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Episodes

Make Believe Ballroom - 4/10/26 Edition
April 10, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom - 4/10/26 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom, hosted by Jeff Bressler, Sarah Vaughn’s start; Count Basie reached the masses from a tiny club; the first band Benny Goodman led; listeners, emails, plus many more records,...
Make Believe Ballroom - 4/3/26 Edition
April 3, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom - 4/3/26 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom, hosted by Jeff Bressler, Hawaiian swing, a bandleader with no biography, plus many more records, stories, and reminiscences from the big band era.
Make Believe Ballroom - 3/27/26 Edition
March 27, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom - 3/27/26 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom, hosted by Jeff Bressler, some "royalty" of jazz, the original King of Swing, a forgotten record label, plus many more records, stories, and reminiscences from the big band ...
Make Believe Ballroom - 3/20/26 Edition
March 20, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom - 3/20/26 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom, hosted by Jeff Bressler, a British bandleader comes to the US and makes history, a female vocalist who had two number 1 hits in a span of a month, plus many more records, s...
Make Believe Ballroom - 3/13/26 Edition
March 13, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom - 3/13/26 Edition

The Make Believe Ballroom, hosted by Jeff Bressler, brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s. On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom, hosted by Jeff Bressler, a little-remembered big band singer, the...
Make Believe Ballroom - 3/6/26 Edition
March 6, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom - 3/6/26 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom, hosted by Jeff Bressler, a bandleader in the Guinness Book of Records, a TV dad who started his career in music, battling brothers, and more records and reminiscences from ...
Make Believe Ballroom - 2/27/26 Edition
Feb. 27, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom - 2/27/26 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom, hosted by Jeff Bressler, a look at a musical couple married for over 50 years, a famous brother from a comedy team who raised the baton on his own band, a musician and arra...
Make Believe Ballroom - 2/22/26 Edition
Feb. 20, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom - 2/22/26 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom, hosted by Jeff Bressler, a macabre big band passing, a listener's letter about Ray Anthony, a forgotten drummer, and more records and reminiscences from the golden age of t...
Make Believe Ballroom - 2/13/26 Edition
Feb. 13, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom - 2/13/26 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom, hosted by Jeff Bressler, a look at a bygone record company, movies from the silver screen, how a Bing Crosby financial investment changed audio recording, and more records ...
Make Believe Ballroom - 2/6/26 Edition
Feb. 6, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom - 2/6/26 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom hosted by Jeff Bressler, a look at how smaller radio markets got their musical programming, two somewhat forgotten big band era stars, two infamous musicians with checkered ...
Make Believe Ballroom -1/30/26 Edition
Jan. 30, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom -1/30/26 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom hosted by Jeff Bressler, a look at a famous jazz club and eatery on an iconic street in New York City, music and discussion about 1930s and 40s small group jazz, and also mo...
Make Believe Ballroom - 1/23/26 Edition
Jan. 23, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom - 1/23/26 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom - the greatest public relations stunt in big band history, a story of the early days of the Ballroom hosted by Martin Block, some well-known arrangers, in addition to many m...
Make Believe Ballroom - 1/16/26 Edition
Jan. 16, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom - 1/16/26 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom - a scholarly way to start a band, a look at two clubs that served military members during WWII with music and cheer, Bing and Andrews Sisters duets history, in addition to ...
Make Believe Ballroom - 1/9/26 Edition
Jan. 9, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom - 1/9/26 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom - the evolution of a riff into a best-selling tune, a look at two hugely popular All-Star bands of the 1930s and 40s, in addition to many more songs and reminisces.
Make Believe Ballroom - 1/2/26 Edition
Jan. 2, 2026

Make Believe Ballroom - 1/2/26 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom hosted by Jeff Bressler - a series of first-time ever recorded songs, an obsolete music industry profession, three great clarinetists overshadowed by Goodman and Shaw - all ...
Make Believe Ballroom - 12/26/25 Edition
Dec. 26, 2025

Make Believe Ballroom - 12/26/25 Edition

Happy Holiday's! A repeat broadcast as the Make Believe Ballroom crew celebrates. This week's Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s - a big band leader who had to chang...
Make Believe Ballroom - 12/19/25 Edition
Dec. 19, 2025

Make Believe Ballroom - 12/19/25 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom hosted by Jeff Bressler, a listen to some fabulous music from the year 1938, a song Artie Shaw absolutely hated, a big band icon writes a dictionary, and the role the vocali...
Make Believe Ballroom - 12/12/25 Edition
Dec. 12, 2025

Make Believe Ballroom - 12/12/25 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom hosted by Jeff Bressler, we listen to some music and history from On the Bill Savory Collection. Savory was a radio sound engineer who captured for posterity jazz broadcast ...
Make Believe Ballroom - 12/5/25 Edition
Dec. 5, 2025

Make Believe Ballroom - 12/5/25 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom hosted by Jeff Bressler: the first time a specific instrument was used in a jazz recording, Jeff’s favorite crooners from the era, a most underrated big band song, plus many...
Make Believe Ballroom - 11/28/25 Edition
Nov. 28, 2025

Make Believe Ballroom - 11/28/25 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom hosted by Jeff Bressler: the story behind a Count Basie song title, the economic impact of big bands, were Cole Porter and Frank Sinatra friends, plus many more great record...
Make Believe Ballroom - 11/21/25 Edition
Nov. 21, 2025

Make Believe Ballroom - 11/21/25 Edition

On this week's edition of the Make Believe Ballroom hosted by Jeff Bressler: one of the most touching partnerships in jazz history, jazz music loved by a classical composer, Glenn Miller lends a hand to a fellow musician, plu...
Make Believe Ballroom - 11/14/25 Edition
Nov. 14, 2025

Make Believe Ballroom - 11/14/25 Edition

The Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s. On this week's program: a historic jam session, a listener's request results in a segment about records and artists rarely pl...
Make Believe Ballroom - 11/7/25 Edition
Nov. 7, 2025

Make Believe Ballroom - 11/7/25 Edition

The Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s. On this week's program: a funny Billie Holiday story, some of the wealthiest bandleaders of the era, an out-of-this-world rec...
Make Believe Ballroom - 10/31/25 Edition
Oct. 30, 2025

Make Believe Ballroom - 10/31/25 Edition

The Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s. On this week's program: An introduction to King Garcia, an obscure band with some world-class musicians, the most recorded ba...