Sounds Of Africa

Mocambique

Sounds Of Africa
From The ABC News Television Production Africa
Executive Producer: James Fleming
Edited by Andrew Tracey
Produced by Andrew Tracey
Engineer: Frank Greenwald
Production Supervisor: Jerry Schoenbaum
Director of Engineering: Val Valentin
Cover Design: Jack Anesh
Verve Forecast FT 3021
Manufactured by MGM Records Division, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
1967

From the back cover: Introduction by Andrew Tracey - In June 1966, ABC Television News, New York, sent ten camera crews to Africa to make a full-length feature film covering every aspect of modern Africa – everything from politics to big game. Eight months and more than a million dollars later they came back with probably the most fascinating and complete film coverage of a continent ever made. In the course of traveling this most musical continent it was inevitable that they should have filmed a rich variety of its music makers or all kinds, hence this record... a selection from the many hours of music recorded by the "Africa Project" teams. I have chosen numbers that I consider to be most representative of the enormous variety of the musical sounds and moods of Africa. Obviously there are gaps, but it would take many more years, and dollars, to do justice to the music alone.

Most of the music on this record was recorded with folk performers who were unaccustomed to directing their attention to a microphone, and by camera teams whose first interest was generally visual rather than aural, so naturally many of the tracks do not have the quality of studio recordings. Note that the final version of the "Africa" film may not include all of the music on this record.

Nigera
a. Folk Opera
b. Egungun

Nigeria
a. Ibo Dance
b. Lagos Police Band

Mali
a. 3-string lute
b. 2-string fiddle
Upper Volta
c. Song with lutes

Senegal
Kora

Ghana
a. Stand up for Jesus
b. Mammy wagon

Cameroon
Don's flutes and drum

Congo (Kinshasa)
a. Swahili plainsong
b. Two moires

Congo (Kinshasa
a. Ayilongo
b. Afro-Mogambo

Mozambique
Chibudu

Uganda
Ending

Uganda
Bwola

Unganda
a. Amadinda
b. Ganga

Ethiopia
1-string fiddle
Kenya
Kamba drummers

South Africa
Bombing
Lisotho
Lesbian

Botswana
a. Bushman mbira
b. Bushman dance

The Swinging Seasons - Dick Hyman & Leonard Feather-Ralph Burns

Early Autumn

The Swinging Seasons
MGM E613
1958

The Dick Hyman Trio plays

Dick Hyman's
"The Swingin' Seasons"

Leonard Feather's
"Sound Of Spring"

Ralph Burns'
"Summer Sequence"
"Early Autumn"

Personnel:
Dick Hyman - Piano and Organ
Don Lamond - Drums
Eddie Safranski - Drums

The Leonard Feather - Ralph Burn's Orchestra plays

"Winter Sequence" A Seasonal Suite for Rhythmic Reindeer featuring

Herbie Mann as Dasher
Danny Bank as Dancer
Ralph Burns as Prancer
Kai Winding as Vixen
Oscar Pettiford as Comet
Billy Bauer as Cupid
Osie Johnson as Donner
Joe Wilder as Blitzen

Music by Leonard Feather

Arranged by Ralph Burns

Personnel:
Joe Wilder - trumpet
Kai Winding - trombone
Jim Buffington - French horn
Bill Barber - tuba
Vinnie Dean - alto sax & flute
Herbie Mann - tenor sax & flute
Danny Bank - baritone sax & flute
Ralph Burns - piano
Billy Bauer - guitar
Osie Johnson - drums
Oscar Pettiford - cello & bass

From Billboard - April 28, 1958: Collection consists of jazz interpretations of the four seasons. Side one finds Dick Hyman and some virile performances on "Early Autumn," "Summer Sequence," etc., with rhythm help from Don Lamond and Eddie Safranski. Folio side is devoted to "Winter Sequence," a suite is eight parts, one for each of Santa's reindeer. Imaginative jazz tone poems done for an 11-man group, which features French horn, flute, piccolo and cello among a group of more conventional instruments. Interesting sounds will played, tho the cover doesn't do much for the set.

Africana!

Africano

Africana!
Strand SLS 1024
1961

From a February 27, 1961 Strand Billboard ad: Horst Wende conducts the orchestra in a breath-taking presentation of African music. Tremendous stereo.

What is breath-taking about this budget set is that there was almost no attempt made by the arranger to create music that reflects "Africa" in any way... Of course... Strand employees or the people manufacturing the disk may have mistakingly applied the Africana disk labels to another project.

