It's Bliss! - Jack Jackson

 

The Best In Popular Music

It's Bliss!

The Best In Popular Music
Jack Jackson and His English Orchestra
Cover Photo: Richard Hudnut
Rondo-lette  SA64
1959

Jalousie
Night And Day
Chinese Polka
Star Dust
You And The Night And The Music
Street Scene
Solitude
Island Bolero

Silent Running - Peter Schickele

 

Saturn

Silent Running
Composed and Conducted by Peter Schickele
Featuring Rejoice In The Sun, Silent Running sung by Joan Baez 
Album Produced by Peter Schickele
Executive Producer: Gil Rodin
This issue prepared for release by Tom Null, Dub Taylor and Chris Kuchler
MCA Tape Engineer: Larry Boden
Mastered by Dub Taylor at KM Records, Burbank, Calif.
Lito-Director: Mike Malan
Varese Sarabande (previously released as Decca DL 7-9188)
1978

Rejoice In The Sun (Sung by Joan Baez)
The Space Fleet
Rejoice In The Sun
No Turning Back
Driving Carzy
Drifting
Silent Running (Sung by Joan Baez)
The Dying Forest
Tending To Huey
Saturn
Getting Ready
Rejoice In The Sun (Reprise sung by Joan Baez)

New York Woodwind Quintet - Nielsen & Villa Lobos

 

New York Woodwind Quintet

New York Woodwind Quintet
Nielsen Quintet, Op 43
Villa-Lobos Quintette & Duette
Connoisseur Series
Concert-Disc CS-254
1965

From the back cover: The woodwind quintet, as an instrumental body, presents some unique musical possibilities, as far as sonority is concerned. Paul Revitt has spoken about this uniqueness in the following way: "One basic difference between string quartet writing and woodwind ensemble writing is that, in wind ensemble writing, there has never been a predominantly enforced delineation in registers. Because the normal operating ranges of the flute, oboe and clarinet overlap to an astonishing extent, the parts are interchangeable, and because they are diverse in tonal color, lend themselves graciously to deliberately designed effects in sonority. Just as the success of a string quartet depends on blend and unity, so the wind ensemble is judged by variety and contrast; the composer of the string quartet is limited to one sound and the composer of the woodwind ensemble has several at his command"Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) was Denmark's most famous composer. Although he is known mostly for his symphonic works, there is a wealth of chamber music, including four string quartets, two piano sonatas, and this QUINTET. The QUINTET is in three movements, and the sonorous textures seem more designed towards the blend of the string quartet than towards the contrast of the woodwind ensemble.

The first movement is in the ABA design, the development (B) section primarily developing the motifs of the exposition imitatively. The recapitulation begins with the main theme in the flute and oboe, rather than in the bassoon, as in the exposition. There is further development in the recapitulation, and greater use is made of the second theme than in the exposition. The Coda begins with the bassoon bringing back the main theme, reminiscent of the beginning of the piece.

The second movement is a Menuet, with a Mahler-like theme. The first section utilizes the clarinet and bassoon predominantly, while the second emphasizes the flute and oboe, then the whole ensemble. There is the usual Trio, repeated Menuet, and Coda.

The third movement begins with a recitative style Prelude, with solo passages from the flute, English horn (which substitutes for the oboe until the second Variation), horn, and clarinet. There is then a Chorale, which becomes the main theme for a set of eleven Variations. The Variations are clearly articulated, and retain the structural outlines of the Theme. All the instruments are featured one time or another during the Variations, either soloistically or in duets. The movement closes with the recapitulation of the Chorale.

Hietor Villa-Lobos was born in 1887, in Brazil, and became that country's first Nationalistic composer. He was a participant in the Movement of Modern Art, in Brazil, a movement which introduced modernism in all the arts into Brazil. His total output as a composer was immense - over 2000 works! - and he is best known for his BACHIANAS BRASILEIRAS and many CHOROS'. It is interesting to note that his approach to woodwind ensemble in his QUINTETTE is fundamentally different than Nielsen's; namely, he is more concerned with the aspects of contrast, thereby using more extreme registers in his instruments, and in virtuosity in solo writing.

