WDVR-FM Music For Beautiful People

 

Music For Beautiful People (Disc 1)

Music For Beautiful People (Disc 2)

WDVR-FM

Music For Beautiful People

The London Philharmonic Orchestra

Recorded under the direction of D. L. Miller

Cover Photo: George Pickow

Inside Liner Photos: E. Pack

Produced for WDVR-FM by Haddon Record Corp., Haddonfield, N. J.

Raindrops Keep Fallin' 

A Whiter Shade Of Pale

Romeo And Juliet Theme

Something

Let It Be

Winter World Of Love

The Last Waltz

Theme From "Z"

Jean

House Of The Rising Sun

Ruby Tuesday

Love Is Blue

Shangri-La

It's Not Unusual 

Downtown

Delilah

Yesterday

By The Time I Get To Phoenix

Abilene

Shilo

The Windmills Of Your Mind

Suspicious Minds

A Hard Day's Night

A Love For All Seasons

Swing Britannia

South Of The Mason- Dixon Line - Lawson & Haggart

 

South Of The Mason-Dixon Line

South Of The Mason-Dixon Line

Yank Lawson - Bob Haggart Jazz Band

Decca Records DL 8197

1955

From the back cover: AS THE TITLE INDICATES, all the tunes in this collection represent that portion of the United States which is rich in melody and the mood of romance – romance which rises out of the mud of Mississippi and floats down from the moon over Miami. Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Louisiana, and the Carolinas are other Southern states which contribute their musical quota.

It is particularly appropriate that these tunes should be rendered by the Lawson-Haggart aggregation, for this band specializes in the pounding pulse and vibrating rhythms of jazz. All their preceding recordings have been much applauded, especially the collections entitled "Windy City Jazz," "Jelly Roll's Jazz," "King Oliver's Jazz," and "Blues On The River."

Yank Lawson's association with Bob Haggart dates back to about 1935; they traveled quite a distance before they got together. Yank (christened John Ray) Lawson was born in the little town of Trenton, Missouri, in 1911. Bob Haggart saw the light three years

later in New York City. Bob used to be with the Bob Crosby band, playing bass and arranging the music. Yank began as a pianist, took to the saxophone, and became a trumpet player when he went to college. He has played trumpet with Ben Pollack's orchestra, Tommy Dorsey's outfit, and Benny Goodman's boys, as well as with the Bob Crosby band. Yank and Bob have been together ever since they helped incorporate the Bob Crosby organization.

The distinguished personnel consists of "Peanuts" Hucko, first tenor sax; Bill Stegmeyer, clarinet; Lou Stein, piano; Cliff Leeman, drums; George Barnes, guitar; Lou McGarity, first trombone; "Cutty" Cutshall, second trombone; Billy Butterfield, second trum- pet; Yank Lawson, first trumpet; Bob Haggart, bass.

Alabamy Bound

Georgia On My Mind

Cabin In The Cotton

Moon, Over Miami 

Maryland, My Maryland

Tennessee Waltz

Mississippi Mud

Stars Fell On Alabama

I'm Coming Virginia

Louisiana

My Old Kentucky Home

Cryin' For The Carolines

8 Classic Bebop Originals by Miles Davis

 

8 Bebop Originals by Miles Davis

For You To Play... Volume 7

8 Classic Bebop Originals by Miles Davis

Play-A-Long Book & Record Set for All Instruments

A New Approach to Jazz Improvisation by Jamey Aebersold

Intermediate / Advanced

Produced by Jamey Aebersold

Recording Engineer: Steve Good

Cover Design: Pete Gearhart

A Product of Ja Records

JA 1216 STEREO

1976

Dan Haerle - Piano

Rufus Reid - Bass

Jonathan Higgins - Drums

Michael Weiss - Piano

John Goldsby - Bass

Tuning Note "Bb" Concert

Four

Tune Up

Vierd Blues

The Theme

Solar

Dig

Milestone (old)

Serpent's Tooth

Mezzin' Around - (Mezz Mezzrow & Frankie Newton

 

I'se A-Muggin'

Mezzin' Around

Mezz Mezzrow (Milton Mesirow) and Frankie Newton

RCA Victor LJM-1006

1954

Note: The set titles are printed out of order on the jacket. The title order below is taken from the disc label.