From the back cover: Throughout this album many of the basic folk chants and melodies are combined with the continental flavor. This gives the album a diversified listening appeal. As you listen, you can visualize the vast, beautiful country, shrouded in an aura of mystery. You can picture the influence that this Africa continent, far removed in its culture, from the rest of the world, has in its music, on the peoples of this outside world.

Zambesi
Kwela-Dance
Warm Patat
Sarie Marais
Skokiaan
Boetjie Na Kammaland
Alibama
Sugarbush
Africano
Hamba Kahle
Fanagalo
Princess Waltz
Die Graskop Polka
Kanimambo

Dutch Sax - Dolf van der Linden & Cees Verschoor

Passion Flower

Dutch Sax
Cees Verschoor's Alto
With Seductive Strings And Orchestra Of Dolf van der Leinden
Photo of Dolf van der Linden on back cover by Paul Huf
Capitol Records T10061
1957

From the back cover: Dolf van der Linden is partially responsible for the remarkable Dutch empathy with North Americans, at least music-wise. As the conductor of the brilliant studio orchestra broadcasting daily over Radio Hilversum, the Netherlands government station an hour's drive from Amsterdam, his influence is powerful. A tall and energetic maestro with the same physique and skilled musicianship as Stan Kenton – and the same age – Dolf is the driving force behind popular music in Holland today.

He made his debut on Capitol in early 1957 on album T-10058, "Ongetrouwd Man Kamer," a daring presentation of American standards that neatly translated into "Music For A Bachelor Apartment." The superb van der Linden strings that performed so sensually in that album are, of course, heard again throughout Dutch Sax. But here, Dolf has augmented the 30 violins with the sexy alto of Mr. Verschoor, the finest soloist in Holland and perhaps all of Europe.

"I chose six of the all-time best Duke Ellington melodies," Dolf says, "because no composer in the world conceives songs so imaginatively, and composes such emotional and sexy melodic lines, as does he. Even Gershwin could never have produced an All Too Soon or a Warm Valley. Vernon White is younger, perhaps less sophisticated and urbane than Ellington, but his Mood Nocturnal in the Ellington manner will surely become a world-wide standard."

The van der Linden orchestra, and the golden Verschoor saxophone, recorded the selections heard here in a large, almost-ancient church in Hilversum with the most modern high fidelity microphones and tape recorders in use. A special crew of E.M.I. engineers, producers and monitors headed by Stanely Stern accomplished the feat in two days. "Dutch Sax" will be released in long-play form in 31 nations throughout the world, so extraordinary are the combined talents of van der Linden, Verschoor, Ellington and White regarded.

I Didn't Know About You
Mood Nocturnal
Passion Flower
Promises
I Never Felt This Way Before
Caress
Lost In Meditation
Kisses
Warm Valley
Passionata
Mood Magenta
All Too Soon

Soft And Subtle - The Guitars, Inc.

Lazy Afternoon

Soft And Subtle
The Guitars, Inc.
Cover Photo: Peter Samerjan
Warner Bros. Records, Inc. BS 1246
1959

From the back cover: Numerous requests to identify The Guitars, Inc., prompt us at this time to reveal them. Individually, they represent the finest guitarists on either coast. Collectively, the music they make is even more appealing. Included are Al Hendrickson (courtesy Columbia Records), Bob Howe, Bobby Gibbons, Tommy Tedesco and Bill Pitman – quite an aggregation you'll agree.

From Billboard - February 2, 1959: A mellow guitar sound by the string quartet is their distinguishing feature. Tho tempos and types of tune are varied, the set becomes a bit dull after a few tracks. In stereo an appealing effect is achieved on some of the ballads. Fair prospects.

El Cumbanchero
Hajji Baba
Lazy Afternoon
In An Eighteenth Century Drawing Room
Nature Boy
Get Happy
Snowfall
It Don't Mean A Thing
Oasis
Our Waltz
Paganini's Progress
Good-Bye

Spanish Love Songs - Nito San Miguel

A Day In The Life Of A Fool

Spanish Love Songs

Sung By Nito San Miguel
Diplomat DS2404

A Day In The Life Of A Fool
What A Difference A Day Makes
Sabor Ami
Llanto De Luna
Prisoner Del Mar (Prisoner Of Love)
Mujer (Woman)
Historia Un Amor (History Of Love)
Melody Of Love
I Love You Truly
Neustro Vidas (Our Lives)

