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Friday, October 25, 2019

The Melachrino Strings Play The Tom Jones Hits!

Help Yourself
The Melachrino Stings
Play The Tom Jones Hits!
Conducted by Lad Busby
Producer: Bob Leaper
Arrangements: (A) Lad Busby, (B) Peter Knight, (C) Gordon Franks and (D) Bob Leaper
Recorded in England at PYE Recording Studios, London
Pickwick SPC-3242
A Product Of Pickwick International, Inc.
1970

Help Yourself (A)
You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (A)
Love Me Tonight (B)
Daughter Of Darkness (C)
Let It Be Me (B)
Delilah (A)
It's Not Unusual (B)
Green, Green Grass Of Home (A)
Olvidar (D)
I Can't Stop Loving You (C)

Current Hits Volume 25

She's A Woman
Current Hits Volume 25
Producer: William Beasley
Assistant Producer: Ted Jarrett
Recorder & Compatible Mastering: Columbia Recording Studio, Nashville, Tennessee
Engineer: Tom Sparkman
Cover Design: McPherson Studio, Nashville, Tennessee

Downtown
Playboy
She's A Woman
Wise Like Soloman
I Feel Fine
Anything
Love Potion Number Nine
Have You Been There
Willow Weep For Me
Never Forget Me
Don't Forget I Still Love You
Bless You Little Girl

Adventures In Rhythm - Pete Rugolo

Sambamba
Adventures In Rhythm
Pete Rugolo and His Orchestra
Columbia CL 604
1954

From the back cover: Here's Pete. Pete Rugolo was born December 25, 1916 in Sicily. One of the ablest and most creative arrangers in the business today. Pete wrote for dance orchestras all through his college days and while in the army. He idolized the newly-formed Stan Kenton band and submitted a sample score. A few months later, a wire arrived informing Pete that he was a member of the Kenton arranging staff. Pete was associated with Kenton for five years, after which he was given an assignment at the MGM studios, where he became a part of the fabulous movie industry. He also composed and conducted the musical background for the Bette Davis radio series. Woman Of The Year. Between pictures he wrote vocal backgrounds for Peggy Lee, Mel Trome, Nat Cole, Billy Eckstine, June Christy, Tony Martin and others. Then in November of 1953, preliminary talks were under way with Columbia Records in sign Pete as a band leader. This was an unfulfilled ambition of long standing – to have a band of his own, to arrange and write as he really wanted to. Thanks to Columbia, this has happened. And in this album are twelve excellent reasons for Pete's Columbia contract.

Also from the back cover: Sambamba – From the title you can guess that this one is a samba. The orchestration begins with a rhythm sound reminiscent of the parade grounds, with the whistle and snare drums. The idea behind this arrangement was to show the facility of the trumpet section by giving them the fast-moving strain that is ordinarily played by strings or woodwinds. Solo spots are by Milt Bernhardt (trombone), Harry Klee (alto flute), Lauren Almeida (guitar) and Bud Shank (alto sax). The composition finishes with the trumpets playing the fast-moving theme line. For authenticity, we added timbales and conga drums, to bring the total number of drummers to four.

From Billboard - December 4, 1954: The Pete Rugolo crew, one of the newer cool jazz bands, should gain a lot of new friends with this album. It fractures the modern ork in collection of cleverly arranged standards, with an occasional original thrown in, that show off the arranging talents of the leader and the fine sound of the band. This is not for dancing but it will provide much good listening. Best sides include "My Funny Valentine" and "Poinciana" which show off a warm sound, plus "Rugolo Meets Shearing." Cool cats should dig this ork and this LP.

Here's Pete
My Funny Valentine
Mixin' The Blues
Poinciana
Rugolo Meets Shearing
Sambamba
King Porter Stomp
You Are Too Beautiful
Jingle Bells Mambo
There Will Never Be Another You
Conversation
Good Evening Friends Boogie

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Rodgers And Hart Song Book

Dancing On The Ceiling
Blue Room
Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Rodgers And Hart Song Book
Cover Photo: Herman Leonard
Cover Design: Bill Curry
Art Directions: Sheldon Marks
Verve MGV 4022, Vol. 1
Verve MGV 4023, Vol. 2
Verve MGVS-6010, Vol. 2 (Stereo cover example)
1959