Mezz Mezzrow and his Swing Band

Mezz Mezzrow (cl); Frankie Newton (tp); Bud Freeman (ts); Willie "The Lion" Smith (p); Al Casey (g); Wellman Braud (b); George Stafford (dm)

Frankie Newton and his Orchestra
Frankie Newton (tp); Mezz Mezzrow (cl); Pete Brown (as); James P. Johnson (p); Al Casey (g); John Kirby (b); Cozy Cole (dm)

The Collectors Issue Label designates a recording of great bistorical and musical interest which, although technically not representative of RCA Victor's present day bigh quality standards, bas been re-issued in response to widespread public demand.

Hot Mallets-Lionel Hampton
Stompology; I'm on My Way From You; Ring Dem Bells; Confessin'; I Can't Get Started; Memories of You; Hot Mallets; Shufflin' at the Hollywood; After You've Gone; I Surrender, Dear; I Just Couldn't Take It Baby; Rhythm, Rhythm. LJM 1000

Brad Gowans and his New York Nine Poor Butterfield; Clari-jama; I'm Comin', Virginia; Carolina in the Morning; Jazz Me Blues; Singin' the Blues; Stompin' at the Savoy; Jada. LJM 3000

Louis Armstrong Sings the Blues
I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues; St. Louis Blues; Basin Street Blues; Rockin' Chair; The Blues Are Brewin'; Where the Blues Were Born in New Orleans; Jack- Armstrong Blues; Blues in the South; Blues for Yesterday; Fifty-Fifty Blues; Back O' Town Blues; Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans. LJM 1005

The Don Elliott Quintet
Nettie But Nice; Susan Stands Pat; There Will Never Be Another You; Laura; I Just Don't Care Anymore; Everything I Love; Long Ago and Far Away; Imagination; Angela; Bingo, Bango, Bongo; Five O'Clock Whistle; Don's Dilemma. LJM 1007

From the inside cover: Long known as one of the more colorful and rambunctious, if not one of the more conservative of contemporary jazz musicians, Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow (Mesirow en français), flamboyant author of a Gogol-type masterpiece entitled "Really the Blues," clarinetist extraordinary and jack-of-all-trades, has probably made as many really good jazz recordings as anyone in the business. And although he has never been held in the same reverence here as that with which he is showered in France – where, incidentally, he is considered something of a major god, thanks largely to the unrestrained admiration of Hughes Panassié – he is, nevertheless, a musician deserving of special attention. Careful listening to Mezzrow's style, his intonation, his ideas, may often be rewarded by a fast glimpse at some of jazz's most exciting moments.

The combination of Mezzrow and Frankie Newton (Newton plays trumpet on the Mezzrow sides, and Mezz is heard on clarinet on the Newton sides) is actually more significant and appropriate than it first appears. Frankie, whose untimely death occurred in March, 1954, was not only a musician of the same ilk as the redoubtable Mezzrow, but personality-wise he might be said to be practically a blood brother. And while not a great deal was heard from Frank within recent years due in large part to his preoccupation with matters of a political nature – he has been, and will continue to be, remembered as one of the most subtle and forceful of trumpet stylists, a musician whose contribution to recorded jazz, if not unnoticed, has certainly been underrated.

The Mezzrow sides, recorded on March 12, 1936, feature a band which is thoroughly indicative of the clarinetist's philosophy, both musically and sociologically. The "Swing Band's" personnel – this was actually close to the very beginning of that crazy era – is composed of both white and Negro musicians, although the latter are clearly predominant, not only in physical presence, but in the nature of the music. This is the goal toward which Mezzrow strove and, presumably, still is striving – the acquisition of the basic tenets of Negro (read "true") jazz and of Negro life, as well. This was responsible, at one point, for his living in Harlem and has undoubtedly contributed to his permanent residence in Europe. But disregarding the whys and wherefores of his personal feelings, it must be admitted that the jazz he made with these musicians is of far more than passing interest – such an unorthodox combination as that of Mezz, Newton, Bud Freeman and Willie "The Lion" must be held responsible for the driving, biting attack, for the unrestrained, relaxed feeling-a combination of styles which react equally on one another.

