Search Manic Mark's Blog

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Music For The Sensational Sixties - Don Elliott

Echoes Of Webster Hall
Music For The Sensational Sixties
The Futuramic Sounds Of Don Elliott and His Orchestra
Musical Director: Warren Vincent
Design Records DLP 69
Division Of Pickwick Sales 
1957

Bill Byer - Arranger, Trom, Celeste
Hal McKusick - Bass Clarinet
Mundell Lowe - Guitar
Spencer Sinatra - Flute
Ronnie Bedford - Drums
Bill Takus - Bass
Harry Meinikoff, Harry Lookofsky, Raoul Poliakin - Violin
Bert Fisch - Viola
Alan Shulman - Cello
Milt Hinton - Bass

From the back cover: Within the wall of this album cover are musical sounds of the future. Music for the next decade... A step beyond progressive jazz, a subtle sound of mood music prevails. Here are magnificent rounded modern interpretations of great songs with the finest array of musicians this side of "sputnik". A handsome young man enters the recording studio embodying all the appearance and traits of the typical "on campus" American youth. He quietly sheds his coat and starts to set up his mellophone, vibes, bongos, trumpet... then he positions the celeste setting the piano stool for comfort. Out comes his horned rimmed glasses to check the music and you think of the successful young junior executive. Where is the musician DON ELLIOTT?... man... he's here! The most versatile jazzman of our time is Don Elliott. Recently, Down Beat Magazine had a reader's poll and one of the categories was Miscellaneous Instrument. Don rode herd over all contenders by over 500 votes. His miscellaneous instrument. a mellophone... a warped French Horn through which Don blows some of the greatest jazz sounds ever heard. In the other Down Beat categories such as vibes, trumpet singer and combo leader, you'll find Don near the top of the list. Besides the above, one must remember he's an accomplished performer on accordion, piano, celeste, percussion instruments and also a fine arranger.

Don's first love was the mellophone back in high school days. When he went with the George Shearing Quintet in 1950 he switched to vibes. During his Shearing days, he switched back to his high school love... the mellophone, continuing to play it with Benny Goodman, Buddy Rich and other groups before heading his own combo.

Don has worked nearly every great jazz room from coast to coast, played at and been acclaimed at the great jazz festivals such as Newport, etc. Louis Armstrong is the only jazzman to top him in appearances on radio and T-V shows. In this album, you'll hear music that's easy on the ears, but it's new... never trite, never boring, always inventive. He tops his performance on this recording with five instru- ments named at the beginning plus a sixth instrument that cannot be described accurately... listen to the band's "Voca Jazz" and "Echoes Of Webster Hall," you'll hear the new sound . . . the instrument is the human voice and it's Don Elliott "singing"-as one of the engineers put it ... It's a "flip" and it is.

The new vocal find-Don Elliott-singing in a truly new, open and intimate sound, such favorites as "Out Of This World", "Stardreams", "Stella By Starlight", "Moon Love" and "What's The Use Of Wond'rin" –and you've got the truly great new sound.

Proudly introducing the new DESIGN Artist, Don Elliott and his All-Stars. .. giving you your first "insight' to "Music For The Sensational Sixties". – Abbot Lutz

Out Of This World
Stardreams
I'M Glad There Is You
Stella By Starlight
Blues For Max
Voca Jazz
Moon Love
Echoes Of Webster Hall
What's The Use Of Wond'rin
Opus Hokus Pokus

3 comments:

  1. HA!! I LOVE it! Very fun stuff and love the scooter on the cover!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is one of those albums that you just buy for the cover. That has to be the coolest Pickwick cover I have ever seen!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree... after collecting for some time now, this is one of the coolest Pickwick covers I've seen!

      Delete

Howdy! Thanks for leaving your thoughts!