Make Believe Ballroom

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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.

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 era.
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, stories, and reminiscences...
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 use of the organ in...
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 the golden age of the...
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 arranger talked out of law...
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 the American songbook.
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 and reminiscences from the...
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 pasts, and also more...
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 more records and...
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 more songs and reminisces.
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 many more songs and...
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
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...
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 change his name. This popular...
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 vocalist played in music from...
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 radio remotes that...
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 more stories and music...
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 records and stories to cherish...
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, plus many more great records...
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 played on the Ballroom, a...

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