Perhaps the band assembled under the leadership of Newton was even more to Mezzrow's taste – for he was the only white musician present. Recorded on January 13, 1939, these sides are notable both for the exceptionally exciting solo work and for the band's adroit ensemble playing. Pete Brown's jumping alto and James P. Johnson's ragging piano furnish a solid background over which Newton's trumpet and Mezzrow's clarinet weave intricate melodic patterns, carried along by Cozy Cole's drumming. It must also be stated that Brown's solo work at this session is among the very finest and most imaginative of his career.

Mezzrow's reedy, incisive clarinet style, and Newton's subdued but rough-and-tumble trumpet – he often played with an old felt hat hanging from the end of his horn – although at opposite ends of the musical pole, complemented each other as two similar styles could never do. The musicians who surrounded them. on these dates also served to set off their personal styles, as well as adding a more than ordinary abandon s of their own. These are, in short, memorable recordings whose excitement and musical ideas demonstrate that, despite individual tensions and personal philosophies – however at variance with the accepted standard – jazz is an art of feeling and form and rhythm. And here, under the tutelage of Mezzrow and Newton, and as a result of their taste and musicianship, these qualities have been built to the highest proportions. BILL ZEITUNG

Mezz Mezzrow and his Swing Band

Recorded March 12, 1936

A Melody From The Sky

Lost

I'se A-Mugging - Vocal refrain by Willie "Lion" Smith and Chorus

Mutiny In The Parlor

The Panic Is On

The World Is
Waiting For The Sunrise

Frankie Newton and his Orchestra

Recorded January 13, 1939

Rosetta

The Minor Jive
Who?

Romping
The Blues My Baby Gave To Me

Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre

 

People Will Say We're In Love

Herb Ellis Meets Jimmy Giuffre

Art Direction: Sheldon Marks

Cover Photo: Bill Rotsler

Verve Records MG V-8311

1959

Personnel:

Herb Ellis - Guitar

Bud Shank, Art Pepper - Alto Sax

Richie Kamuca, Jimmy Giuffre - Tenor Sax

Jim Hall - Rhythm Guitar

Joe Mondragon - Bass

Stan Levey - Drums

Lou Levy - Piano.

Art Pepper appears by arrangement with Contemporary Records. 

Bud Shank appears by arrangement with World Pacific Records.

From the back cover: The personal and musical association between Herb Ellis and Jimmy Giuffre goes back to their student days at North Texas State Teachers College in Denton and its courses in popular music and jazz. This collaboration nearly twenty years later – for which Jimmy did all the arranging as well as being part of the band took place in Hollywood on March 26, 1959.

Jim Hall, regular member of the Giuffre 3, played rhythm guitar on the date, and it is his report that serves as the basis for the rest of this introduction. "I think this album," says Jim, "has Herb playing just about as good as I've ever heard. As for Jimmy Giuffre's writing for the guitar, he has the guitar very well in his ears. If you asked him what chords were playable on the guitar and which weren't, he might not know them all by name, but he hears what the guitar can best do."

Jim was asked if Giuffre wrote differently for Ellis than he would for Jim himself. "Not consciously, but I do think his writing as a whole in this album is different. He was going through a stylistic change at the time. He had been to New York, stayed some time, and heard a lot of Monk, Coltrane, and especially Sonny Rollins. One night he heard Rollins and Monk together and was really overwhelmed. For a long time, he had sort of shut that sort of playing out, and then all of a sudden he was in contact with it. Jimmy has a way of then taking things he hears and really using them. He doesn't just say, "That's great, man!

"By the time we got back to California, he was hearing differently and starting to write with much more freedom. He also was writing with less economy. He used to, it seemed to me, cut out too many things from his writing because he thought they were extraneous. He became more venturesome harmonically and rhythmically. Those capacities had already been there – he can hear like mad. But the New York experience had let them out. It's not that he copied the men he'd heard there, but those players had freshened his ear."

As for Herb Ellis, fellow guitarist Hall notes: "He has fantastic fire and drive, and he never sounds dull to me. In this album, he was able, I feel, to play with more taste than he's usually had the context for on previous albums. He didn't, in short, play quite as many notes as he normally felt he had to play with the Oscar-Peterson trio. Herb has always been a wonderful rhythm player, and I think he's now in a position to develop more and more as a soloist.", Concerning Giuffre, Hall concluded: "He has a truly creative and exploratory mind. It sometimes leads him into areas that everybody doesn't dig, but he just has to go through that country to see for himself. I'm not worried about Giuffre. He's so interested in everything about him that he's just got to keep on growing."

