Flying Down To Rio
Far Away Places
Volume 2
Originated and Produced by Enoch Light
Arrangements by Lew Davies
Recording Chief: Robert Fine
Mastering: George Piros
Art Direction: Charles E. Murphy
Command RS 850 SD
Grand Award Record Co., Inc.
1963
Art Direction: Charles E. Murphy
Command RS 850 SD
Grand Award Record Co., Inc.
1963
From the inside (gatefold) jacket: When Enoch Light's original FAR AWAY PLACES album was first released, it spurred an instant wave of reaction from listeners. Here were musical performances evoking distant and exotic settings that actually had individuality and validity. These were not just superficial mood pieces but beautifully crafted orchestrations that drew on a myriad different musical origins and musical manners and brought them all together in a cohesive framework.
The response to this unusual album was expressed in two ways. Listeners demanded more. And record-makers, whose eyes are always sharply trained on the trend-setting activities of Enoch Light, immediately produced a steady flow of albums built around songs from foreign lands.
Most of the record-makers missed the point of Enoch Light's FAR AWAY PLACES. They failed to realize that there was more to it than just playing a group of exotically named tunes. But the listeners did not miss the point. They could hear the difference between the Enoch Light album and those that followed and they made Light's FAR AWAY PLACES a unique best seller. So, with this encouragement, Enoch Light has looked over the far-flung world of music once more to create this second volume of FAR AWAY PLACES.
But, as is usual with Enoch Light, this second collection is not just a duplication of something that he has done before. This new set has its own individuality, its own special adventures, its own magnificent colors.
The most immediately distinctive features of this set are the use of a harpsichord (and occasionally a celeste) and the presence of a vocal group that is actually part of the orchestra.
The harpsichord and celeste are played by Dick Hyman in some instances and by Billy Rowland, who is Perry Como's pianist, in others. Both instruments bring an unusual quality of delicacy to these performances. The sound of the harpsichord, in particular, has a transparency that lights up all the selections in which it is heard. And at the same time it is a delightful rhythm instrument with a bright, crackling percussiveness that propels a tune with a sound that no other instrument can produce.
Another factor in the use of the harpsichord in this album is the remarkable finesse with which it has been woven into the overall coloration of the ensembles. You will hear it blending with Dom Cortese's accordion, with Tony Mottola's guitar and with Bob Haggart's bass in a way that is a magnificent trib- ute not only to the brilliance of these musicians but to the enormous talent of Lew Davies, who wrote these arrangements.
Blending is also a vital factor in the way in which the voices of the Jerry Packer vocal group and the soprano voice of Lois Winter have been threaded through the arrangements. At times they are treated as though they were an instrumental section. At other times they are part of the full ensemble, backing up other instruments both harmonically and rhythmically. Some of the relationships between the voices and the instruments are fascinating, especially when the voices are coming off a phrase which is then picked up by an instrument or vice versa.
There is, of course, more to this group than voices, harpsichord, accordion, guitar and bass. There is an amazingly versatile four- man woodwind section made up of Al Klink, Walt Levinsky, Phil Bodner and Stanley Webb. There is the glowing trumpet of Doc Severinsen. There is the rhythm guitar of Bucky Pizzarelli to supplement Tony Mottola's guitar. And there is a potent and extremely busy percussion section made up of Bob Rosengarden and Don Lamond.
There is also an incredible bagpipe performance by Jimmy Maxwell, one of the great contemporary trumpeters, an outstanding member of the band that Benny Goodman took to Russia, who has been harboring this hidden talent for years.
There is a fresh and exciting choice of tunes, all of them given a new and stimulating treatment and accented with such authentic touches as castanets, finger cymbals, temple blocks and an almost overpowering gong.
And to give all this the most vivid, realistic, full-bodied reproduction that recording engineers have yet achieved, these selections have been recorded on amazing 35 mm magnetic film so that even the most delicate nuances of the harpsichord are heard cleanly and clearly and the enormous expanding sound of a gigantic gong can billow and billow and billow to its full breadth of potency.
So step aboard and join this exciting, emotion-lifting musical view of far away places.
From Billboard - May 4, 1963: Light does it again with a topnotch instrumental album with bright use of voices. This is the second volume in the "let's take a trip" theme with fine tracks like "Istanbul," "Colonel Bogey," "Cielito Lindo" and "Under Paris Skies," just a few of the standouts. Use of stereo technique again is done with the utmost taste and showmanship. This is another Light winner.
