Skinnay Ennis leads his orchestra as they play "Three Little Words," "Let's Do It," and "Birth of the Blues". He also sings his composition "A Boy, A Girl and the Lamplight."
Young Cab Calloway's mother is concerned, because Cab spends his days listening to the radio, pretending to lead a miniature orchestra. A deacon passing by the apartment hears him singing and advises him go to his wife's gypsy tea room. As she reads the tea leaves, she sees situations which lead to Cab and his orchestra performing musical numbers.
After a career on the stage and in movies, Desi Arnaz is introduced in this short as an orchestra leader.
Richard Himber and His Orchestra plays us a few songs.
Artie Shaw and his orchestra perform four popular songs, "Alone Together", "Jeepers Creepers", "Deep Purple", and "Lady Be Good".
On a set resembling a yacht, Roger Wolfe Kahn leads his orchestra in several popular tunes of the day. Billed and un-billed guest acts also perform. At the end, Kahn thrills his guests by piloting a biplane.
A barber shop owner wins a sweepstake. He remodels his shop and hires Claude Hopkins and his orchestra to play for his customers. Two songs are sung, and the Four Step Brothers tap dance in the closing number.
Ozzie Nelson leads his orchestra in two standard numbers, and Ozzie performs two novelty songs.
A musical short subject in which band leader Freddie Rich conducts three musical numbers with his orchestra, with solos by Nan Wynn with the Three Symphonettes. In the midst of the radio broadcast on which the band is performing, a gangly guitarist named Joe Sodja interrupts and asks to perform.
Isham Jones and His Orchestra, with other cast members, perform some of the orchestra's biggest hits.
In this musical short, two night watchmen hear songs performed in a haunted pawn shop.
Woody Herman's orchestra plays five tunes, and guest performers sing and dance.
Hades is cooling off, so the Devil imports Leon Navara and his Orchestra to put on some heat using their music instruments. Navara does some piano solos, while the dance team of Honey & Weldon heat things up also. A Vitaphone "Melody Master" short.
Forty Boys and a Song is a 1941 short documentary film directed by Irving Allen. The film is about the Robert Mitchell Boy Choir, consisting entirely of boys aged 8 to 14. The choir, run by organist Robert Mitchell, appeared in Hollywood productions for over thirty years. Accordingly, the boys were recruited to go to a special school where they would go through regular classroom instruction until 1 PM, after which they'd do choir practice. The kids are also shown performing in a church on Sunday as well as camping, as they are all part of the same Boy Scouts troop. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Subject, One-Reel.
The popular dance band plays four songs.
In this 1939 short in the Melody Master series, that was re-released in 1948 and 1955, Artie Shaw) leads his orchestra in "Begin the Beguine","Nightmare", "Non-Stop Flight", "Let's Stop the Clock", sung by Helen Forrest, and "Pross Tchai"/"Good-bye", a comedy Russian number performed by saxophone player Tony Pastor).
George Hall and his orchestra couldn't find a hotel in the city where they are scheduled to appear, so they break into the basement of the theater in which they will perform the next day. They rehearse some musical numbers, and other songs are performed in dream sequences.
Ozzie and his orchestra play a few tunes.
In this 'Vitaphone Melody Master,' orchestra leader Ray Kinney sings Hawaiian songs while The Aloha Maids perform native dances.
The US Marine Corps Band and chorus perform several songs associated with the Marines and the Navy. As the songs are played, we see monuments in Washington, DC, various battle scenes, planes in flight, and other scenes designed to instill patriotism in the audience.