Man With The Horns - Boyd Raeburn

Tonsillectomy

Man With The Horns
Boyd Raeburn And His Orchestra
Volume No. 1

Production: Ozzie Cadena
Remastered: Rudy Van Gelder
Notes by H. Alan Stein
Savoy Record Co. MG-12025
1955

Love Tales - Arr. George Handy
Soft And Warm - Arr. George Handy
Man With A Horn - Arr. Johnny Richards
Hip Boyds - Arr. Ralph Flanagan
Prelude To The Dawn - Arr. Johnny Richards
Duck Waddle - Arr. Ed Finckel

Dale Pierce, Ray Linn, Frank Beach, Bob Fowler - Trumpets.
Burt Johnson, Tommy Pearson, Ollie Wilson - Trombones
Wilbur Schwartz - Alto Sax
Ethmer Roden - Alto Sax and Flute.
Ralph Lee - Tenor Sax and Bassoon.
Gus McReynolds - Tenor Sax
Bill Starkey - English Horn and Bass Sax
Hy Mandel - Baritone Sax
Hal Schaefer - Piano
Tony Rizzi - Guitar
Harry Babison - Bass
Mack Albright - Drums
Ginnie Powell - Vocal

Forgetful - Arr. George Handy
Rip Van Winkle - Arr. George Handy
Tonsilectomy - Arr. George Handy
Yerxa - Arr. George Handy

Dale Pierce, Tommy Allison, Johnny Napton Alan Jefferys - Trumpets
Ollie Willson, Jack Carmen, Sy Zentner - Trombones
Hal McKusick, Lenny Green - Alto Saxes
Frank Socolow, Stuart Anderson - Tenor Saxes
Gus McReynolds - Baritone Sax
Boyd Raeburn - Bass Sax
George Handy - Piano and Arrangements
Hayden Causey - Guitar
Ed Mihelich - Bass
Jackie Mills - Drums
Ginnie Powell, David Allyn - Vocals

Little Boyd Blue - Arr. Ed Finckel
Blues Echoes - Arr. George Handy

Frank Beach, Dale Pierce, Ray Linn, Nelson Shelladay - Trumpets
Ollie Wilson, Fred Zico, Hal Smith - Trombones
Harry Klee - Alto Sax and Flute
Wilbur Schwartz - Alto Sax and Clarinet
Ralph Lee - Tenor Sax and Bassoon
Gus McReynolds - Tenor Sax
Hy Mandel - Bariton Sax
Boyd Rarburn - Bass Sax and Tenor Sax
Julie Jacobs - Oboe, English Horn and Tenor Sax
Gale Laughton - Harp
Hal Schaefer - Piano
Tony Rizzi - Guitar
Lloyd Otto, Evan Vail - French Horns
Jackie Mills - Drums
Harry Babison - Bass
David Allyn - Vocal

From the back cover: Certainly one of the highest points in music during the middle 40's ws the emergence of the great Raeburn orchestra. Combining with the talents of the finest instrumentalists available with the outstanding compositions and arrangements of George Handey, Eddie Finckel, Johnny Richards and Ralph Flanigan this musical organization set the world of big band jazz of fire, inspiring critics, fans and musicians alike. Critics declared Boyd the first original innovator in big bands since Duke Ellington... others said he showed Stan Kenton the way to Progressive Jazz in Concert Form... some said he was the bridge between the classics and jazz, expressed the American way. Well, no matter where you stood then, time passed, and with the smoke cleared away, we can be ever thankful for this re-mastered high-fidelity set of some of the outstanding works that marked the Boyd Raeburn career.

To best describe the music herein, let us use Raeburn's own words... "This stuff we play is modern classical music applied to swing. We've based it on the theory of modern music as presented by Hindemuth, the Harvard Professor, and we follow the lines of the great contemporary moderns... Stravinsky and Shostakovich. Actually, we are presenting new sounds in jazz but introducing extra notes in chords." Well, let us add the influence of Milhaud, Schoenberg, and the French impressionists, Debussy and Ravel, and I think that will give some idea of the background to the music.

The end result of these ideas brought some exciting manuscripts forth. Raeburn and Handy began use of voicings completely foreign to the band scene previously. They added instruments like the French horn, harp, flute, English horn and others to the normal saxes, trumpet and trombone formula for extra color. They added flatted fifths, 9ths, 11ths and 13ths to their chordal structures bringing new tensions into the most lyric passages and they went back to basic counter point within the new harmonies for added excitement. With all this, they never let go of the basic beat, the opportunities for solo improvisation within the framework of the arrangement and even, the ability to dance to this music.

