Witch Doctor
Ted Heath Personnel
Ted Heath And His Music
London Records LL 1721
1957
From the back cover: The first musician to make his bow also happens to be one of the original Heath sidemen. Leslie Gilbert began leading Ted Heath's reed section when the band was formed in 1945. His tone, phrasing and impeccable intonation, admired by every British alto-player, are displayed at their finest in a setting of Harold Arlen's Ill Wind.
At faster tempo, Count Basie's Swinging the Blues gives scope for the unique trombone talents of Keith Christie. With his brother Ian, Keith once ran a New Orleans style band – "The Christie Brothers Stompers." Now he is one of Britain's leading modernists. "Keith has a very whimsical style of trombone playing," says Ted Heath. "Something of his dry, witty character gets into his jazz phrasing."
The next musician to step forward is Bobby Pratt, Ted Heath's lead trumpet-player. "Bobby is a fabulous high-range player." comments Ted Heath, "and the longer the night goes on the higher Bobby plays. Just for amusement he sometimes plays the first trumpet parts an octave higher. "None of us can remember a day when he missed a note." Bobby Pratt's dazzling technique as well as his piquancy of his jazz ideas are shown in his interpretation of Duke Ellington's Hey! Baby, which finds him using a plunger mute with great skill.
One of the six Scotsmen in the Ted Heath band, Henry McKenzie's modest, undemonstrative demeanor has caused a few critics to accuse him of lacking feeling. But Henry prefers to concentrate on music rather than showmanship. An extremely gifted instrumentalist, he plays with a warm, vibrant tone. Backed up by piano, bass and drums he performs Idaho in a deft and very individual manner.
During his stay with Ted Heath's orchestra, bassist Johnny Hawkworth ("He has the personality and appearance of a youthful Alec Guinness," wrote Leonard Feather) has become one of the best-known virtuosi of his instrument. His technique is so fabulous that when dancers ask for a waltz, Johnny sometimes obliges by playing one on his string-bass. He uses four muted trombones and the rhythm section in his own intriguing arrangement of I Can't Get Started.
A brisk, up-tempo version of Cole Porter's Love For Sale finds Frank Horror at his most agile. Here and there his solo playing shows trances of Errol Garner, yet Frank always remains a very individual and fluent stylist. Something of Count Basie's power-house brand of jazz is reflected in Frank's scoring for the full band towards the end of this number.
One of the most accomplished of British musicians, Ronnie Chamberlain played lead alto in the Vic Lewis band before joining Ted Heath. The soprano saxophone is notoriously difficult to play and Ronnie is among the very few musicians who handle it with distinction. Lover Man has some of his most lyrical and assured solo playing.
Don Lusher is usually featured in fast, intricate numbers which show off his prodigious technique. He and Johnny Keating worked out the routines of Sidewalk of Cuba together and the result is a rich, colorful performance.
Bert Ezard shares the trumpet lead with Bobby Pratt. A Northcountryman, he is one of the many dance-band musicians who came into the profession through brass band work. A high note specialist, Bert can also play melodically and with a warm tone, as he proves in this version of "I'll Never Be The Same.
Red Price's growing popularity as a vocalist on up-tempo, "beat" numbers tends to obscure his talents as a tenor saxophonist. Just how brilliantly he plays can be judged from an exciting performance of Cotton Tail, a theme originally by Duke Ellington to spotlight the playing of Ben Webster.
Another of the band's Scotsmen, Eddie Blair is the most modern in style of all the trumpet soloists. Lullaby Of The Leaves, featuring his playing, begins in Latin-American idiom, goes into a steady four-four beat and ends as it began.
Ted Heath's biggest worry over this LP was that 16 soloists simply count not be crammed on to one 12-inch record. Eleven men had already chosen their tunes. What could be done about the others? A couple of days before the session. Ted Heath got together with Johnny Keating and they worked out a number to feature the talents of the remaining five musicians. Witch Doctor also spotlights the technical artistry of recording engineer Arthur Lilly. Almost a hi-fi demonstration in itself, this number captures the entire range of drum sounds from the triangle right down to the bass-drum. Ronnie Verrell, one of the band's most popular soloists, is featured at the drums; Ken Kiddier, normally a baritone saxophonist, can be heard on bass clarinet; Jimmy Coombes, a member of the original 1945 Heath orchestra, plays bass-trombone. Two more Scots – trombonist Wally Smith and trumpeter Duncan Campbell – complete the group. – Charles Fox
From Billboard - October 28, 1957: Heath band, best selling of foreign entries, has a strong set here. Each member of ork gets a chance to blow solo, most often in full band setting. Arrangements by John Keating are typically excellent; solos are good, ofttimes stimulating, but tend to be heavily derivative of influential Americans. Try "Love For Sale" and "Lullaby Of The Leaves" as demo bands.
Ill Wind
Swinging The Blues
Hey! Baby
Idaho
I Can't Get Started
Love For Sale
Love Man
Sidewalks Of Cuba
I'll Never Be The Same
Cotton Tail
Lullaby Of The Leaves
Witch Doctor
No comments:
Post a Comment
Howdy! Thanks for leaving your thoughts!