Hall also made a point about giving credit to the engineer on the date, Bones Howe, whom several musicians who have recorded on the west coast have mentioned with respect and admiration.

All in all, this further meeting between Giuffre and Ellis happened at a particularly productive time for both. Ellis, having left the Peterson trio, was in the process of stretching himself as a soloist and searching to hear how much he had to say. Giuffre, shaken up by Monk and Rollins, was beginning to absorb what he could best use of their work, and his writing for this date does show a marked increase in freedom and in what could be called a strong, outgoing affirmation. – NAT HENTOFF, Co-Editor, The Jazz Review

Goose Grease

When Your Lover Has Gone

Remember

Patricia

A Country Boy

You Know

My Old Flame

People Will Say We're In Love

Music For Two People Alone - George Melachrino

 

Lover

Music For Two People Alone

The Melachrino Orchestra

Conducted by George Melachrino

RCA Victor LPM 1027

1954

From the back cover: Two people alone - alone together - the nicest paradox in the English language.

The words to these ten songs are not sung because two people alone together don't need them. They have their own, spoken or silent.

This is the kind of music that hearts becoming one.

It's relaxed, happy music – the kind that George Melachrino's orchestra plays better than any other in the world today.

Actually, Liebestraum once had lyrics. But when it was finally published in its most celebrated version over a century ago – 1850 to be exact – it was wordless. And it has been so ever since. Like all the great love songs, it doesn't need any text to make its point.

With the exception of the perennial Liebestraum, the oldest tune you'll find here is probably Blue Room, which was introduced on Broadway in the 1926 musical that helped to make Rodgers and Hart the biggest names in show business – The Girl Friend.

It was only a year later when Show Boat made its appearance. The Hammerstein-Kern score was studded with hits, among them the ever-popular Why Do I Love You? (Purists will be interested to learn that a song of almost precisely the same title – lacking only the question mark – had been heard in Gershwin's My Fair Lady two years before.)

Gershwin's Girl Crazy was big news along the White Way in 1930. The show itself is long since forgotten, but even those who never heard of it know the unforgettable Embraceable You. By 1931 Tin Pan Alley was beginning to dip into the vast untapped reservoir of Latin American songs. One of the first imports was Quiéreme Mucho – we have known it all these years as Yours. The composer, Gonzalo Roig, is renowned in the southern latitudes for his operetta, Cecilia Valdes, but even in that work he touched no more responsive chords than he does in this lovely ballad.

Rodgers and Hart were so busy writing musicals by 1933 that they didn't have much time for non-theatrical numbers. But they did take a breather in this year to compose Lover, and it turned out to be one of their most successful songs.

How many remember a movie called Kill That Story, circa 1934? Lew Pollack wrote a song for it that survived, and deserved to, after its vehicle was dead and buried. He titled it Two Cigarettes in the Dark.

In 1938 there was another song along the same lines that was not written for a film although it made its way into at least one. This is Hoagy Carmichael's immortal Two Sleepy People, which may very well be the most nearly perfect music ever composed for two people alone together.

But whenever people are alone together it is of no great importance to set a mood for them with atmospheric prose. That takes care of itself. Music, at best, can be merely an added touch.

And that is all this unique album is intended to be – something to make a nice hour of being alone together just a little bit nicer.

You Were Meant For Me

Yours

Why Do I Love You

Liebestraum

Lover

Embraceable You

Blue Room

Two Cigarettes In The Dark

Two Sleepy People

I Love Thee

Queen City Brass

 

Queen City Brass

Queen City Brass

Engineers: Larry Nager & Lou Ukelson

Vetco Studios - Cincinnati, Ohio

Jewel Records - Cincinnati, Ohio

Pressed October 14, 1982

Queen City Publications

From the back cover: Brass quintets play in sepia tones. No matter how timely the tune, they set everything at half-past 1903.

