I've fashioned Vintage Music Concerts with program ideas that employ clever intros, amusing anecdotes and wry comments to illustrate romantic, historic or musical themes.
     Audiences love them because they're entertained and educated. When you're planning a Vintage Music Concert with one of my program themes listed here, it's easy to promote the event and fill the room.

Ragtime Rascals
Offers syncopated hit songs (1912 – 1929) with clever lyrics and the jazz precursors popular with doughboys, flappers and speakeasy crooners.

Tin Pan Alley Cats
Includes hits (1912 – 1955) by such witty lyricists and clever musicians as Arlen, Berlin, Fields, Carmichael, Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers and Styne.

Big Band Idols
Features hit songs (1925 - 1955) immortalized by vocalists who fronted big bands, society orchestras and jazz combos in the 1930s and 1940s.

Sunny Side Of The Street
Features mirthful songs (1930 - 1939) that eased the Depression's bite, offered pithy personal advice or poked fun at society's upper crust.

Jazzman's Journey
Offers hot, sweet jazz tunes of the 1920s that were mined for their content or sentiment and turned into standards by the swing musicians or big band singers of the 1930s and 1940s.

Legendary Love Songs
Offers songs (1926 – 1946) with memorable melodies and amorous lyrics that evoke romantic affairs, old flames and moonlit nights.

A Fine Romance
Features love songs (1940 - 1956) popularized by a generation that rationed its romance and deferred its affairs "for the duration."

Juke Joint Jivers
Covers radio, record and jukebox hits (1934 - 1945) popular with Stage-door Johnnies, Drugstore Cowboys, Swing Shift Maisies, Lindy Hoppers, Jitterbuggers and Zoot Suiters.

Vintage Songs + Vintage Guitars
Pairs hit tunes from the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s with acoustic guitars built in the same decades for an authentic back-in-the day sound.

Folk Song Boomers
Samples "folk" songs (1949 - 1966) composed by singer-songwriters that were popular with America's post-WWII teen-aged generation.
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© 2013 by Ken Lelen — All Rights Reserved