The QUINTETTE is in one movement, written in a kind of form which is based on the gradual emergence of motifs, rather than the traditional methods of repetition and variations. Solo sections are interspersed with accompanied melodies, and the dance rhythm, first heard at the very beginning of the piece in a kind of primordal state, reaches full bloom at the end of the piece, when it is finally coupled with the folk tune which has permeated the com- position.

Villa-Lobos' two great musicological passions where Bach and the collecting of Brazilian folk music. These become evident, even more strongly than in the QUINTETTE, in the two DUETTES. They are cast in very simple designs - the flute accompanies the bassoon, and vice-versa... even more simply, the principle of alter- nation reigns supreme.

The first DUETTE is in two sections, the flute accompanying the bassoon melody, a folk-like tune, with motifs treated sequentially as one would expect in a work by Bach; these roles are re- versed, and the procedure is repeated, in an abbreviated form.

The second DUETTE is more rhythmic than the first, with greater emphasis also placed on the virtuosity of the two instruments. However, the principle of alternation is still the main structural device, and the work closes on a cadential Coda, which gathers the momentum of the movement into a final resolution. – Edward Applebaum

The New York Woodwind Quintet is one of the nation's most solidly established chamber music attractions. Wherever this ensemble appears it has the happy knack of evoking enthusiastic acclaim. Whether playing for chamber music auspices, college and university audiences, or com- munity series on their cross-country travels, the five uniquely matched artists create the impression of beauty and variety within the frame- work of their superb ensemble.

With three lengthy international tours to its credit (two of them under A.N.T.A. sponsorship) the New York Woodwind Quintet is con- stantly adding to its stature as one of the main showcases for American chamber music.

An impressive list of high-fidelity recordings on Everest as well as Concert Disc has brought the work of the New York Woodwind Quintet to the attention of record lovers.

About The Artists

DAVID GLAZER, clarinet, is known as a "specialist" in chamber music. His participation in the Casals Festival in Prades in 1953 brought him wide recognition as a recitalist. He has appeared as a guest artist with leading string quartets and trios and as a soloist with major symphony orchestras.

SAMUEL BARON, flute, is a featured performer with the New York Chamber Soloists and the Galliard players, in addition to his work with the New York Woodwind Quintet. He is considered one of the foremost American flutists today.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS... RONALD ROSEMAN, oboe, is a composer as well as a performer, and his works have been presented both here and abroad. He has played with the Symphony of the Air, the Little Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. Besides his work with the New York Woodwind Quintet, Mr. Roseman is a member of the New York Pro Musica.

RALPH FROELICH, horn, is the newest member of the Quintet. His studies at Juilliard were interrupted by a period of army service abroad, but upon his return to New York he joined the New Art Wind Quintet. He also became first horn of the Little Orchestra Society and the Symphony of the Air.

ARTHUR WEISBERG, bassoon, has been a solo player with the Cleveland, Houston and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras and has gained acclaim for his conducting as well. He is permanent conductor and musical director of the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble and is also on the faculty of Juilliard School of Music.

Opus Number One - Francis Bay

 

Opus Number One

Opus Number One
Tommy Dorsey and Sy Oliver Favorites
Played by Francis Bay and His Orchestra
Cover Design: Mike Johnson
Cover Photo: George Jerman / Photography 2
Omega Records OSL-16

From the back cover: FRANCIS BAY has been quietly perfecting his orchestra for more than five years. They play every week on programs of the Brussels Radio and during the past year they have burst forth throughout Europe as THE most talked about orchestra. Any jukebox in Belgium, France, or England is likely to include two or three records by the Bay Orchestra. His recording of "Eso Es El Amor" is the biggest hit of many latin-styled best sellers during the past few years. The Bay Orchestra recently won the highly coveted "Golden Gondol" trophy in a battle of the bands from all over the world held in Venice. The precision section work and fluid jazz improvisation of the soloists are a product of years of rehearsal and development shared by the same group of musicians with very few replacements in the ranks of the musicians. The result is an orchestra in which the musical rapport between musicians is amazing. All of the members of the Bay Orchestra have invested the greatest care in making a danceable, jazz-flavored, fresh group of recordings, but the driving force that makes the Bay Orchestra function as a musical unit is Francis Bay himself. He already has large following of fans in Europe who know him affectionately as "Francis." Recently his fame has spread to Japan, Mexico, and Canada as well as the United States. People everywhere who have come to appreciate good music are enthusiastic in their praise of Francis Bay because of his most distinctive contribution to popular music... perfection.

