Skin Tight - Marty Gold

Jungle Drums

Skin Tight

Marty Gold and His Orchestra

Arranged and Conducted by Marty Gold

Recorded in Webster Hall, New York City

Engineer: Bob Simpson
RCA Victor LSP-2230
1960

From the back cover: This is a drum album.

Now don't be alarmed. This doesn't mean it's a succession of mere bangs and crashes designed to send your neighbors house-hunting. Rather it is a virtual catalog of the infinite diversity of percussion sounds and colors, ranging from the subtle to the sensational. Nine percussionists let loose their talents on several dozen instruments-many of which, we'll wager, you'll be hearing for the first time.

Anchoring down the ensemble were one dozen timpani, some of which were pedal-operated, others of the chain-tuning variety developed by Saul Goodman. These twelve kettledrums provide a range of almost two octaves as compared to the one octave usually available. Because of this spread, they are used in this recording as melody instruments throughout.

Some of the most outstanding curiosities are pictured in this still life. On the seat of the chair is a leather-stripped metal tabla, an instrument widely used in the music of Pakistan and India. Directly in front of the tabla is the small double-headed Mediterranean drum, one of the two sets used. The two funnel-shaped instruments on the floor (one standing, one horizontal) are Israeli clay drums. These are virtually identical with their predecessor of Biblical times. The metal spiral in the background, looking very much like a rocket ship ready for launching, is a Chinese bell tree. The lampshade-shaped drum before it is another tabla, this one made of wood. Leaning against a large tom-tom is the rectangular slit drum of African origin. This particular example, however, is made of California rosewood. The two pancake-shaped affairs are Mediterranean bongos.

This industrious percussionist on the right divides his attention between two sets of chromatic bongos. These tunable bongos have a wide range and are often used melodically.

Filling out the percussion lineup were the high-pitched piccolo snare drum, the deeper-voiced parade snare, three floor tom-toms of varying sizes, the hollowed-out log drum used in Africa for sending messages, conga drum, two complete sets of traps, and all the woodblocks, cymbals and cowbells your heart could desire. Stereo listeners will find plenty of split-level listening in the fre- quent battles between these variously styled drums. All these instruments were provided by New York's Carroll Drum Service, a veritable mecca for enterprising percussionists with an ear for the unusual.

But an intricate rhythm section is only part lush string orchestra. Each instrumentation was arranged with maximum stereo enjoyment in mind.

At the helm of all this activity is maestro Marty Gold. Marty set out to achieve several things in this recording. He wanted to make a "sound" album that would successfully display all the resources of top-flight high fidelity equipment. He wanted to demonstrate the amazing beauty and color of the percussion family. But, most of all, he wanted to make music.

We think he's succeeded on all counts.

Perdido

Allah's Holiday

Caravan

Lover

Song Of India

Hindustan

Dry Bones

How High The Moon

Opus One

Hawaiian War Chant (Ta-Hu-Wa-Ha-Wai)

Jungle Drums