This is not a put-down. So please do not assume brass quintet players are a bunch of nostalgic stick-in-the-muds. They are not. Also, don't try to imagine them going out of their way to make their material sound dated or old hat. They do not. It's just that with their brassy, wind-driven tones, they make songs sound simply idyllic, like a stroll in the park right after the turn of the century. In the distance, a brass band, a quintet no less, plays under the brightly painted roof of a filigreed gazebo. The air is clean. The sun is shining. The grass is green. Everyone is civilized or tries to be. Ladies speak softly and carry dainty parasols. Gentlemen keep just as quiet and tip their hats to strangers.

Moving closer to the bandstand, it will take a bit of doing to discover who's playing. There is no electronic loudspeaker system amplifying the quintet's music. Remember, this is an acoustic brass quintet. No one has to plug in the tuba to make it work. No one could even if they wanted to. This instrument runs on lung power.

As for the quintet's name, there is no marquee putting it up in lights. There is just a simple poster on a tripod announcing the quintet's name, its members, and the current selection. Moving even closer makes the poster's message easy to read.

Presenting: The Queen City Brass. Steven Pride and Christopher Swainhart, trumpets. Dennis Hanthorn, French horn. Peter Norton, trombone. Michael Thornton, tuba. Besides the quintet, its members busy themselves with other musical endeavors. Michael Thornton and Steven Pride play in the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Peter Norton performs with the Dayton Philharmonic. Dennis Hanthorn manages the Dayton Opera. Christopher Swainhart runs the group's publishing concern and leads the devil-may-care life of a free-lance musician. On this, their debut album, the Queen City Brass perform an American musical travelogue from the Broadway of George Gershwin, "By George," to the big band theme of Tommy Dorsey, "I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You," from the ragtime of Scott Joplin and Louis Chauvin, "Heliotrope Bouquet," to the march time of John Philip Sousa, "The Stars and Stripes Forever."

There may be one or two of you out there who have never heard of the Queen City Brass. These same people may be asking themselves: "What could five guys from Cincinnati, the Queen City of the West, possibly add to the literature of the brass quintet that hasn't already been covered by the Canadian Brass or the Empire Brass Quintet?"

That's a very good question. It's so good, in fact, it can be answered in one word: Plenty. Through its approach, its repertoire, and its sound, the Queen City Brass is saying something new. For one thing, this is an egalitarian outfit. There are no loafers in this group. Most brass quintets are not that way. There's no sense naming names here. They know who they are. They are easy to spot. These groups are the ones where the trumpets carry the tuba, trombone, and French horn. You won't find that with the Queen City Brass. The group is too strong in the traditionally weak links for that to happen. Everybody stands on their own around here.

This strength at every position gives the Queen City Brass a full sound, a very full sound, an extremely full sound. I'm talking a full sound here. How full is it? It's so full that at times the group sounds like the Wall-to-Wall Brass. Throughout this recording there are occasions where the music just has to be coming from more than five horns. But no. It's just the Queen City Brass' blend and tailor-made arrangements playing tricks on your ears.

There is one selection where the quintet cheats. Through the wonders of electricity and tape, Christopher Swainhart's piccolo trumpet makes the quintet a sextet. But that is the only incident of overdubbing on the LP, and it is for a good cause, "The Stars and Stripes Forever."

The Queen City Brass' repertoire makes an individual statement by tapping Cincinnati's musical heritage. "Lassus Trombone" was written by Cincinnati's march king, Henry Fillmore. "Alcoholic Blues" came from the bent elbow of Al von Tilzer, an early officer of the Cincinnati-based American Federation of Musicians Local No. 1. "Billboard March" salutes Billboard magazine, which originated in the Queen City. "May Festival Galop" honors the city's annual choral/ orchestral celebration, the May Festival. The traditional "Bier Hier," which was probably a favorite of the afore- mentioned Al von Tilzer, commemorates Cincinnati's German heritage of brewing as well as drinking beer.

With that said, this is not chauvinistic civic pride speaking. The Queen City Brass is not for local consumption only. Last year, its offerings were sampled coast to coast via the 200-station network that carries "A Prairie Home Companion." After the Queen City Brass stopped the show with "The Stars and Stripes Forever," people were comparing the quintet with the program's imaginary sponsor, Powdermilk Biscuits, and saying things like, "Heavens! They're tasty! And expeditious." – Cliff Radel

Cliff Radel is the pop music critic for The Cincinnati Enquirer. His articles have also appeared in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and Down Beat.

