Li'l Darlin'
Repetition
Neal Hefti And His Orchestra
Featuring Two Dozen Violins, Troops Of Flutes & A Hip Harpsichord
All songs composed by Neal Hefti
Budd Grandoff Productions, Inc.
Movietone Records
MTM 1006
1965
From the back cover: Let's get personal: for twenty years the jazz world has been calling Neal a "Musician's Musician," an "Arranger's Arranger" and other such complimentary redundancies. From these accolades you'd figure that One: He's a combination hipster and scholarly musicologist who probably wears a goatee. Two: That goatee is grey because he has been on the scene for so many years. The facts are that Neal is "hip" without being "hipster." His music is self-taught and he kept on teaching himself since the day he packed his trumpet and left his hometown (Hastings, Nebraska). Joe wouldn't wear a goatee even if his beautiful wife (former band singer Frances Wayne) would let him (which she won't), and he just turned forty... a milestone rubbed in with much hilarity by his friends whence Neal snarled and made threats. So you see, he's an outrageously average sort of a guy... for a genius.
Genius he is. That can be said without prejudice. That can be heard – just listen to the ingenious arranging – the juicy humor – that Neal has put into "Duet." "Debt" has been a swinging staple for the Basie band for years. Now Neal has taken this driving jazz ingredients and pitted them against slyly dignified minuet. As Neal's producer-publisher Budd Granola desires it: "It sounds as if the cast of 'West Side Story' crashed a bash Marie Antoinette was giggling." Listen to the leisurely loveliness of "li'l Darlin'" (written for his daughter Marguerite, now a lovely, but far from leisurely 14 year-old. Happily, however, she's out of the rock-n-roll stage). And listen to "Should I or Shouldn't I," the luxurious strings, the simple yet beautiful melody line. (Neal has written his own lyrics to this one.) With the Basie band, Neal feels he was identified with the school of gospel-oriented music known as "shout." He was afraid the "shout" tap would type-cast him unjustly. He needn't have worried, but do listen to "Sunday Mornin' " – a softly shimmering "shout" if ever a "shout" softly shimmered. Listen to Cute, Pensive Miss, Late Date, and Rosebud – and then get set to listen to more and more Neal Hefti. You'll be hearing more Hefti via movie scores, musicals – and most important: songs. Remember the name: Hefti. He's my Friend, the Melody-Writer. – Atra Baer
Cute
Should I Or Shouldn't I
Duet
Late Date
Li'l Darlin'
Scoot
Pensive Miss
Sunday Mornin'
Nice To Be With You
Rose Bud
Repetition
lovely album! :)
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