Leo Diamond, Harmonica
With Orchestra Conducted by Murray Keliner
RCA LPM-1165
1956
I finally found a great copy of this fabulous album. I was mainly interested in the awesome cover art, but the music is, likewise, unique. The Skin Divers Suite plays through on side one as one continuous piece of music (a blend of soundtrack and exotica), a very cool and inventive piece.
The back cover claims that Diamond merged his hobby, skin diving, with his art to create this piece. Generally, I'm not to hip on harmonica driven music, but this recording goes way beyond your standard harmonica fare. Apparently I also need to look for copies of Diamond's Subliminal Sounds and Exciting Sounds from Romantic Places which are highly thought of experiments in harmonica. This record, appears to be Diamond's first.
Side two is more straight forward mood, but seems stylistically way ahead of what mood would become a few years later. Tracks include: April Again, Melinda, Wendy, Reminiscing Interlude, Ride The Dark Hills Home and All I Desire.
WOW what a fabulous fantasy cover!
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