Black Bottom Stomp

Alcoholic Blues

Ragtime Nightmare

Getting Sentimental Over You

Billboard March 

By George

Lassus Trombone

Heliotrope Bouquet

Carnival Of Venice

Chattanooga Choo Choo

Bier Hier

May Festival

Stars And Strips Forever

Joe Venuti Plays Jerome Kern

 

Yesterdays

Joe Venuti Plays Jerome Kern

A Golden Crest Jazz Classic

Golden Crest Records CR 3101

1960

From the back cover: Because there are so few practitioners with the gifts of a Joe Venuti, the violin as a powerful jazz instrument is little known in the present scene, and all but forgotten from the past. A few record collectors remember Darnell Howard who played with Jellyroll Morton in the Twenties, and there are others who recall Eddie South who played a jazz fiddle along 52nd Street in the Thirties. But nobody new has come along since then with a similar feeling for the jazz idiom. Almost single-handedly Joe Venuti has kept the fiddle vitally alive, but then his roots go deep-right back to the soil that produced Beiderbecke, Berrigan, Goldkette, Red Nichols, Fletcher Henderson, and even the Dorseys when they were known as the Scranton Sirens. And like so many of the others he developed in that controversial cradle of talent, the original Paul Whiteman band. What is astonishing is that Venuti still plays with such verve and virility, with such an endless flow of fresh ideas, that listening to him now you'd think he was still a kid fresh out of Philadelphia.

The most obvious reason for Joe Venuti's iron durability is unquestionably his fantastic technique-gleaned originally from six solid years of conservatory study where, as a youngster, he startled his professors with jazz improvisations. But other violinists have possessed an excellent technique, yet when approaching jazz seem unable to remove the potted palms from their bows. Venuti is unique in that respect; he has so overwhelmed the instrument with his own sense of urgency that in listening to him you wonder how mere wood and gut can speak so forcibly. In view of his example one wonders why the younger crop of jazzmen have not rediscovered the fiddle for their construction of new sounds. Certainly they have not hesitated to raid the symphonic arsenal, as it were, to bring color and vibrancy to their music. As a result there are an increasing number of virtuosi on the oboe, flute, harp, French horn, tuba and even the harpsichord – none of them traditional jazz solo instruments. But the break-through in fresh uses of the jazz fiddle remains almost the sole possession of the old master himself.

Venuti's career began in a music-loving family who were all adept on the violin, cello and mandolin. He went to grammar school with the great guitarist, Eddie Lang, for many years they were associated with each other professionally. They began playing "straight" with a pianist in Atlantic City in the early Twenties, but spent a good deal of time, as Joe remembers it, holding jam sessions in the men's room where it wouldn't disturb the patrons. It was in Atlantic City that they met the Dorsey brothers, fresh out of Scranton, and they sat in with them on occasion. Years later, during one of their periodic break-ups, Jimmy Dorsey joined the Joe Venuti band for a brief spell. Joe later joined the original Red Nichols group that played the Pelham Heath Inn during the Twenties. Later he played with both the Paul Whiteman and Jean Goldkette organizations – all the jazz immortals were his compatriots and they grew in stature through the free exchange of ideas. From the Thirties on Venuti has always led his own groups playing the traditional big-time circuits – from the Strand Theatre on Broadway to films in Hollywood. He is a particular favorite of Bing Crosby's; the friendship goes all the way back to the Whiteman days when both were with the band.

Within the trade the legend of Joe Venuti is great and the stories of his zest for fun are endless. He has never been one to discourage laughter, and his own predilection for clowning has cost him engagements. They tell of the time the manager of a Kansas City hotel asked the Venuti band to play more gently for the lady luncheon guests. As the manager walked off the floor Venuti turned to the band and said, "Okay, fellows, let's give 'em Nagasaki!" They almost blasted the manager off the floor and with him the remainder of their engagement. And once during a stage show at the Strand the male singer with the band, new to the stage, walked right over the footlights and into the orchestra pit. As he climbed back over the footlights again, trying to find the spot, Joe is said to have fallen flat on his back from laughter as the show continued on its merry way.