Also from the back cover: The shock of Tommy Dorsey's death in November, 1957, is just beginning to wear off and only now are we beginning to look back at his work to measure his achievement. Examining the various Dorsey bands over a 20-year period as it jumped in and out of the public spotlight, gives us a proper perspective of TD for the first time, and only with a backward glance can we begin to understand what his music meant to us.

After threading back through the years in your mind's ear, through the hundreds and hundreds of Dorsey recordings, one vital thing presents itself... and that is that TD's band has an enduring quality.

For some music lovers who may be more jazz-oriented, the early Tommy Dorsey recordings might seem most memorable. Primarily, the early sides were two-beat with a distinct Dixie flavor. They hark back to Tommy's beginnings as a Chicago jazzman and are mindful of Max Kaminsky and Miff Mole and other greats of that era. But in the main, most of us think of TD as the band of the early 40's... the band that had left its Dixieland heritage behind and became a sleek, swinging band in the Jimmie Lunceford tradition. That was the band of the powerhouse jazz, of the screeching brass and driving rhythm. It was the band that played "swing"...a kind of musical corollary to jazz that was good to dance to and good to listen to.

It is this part of the Dorsey band library that Omega has selected to record in thrilling stereo as a musical tribute to TD's memory. Recorded by the Bay Big Band at the Brussels World's Fair as an international salute to American music, the group has captured all of the full-throated, wonderfully rhythmic, musical distinction of the Dorsey band sound. Originally, when these sides were made by Tommy Dorsey, they were recorded when the dance orchestra was looked upon as an organization that reflected top musicianship... a group capable of great flexibility, from playing excellent jazz to swinging a ballad. As they are recorded today, something more is added by the Bay Big Band. These arrangements take on a new flavor with more contemporary solo techniques and advanced ideas about harmony. The pep and vigor of the Dorsey band is still there, but it is brought up to date by providing a free range for the soloists and blendings of brass that ring more modern than the actual ensemble sound of 15 or 20 years ago.

Opus Number One
Daybreak
Love For Sale
This Love Of Mine
Hawaiian War-Chant
No So Quiet Please
There Are Such Things
Well Git It
I'll Never Smile Again
Yes Indeed

Boogie-Woogie - Will Bradley with Ray McKinley

 

Boogie Woogie Congo

Boogie-Woogie
Will Bradley with Ray McKinley
Epic LN 3115
A Product of CBS
1955

From the back cover: When boogie woogie left the piano to become an orchestral form, it was Will Bradley who made it as popular as it is today. The selections in this collection, as famous for their weird titles and odd vocals as for instrumental work, represent the best of his work. They feature one of the finest drummers in the business, Ray McKinley, and the trombone playing of Bradley himself. There is also the piano work of Freddie Slack, considered the best boogie player among white musicians. This, in short, is a hand-picked collection of some of the greatest boogie woogie in recording history, one that can hold its own in any musical library.

Will Bradley was born in Newton, New Jersey, and learned the complexities of the trombone at an early age. After a brief career in a vaudeville unit, he joined a jazz band known as Hilt Shaw's Detroiters. Several months later he left them and went into radio with a vengeance, playing for such conductors as Andre Kostelanetz, among others. Soon thereafter Will Bradley decided that the time had come to form his own band, and six months from the time he set out, he crashed into the musical big-time with that unforgettable best-seller, Beat Me Daddy (Eight to the Bar). That, and other numbers in this collection, made Will Bradley a national favorite, and here are the original settings and recordings of those masterpieces, some of the best music to come out of the boogie form.