From The back cover: About The Arrangements

Most arrangers stamp their own identity in what they write, whatever the tune may be, and it is rare that the true spirit of not only the melody but the lyric is captured. Primarily they complement the vocalist and let it go at that. In this album the rare exception transpires: Buddy Bregman accurately captures not only the soaring Rodgers melodies and the very special Hart Lyrics, but the magic of Ella Fitzgerald's interpretations. – Norman Granz, Producer of the Rodgers and Hart Song Book


From the back cover (Vol. 1): Ella's first recording was made in 1935, shortly after her first appearance as vocalist with Chick Webb's band. Thereafter she appeared on at least one side of almost every record Webb made until his death in 1939. Her output on disks was supported almost exclusively by the jazz cult until mid-1938, when she herself put together a swing versos of an old nursery jingle and came up with a million-seller entitled "A Ticket A Tasket."

To the dismay of the jazz people, and perhaps Ella also, this became her trade mark. The record company tried time and time to come up with another success in the same vein.

Her next sizable seller came seven years later. It was her duet with Louis Jordan – the calypso comic bit, "Stone Cold Dead In The Market." Ella with her marvelous ear and equally marvelous timing turned this into a dialectal delight. It was nearly two years later, in '47, that she came up with another blockbuster. After a series of "cover" ides (recordings of tunes that had become hits originally via other artists on other labels) Ella asked for and got her own way for just one spare piece of acetate. It turned out to be her hit recording of "Lady Be Good."

Bop was the big thing with musicians that year and there was an epidemic of scat singing that identified itself superficially with the new music. "Hey Bob A Re Bob" and such were the anthems, but Ella managed to put all of that nonsense in its proper perspective when "Lady" was release. She had invented her own scat language, and she reeled off chorus after chorus that a put to shame many of the best improvising instrumentalists.

She followed up with "Flying Home' and "How High The Moon" and then began another succession of covers, revivals and mediocrities, none of which seemed designed to hit a very large public.

Finally, in 1956, she changed her record affiliation and it took just one album to prove that there existed a large audience of the things Ella does best, the things she likes best to do... meaning, of course, the better songs. We're referring to the monumental "Cole Porter Song Book," which is one of the outstanding examples of popular vocal art. – William Simon, Music Critic

Vol. 1

Have You Met Miss Jones? - from I'd Rather Be Right (1937)
You Took Advantage Of Me - from Present Arms (1928)
A Ship Without A Sail - from Heads Up (1929)
To Keep My Love Alive - from A Connecticut Yankee (1927)
Dancing On The Ceiling - from Evergreen (1930)
The Lady Is A Tramp - from Babes In Arms (1937)
With A Song In My Heart - from Spring Is Here (1929)
Manhattan - from The Garrick Gaieties (1925)
Johnny One Note - from Babes In Arms (1937)
I Wish I Were In Love Again - from Babes In Arms (1937)
Spring Is Here - from I Married And Angel (1937)
It Never Entered My Mind - from Higher And Higher (1940)
This Can't Be Love - from The Boys From Syracuse (1938)
Thou Swell - from A Connecticut Yankee (1927)
My Romance - from Jumbo (1935)
Where Or When - from Babes In Arms (1937)
Little Girl Blue - from Jumbo (1935)

Vol. 2 (there are numerous errors present on the jacket track list - the following list is from the disc label)

Give It Back To The Indians - from Tow Many Girls (1939)
Ten Cents A Dance - from Simple Simon (1938)
There's A Small Hotel - from On Your Toes (1936)
I Didn't Know What Time It Was - from Too Many Girls (1939)
Ev'rything I've Got -
I Could Write A Book - from Pal Joey (1949)
Blue Room - The Girl Friend (1926)
My Funny Valentine - from Babes In Arms (1937)
Bewitched - from Pal Joey (1946)
Mountain Greenry - from The Garrick Gaieties (1926)
Wait Till You See Her - from By Jupiter (1942)
Lover - from Love Me Tonight (1932)
Isn't It Romantic - from Love Me Tonight (1932)
Here In My Arms - from Dearest Enemy (1925)
Blue Moon - the only Rodgers and Hart song published not as part of a show or music score, but as a popular song (1934)
My Heart Stood Still - from One Damn Thing After Another (1927
I've Got Five Dollars - from America's Sweetheart (1931)

Big Band Bash! - Billy May

My Last Affair
Big Band Bash!
Billy May and His Orchestra
Capitol Records L329 (10 inch)
1952

You're Driving Me Crazy
When Your Lover Has Gone
Perfidia
My Last Affair
Diane
Please Be Kind
Tenderly
Orchids In The Moonlight