The sidemen who have worked with him all remember him with affection, and recall there was always a happy time with Joe around. Listening to him play Gershwin and/or Kern should make you happy, too. – ARNOLD SUNDGAARD

Also from the back cover: About the Players – The selection of men assisting Joe was inspired. Tony Gottuso is undoubtedly one of the finest guitar men on the scene today. His activity in both television and recording studios is a testament to his great capabilities.

Jack Zimmerman on bass, besides being one of New York's outstanding bass men, is also an excellent arranger and conductor. Many of Jack's works are heard daily on radio and TV in the "better" advertising jingles.

Bobby Donaldson is known as a musical drummer. His intuitive approach to playing has made him a leader in the field of rhythm. Bobby will be remem- bered as one of the outstanding members of the Benny Goodman Septet.

Ellis Larkins on piano personifies the perfect ac- companist. In listening to this record, you will note the constant interplay and finesse of this outstanding artist. Ellis is known for his work with the great Ella Fitzgerald.

One of the most unusual aspects of this album is that many of the "takes" were "firsts". The routine was set on the spot and the result is a spontaneous jelling of fluid ideas and, most of all, "swing". The esteem and respect that musicians on this date hold for the artistry of Joe can be sensed in this recording.

Kakua

A Fine Romance

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Look For The Silver Lining

Why Was I Born

Who

Yesterdays

Make Believe

Ol' Man River

Lovely To Look At

All The Things You Are

1981 - 82 Wind & Jazz Ensemble I - Smoky Hill High School

 

Wind & Jazz Ensemble I

1981 - 82 Smoky Hill High School

Wind Ensemble and Jazz Ensemble I

Joseph M. Brice, Director

Soundmark STEREO R968 BSCR

One Good Turn

Samatha

Look For The Silver Lining

Ice Castles 

In The Mood

Cafe Amore

Ritual

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

Our Love Is Here To Stay

Flow Gentle, Sweet Rhythm - Maxine Sullivan / John Kirby Band

 

Barbara Allen

Leonard Feather Presents

Flow Gently, Sweet Rhythm

With Maxine Sullivan - Vocals

Charlie Shavers leading the original John Kirby Band

Jack Walker - Commentator

A Jazztone Society Classic J-1229

1956

*Charlie Shavers - Trumpet

Buster Bailey - Clarinet

Russell Proscope - Alto Sax

Billy Kyle - Piano

Specs Powell - Drums

Aaron Bell - Bass

**Charlie Shavers - Trumpet

Buster Bailey - Trumpet

Hilton Jefferson - Alto Sax

Milt Hinton - Bass

Louis Barnum - Piano

Dick Hyman - Piano

Leonard Feather - Piano ( on Loch Lomond only)

***Dick Hyman - Piano, Harpsichord & Organ

Oscar Pettiford - Bass

Osie Johnson - Drums

From the back cover: THERE have been times in the history of jazz when a group of musicians was instilled with such a spirit of unity that it was hard to imagine what the effect would be if even a single change were made in its membership. There have been times like that, but they have been very, very rare. The Duke Ellington orchestra of the 1930's was just about the only example in the big band field. Among the small combos the most memorable instance was the sextet led by the late John Kirby. Kirby, a bass player from Baltimore who had played with the bands of Fletcher Henderson and Benny Carter, had some definite ideas in mind when he set out to become a band leader. In contrast with the casual and often poorly integrated ensemble sounds that had characterized most small groups up to that time in the swing era, Kirby wanted to create something new: a soft, subtle band of swing that would keep the customers' toes in action while never upsetting their eardrums.

Working at the old Onyx club on West 52nd Street, Kirby experimented for sev eral months before settling down with what was to become, from 1938, the basic and unchangeable personnel during his years of glory. The light, bouncing ensemble line comprised Charlie Shavers' trumpet, Buster Bailey's clarinet, and Russell Procope's alto saxophone. The gently persuasive rhythm section had Billy Kyle on piano, the late O'Neil Spencer on drums, and Kirby. Often, too, at the Onyx there would be the new little singing sensation from Pittsburgh, Maxine Sullivan, who was Mrs. John Kirby during those years.