Beat Me Daddy To The Bar
Down The Road A Piece
Celery Stalks At Midnight
Flyin' Home
Boogie Woman Conga
Strange Cargo
Scrub Me, Mama With A Boogie Beat
Basin Street Boogie
Chicke Gumboog (ie)
Rock-a-bye The Boogie
Rhumboogie

The Era Of Tommy Dorsey - Members of The Dorsey Orchestra

 

The Era Of Tommy Dorsey

The Era Of Tommy Dorsey
Members of The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra
Modern Records Stereo MST 800
1961

On The Sunny Side Of The Street
I'll Never Smile Again
Swing Low Sweet Chariot
Everytime I Feel The Spirit
Boogie Woogie
Hawaiian War Chant

Somebody's Knockin' At My Door
Wade In The Water

A Cheerful Earful - Lew Davies

 

On The Sunny Side Of The Street

A Cheerful Earful
Lew Davies and His Orchestra
Arrangements by Lew Davies

Originated and Produced by Enoch Light
Associate Producer: Julie Klages
Art Director Charles E. Murphy
Recording Chief: Fred Christe
Mastering: George Piros (stereo)
John Johnson (monaural)
Command Records STEREO RS 861SD
Grand Awards Record Co., Inc.
1962

From the inside cover: Happiness may be a warm puppy (as Charles Shulz, the creator of "Peanuts" tells us it is).

Or it may be a thing called Joe (as E. Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen told us in the song they wrote for CABIN IN THE SKY).

But to Lew Davies, happiness is a happy song. By that he does not mean merely a song that has "happy" in the title (although that is often a good clue). A happy song, to him, is a song that has an infectiously happy sound, a sound that communicates to the listener the airy feeling of well-being that we all know is part of those moments of living that we treasure the most.

Happiness can be a lively and a merry experi- ence. Or it can be a reflective, sitting-in-front-of- the-fire contentment. It can have several gradations in between. Lew Davies has touched on all its various points in these delightfully tingling performances.

The starting point for a happy song is rhythm. And you'll find that there are all kinds of happy rhythms as you listen to Lew Davies and his orchestra. There's a bright, happy rhythm that sends you whistling down the street in ZIP-A-DEE DOO-DAH. There's an easy, ambling, happy rhythm that brings on an amiable grin and makes you snap your fingers in ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET. And there's a gentle gossamer rhythm that lifts and swings you gently on CHEERFUL LITTLE EARFUL.

Over these foundations, Lew Davies has created all kinds of happy sounds – perky piccolos and flutes, dancing guitars, clowning xylophones and tuned bongos, merrily swinging saxophones, the big, nudging sounds of deep trombones and the mellowness of an organ or woodwinds.

Lew is the master mixer when it comes to creating a musical emotion that can completely envelop a listener and can actually lift you out of any other mood that you may be in. It was Lew Davies who wrote all those arrangements for the famous PERSUASIVE PERCUSSION series, played by Enoch Light and the Light Brigade – arrangements that sparkled with so much vivid excitement that a whole new world of musical recording was opened up by the recordings. Davies has worked hand in hand with Enoch Light since then, providing the unusual orchestrations that Light has brought to life with such sensational brilliance on the unequalled succession of hit albums that he has turned out.

Lew Davies did not achieve this mastery of musi- cal emotion overnight. Before he teamed up with Enoch Light he had written for the Perry Como Show and for Lawrence Welk and he had been developing his skills with a variety of great bands over a period stretching back to the 1930s.

All this hard-won knowledge and skill has been concentrated in this album toward a single goal - happiness, musical happiness. It's music for danc- ing or it's music for lying back and listening. It's music for reminiscing, for singing-along-with, for toe-tapping or finger-snapping or head-nodding. It's music for practically anything enjoyable that you feel like doing.

But primarily it's music for smiling.

SIDE ONE

IT'S A GOOD DAY. When Peggy Lee wrote the lyrics for this song, she caught that wonderful feel- ing of greeting a beautiful day, of stretching and looking out the window at the most brilliant azure sky, the sun gleaming on grass that never seemed greener, on a world that never looked brighter or cleaner. You can hear Lew Davies translate this feeling into musical terms. First, he sets up a pro- vocative rhythm with Tony Mottola's tight-stringed guitar and Dick Hyman's organ blending brightly. Then, in float the four saxophones - Phil Bodner, Al Klink, Walt Levinsky and Stanley Webb - with a billowing set of phrases that carry us along like a wave. The trombones move in - Bobby Byrne, Bob Alexander, Lou McGarity and Paul Faulise - setting a background from which Doc Severinsen's brilliant trumpet can emerge with an exciting shout. Walt Levinsky swings out on alto saxophone with a solo that leads into a flurry of conversation be- tween Mottola's guitar and the piccolos and organ. The whole thing sweeps and swings and sings along. That's the Davies happy touch.