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Couriers Of Jazz! - Ronnie Scott & Tubby Hayes

The Monk
The Couriers Of Jazz
Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott
England's Greatest Jazz Combo
Produced by Tony Hall and Mannie Greenfield
Carlton Record Corporation
Carlton Monaural LP 12/116
1959

From the back cover: Ronnie Scott, the dark-haired, taciturn co-leader of the group, who would just as soon talk about auto racing as music, has been in the U.S. several times. He brought his own group over once on an exchange deal; on tow other occasions he worked his way across on the big ocean liners to dig jazz in New York – on the Big Apple. On one of his visits Scott even took a bus trip out to California, stopping off on the way to visit his old friend, vibraphonist Victor Feldman, then playing with Woody Herman's band at Lake Tahoe. Scott sat in with the Herman group that summer and was immediately offered a saxophone chair in the Herman band. Scott, however, wanted to return to England and reform his own group.

This, of course, he did and later joined forces with Tubby Hayes, also a tenor man in The Couriers Of Jazz, since the sensation of British jazz – the first British modern jazz group to be voted into top place in the Melody Maker poll.

England's musical taste is apparently changing – at least in jazz. Not too long ago the favorite tribute to the talent of Scott and Hayes that The Couriers Of Jazz were the first to break the ice for modern jazz with a two-tenor combo, by no means an easy unit to work with. There has been but one other such successful two-tenor unit in recents years, that of tenors Al Cohn and Zoot Sims which excited Jazz fans during its brief existence.

The Couriers Of Jazz not only boasts of two of the top solo horn players in Europe in Scott and Hayes, but have the advantages of Hayes' ability to double on vibes, plus a swinging rhythm section. European horn players have long been ahead of their rhythm section team mates in jazz capability. European rhythm men tend to be stiff. Not so The Couriers. They cook along as though Piccidilly Circus was only a block and a half from Birdland or just down the block from Bohemia.

In listening to this album, it is intriguing to watch the ways in which the tenor saxophone playing of Scott and Hayes are similar and the ways in which they are different as they follow one another on the same tune. It is also fascinating, as on "Star Eyes" and "My Funny Valentine."

"The Monk," by the way, is an original composition by Tubby Hayes and a tribute to Thelonious Monk, two of whose favorite sequences are utilized and which recalls his moody presence throughout. Hayes, incidentally, did all the arrangements except "In Salah," Mose Allison's tune which was arranged by bassist Jeff Clyne, and "Stop The World, I Want To Get Off!" written and arranged by Scott. Hayes also contributed the originals, "Mirage," "After Tea" and "The Monk,"

A word about the musicians: Ronnie Scott was born in London, January 28, 1927, switched from soprano to tenor when he was 15 and has played with Ted Heath, Ambrose, Vic Lewis, Jack Parnell and has led several bands of his own. He was one of the early leaders of the modern jazz movement in England, once was one of the organizers of a musicians-manager club. His main influences include Charlie Ventura, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Sonny Stitt and Sonny Rollins.

Tubby Hayes was born in London, January 30, 1935, the son of a violinist who started him on that instrument. He switched to tenor when he was 12, began playing in jazz clubs when he was 14. He also played with Ambrose, Vic Lewis, Jack Parnell and Kenny Baker. He doubles on vibes, baritone and flute and his influences include Parker, Stitt, Getz, Rollins and Hank Mobley.

Terry Shannon was born in London, November 5, 1929, began playing piano in 1955 and has been appearing in British jazz clubs ever since. He likes Horace Silver, John Lewis and Tommy Flanagan. Jeff Clyne, born in London on January 29, 1937, has worked with numerous British jazz groups and has visited New York to hear jazz at its source. His influences include Oscar Pettiford, Doug Watkins, Paul Chambers and Ray Brown. Bill Eyden, born in London on May 4, 1930, joined Tubby Hayes band in 1955 after a career as a drummer with several big bands. His favorites are Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Kenny Clarke, Art Taylor and Max Roach. – Ralph J. Gleason


From Billboard - December 21, 1959: Here's an interesting two-tenor combo from England. The first British modern jazz group to be voted into top place in the "Melody Marker" poll, the Scott-Hayes team plays with feeling and taste, in similar yet different styles. Selections include "My Funny Valentine," "Day In, Day Out," and some fascinating originals. Hayes doubles on vibes. Boys are backed by rhythm section.

