Patterns - Frank Comstock

Romantique (stereo)

Patterns

Frank Comstock And His Orchestra

Columbia CL 1156 & CS 8003
1958

From Billboard - July 23, 1958: Arranger_conductor Frank Comstock, who has backstopped many of the Columbia's line-ups of vocal stars with his suave settings, swings out on his own in this attractively packaged platter. It is loaded with fresh and inventive ideas in the use of everything from the percussion section to the unexpected appearance of a contrabassoon in such new-sounding oldies as "Am I Blue?" "Sing Something Simple" and "Small Fry," among others. Great stuff for big band fans.

From the back cover: As an arranger-conductor, Frank Comstock has scored many successes, not only with his orchestra, but as accompanist for such major stars as Doris Day, The Hi-Lo's, Rosemary Clooney and Margaret Whiting. He has been associated with Les Brown as an arranger since 1943, and has done considerable scoring for the movies as well, including Doris Day's "Calamity Jane." Assignments on The Hit Parade in its radio days and with such cartoon figures as Mr. Magoo have also served to fill out what spare time he had left. Before joining Les Brown, he played trombone and arranged for Sonny Dunham, then did arrangements for Benny Carter. All of those groups were notable for their bright, incisive sound, one of the particular pleasures of this collection, and in designing this particular selection of patterns, Frank Comstock has retained that happy sound, using the ensemble as the star, rather than soloists; it sounds, it has imagination and it swings.
Am I Blue
Sometimes I'm Happy
Love Is Just Around The Corner
Sing Something Simple
Coffee Time
Azure
Patterns
Small Fry
Smoke Rings
Romantique
Am I In Love
Adios

Latin Favorites In Percussion - Ademus And His Percussionists

Down Low

Latin Favorites In Percussion
Ademus And His Percussionists
Acorn 655

Swinging jazz flavored big band Latin, or in the case of the sample posted above, more of a "small combo" approach. Perhaps Acorn filled out the set with a few numbers from another group/session. All tracks sound good and work together as a set.

Mambo Bongo
Latin Drummer Boy
Alamo
Latin Lullaby
Mambo Perussion
Latino
Down Low
Flyboy

Polynesian Panorama - Jacob Feuerring

Malie 'e

Polynesian Panorama
Performed By Native Islanders Representing The Polynesian Institute At Laie, Oahu, Hawaii
20 Authentic Song And Chants Of The Southern Polynesian Islands
Recorded in Hawaii by Jacob Feuerring
Produced by Bob Bertram
Cover Design by Allan Ames

Photos by Karen's of Kailua
Polynesian PM 700

Rartonga

Aue Te Tiare (Action Song)
Marama
Nga-Pu-Ariki

Samoa

Lau Penina
Falelima 'e
Malie 'e
Samoa
Sea ula'e

Tokelau

Te Gal Ko Tu Nei

Fiji

Isa Lei
Isa Na Nuku

Maori

Haere Mai (Chant)
Karanga
Taku Patu (Boy's Chant & Song)
Haere Mai Hine
Koto Iwi

Tonga

Out Mafi Mafi
Haha Teuhiva He
Soke

Hawaiian Favorites - Harry Richards

South Sea Island Magic

Hawaiian Favorites
Harry Richards And His Islanders
Cover Design by C. Arnold Carlson
Photo by George Pickow/Three Lions
Golden Tone
C4012

Hawaiian Paradise
Goodnight Kuu Ipo
Silhouette Hula
Sweet Leilani
Song Of The Island
Luau Song
To You Sweetheart Aloha
South Sea Island Magic

Jerry Wald's Production Of Mardi Gras

Bourbon Street Blues

Jerry Wald's Production Of Mardi Gras

Wonderful Music From 20th Century Fox's Newest Movie
Music by Sammy Fain - Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster
Waldorf King Size
MHK S.D. 1405

The Mardi Gras March (Enoch Light Orch. & Chorus)
A Fiddle, A Rifle, An Axe & A Bible (Michael Stewart)
Loyalty (Loren Becker & Jack Brown)
Bourbon Street Blues (Loren Becker)
When The Saints Go Marching In featuring Lou McGarity, Milt Hinton, Kenny Davern & Panama Francis
I'll Remember Tonight (Loren Becker)
Bigger Than Texas (Enoch Light Orch. & Chorus)
Shenandoah (Michael Stewart with Enoch Light Orch. & Chorus)
That Man Could Sell Me The Brooklyn Bridge (Dottie Evans)
Stonewall Jackson (Loren Becker with Enoch Light Orch. & Chorus)

Free And Easy - Jackie And Roy

Free And Easy
Jackie And Roy (Jackie Cain and Roy Kral)
Bill Holman's Orchestra
Produced by Creed Taylor
Cover and Liner Photos: Fran Scott and Bill Claxton
ABC Paramount
ABC 207
1958

Alto Saxophone: Charlie Mariano
Cover: Fran Scott
Double Bass - Acoustic Bass: Max Bennett
Drums; Shelly Manne
Tenor Saxophone: Dave Pell, Herbie Mann, Richie Kamuca
Trombone: Frank Rosolino, Ray Sims
Trumpet: Al Porcino, Stu Williamson

Available from online vendors so I will not be posting a sample. However, this original cover is not featured with the download.