HAPPY TALK. It's happy talk when you sing the Oscar Hammerstein lyrics but here it's the Davies happy touch that we hear again. But this time it's a little different. It's a little more coaxing, not quite as overpowering. You'll find all kinds of happy ideas here the soft, mellow combination of Tony Mot- tola's guitar and Dick Hyman's organ; the lilting charm of the flute ensemble and the merry little guitar blurbs that back up the trombones.

CHEERFUL LITTLE EARFUL. Whether you have been planning to dance or not, you might as well get ready now. No toes stand still when Lew Davies has the trombones splitting phrases with Artie Marotti's xylophone and Dick Hyman's organ. This sets up a bouncing, inviting rhythm that is carried all through the piece as all the musicians engage in a flowing, criss-crossing conversation that is full of warm laughter and happy thoughts.

EVERYTHING'S COMING UP ROSES. Here's a happy idea a light and airy bossa nova treatment of the swaggering song that Ethel Merman sang in Gypsy, carried out with all the richness that those four trombones can summon up and underlined by the merrily insistent tinkle of a triangle, the softness of the flutes and the smooth, rhythmic pulsation of the organ.

ONCE OVER LIGHTLY. Lightly, but more than once, is the approach to this gay little melody writ- ten by Lew Davies and Enoch Light. It bounces merrily along from the airy flutes at the opening to the piquant piccolo at the end. Notice the variety of effects that Dick Hyman gets from his organ. At first it is brightly staccato, later it is darker but still staccato and, in the second chorus, it spreads out as a warm, soft cushion, blending with the trombones to support the sparkling sounds of the xylophone and the piccolo.

WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK. Four piccolos are lined up to start us whistling on this work. Their perky, pulsing feeling is picked up by the high chords of Tony Mottola's guitar, answered in similar fashion by Dick Hyman's organ and swung in smooth swirls by the saxophones. Doc Severinsen shows how gently jaunty a trumpet can be when he comes in for a muted solo. To wrap it up, Lew Davies has had the piccolos and Tony Mottola on guitar, give us a sly, sliding ending.

SIDE TWO

LET'S ALL SING LIKE THE BIRDIES SING. This is sheer musical fun! You have never heard such coy bird whistles as Lew Davies uses in the intro- duction. And later Dick Hyman shows that his ver- satile organ can even turn bird-like. Flights of birds move in with the flutes in the second chorus. Spurred by a distinctly Lombardo-like bird-call, the arrangement moves to a conversation between Phil Bodner's piccolo and the sassy birds we've been hearing all through the piece, ending with a com- ment that is indubitably the bird.

PENNIES FROM HEAVEN. Airy and casual is Lew Davies' approach to this old favorite. It has a soft- shoe flavor as the flutes dominate the first chorus and then takes on a stronger sound when the trom- bones and saxophones share the second chorus. Dick Hyman shifts to piano for this one.

ZIP-A-DEE DOO-DAH. Hyman is back at the organ to get this bright Disney tune off and dancing. It's the piccolos that give it light and air at first, followed by Doc Severinsen's smooth, flowing trum- pet. The happy excitement is caught by the swinging saxophones, by Tony Mottola's charging guitar and the agitation of the whole band as it rips into the finale.

ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET. Deliberate and sly is the tempo taken by Lew Davies this time. The saxophones and Doc Severinsen's trumpet are stacked against the gruffest of trombone en- sembles while Dick Hyman's piano trickles through. When Dick brings up some memories of Eddy Duchin, Don Lamond goes into a sandpaper soft- shoe sound that can make the laziest of us feel like getting up and doing a slinky shuffle.

PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES IN YOUR OLD KIT BAG AND SMILE, SMILE, SMILE. A suggestion of a slightly cockeyed march brings on Stanley Webb on alto flute to set out the melody on this World War I favorite. There's a special kind of humor in Webb's inflection, both here and in his jaunty solo at the end. Notice, too, the side remarks between the organ and baritone saxophone while the trombones are making their pompous statements.

HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN. The cheerer-upper of the Depression days goes high and low in its blithe display of joy. All the sections have snatches of comment to make until Tony Mottola's guitar takes over with some dancing remarks that are shouted back by the brass. Al Klink is the tenor saxophonist who leads into the gusto of the whoop- up ending. Happy days! Happy nights! They're all here again with Lew Davies' happy sounds!

Calypso Bacchanal - Count Bernadino

 

Calypso Bacchanal

Count Bernadino 
Calypso Bacchanal (Calypso Party)
Photograph by Andrew Aitken
Carib LP-2020
1962

From the back cover: The difference between a Calypso singer and a Calypsonian is the difference between Count Bernadino and all the others you have heard. A Calypsonian, while singing and accompanying himself on the guitar will make up lyrics as he goes along, usually to fit the occasion or the mood, and never lose a beat. All of this comes out as if he had been doing it for years, but in truth these lyrics are fresh, new and bright because they were just invented, and both you and the Count are hearing them for the first time. This is the element of surprise which has been delighting audiences at the famed British Colonial Hotel in Nassau for the past year and a half.The Count and his group which includes: John Clark, piano; Little Sparrow, steel pans; Fred Callender, bass: Eddie White, tenor sax and flute; Charles Emlok, alto sax; Lord Lynn, tenor sax; Rudy Pinder, drums and Roy Shurland on maracas introduced Calypso to the Jamaican Room in New York City and later did an extended engagement at the Palladium there. They have recently been at the Eden Roc Hotel, Miami Beach and at almost every important club and resort in the U. S. including Coney Island. Wherever they have performed audiences have recognised theirs as the "real Calypso." Listen now as they do such famous Calypsos as Red Shoes, Water She Garden, Time Marches On and other favorites. Presenting Count Bernadino, a real, live, Born in the Bahamas, genuine Calypsonian.

Come On
Love Alone
Convoy
Mable
Sha-Bop
Go Down To Bimini
Red Shoes
Time Marches On
Back To Back
Chinese Baseball
Water She Garden
Mama Lay, Lay, Lay

Tops In Pops - Halo 50220

 

Tops In Pops

Tops In Pops
All The Latest Recordings
Played and sung just as you hear them on the Radio and TV
Halo Long Play 50220
The "Colorful" Line

Catch A Falling Star
Oh, Oh, I'm Falling In Love
It's Too Soon To Know
Don't
Get A Job
Oh Julie
Sugartime
Sail Along Silvery Moon
Oh Boy
Short Short The Stroll

The Music Of Fats Waller - Ted Heath

 

The Music Of Fats Waller

The Music Of Fats Waller
London Suite & Favorite Songs
Ted Heath and His Music
London Records LL 978
1952

Saxes - Leslie Gilbert, Roy Wilcox, Henry Mackenzie, Danny Moss, George Hunter
Trumpets - Bobby Pratt, Duncan Campell, Stan Reynolds, Ronnie Hughes
Trombones - Wally Smith, Don Lusher, Jimmy Coombes, Ric Kennedy
Rhythn - Ronnie Verrek (Drums), Frank Horrox (Piano), Johnny Hawksworth (Bass), Ivor Mairants (Guitar)

From the back cover: Ted Heath and His Music are accepted as being one of the greatest of all modern swing bands, not only in England, but in America as well. For a British band to invade the home of swing and to be accepted as one of the best is a very unusual triumph indeed. The Ted Heath story is all that a success story should be. He was born in Wandsworth, a not very exciting part of South-West London, full of large Victorian houses and little else, and here, at the age of twelve, he began to learn the trombone. At the end of the first World War he found himself, as many young men did, amongst the numerous ranks of the unemployed, so he took his trombone and busked in the streets. In 1920 he got a job with Jack Hylton's orchestra, moving from there to play with many of the best British bands including those of Ambrose and Sidney Lipton, until he joined Geraldo as first trombone in 1940. At this time he composed two songs which had quite a success, and the royalties from these gave him enough capital to be able to start his own band in 1945. This quickly became one of the most talked of bands in the country, selling a fabulous number of records, introducing singers like Dickie Valentine and Lita Roza, and starting the popular Sunday Swing Sessions which have drawn capacity crowds to the London Palladium for the past seven years.