Mirage
After Tea
Stop The World I Want To Get Off!
In Salah
Star Eyes
The Monk
My Funny Valentine
Day In, Day Out

My Heart Sings - Polly Bergen

I'm In The Mood For Love
My Heart Sings
Polly Bergen
Orchestra conducted by Luther Henderson
Columbia CL 1171
1958

I'm In The Mood For Love
Come Rain Or Come Shine
When I Fall In Love
You Better Go Now
Don't Blame Me
Sophisticated Lady
Lucky Day
Just One Of Those Things
My Heart Sings
The Lady Is A Tramp
I Cried For You
I Want To Be Happy

The Caribbean Calypsonians

The Voodoo
The Caribbean Calypsonians
Featuring "The Count Of Monte Cristo" and "Lord Wilson"
Scott S-10 (S-12/13)

From what I can gather from current online examples, the S-12/13 disc sleeved in this catalog number S-10 jacket was likely sold together. There are a variety of sets sold inside this cover. My post appears to be the first listing of the S-12/13 title list.

From the back cover: The Artists

Each is a master of his instrument and of the ageless tradition of calypso music in the islands. The Sovereign, who plays the clarinet and saxophone, is the leader of the Caribbean Calypsonians. He graduated from the song carnivals of Trinidad, earning the title of Sovereign, and then went to Europe where he toured with extraordinary success throughout England, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain and Sweden.

The Count of Monte Cristo, who handles the maracas and most of the vocals, has lived on every island in the Caribbean during the past 25 years. He is an earnest, handsome singer who probably knows more about calypso than any other living person – and he has yet to lost to a challenger.

Frank Anderson, the pianist who gladdens these songs with canny rhythms and modulations, has had an excellent training in Juilliard preparatory studies, and is currently leading his own organ trio in cafe society.

Jospeh Wilson, who shares the major delivery of songs with the Count and strums an electric guitar besides, is among the most recent arrivals in the United States directly from engagements in the hotels of St. Croix and St. Thomas. Charles (Tony) Thomas, the 5-string bass player, has also come to the United States directly from hotel dates in the Caribbean. Both of Tony's parents were African, his mother being from the Congo Tribe, and his father from the Ibo Tribe – a rich, proud heritage indeed.

Juan Montoute, the conga drummer of the sextet, has an irrepressible rhythm that neither his associates nor an audience can resist – and an enormous smile to go with it. He is an expert on such Afro-Caribbean dialects as the Lucumi, Kimbisa and Alacua, and the talkie-talk patois of Surenam and Cuba. His theses, at C.C.N.Y. and St. Lawrence University were on the subject of the African influence in the Caribbean.


The Number One - Lord Wilson
Mary Ann - Count Of Monte Cristo
Neighbor, Neighbor, Leave My Door - Count Of Monte Cristo
Ugly Woman - Count Of Monte Cristo
The Voodoo - Lord Wilson
Mango Walk - The Sovereign
Ambah Chaila - Count Of Monte Cristo
Day-O - The Sovereign
Don't Stop De Carnival - Count Of Monte Cristo
Give Me Raw Codfish - Count Of Monte Cristo
Iron Bar - The Sovereign

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Grandioso! - Van Wood

Lazzarella
Grandioso!
Jo Cleber and His Orchestra
Featuring the Italian Guitar of Van Wood and His Quartet
Columbia WL 157
1959

From the back cover: Once upon a time there was a twelve-year old Dutch Boy Scout named Peter van Houten who sat by a camp fire one night and fell head over heels in love – not with the Princess he married in later years – but with an old guitar. Four years later the young Dutchman formed his own trio, sharing the honors with a jazz accordionist who is now his brother-in-law, Matt Matthews.

When the war broke out, and for four years thereafter, the two youngsters spent much of their time experimenting with new chords, modern harmonies and technical tricks. The occupying forces in Holland arrested Peter and Matt and put them in a concentration camp. Undaunted, the boys managed to dress up as old women and to escape on bicycles without tires. Taking refuge in a cellar, they began making wonderful music again.