This set showcases the smooth and jazzy vocal harmonies of Jackie and Roy backed by Holman's swinging big band sound. Dixieland is a uniquely arranged cover and would be my favorite harmony. However, Jackie terrific voice is featured solo on three numbers including a dramatic cover of Angel Eyes.

Free And Easy
There Will Never Be Another You
Angel Eyes
It's A Lovely Day Today
Dixie
Who Wants To Fall In Love
So It's Spring
Ooh! That Kiss
I'm Glad There Is You
Aren't You Glad You're You
Pent Up House

Real Cuban Rhythms & South American Tempos

South American Flame

Real Cuban Rhythms and South American Tempos
The Cuban Orchestra
Cover by: Design House
Gramophone 2011
1954

Budget LP marked by the expected (for this publisher) sub-par engineering, cheap pressing and mundane stock filler tracks, but also featuring the graphically strong cover art by Design House.

Guarache
Bolero Son
Son Montuno
Son Guarjiro
Son Montuna
Son Guarache
Mexican Hat Dance
La Cucuracha
Clap Hands
Brazilian Girls
Who'll Buy My Violets
Linda
South American Flame
Fisherman's Bolero

Music For Lovers - Art Van Damme

April In Paris

Music For Lovers
Art Van Damme
Harmony HS 11239
1968

One of the many fine Van Damme's jazz accordion mood sets.

Autumn Leaves
I Hear Music
Laura
The Nearness Of You
That Old Black Magic
April In Paris
Everything's Coming Up Roses (From "Gypsy")
Stella By Starlight
You Do Something To Me
Moonlight Becomes You

Hits By Hibbler - Al Hibbler

Be Fair

Hits By Hibbler
Al Hibbler

With Orchestra Directed by Jack Pleis and Neal Hefti
Decca Records DL 8757
1958

Unchained Melody
Daybreak
Breeze (Blow My Baby Back To Me)
Be Fair
Wish
When Will I Forget You
He
The Say You're Laughing At Me (While I'm Crying For You)
Let's Try Again
My Heart Tells Me
Ain't Nothing Wrong With That Baby
11th Hour Melody

Smart And Continental - Dick Smart

Smart And Continental
Dick Smart With Orchestra Conducted by Nick Perito
Everest LPBR-5027
1959

Available from online vendors so I will not be posting a sample.

There are not many projects or artists from this period that could honestly label themselves or there work as "continental". However, Dick Smart really did travel the world and delivers here a nicely arranged set of tunes that feature a modern pop flavor for the time. Terrific cover art help make the LP more collectible.

From the back cover: Dick Smart, who has been "at home" among the bright lights of Broadway, Piccadilly and Champs Elysee, was born to the song of undulating surf and swaying palms in Honolulu, Hawaii. But as a baby he was whisked away from the island paradise, and taken to Paris where he learned to speak French before learning English. When he was of school age, California became his home, with wonderful carefree vacations sent in Hawaii, complete with swimming, surf-boarding, spear-fishing, and all the other delights of that alluring place, But going to school in San Francisco, in Los Gatos, and at Stanford University – and summering in Honolulu – were not the only activities attracting attention of the rapidly growing young man. As he grew taller in stature – Mr. Smart stands a handsome six feet three inches – he also "grew tall" in the knowledge of the living theatre, absorbing it almost by osmosis, as it were, spending every spare minute watching the plays and musicals coming to San Francisco. Part of his education included successful work at the famed Pasadena Playhouse in Southern California, from which he graduated. Later, one of his childhood ambitions, to tread the boards of San Francisco's Curran Theatre, was happily realized when he appeared there while on a coast-to-coast tour as the male lead in "Bloomer Girl".

The inspiration for the material in this album came from the fact that Dick Smart recently spent the better part of two years playing supper-club engagements in London, on the Continent and in North Africa. In London, Dick was the toast of both the Colony and the Astor Club, before going to Paris to become the star of one of the world's top-drawer clubs, The Lido. After bewitching the habitués of that famed establishment with his own brand of vocal enchantment, he went to the South of France and to Portugal. The Sporting Club in Monte Carlo and the Casino in Estoril were two of his spectacularly successful engagements. At this time, most of his act was in French, but Spanish and Italian numbers were interspersed, depending upon the particular cities where he was playing. The the call for him to go to North Africa, and he spent the winter journeying from Casablanca to Tunis, visiting many delightful places, and taking outstanding engagements along the way. Such clubs as Le Tabarin and Le Ginguette in Casablanca. Le Club in Meknes, Le Roi De La Dierre in Oran, Le Fantasio in Algiers, and Le Caveau in Tunis enjoyed his exciting potpourris of international songs. The most exotic settings always welcomed his offerings and the experience gained in strange lands lent unique new colors and rhythms to his already extensive repertoire. By the time he returned to Paris and London, he was in great demand for radio and television appearances, which he fulfilled before saying for the United States.