Hans Christian Anderson's Fairy Tales

Thumbelina

Hans Christian Anderson's Fairy Tales
Directed by Catherine Faulconer
Produced by Maury Laws
Technical Supervisor: Bill Schwartau
Special Effects: Frank Andriello
Robin Hood RH LP-1011
A Blue Ribbon Product
1957

From Billboard - Decemeber 30, 1957: Delightfully told, this group of four stories includes the favorites, "The Ugly Duckling," "The Emperor's New Clothes," "Thumbelina," and "The Steadfast Tin Soldier." Robin Hood Players consist mainly of narrator with limited dialog by character players. Unusually well done group of selections with a cover of a little girl and a lamb that any dealer can put in a prominent spot for extra profits.

The Emperor's New Clothes
The Ugly Duckling
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
Thumbelina

Gisele MacKenzie

Beyond The Sea

Gisele MacKenzie
Arranged and Conducted by Sid Bass, Neal Hefti and George Siravo
Produced and Directed by Herman Diaz, Jr.
Recorded at Webster Hall, New York City, June 20, 22 and 23, 1956
Recording Engineer: Fred Elsasser
Vik - RCA Victor LX-1055
1956

From the back cover: Born in Winnipeg, Canada, Gisele speaks French with an impeccable accent. (e.g. Listen to the French lyric portions of "Foolish Things" and "Beyond The Sea" in this album.) Her mother was a concert pianist and singer (billed as Mme. Marietta Monseau) and Gisele's earliest childhood memories revolve around music.

At three she began to study the piano, and at seven, the violin – largely because it was the favorite instrument of her physician-surgeon father. By the time she was 12, Gisele had given her first public violin recital, and two years later she enrolled at Toronto's Royal Conservatory of Music.

Although Gisele has always possessed her rich, contralto voice, she never seriously considered becoming a singer, until she joined Bob Shuttleworth's band in the middle forties. Shuttleworth (Gisele's manager today) hired her as a combination violinist-pianist-vocalist, but advised her to concentrate on singing.

At the same time, Gisele's valuable Ceruti violin was stolen, so she bowed to the fates and took his advice. Within a week, she was the star of her own 15 minute show over the Canadian broadcasting network, and four years later she moved to the U.S. as featured singer on Bob Crosby's Club 15 and the Mario Lanza program in NBC.

In 1953, Gisele joined NBC-TV's Hit Parade, where her vibrant vocal chords, piquant brunette beauty and extraordinary versatility made her an immediate favorite with American audiences. Whether she is kicking up her he heels in a can-can or solemnly singing a Christmas carol, Gisele's solid showmanship and personal magnetism always register strongly on the screen.

Last year she surprised and delighted the public by blossoming out as an ace comedienne (on Jack Benny's CBS-TV show) and a fine dramatic actress (on Kraft Theater, Studio One, and Justice). Incidentally Gisele's first big Vik record, Hard To Get, was originally introduced on a Justice drama.

Off-stage Gisele is a handy with a skillet as she is with a Stradivarius. Cooking is her hobby, and – at the moment – the only important man in her life is Wolfgang von Bagel. Wolfie and Brunhilda, Gisele's pet dachshunds – long-haired of course – are pictured with her on the cover. The pups go everywhere with their mistress, and when she played a Las Vegas, Nevada, night club last year, it was specified in her contract that the canines would be persona grata at the nitery.

The "kids" most recent jaunt was to the Dallas, Texas, State Fair last summer, where Gisele scored her greatest personal triumph to date as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific. The critics raved about her musical comedy debut, and unanimously described her as a "natural" for Broadway stardom. TV and record fans, of course, have know it for a long time. – Notes by June Bundy

These Foolish Things Remind Me Of You
You're My Everything
Swinging Down The Lane
On Top Of The World, Alone
Don't Worry About Me
Tiptoe Thur The Tulips
Overtime We Way Goodbye
Do You Ever Think Of Me
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
Beyond The Sea
You Are My Lucky Star
At Sundown

In A Dancing Mood - Kenton/Hackett/Gray/James/Jones

In A Dancing Mood

Five Great Dance Bands Play Favorite Melodies For Romantic Dancing

Stan Kenton

The Bobby Hackett Quartet

Glen Gray and The Casa Loma Quartet

Harry James

The Jonah Jones Quartet

Collector's Album - Limited Edition

Creative Products

Capitol Records SL-6525

(GPC logo is a sticker fixed to the cover)

Compilation set with tunes available from online vendors so I will not be posting a sample.