Many of today's top instrumentalists got their formal introduction to modern sounds in the Boyd Raeburn band. The opportunity to work regularly, playing exciting sounds, and develop a modern jazz with its feet squarely in the midst of swing was indeed, and the the smoke as cleared, leaving the remarkable impression of one man who brought Big Band Jazz twenty giant steps forward in just a few years, and gave us this invaluable collection of all-time great music to keep for the future.

Boyd Raeburn, the man, comes from a ranch in South Dakota. His first studies were piano and clarinet, and this stayed with him during his years as a student at the University of Chicago. There, besides playing baseball, studying, and leading a dance band, he entered a contest for bands at the Hotel Sherman, won, and was given a year's contract to play at the World's Fair. This started his professional musical career. Many remember his many broadcasts on the Coca Cola "Spotlight Bands" program, his series on the "Jubilee" show along with the Dizzy Gillespie-Charlie Parker combo for the Armed Forces Radio, as well as his late night air-checks form the Hotel Edison in N.Y., the Band Box in Chicago, the Orient Theater, and many other top spots across the country. When the war ended, Raeburn also introduced Jazz concerts into his many appearances on the road.

Once glance at the impressive list of sidemen who played with one or more editions of the Raeburn band will convince that this was indeed a high calibre organization, in solo work as well as in the performance of the new, and exciting arrangements. Not enough can be said here for the contribution made by George Handy, the man whose arranging skill set the pace for the entire organization. The majority of the selections in this album give proof of this statement. 

"Man With A Horn" features Boyd himself, on the English horn, only one of the many reed instruments he plays. It is a lyric and warm ballad-type arrangement. Yerxa, the elegy movement form George Handy's" Jitterbug Suite", is very Ellington-ish in mood. Liquid solo alto carries the theme with typical Handy double time bass breaks to accent the long lines of the slow mood. "Hip Boyds" is a medium-tempoed jump along the lines Will Hudson pioneered, yet brought up to date with the interplay of new harmonic treatment. Pedal note trombone under riffs for a fade-out last chorus. "Rip Van Winkle" starts with "hip" patter leading into Ginny Powell's vocal. Though the tune means nothing, her hip phrasing and the colorful splash background effects that George Handy paints in his manuscript make this sparkle. David Allyn sings "Forgetful" coming into this slow, straightforward melody after a truly abstract, staccato introduction that drops the listener into the chorus like a sigh. Again Handy utilizes the lush organ effects counteracted by biting staccato bursts during the ensemble choruses. The close finds Allyn showing his mastery of pitch against atonal changes, ending on the major 7th. "Little Boyd Blue" is Eddie Finckel's arrangement. It is early Raeburn and swings at top speed. The basic statement is descending unison trumpets against ascending unison trombones and sax. Exciting counterpoint, leads into a Hawkins-styled tenor by Ralph Lee, a Ray Linn trumpet chorus and some piano and trombone split chorus work by Hal Schaefer and Freddie Zito. The entire effect romps, giving roomful plenty of find solo work. "Duck Waddle" is an Eddie Sauter-type arrangement with unison clarinet lead saxes on a riff against biting brass taps, off and  on the beat. Tenor, trombone, trumpet, and piano solo work that so marked the 1946 period of early Bop development. "Prelude To The Dawn" features Wilbur Schwartz's liquid alto throughout and spots occasional harp work coming through. "Love And Warm." Ginny Powell, Raeburn's lovely wife, sings the ballad with her wonderful voice quality and admirable attention to lyrics and phrasing. A retard ending features harp and flute. "Tonsillectomy" was recorded in early 1946 and is one of George Handy's finest arrangements. Opening on descending bass piano, this is picked up by the trombones for the melody line with alto, abruptly switching to muted trumpet effects. Catch the foppish muted trumpet solo and pretty tenor. Biting brass come in ON the beat and piano takes over till a reprise of the first chorus theme. The startling staccato effects that open "Blue Echoes" make an ordinary latin-ish ballad into a thing of great interest. Dave Allyn vocals over a jumping background that switches from a swinging thing to a lush treatment from chorus to chorus. Ollie Wilson's trombone solo and Ralph Lee' running tenor against trumpets switch abruptly back to vocal for a retard and shifting harmonic ending.

– Notes by H. Alan Stein

Man With A Horn
Hip Boyds
Prelude To The Dawn
Duck Waddle
Forgetful
Rip Van Winkle
Tonsillectomy
Yerxa
Little Boyd Blue
Blue Echoes
Love Tales
Soft And Warm