But Dick Smart's career – although he has played the better clubs and hotels not only on the Continent but in this country (including the Mocambo in Hollywood, the Versailles in New York, the Drake in Chicago, the Radision in Minneapolis, the Five O'Clock Club in Miami Beach, the Mayflower in Washington, and others) – has been confined by no means to the supper-club route. He as starred in many famous theatrical productions, appearing opposite some of our most beautiful and fascinating leading ladies: especially, Carol Channing in "Wonderful Town," Nanette Fabray in "Bloomer Girl," and both Denise Darcel and the "incomparable" Hildegarde in performances of Cole Porter's "Can-Can." Incomparable was the word for his appearances in dozens of scintillating shows, including "Call Me Madam," "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," "Silk Stockings," "One Touch Of Venus," "The Great Waltz," "Where's Charley," "The Merry Widow," "Jubilee," "Sunny," "The Cat And The Fiddle," "After The Ball," "The Red Mill," and others. He has been a leading man on Boardway in such fine entertainments as "Bloomer Girl," All For Love," "Two For The Show," and in Chicago, "Wonderful Town."

Autumn In Rome
Come Closer To Me
Why Do You Pass Me By
Hands Across The Table
Beyond The Sea
You Taught Me How To Love
I'll Be Yours
Magic Is The Moonlight
Stay Here With Me
Speak To Me Of Love
Autumn Leaves
Goodbye To Rome

Frank D'Rone Sings

The Moon Is Blue

Frank D'Rone Sings
Mercury Records
MG 20418
1959

From Billboard - May 11, 1959: D'Rone presents a fresh, original sound to a group of fine standards. Backed by lightly swingin', unobtrusive arrangements he is heard to good advantage on such fare as "My Foolish Heart," "Spring Is Here" and "The Way You Look Tonight." He's equally at home on the ballads and up-times. Set is a natural jockey package, and with exposure, it could also sell.

From the back cover: And I can only hope that the entertainment business is as good to Frank D'Rone as it has been to me. He deserves every possible success not only because of his unquestioned talents, but because he's an awfully nice guy. – Nat "King" Cole

Love And The Weather
Yesterdays
I Could Write A Book
Everything Happens To Me
My Foolish Heart
Fascinating Rhythm
The Moon Is Blue
Sophisticated Lady
Joey, Joey, Joey
Spring Is Here
The Way You Look Tonight

Intermezzo - Pete King

Spanish Suite For Harp

Intermezzo
For Harp, Sting Quartet & Flute
Arranged, Conducted and Produced by Pete King
Engineer: Thorne Nogar
Cover Design and Photo by George S. Whiteman
Dot Records DLP 25810
1967

Pleasant mood LP featuring strong modern period individual selections/arrangements but as a whole, the set lacks focus.

Intermezzo
Come Back To Sorrento
Baia
Midnight In Paris
La Golondrina
Stranger In Rio
Tico-Tico
Spanish Suite For Harp
Part 1. Canción Del Mar
Part 2. Canción De La Montana
Part 3. Canción Del Sol

Tender Sax - Bobby Dukoff

Alone Together

Tender Sax
Bobby Dukoff And His Orchestra
The Ray Charles Chorus
RCA Victor LPM 1446
1957

This fine release follows Dukoff's Sax In Silk (found in part on this 1967 reissue) and Sax In Satin.

From the back cover: The rhythm is very important because, though this is essentially a mood album, it is still mood music with jazz overtones. Bobby Dukoff is basically a jazz musician. He has blown his big, powerful, round-toned horn in the bands of Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Spivak and others – blown it in a manner that has reminded many of the style and power and rhythmic lift of Bobby's admitted inspiration, Coleman Hawkins.

It's little wonder too that when Bobby and arranger Charlie Shirley, who has written for Stan Kenton, Ray Anthony, Sam Donahue and other name bands, assembled the musicians for this recording, they chose top-ranking graduates of famed jazz bands – musicians like trombonist Urbie Green and lead saxist Sam Marowitz from Woody Herman's herd, trombonist Lou McGarity, trumpeter Jimmy Maxwell and pianist Dick Hyman from Goodman's trombonist Eddie Bert from Kenton's, trumpeter Joe Wilder from Count Basie's, pianist Lou Stien from Ray McKinley's, not to mention other jazz stars such as guitarist Barry Galbraith, drummer Osie Johnson and bassist Milt Hinton and Whitey Mitchell. – George T. Simon

Alone Together
I Foresee In The Future
Georgia On My Mind
Christopher Columbus
Can't We Talk It Over
Old Man Mose
Almost Like Being In Love
Love Is Here To Stay
Oliva
We'll Be Together Again
Louise
Sugar Blues