The Things We Did Last Summer - Stan Kenton

Love Letters - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra

I Want A Little Girl - Harry James

Sleepy Lagoon - The Bobby Hackett Quartet

They Can't Take That Away From Me - The Jonah Jones Quartet

A Sunday Kind Of Love - Stan Kenton

Golden Earrings - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra

(Do You Know What It Means To Miss) New Orleans - Harry James

No Moon At All - The Jonah Jones Quartet

The Call Of The Tropics - Gene Rains

Jungle Drums

The Call Of The Tropics
Gene Rains And His Group
Recorded by Deutsche Grammophon/Polydor Series
Vocalion VL 73785
A Product of Decca Records
1966

Ebb Tide
Harbor Lights
Strange Cargo
Bird Of Paradise
Tropic Trade Winds
Jungle Drums (Canto Karabali)
The Hawaiian Wedding Song (Ke Kali Nei Au)
Tangi Tahiti (The Call Of Tahiti
Far Across The Sea
Sayonara

Live At The Abby! - Dave Remington Quartet & Dixieland Sandbar Stompers

I Found A New Baby

Live At The Abbey!
With the Dave Remington Quartet and Dixieland Sandbar Stompers
Claremont Records LP CL-668
1966

Personell: Dave Remington, Matt Spinello, Guy Florenza, Johnny Porrazzo, Jeffry Chompe, Chuck Hedges, Jerry Coleman, Joe Levinson, Andy Johnson and Bobby Lewis

From the back cover: Right in front let me say that this album is dedicated to my father, Emory B. Remington, trombone Instructor and Chairman of the Brass Department at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. The album is also dedicated to the memory of my mother, Laura Wilbur Remington who, along with dad, provided me with the necessary lessons and encouragement on piano, trombone and harp! I'm not positive that this music is quite what my parents had in mind for me many years ago, but none-the-less this is the way it has ended for the time being.

Playing jazz music in nightclubs is not always what it is cracked up to be. Usually the instruments are out of tune, ventilation is poor, management of clubs is rather unusual and one never knows from day to day whether the club will be in operation or padlocked for a variety of violations of local ordinances. One exception is Chicago's JAZZ LTD., owns and operated by Bill and Ruth Reinhardt. JAZZ LTD. is now in its twentieth year of continuous operation and here is where I received my first trombone-playing job in a dixieland jazz band.

In between JAZZ LTD. and THE ABBEY there have been far too many cities and clubs to mention... too many miles traveled and too little bread! THE ABBEY has to be a very bright spot in what normally is a very dull musical journey. The music on this album was recorded live in the Sandbar at THE ABBEY in Fontana, Wisconsin, and during the past two years Sandbar audiences have been treated to the likes of the entire Doc Severinsen band wailing through set after set of exciting jazz tunes. Art Van Damme and his quintet have worked the room as well as such jazz greats as Frank Assunto and Jerry Fuller from the Dukes of Dixieland.

I Found A New Baby
Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams - Vocals by Jan Castle
The Bourbon Street Parade
Alexander's Ragtime Band
After You've Gone
Fly Me To The Moon - Vocals by Matt Spinello
San Fransisco
Laura
My Kind Of Girl - Vocals by Dave Remington
I've Got You Under My Skin

Ginette Reno

Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

Ginette Reno
Musical Director and Arranger: Johnny Harris
* Arrangements by Leon Bernier
Producer: Marcel Stellman
Recording Engineer: Terry Johnson
Assistant Engineer: John Punter
Photographs: David Wedgbury Majo
Parrot PAS 71032
Distributed by London Records

From the back cover: On my recent visit to Montreal I saw unfold before my very eyes the most exciting talent I have been privileged to feast my eyes upon. Ginette Reno.

This young star just sings her heart out and does it with the ease and poise of a true professional. We appeared together on T.V. and she often came to see my show in Montreal.

