Make Believe Ballroom

Make Believe Ballroom

Hosted by Jeff Bressler, The Make Believe Ballroom, each week, brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s. The program has been broadcast almost continuously since 1935. Each program mixes beloved 78 rpm records, stories, listener requests, and special guest features, all geared to bring you the music and history of the big band era.

Episodes

January 9, 2026 58 mins
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.
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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 this and more great records and memories for your listening pleasure.
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December 26, 2025 58 mins
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 change his name. This popular bandleader had a second career as an MC and DJ, plus many more great songs and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's program.
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December 19, 2025 58 mins
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 vocalist played in music from the 1930s.
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December 12, 2025 58 mins
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 radio remotes that networks transmitted live from hotel ballrooms and clubs, a staple of programming in the 30s and 40s. During Savory's era, after most live broadcasts ended, they were rarely saved, primarily ...
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December 5, 2025 58 mins
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 more stories and music from the 30s and 40s. 
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November 28, 2025 58 mins
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 records and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's broadcast.  

The Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s. 
 
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November 21, 2025 58 mins

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, plus many more great records and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's broadcast.  

The Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s. 
 
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November 14, 2025 58 mins
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 played on the Ballroom, a special feature playing songs from the Ralphie from Canarsie Record Club list- plus many more great records and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's broadcast.   
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November 7, 2025 58 mins
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 record - plus many more great records and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's broadcast.  
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October 31, 2025 58 mins
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 bandleader of all time, plus many more great records and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's broadcast.  
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October 24, 2025 58 mins
The Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s. 
 
On this week's program: Two Bandleaders are better than one, some bands that performed at the legendary Onyx Club, tracing a Glenn Miller song, plus many more great records and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's broadcast.  
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October 17, 2025 58 mins
The Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s. 
 
On this week's program: A song from the 1700s that was swingin in the 1930s and 40s, a questionable Fats Waller tale, Frank Sinatra's first record with Tommy Dorsey - plus many more great records and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's broadcast.  
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October 10, 2025 58 mins
The Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s. 
 
On this week's program: A trivia question about a dance enjoyed by young and old alike, a groundbreaking female vocalist, some songs from the 30s that rocked in the 50s - plus many more great records and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's broadcast.  
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October 3, 2025 58 mins
The Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s. 
 
On this week's program: Did Big Bands of the 30s and 40s ever play classical music, the B side of a record we played last week, our yearly tribute to Benny Goodman’s groundbreaking 1938 Carnegie Hall performance, and the song Sing Sing Sing - plus many more great records and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's broadcast.  
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September 26, 2025 58 mins
The Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s. 
 
On this week's program: Lionel Hampton changes instruments, a unique big band business model, Charlie Christian and his electric audition, a cartoonish big band - plus many more great records and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's broadcast.  
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September 19, 2025 58 mins
This week's Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s. On this edition - the first bandleader ever to appear on the radio, orchestras that were artistic successes but financial failures, Jeff digs up an old box with some great bandleader quotes inside - plus many more great records and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's program.
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September 12, 2025 58 mins
This week's Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s - a Duke Ellington story, a listener's famous big band relative, an underrated vocal group, a song and dance that was not as it appeared - plus many more great records and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's program.
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September 5, 2025 58 mins
This week's Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s - one of the forefathers of swing, a song from the 1920s that took decades to get its just due, an Artie Shaw request, Benny Goodman tale and music -  plus many more great records and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's program.
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August 29, 2025 58 mins
This week's Make Believe Ballroom with Jeff Bressler brings you Classic Big Band Hits from the 30s and 40s - a second string band that was anything but second best, a crooner of the 1930s whose life ended much too soon, Lester Young's clarinet, a strange radio remote -  plus many more great records and stories to cherish and enjoy on this week's program.
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