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Saturday, June 27, 2020

Broadway My Way - Nancy Wilson

I Believe In You
Broadway - My Way
Nancy Wilson
Arranged and Conducted by Jimmy Jones
Produced by Tom Morgan
Cover Photo: Sherman Weisburd
Capitol Records ST 1828
1964

From the back cover: Nancy Wilson sings twelve Broadway hits that, sung almost anybody's way, would be a delight to hear. Sung Nancy's way, with the warm and lilting style, the sensitive jazz intuition, the fine gift for voicing a lyric in terms of blues emotion, they're cause for general celebrating in the streets.

Down Beat readers, in the magazine's recent 27th annual poll, voted Nancy second place in the favorite Female Vocalist category – second only to the virtually undislodgable "First Lady" of many years Ella Fitzgerald. Nancy ascended to this lofty spot, moreover, in a short twelve months from the thirteen place she had occupied as a relatively little known new singer the previous year.

In this album she sings a full complement of blockbuster hits from bumper Broadway sessions: "Tonight" from West Side Story, "I Believe In You" from How To Succeed In Business, "As Long As He Needs Me" from Oliver! She sings "The Sweetest Sounds" from No Strings as a gently propulsive bossa nova. And she invokes a finely shaded version of "You Can Have Him" from Miss Liberty that, for style and feeling, may well be the finest thing she's ever done.

But one is tempted to make superlative comment about every vocal in the album. Nancy is backed by a creative jazz group conducted by Jimmy Jones, and featuring such illustrious jazz names as pianist Lou Levy, saxophonist Bill Perkins, guitarist John Gray, trombonist Lew McCreary, trumpeter Don Fagerquist, drummer Kenny Dennis, and many more. Jimmy Jones contributed the custom arrangements, which permit Nancy to sing in a challenging variety of moods and tempos, all in the tasteful, sparkling and wonderful Wilson way!


A Lot Of Livin' To Do from Bye-Bye Birdie
You Can Have Him from Miss Liberty
Tonight from West Side Story
Make Someone Happy from Do-Re-Mi
I Believe In You from How To Succeed In Business
As Long As He Needs Me from Oliver!
Getting To Know You from The King And I
My Ship from Lady In The Dark
The Sweetest Sounds - from No Strings
Joey, Joey, Joey from The Most Happy Fella
Loads Of Love from No Strings
I'll Know from Guy And Dolls

Salute Benny Goodman

Jumpin' At The Woodside
Members Of Benny Goodman Orchestra & Brussels World's Fair Orchestra
Salute Benny Goodman
Cover Design: Hobo Arts
Crown Records CLP 5090

Musicians:

Mahlon Clark - Clarinet
Babe Russin & Dave Harris -Tenor
Heinie Beau & Les Robinson - Alto
Irving Goodman, Zeke Zarchy, Mickey Mangano & Don Fagerquist - Trumpet
Murry McEachern, Hoyt Bohannan & Tommy Pederson - Trombone
Jess Stacy & Jimmy Rowles - Piano
Sis Weiss & Curtice Counce - Bass
Allan Reuss & Al Hendrickson - Guitar
Nick Fatool & Ralph Collier - Drums
Red Norvo - Vibes

Sing Sing Sing
Jumping' At The Woodside
In The Shade Of The Old Apple Tree
Bugle Call Rag
King Porter Stomp
School Days
Loch Lomond
East Side West Side

Thursday, June 25, 2020

Lover Man! - Art Van Damme

Hawaiian War Chant
Lover Man!
Art Van Damme
Pickwick /33 Records
PC 3009
A Product Of Pickwick International, Inc.

From the back cover: Art Van Damme is a wizard of the accordion. In his hands, the accordion seems to generate as much tonal color and dynamics as a full-sized pipe organ. But that's only an illusion created by his superlative technique and imaginative conceptions.

Born in Norway, Michigan, Van Damme has been entertaining audiences since the age of 10 when he made his first combination and since that time has been a top professional in his field. – Herman Schoenfeld, Music Editor or Variety
.

Lover
The Breeze & I
Marcheta
Meadowland
After You've Gone
Dark Eyes
Should I
Perdido
Habanera
Hawaiian War Chant

Time For Cha Cha Cha - Eddie Cano

Cam's Cha Cha
Time For Cha Cha Cha
Eddie Cano, His Piano and Orchestra
RCA Victor LPM-1672
1958

Cam's Cha Cha
Eddie's Delight
Cuban Love Song
On The Street Where You Live
The Chi-Chi Cha Cha Cha
I Could Have Danced All Night
Linda Mujer
Bofa Gondolero
There Must Be A Way
Mi Rival
Sensacion
I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face

Love Walked In! - George Shearing & The Montgomery Brothers

Stranger In Paradise
Love Walked In!
George Shearing and The Montgomery Brothers
Produced by Orrin Keepnews
Recording Engineer: Wally Heider (Limited Sound Studios)
Mastered by Plaza Sound Studios
Album Design: Ken Deardroff
Photographs by William Claxton
Recorded in Los Angeles
October 9 and 10, 1961
Jazzland Stereo 955