Now I shall return the compliment, and I urge you to listen and watch out on your T.V. screens for "Miss Excitement" of 1970, and look out Canada, you are about to share with the world the great artistry of Ginette Reno. – Engelbert Humperdinck

Everything That I Am
Without Him
In The Year 2525
Windmills Of Your Mind
What's The Good Of Goodbye
If You Go Away
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
Little Green Apples
*No One Will Ever Know
*You Made Me So Very Happy
I'll Be Loving You
Why Can't I Cry

Jackpot! - The Mary Kaye Trio

Toreador

Jackpot!
The Mary Kay Trio
With Orchestra Conducted by Don Ralke and Warren Barker
Cover Photo by Jack Meeham/Gene Kornmann
Warner Bros. Records WS 1263
1959

From the back cover: What is necessary though, is to acquaint you with a slight amount of inside about Mary, brother Norman and Frank Ross. When they aren't on the road, or learning a new routine, or recording a new album, or making a television appearance (which is seldom), the group takes diaper and safety pin in hand and go about the business of raising their respective families. (It may be somewhat difficult to imagine zany Frank Ross with pipe and slippers.) When they are attending to their business, they go at it a lot harder and more painstakingly than many people. In person, it shows in their split-second timing; all the gags (or most of them at any rate) have been well though out in advance and well planned. On mike, it shows in Mary and Norman's deft handling of a song, whether it's ballad or up-tempo. In listening to these songs, or their previous album (Too Much! Warner Bros. 1222), you should take note of the varied repertoire and the range of Mary and Norman, and the vigor of Frank Ross, the latter on his treatment of "Brother Bill." No matter what they do, they're alive, eager and excited, and we shouldn't get too wound up or we'll be using purple prose.

From Billboard - March 23, 1959: The trio, which seems to spend most of its time in the Las Vegas area, turns in a listenable group of tunes on its second Warner's effort. These are the tunes – "It's Love," "Where Are You," "Toreador," etc., which the trio might well elect for its club presentation. The pacing comes in the split up of voices with Miss Kaye and brother Norman plus Frank Ross each getting solo chances. Other parings of the voices add interest. Stereo here doesn't add markedly but fans of the dynamic group will like the set.

Wonder Why
It's Love
Where Are You
Do It Again
Believe In Me
Toreador
Besame Mucho
I Got Lost In His Arms
For Heaven's Sake
Day In, Day Out
Moon Love
Brother Bill

American Favorites - Jacqueline Francois

Autumn Leaves

American Favorites
Jacqueline Francois
Columbia Masterworks ML 4780
1953

From the back cover: It is most fitting that Jacqueline Francois's first Columbia release be a collection of songs which have either originated in France and become popular in America or are American hits (such as Rodgers and Hammerstein's It Might As Well Be Spring) which later found favor in France. No other French singer has had quite the same kind of appeal to American audiences as Jacqueline Francois; her success has not been based on a unique personality, or by adherence to "typically French" repertoire, but on the unexpectedly American qualities which she possesses.

La Seine
Bolero (All My Love)
L'Ame des poets (At Last)
Mon faible coeur (My Foolish Heart)
Melancolie
La mer (Beyond The Sea)
Les feuilles mortes (Autumn Leaves)
Embass-moi bien (Embrasse)
Jezebel
C'est le printemps (It Might As Well Be Spring)
Padam, padam
La vie en rose

The Velvet Swing Of Remo Biondi

Lament For Lana

The Velvet Swing Of Remo Biondo
The Lavalieres Quintet Playing With The Velvet Swing
A Sparkling New Collection Of Brightly Polished Jewels Of Jazz
Arrangements by Remo Biondi
Universal Recording Studios - Chicago
Recording Engineers: Bruce Swedien & Bernie Clapper
Mastering Engineers: Robert Weber & Robert Averill
Cover Art: Cora Westensee
Color Photography: R.K. Sunderbruch
Lithography: Gregg-Moore Lithographing, Inc.
RCA Victor Custom Record Pressing
Produced by Amphora Music Corp. - Davenport, Iowa
Decora - Amphora Records
1962

From the back cover: Remo Biondi, guitarist-mandolinist, composer-arranger, seasoned by an association with the great artists of the jazz age and top jazz groups of three decades on the American scene.

Remo developed his style very likely by a mixture of his velvety and misty personality plus his musical environment.

Most Italian barbers were musicians of sorts when he was a lad. He used to hang around the local barber shop, listening to the barbers having a "jam session" in between haircuts – when the owner of the shop remarked to his father, "the kid shows a talent on the violin." He got his first lessons from that gentleman. (He also played guitar, mandolin, banjo and sang very well indeed!) After playing in the school orchestra he studied seriously at a conservatory. About this time he heard his first records of Joe Venuti and Louis Armstrong and from then on it was jazz for him.

