Ethan plays songs about sad guys who show up at a dingy bar in the middle of the night, order a beer, and tell the bartender their problems.
Ethan plays songs about eagles and talks about them. Selections include "American Eagles" by Irving Berlin, "Invincible Eagle" by John Philip Sousa, and "Under the Double Eagle" by Josef Wagner.
In this episode, Ethan plays songs about the stock market. Henry Uslan joins him on saxophone for one of the numbers. Lots of humorous commentary as usual.
Obeying the orders of the random generator, Ethan delves into the life and works of ragtime composer Charles Humfeld, who wrote "That Left Hand Rag," "Who Let the Cows Out?" and "Red Moon."
Ethan desperately tries to find a song that would be relevant to the people of Caroga Lake, NY. He also reminisces about the time he accompanied a clown show. Songs included: I WIsh I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate, Eli Green's Cakewalk, Beer Barrel Polka, and Smile.
To celebrate Bach's upcoming birthday, Ethan jazzes up Bach's Minuet in G, Invention in Bb, and the Badinerie in B minor. Also, Ethan remembers his college piano professor, Edmund Battersby, by playing Walter Donaldson's "Changes" - a novelty song about a musician who likes to change keys.
Ethan's Oktoberfest Special starts out with intoxicated antics UNDER THE ANHEUSER BUSH. Then, a sobered-up and repentant Ethan offers a prayer and musical offering (GAMBRINUS POLKA) to King Gambrinus, the patron saint of beer. After playing a Viennese-style waltz (IN A BEER GARDEN WALTZING WITH YOU), Ethan is visited by none other than King Gambrinus himself. The King informs us, among other things, that IN HEAVEN THERE IS NO BEER.
Ethan plays a couple tunes by Mabel Wayne, who was the master of romantic Latin-tinged waltzes: "In A Little Spanish Town," "Ramona," and "It Happened in Monterey." Along the way Ethan talks about Ramona-related history and plays an obscure Gershwin cowboy song called "Cactus Time in Arizona."
Join Ethan for a musical tribute to laziness! Let us honor the sleepy slothful slackers of song! Call in sick, put on your sweatpants, grab that bag of potato chips and tune in!
As an appetizer, Ethan offers up "Hold Tight (I Want Some Seafood Mama)" and then he starts slurping oysters, right into the microphone (rude!). Then, rather than eating an oyster, he sings a duet with it (Cole Porter's "Tale of the Oyster"). Finally Ethan nets two obscure pieces of mollusk music: "The Oyster Rag" and "The Dance of the Oyster and the Clam." The latter is a "sand dance" that will make you want to do the lambada on the ocean floor.