Shavers wrote most of the arrangements and worked closely with Kirby on produc- ing exactly what he wanted. That they succeeded, far beyond the bounds of all the 52nd Street units, was proved indisputably when the sextet, moving swiftly to national success, abandoned that thoroughfare to make its elegant impact in higher echelons hitherto beyond the scope of any jazz outfit, let alone a Negro group. Places like the Waldorf-Astoria in New York and the Pump Room in Chicago, and, perhaps the most important of all, the CBS studios in Manhattan, where, almost seventeen years ago, the Kirby group and Miss Sullivan began their own weekly network series.

Flow Gently, Sweet Rhythm, they called this program, and to this day there are those who will tell you that nothing else quite as delightful, nothing as smooth in quality and consistent in mood has since been heard on any airwaves.

The program stayed on the air for at least two years, and every Sunday afternoon millions of listeners were treated to the unique sounds of what was so aptly described in its slogan as "the biggest little band in America." And there were a lucky few who, like this writer, were able to slip into the studio on some of those Sundays to enjoy the proceedings in person.

For those who are too young to recall it, the best comparison might be made by stat- ing that the Kirby band in its heyday was as renowned and respected as the King Cole trio in 1945, the Shearing quintet in 1950, or the Brubeck quartet in 1955. The disintegration of the original band began in 1942 when Billy Kyle was drafted. The following year Procope, too, was called to the colors, and Shavers began to double in the Raymond Scott band at CBS. By 1944 the original Kirby sound could no longer be conjured up. He had many different groups after that but never recaptured the pristine charm of the original article. Kirby's last few years were melancholy ones, lived in the shadow of his famous past. In 1952 he died in California. Meanwhile, the sidemen who had swung up the ladder of fame with him remained successfully active in New York.

About a year ago I asked Charlie Shavers whether he might not be interested in reviving the original Kirby band, with a suitable replacement on bass, for a record session that would recapture the spirit of the old band and its wonderful broadcasts. Charlie was immediately enthusiastic, but the problem was to try to catch all the men in New York at the same time. Many months went by and we never seemed to be able to arrange it. When Billy Kyle was in town with Louis Armstrong's band, Procope would be on the road with Duke Ellington; or when Duke came to New York, Kyle and Armstrong would be in Australia. There was no problem getting "Specs" Powell, the drummer who in 1941-2 had replaced Spencer in the original band, for "Specs" had spent the last twelve years on staff at CBS in New York. Buster Bailey, too, was always on hand; since early 1954 he has been a regular on the bandstand at the Metropole. Maxine Sullivan, living in town, also said she would be ready when we were.

Finally, impatient with delays, we arranged to fly Procope in between one-nighters with Duke. On a Monday evening, as soon as "Specs" had finished playing the Arthur Godfrey show, everyone assembled at the Esoteric studios-Shavers, Procope, Buster, Billy, "Specs", and Maxine. It was the first time the six of them had been together in thirteen years. Nostalgia flowed like water; everyone told everybody how little they had changed, and in most cases they were right, except for some added avoirdupois here and there. Maxine, who had looked incredibly young in 1938, had the same fantastic little-girl look as ever. Buster had grayed but still looked phenomenally youthful for a man with four children and six grandchildren. To complete the unit, Charlie and I had agreed that Aaron Bell, a brilliant and well-trained musician who had at one time been a music teacher at a high school in his home town, Muskogee, Oklahoma, had just the perfect light sound and touch to replace Kirby on bass. As for the role of narrator, which the late Canada Lee played so superbly on the broadcasts, both of us simultaneously had the same thought. Nobody but Jack Walker, whose pear-shaped tones are heard on his own Life Begins at Midnight show over WFOV in New York, could possibly fill Canada's shoes.

I think some of the happy spirit of this reunion came through in the music that was played that night. You will wonder, as we wondered, whether there couldn't be room today, on the air or in person, for just such a combination of timeless talents; and perhaps you will join us in hoping that it may come to pass. – LEONARD FEATHER

Note: In addition to the recordings described above, Mr. Feather produced two subsequent sessions featuring Maxine Sullivan. Seven of the selections recorded at those sessions are included here.

Rose Room*

Molly Malone*

If I Had A Ribbon Bow*

Loch Lomond*

Oh No, John!**

Windy*

Wraggle Taggle Gipsies**

Jackie Boy***

Barbara Allen***

A Brown Bird Singing***

Flow Gently, Sweet Rhythm*