His first jobs were in the so-called "speakeasies" of the "dry era" (prohibition) also referred to as "blind pigs." Today they're called "key clubs." A better job came with Buddy Rogers and his orchestra playing at the Sherman Hotel. Later Remo went on to New York City. There he played with Joe Marsala's group at the Hickory House on 52nd Street, then known as "Swing Alley." The musicians Remo played with in Marsala's outfit at this time included drummer Buddy Rich, guitarist Eddie Condon and pianist Joe Bushkin. Up and down the street such outfits as Art Tatum's John Kirby's "Stuff" Smith's etc., were swinging – the boys used to listen to each other in those swing parlors.

In 1938 Remo Remo joined the new Gene Krupa orchestra – Gene had just left the highly successful Benny Goodman band, in which he played a very important part, to go out on his own. He was with Krupa until 1945 and later from 1950 to 1951, During these times he was associated with some excellent jazzmen: Roy Eldridge, Don Fagerquist, Buddy Di Franco, Charley Ventura, "Urbie" Green, etc., and vocalists Anita O'Day and Johnny Desmond.

Since 1951, when he came back to Chicago, Biondi has been doing record dates and other free lance work and teaching.

The recording dates include the orchestras of David Carroll, Tiny Hill, Woody Herman, Buddy Morrow, Wayne King, Ralph Marterie, Eddy Howard, Jan Garber, Marjorie Meinert, etc. Also a number of singing personalities including Pat Boone and Joni James. Having worked with many of the fine artists in the field he knows and speaks their language with authenticity. We'll have Remo say a few words about "jazz":

The word "JAZZ" and the music it represents having undergone many changes in the past – oh, let's say forty years; and the change continues.

In the so-called "Roaring Twenties" jazz was largely popular dance music. To "jazz up" a popular tune was to take liberties with its melodic and harmonic structure, as well as its original tempo, as opposed to "playing it legitimate" (reading the notes exactly as they were written).

In "classical" terms then, to "jazz it up" would mean "to improvise", play impromptu or "play it by ear". The best players of "jazzmen" have a keen ear for improvisation and a highly developed sense of rhythm. Much of the rest of them had what was called a "tin ear" and a rhythmic sense that was referred to as "a beat like a cop". (This is also true today.) Everyone knows that jazz is the Negro's contribution to musical culture, so it follows naturally that the best of the best "jazzmen" were Negroes. They still are.

In the larger theatre and radio orchestras of those days "jazzmen" were frequently used to "jazz up" parts of the musical program of these "legitimate" groups. This has been called "classical jazz". (Classical numbers given a similar treatment were known as "jazzing up the classics".)

In the thirties jazz became "swing music", typified by many "swing bands" of the era. By the mid-forties, jazz was tagged variously as "re-bop", "be-bop" and just "bop" music. In the fifties, it was "rhythm and blues". Today jazz has become "serious" music, with degrees being offered to students in various universities and musical colleges around the country, so we can say we've come from "classical jazz" to "jazz classical". At this point you're probably saying, "so, where's the punch line? What's this guy trying to prove?" Me? Nothing! This is just a quick run-down on what's gone before and what's happening in this particular field of communication. Whether it's classical, folk, pop, swing, jazz or whatever, it's all music (or communication in sound), and if it communicates honesty and heart to the listener, it's good. What these qualities are to one listener many be something else to another, however.

This album is not "jazz" as it is widely played today. We're merely "jazzed up" a few standards" (pop tunes that stay popular) and some "originals" (our own "jazz") with a little different color – we hope. So... if this small effort makes you feel like dancing or keeping time (and al that jazz), or just listening – we've got it made! – Remo Biondi

Velvet Jazz (soft jazz). Several selections were expressly written for the idiom of the Lavalieres. These are the eight originals by Biondi and Engel. There are four standard numbers. Remo Biondi leading the Lavalieres on mandolin and guitar, is supported by Charles (Chuck) Calzaretta on vibes, Ed Stapleton and Johnny Pate on bass, Max Mariash and Al Duncan on drums and Freddy Rundquist and Pierre Bertrand share the second guitars. Calzaretta played vibes on all selections with Biondi, while the other artists shared different numbers at the various recording sessions, all contributing incompatible and excellent ad lib work.

Guaglione
Birth Of The Blues
Espana Cani
Button Down (Engel)
Late Late Snack (Engel)
Tico Tico
Sta Notte (Biondi)
The Blue Toccata (Engel)
Lament For Lana (Biondi)
The Suburban (Engel)
Clip Time (Engel)
The Velvet Swing (Engel)