After the war, young Peter went his own way, playing in the bistros of Paris and on the streets of Madrid. He sang for Radio Luxembourg and for audiences in all parts of North Africa. Slowly but surely his star began to rise. People liked this energetic guitar virtuoso with his mop of black curly hair, the gay twinkle in his eyes, the happy smile and vivacious voice. Night clubs began to offer him better and better contracts

In 1949, Peter reached Naples and was already half-way on the road to international stardom. In almost no time at all, his splendid playing captured the imagination of the Italians and he swiftly achieved the fame he had dreamed of. His interpretations of Italian melodies displayed a special flair for Mediterranean rhythms, and his fine musicianship was welcome by the music-loving citizens. Now that man who once performed for a hot meal lives luxuriously in Milan. On the door, as on the posters all over Italy, you'll find the English version of his Dutch name in shining capitals:

Van Wood

Millions of Van Wood's records have been sold in Italy alone. He has made countless TV appearances and radio broadcasts, and every club he chooses to play is full of happy and delighted listeners. As his name has changed, so has his guitar. Today it is a snow-white electric one, complete with echo chambers and tone pedals and all sorts of knobs for special effects.

Mrs. Van Wood, the former Princess Fatemeh Khatir, first saw the white guitar in Rome at a dance to which she had been escorted by the Persian Consul. Later she confessed that she didn't see the man behind it until several nights and dances later. Protected by the Iranian Embassy, Her Royal Highness did not meet Van Wood again easily. When he came to America in 1951 to play at the Waldorf-Astoria, the Princess persuaded her family of her intern in seeing America and soon thereafter Van and the Princess were married.

"Success is a very strange thing," Van Wood says, "I think the main factor is that you've got to like the thing you're doing. I am really very fond of playing the guitar and singing and making all the arrangements for my quartet. And furthermore, I love meeting lots of people." And lots of people like meeting and hearing Van Wood, too. He is admired by Johnnie Ray and Frankie Laine and once succeeded in getting King Farouk to his feet to applaud him.

Van Wood is one of the merriest musicians and has one of the finest quartets to emerge from the post-war world of entertainment!


Piccolissima Serenata
Ciao Ciao Bambina (Piove)
Anema e Core
Lassarella
Serenade
Guaglinoe
Marchiare
'O Marenariello
Oh Maria Mari
Funiculi, Funicula
Torna a Sorrento
Vivere

Two Kinds Of Love - Al Anthony

Dearly Beloved
Al Anthony Plays For Two Kinds Of Love
Arrangements by Ruby Raksin
Cover Photo by Gene Lester
Mixer: Alan Emig
Dot Records DLP-3056
1957

From the back cover: For the past several seasons, Al Anthony has ben one of Palm Springs most popular personalities, presiding over the entertainment at Ralph Taylor's beautiful La Paz Hotel.

From Billboard - July 20, 1959: Columbia Records signed Al Anthony to a contract. His initial release will be a single scheduled for July 20 release singing his own cleffing "My Sister," Anthony was inked by Columbia's Coast Artist-Repertoire exec Alan Emig. Anthony currently has two albums on the market, "Two Kinds Of Love" for Dot and "Swingin' In Hi-Fi" for Liberty.

Lonesome Road
Ecstasy Tango
Cumana
Juba Dance
Bumble Boogie
Dearly Beloved
The Song Is You
In Love In Vain
Have You Met Miss Jones?
Invitation
Under Paris Skies
My Romance

For Your Dancing Pleasure - Ziggy Elman

Take Me In Your Arms
For Your Dancing Pleasure
Ziggy Elman and His Orchestra
M-G-M Long Playing Records (10 inch) E-535
Lowe's Incorporated
1951

My Reverie
Always
Take Me In Your Arms
Cheek To Cheek (from the film "Top Hat")
Body And Soul
Irresistible You
The Night Is Young And You're So Beautiful
You're Mine, You

Eddie Condon Is Uptown Now!

The Albatross
Eddie Condon Is Uptown Now!
Eddie Condon and His Boys
Cover Photograph by Lester Krauss
M-G-M Records E3651
1958

From the back cover: The legend of the founding of Eddie Condon's night club, mysteriously called "Eddie Condon's", has been told almost as many times as Leonard Feather has told recently how jazz didn't come up the river. According to some, it began when Tim Costello, proprietor of a Third Avenue El stop mysteriously called "Tim Costello's", gave a party for the publication of John McNulty's book about Third mysteriously called "Third Avenue". Someone there suggested to Condon that he either ought to found a book or write a saloon. Condon is said to have said, "I knew the whiskey was strong in here, but I didn't know it was that strong." and then went out to "Twenty-One," where they let you drink in peace.