Istanbul
Isle Of Capri
Cielito Lindo
The Moon Of Manakoora
Wee Bit Of Heather Medley
Flying Down To Rio
By The River Sainte Marie
Ching Ching Ching Chow
Tales From The Vienna Woods
Coloney Bogey
The White Cliffs Of Dover
Under The Paris Skies
The response to this unusual album was expressed in two ways. Listeners demanded more. And record-makers, whose eyes are always sharply trained on the trend-setting activities of Enoch Light, immediately produced a steady flow of albums built around songs from foreign lands.
Most of the record-makers missed the point of Enoch Light's FAR AWAY PLACES. They failed to realize that there was more to it than just playing a group of exotically named tunes. But the listeners did not miss the point. They could hear the difference between the Enoch Light album and those that followed and they made Light's FAR AWAY PLACES a unique best seller. So, with this encouragement, Enoch Light has looked over the far-flung world of music once more to create this second volume of FAR AWAY PLACES.
But, as is usual with Enoch Light, this second collection is not just a duplication of something that he has done before. This new set has its own individuality, its own special adventures, its own magnificent colors.
The most immediately distinctive features of this set are the use of a harpsichord (and occasionally a celeste) and the presence of a vocal group that is actually part of the orchestra.
The harpsichord and celeste are played by Dick Hyman in some instances and by Billy Rowland, who is Perry Como's pianist, in others. Both instruments bring an unusual quality of delicacy to these performances. The sound of the harpsichord, in particular, has a transparency that lights up all the selections in which it is heard. And at the same time it is a delightful rhythm instrument with a bright, crackling percussiveness that propels a tune with a sound that no other instrument can produce.
Another factor in the use of the harpsichord in this album is the remarkable finesse with which it has been woven into the overall coloration of the ensembles. You will hear it blending with Dom Cortese's accordion, with Tony Mottola's guitar and with Bob Haggart's bass in a way that is a magnificent trib- ute not only to the brilliance of these musicians but to the enormous talent of Lew Davies, who wrote these arrangements.
Blending is also a vital factor in the way in which the voices of the Jerry Packer vocal group and the soprano voice of Lois Winter have been threaded through the arrangements. At times they are treated as though they were an instrumental section. At other times they are part of the full ensemble, backing up other instruments both harmonically and rhythmically. Some of the relationships between the voices and the instruments are fascinating, especially when the voices are coming off a phrase which is then picked up by an instrument or vice versa.
There is, of course, more to this group than voices, harpsichord, accordion, guitar and bass. There is an amazingly versatile four- man woodwind section made up of Al Klink, Walt Levinsky, Phil Bodner and Stanley Webb. There is the glowing trumpet of Doc Severinsen. There is the rhythm guitar of Bucky Pizzarelli to supplement Tony Mottola's guitar. And there is a potent and extremely busy percussion section made up of Bob Rosengarden and Don Lamond.
There is also an incredible bagpipe performance by Jimmy Maxwell, one of the great contemporary trumpeters, an outstanding member of the band that Benny Goodman took to Russia, who has been harboring this hidden talent for years.
There is a fresh and exciting choice of tunes, all of them given a new and stimulating treatment and accented with such authentic touches as castanets, finger cymbals, temple blocks and an almost overpowering gong.
And to give all this the most vivid, realistic, full-bodied reproduction that recording engineers have yet achieved, these selections have been recorded on amazing 35 mm magnetic film so that even the most delicate nuances of the harpsichord are heard cleanly and clearly and the enormous expanding sound of a gigantic gong can billow and billow and billow to its full breadth of potency.
So step aboard and join this exciting, emotion-lifting musical view of far away places.
From Billboard - May 4, 1963: Light does it again with a topnotch instrumental album with bright use of voices. This is the second volume in the "let's take a trip" theme with fine tracks like "Istanbul," "Colonel Bogey," "Cielito Lindo" and "Under Paris Skies," just a few of the standouts. Use of stereo technique again is done with the utmost taste and showmanship. This is another Light winner.
Istanbul
Isle Of Capri
Cielito Lindo
The Moon Of Manakoora
Wee Bit Of Heather Medley
Flying Down To Rio
By The River Sainte Marie
Ching Ching Ching Chow
Tales From The Vienna Woods
Coloney Bogey
The White Cliffs Of Dover
Under The Paris Skies
LA LA LA LA DOO DOO DOO I LOVE this!
ReplyDelete