George Shearing - Piano
Wes Montgomery - Guitar
Buddy Montgomery - Vibes
Monk Montgomery - Bass
Walter Perkins - Drums
On Stranger In Paradise, The Lamp Is Low and Mambo In Chimes: add Armando Peraza - Congas and Bongos
(Perkins does not play on the last two of these selections)

George Shearing appears through the courtesy of Capitol Records.
Buddy and Monk Montgomery courtesy of Fantasy Records

From the back cover: With Shearing on piano, Buddy Montgomery, highly regarded both as a pianist and a vibraharpist, stays strictly on vibes. To round out the group, there is Walter Perkins, an impressive young drummer from Chicago who has led his own "MJT Plus Three" and has more recently worked with Carmen McRae. On three numbers with a decided Latin tinge, there's a two-man Latin percussion section headed by Armando Peraza, whose conga drumming has been featured with Shearings' regular group for some eight years now.

Love Walked In
Love For Sale
No Hard Feelings
Enchanted
Stranger In Paradise
The Lamp Is Low
Double Deal
And Then I Wrote
Darn That Dream
Lois Ann
Mambo In Chimes

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

The Exciting Lena Horne

Blue Prelude
The Exciting Lena Horne
Orchestra Conducted by Phil Moore
Craftsmen C 8018

From the back cover: Her (Lena Horne) rise to fame was meteoric, indeed. At 16, she came from her Brooklyn home to her first job in the famed Cotton Club's chorus. Noble Sissle, appearing there at the time, heard her sing and immediately signed her as featured vocalist with his band. After touring with Sissle for two years, she auditioned for the vocalist's spot with the great Charlie Barnet aggregation by appearing without rehearsal on stage in front of an audience at New York's Apollo Theater. So pleased was he with the way she sang and was received, he signed her on the spot. She stayed with Barnet for a year, and then decided to try her luck in Hollywood.

While singing at Hollywood's Little Troc, she caught the eye and ear of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Louis B. Mayer. He was so impressed by her talent, that he signed her for a part in MGM's "Panama Hattie." Featured roles soon followed in "Cabin In The Sky," "Ziegfeld Follies," and numerous other movie successes.

Today, she is one of the few entertainers who enjoys equal prominence in all facets of show business – screen, nightclubs, TV, recordings and the stage. Her most recent success has been as star in the Broadway smash "Jamaica."


Just Squeeze Me
More Than Than You Know
At Long Last Love
Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
Nobody Knows The Troubles I've Seen
Blue Prelude
Little Girl Blue
It's A Rainy Day
Glad To Be Unhappy
Frankie And Johnny

Carmen Jones

Dere's A Cafe on de Corner
From the Original Sound Track of The Cinemascope Film
Otto Preminger Presents...
Oscar Hammerstein II's
Carmen Jones
Music by Georges Bizet
Conducted by Herschel B. Gilbert
RCA Victor "Red Seal" LM-1881
1954

Starring Harry Belafonte, Dorothy Dandridge, Pearl Bailey, Olga James, Joe Adams

With the voices of Marilynn Horne, LeVern Hutcherson, Marvin Hayes, Bernice Peterson, Broc Peters and Joe Crawford are heard in the singing roles of Carmen, Joe, Husky, Myrt, Rum and Dink, respectively.

Overture
Opening Medley
"Dat's Love" (Habanera)
You Talk Jus' Like My Maw
Dere's A Cafe on de Corner
Dis Flower
Beat Out Dat Rhythm on a Drum
Stan' Up An' Fight
Quintet: Whizzin' Away Along de Track
Card Song
My Joe
Duet And Finale

Vocal Highlights From Gigi - Fontanna

Gigi
Vocal Highlights From Gigi
Music From The MGM Production "Gigi"
Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Music by Frederick Loewe
Fontanna and His Orchestra and Chorus
Masterseal Records MS-71
1958

Overture
Gigi
I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore
I Remember It Well
Parisians
The Night They Invented Champagne
Waltz At Maxim's
Say A Prayer For Me Tonight
Thank Heaven For Little Girls
It's A Bore
Finale

String Along With Me - The Stradivari Strings

Hymn To The Suns
String Along With Me
The Stradivari Strings Play Your Favorites
Cover Model: Jayne Mansfield
Spinorama Records M 90
A Product Of Premier Albums, Inc.

From the back cover: In 1951 Al Goodman was selected by Earl Carroll to accompany him to California as arranger and conductor. That was Goodman's official entry into show business... the start of an illustrious musical career which brought him into personal contact with the all-time greats as the conductor of many show and musical productions whose successes were due in great measure to his outstanding ability. Here are the perfect ingredients for perfect musical entertainment... "String Along With Me."

Hymn To The Suns
Chopin Fantasie
Moonlight
Meet Me Tonight In Dreamland
La Paloma
Vilia
My Wild Irish Rose
Love Old Sweet Song
Melody Of Love
Kiss Me Again