Another version of the founding of Condon's Third Street establishment credits the whole idea to Elaine Lorillard (Miss Louis P.), Mrs. Lorillard had published a book about Tom Costello and John McNulty, and at the publishing-day party someone suggested that she found a jazz festival at Newport, Rhode Island. She decided instead to start on a small scale, and thereupon founded Condon's Lord Action was hired as doorman, and George Wein (who later founded "Storyville" in Boston) was in charge. This combination later moved uptown and founded "The Ember," "The Metropole," "The Composer," "The Arranger" and "The Iron Chancellor."

History is beclouded: there are other myths that persist. Some say that Buddy Bolden himself was the original owner of the club, which he started in order to preserve his anonymity; others say Benny Goodman did it as tax relief. Perhaps the only person who has not been linked to the club by rumor, gossip or calumny is Lawrence Welk. Well, we may never know the truth. Condon himself refuses to discuss it in print (his monumental biography of Mezz, mysteriously called "Really The Mezz," occupies all his time these days, and when he finishes that he is planning a biography of Bull Montana.

The facts are these. In December, 1945, Condon opened "Eddie Condon's" at 47 West Third Street, New York; he closed it a little over twelve years later. The club was doomed to success from the very beginning. Condon's friends all said it would last three weeks, and optimistic relatives were sure it would get through the 1945 holidays. It survived a murderous summer and, by the fall of 1946, it was beginning to move over into the black. From then on, it became perhaps the most successful jazz nightclub in the history of the United States (excluding "Nick's," Seventh Avenue and Tenth Street).

When it became apparent that moving was necessary, Eddie spent almost as much time looking for a new location as he ordinarily spends putting on his clothes on a day when his hangover is extraordinarily severe (and as anyone who has ever waited on him will attest, that is a long, long time). He considered Madison Square Garden, decided against the Coliseum, vetoed Carnegie Hall and finally settled on a room in the Sutton, 330 East 56th Street. He and his co-damagers, Pete Pesci, Bill Funaro and all the old-hand waiters from Third Street, resplendent and uncomfortable in prank new scarlet jackets, moved in and were immediately panicked. I write about five weeks after "Condon's Uptown" opened the doors; the ropes have been up every night since "Condon's Uptown" opened the doors; the ropes have been up every night since the opening, and aren't you glad M-G-M decided to make this record? This way, you can hear the music even if you can't get in.

The personnel of the band in the old joint, for the last two years of its existence, consisted of Wild Bill Davidson, cornet; Cutty Cuttshall, trombone; Bob Wilber, clarinet; Gene Schroeder, piano (Gene is the only man who has been with Condon uninterruptedly since he very beginning, a tribute got almost unbelievable patience); George Wettling, drums; Leonard Gaskin, bass and, from time to time, Eddie Condon, scotch. Just before moving day, Wild Bill decided to devote more of his time to collecting antiques and was replaced by Rex Stewart, Some time before that, Bob Wilber went uptown to join Bobby Hackett and was replace by Herb Hall. To this group for this record, Condon has added some of the boys who are more or less regular Condonites: Billy Butterfield, trumpet; Dick Cary, alto turmpet, also horn (Condon calls the alto horn "the slop jar"); and Bud Freeman , tenor (under the provisions of the last Geneva Conference, FREEMAN's name must always be put in capital letters).

In the studio at the time these records were made; but not listed as artists were Mr. Jim Bishop, the eminent biographer of Jesus; Mr. Jack Lazare, the eminent disk jockey; Mr. Eli Waldron, the eminent Kerouac devotee; and Mr. Moe Moesdale, the eminent hangover. A friend from Scotland was present, too, and – in Condon's classic phrase – exhausted when it was all over. Condon's uptown now, dear friends; and so is - Richard Gehman (Mr. Gehman, notable public charge, is a contributing editor of COSMOPOLITAN magazine and indefatigable Eddie Condon chronicler.)


From Billboard - April 28, 1958: Now a very high class cat with an uptown night club, guitarist Condon has rounded up his regular crew, plus a guest roster that includes Bud Freeman, Billy Butterfield and Dick Cary, for some free-swinging Chicago-type sounds. Tunes include originals by band members (like The Albatross) and standards like "St. Louis Blues," Eddie's old-style, straight guitar work provides an unobtrusive but firm rhythm background.

The Lady's In Love With You
Third Street Blues
Ginger Brown
Wherever There's Love
Newport News
Trouble (from "The Music Man")
Everybody's Movin'
Ain't Misbehavin'
The Albatross
St. Louis Blues
Blue Lou
Eddie And The Milkman