A number of Ted Heath long-playing records have been issued, all of them amongst the best-selling record- ings of light music, and now once again we have another fine record to show off the bands immaculate and vigorous style that has won them their reputation.

A great band pays tribute to a great artist and composer Thomas Fats' Waller who, before he died in 1943, held a place in the record world comparable with that held by the Heath band now. Indeed, he still does, for tunes like Ain't misbehavin' and Honeysuckle rose are amongst the most popular ever written, and have been played and played without losing any of their freshness and charm.

The main consideration must be given, however, to a work which occupies one side of this record, the London Suite. This is a subdued, thoughtful work that makes a great comparison with Fats' usually more exuberant moods. It has an interesting history. Fats Waller last came to England in 1938 and while he was here he was asked by the Peter Maurice music-publishing firm to write a piano suite for them to publish in this country. As he had a full round of engagements and very little time to spare, this commission was almost not completed. On one of the last days in this country, however, he got down to the job, and assisted by some liquid refreshment, he got over a strong disinclination to write owing to a rather hectic night the day before, and sat down at the piano and wrote these six pieces one after the other during the morning. The next day he recorded them but they were not issued and the music was more or less forgotten.

They were remembered, however, by Ed Kirkeby, Fats' friend and manager, who, when he next came to this country, began to search for any test pressings of the records that might have survived. They were all found but one – Bond Street, and there the matter stood for some time. On his next visit to England Ed Kirkeby happened to visit a music publisher, to see a friend who told him that he had a record lying around which might interest him. It turned out to be the missing Bond Street. So at last the world was able to hear the London Suite complete and recorded by the maestro himself.

Fats Waller has interpreted each of the London scenes, Piccadilly, Chelsea, Soho, Bond Street, Limehouse and Whitechapel in his own particular style, which can only be a personal impression, and may not mean much to anyone else. After all musical impressionism is only matter of fancy and the dictates of the titles. He sees Piccadilly happy piece of music, Bond Street as something rather whimsical, and Whitechapel as a melancholy place. The results, whether accurate or not, are certainly delightful, and give us another glimpse of the more serious Thomas Waller, beneath the boisterous 'Fats'.

Now we can hear these pieces as orchestral arrangements with all the extra colour and movement that an instrumental version is able to give. On the whole, it must be true, that an instrumental group can give more visual colour than a piano by itself, and instrument whose tonal values are not very much under the control of the player. Though one would hesitate to declare any version better than the composer's, it seems safe to say that Ted Heath's rendering takes nothing away and is done with extremely good taste.

The other Fats Wallers that make up the other side of the recording have already been heard in every possible shape and form, particularly such swing classics as Ain't Misbehavin' and Honeysuckle Rose. This last number has probably been featured in more jam sessions than any other tune in existence, while others such as Blue Turning Grey Over You and I've Got A Feeling I'm Falling are not far behind in popularity. Again we have the composer's inimitable version to contend with, and nobody will deny that this is the best. But a treatment of any song by the Ted Heath Music is a matter of interest, particularly to the Ted Heath fan, and must count as being just as important as the melody. Versions of such best-sellers as Dragnet have shown that Ted Heath's is usually the best.

In a mixture of Britain's favourite band playing music by one of the world's best loved entertainers, there should be something to suit almost everybody, and a memorable recording. – PETER GAMMOND

Honeysuckle Rose

Ain't Misbehavin'
Blue, Turning Gray Over You
Jitterbug Waltz
I've Got A Feeling I'm Falling
Alligator Crawl
London Suite: Soho
London Suite: Limehouse
London Suite: Piccadilly
London Suite: Chelsea
London Suite: Bond Street
London Suite: Whitechapel