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Saturday, September 18, 2021

Sinatra And Swingin' Brass

 

I'm Beginning To See The Light

Sinatra And Swingin' Brass
Arranged and Conducted by Neal Hefts
Cover: Jim Jonson
Art Direction: Merle Shore
Reprise B-1005
1962

From Billboard - August 25, 1962: Here's another prime package of 12 middle tempo Sinatra performances. The singer is at his best through most of the LP. The backgrounds are punctuated with bright, swinging Neal Hefts writing, not only for brass, but reeds and rhythm as well. The material is made up of standards done in the high-flying Sinatra style. His latest single "Goody Goody" is on tap along with "Tangerine," "Love Is Just Around The Corner," "I'm Beginning To See The Light" and "Ain't She Sweet,"

Goody Goody
They Can't Take That Away From Me
At Long Last
Love
I'm Beginning To See The Light
Don'cha Go 'way Mad
I Get A Kick Out Of You
Tangerine
Love Is Just Around The Corner
Ain't She Sweet
Serenade In Blue
I Love You
Pick Yourself Up

Diamond Head - Diamond Head Beachcombers

 

Tahiti

Music Inspired by the Motion Picture
Diamond Head
A Jerry Bresler Production
A Columbia Pictures Release
Authentic Hawaiian Music For Your Luau
Featuring the Diamond Head Beachcombers
Colpix Records CP 439
1963

Diamond Head
Sweet Leilani
Little Brown Gal
Now Is The Hour
My Little Grass Shack In Kealakekua Hawaii
Tahiti
Hawaiian War Chant
Pretty Maui Girl
Lovely Hula Hands
Cockeyed Mayor Of Kaunakakai
Echoes Of The South Pacific
Diamond Head Farewell

The Original Top Hits By The Hit Makers

 

Starbright

The Original Top Hits By The Hit Makers
Columbia Records STEREO CS 8276
1960

Starbright - Johnny Mathis
Greenfields - The Brothers Four
Theme For Young Lovers - Percy Faith
Don't Eat The Daises - Doris Day
Solitaire - Jerry Vale
Pink Polemoniums - Mitch Miller
I'll Bring You A Rainbow - Tony Bennett
I've Got A Date With And Angel - Kitty Kallen
Sink The Bismarck - Johnny Horton
The Key Theme - Frank de Vol
Big Iron - Marty Robbins
The Madison Time Part II - Ray Bryant

Friday, September 17, 2021

100 Strings & Joni In Hollywood - Joni James

 

Secret Love

100 Strings & Joni In Hollywood
Joni James
Produced by Acquaviva
Musical Supervision by Acquaviva
Recording Director: Norman Newell
Musical Directors: Geoff Love and Tony Osborne
MGM E3840
1960

From the back cover: Though there are no wicked step-sisters lurking in her background, tiny Joni has seen a measure of life through her deep, deep eyes. One of four children, Joni was raised in Chicago by her widowed mother, who used to make games out of poverty to make it seem less grim to her children. At 14, Joni was in high school on a scholarship, singing Gregorian Chants in the school choir, and packing cookies in a bakery after school for the lordly sum of eight dollars a week.

Half the eight dollars went to help out at home, the other half went for dancing lessons. "Though I'd been singing for as long as I remember, I had a terrific thing in those days to be a ballet dancer," recalls Joni, Her dream was to  be a prima ballerina, dancing on a fairy tale stage so beautiful and remote that poverty could have nothing whatever to do with it.

When she graduated from high school, she was offered a college scholarship, but turned it down so she could concentrate on dancing. She danced her way into a small night club on the Near North Side of Chicago, where she was in the middle of an engagement when an unruly appendix forced her to stop dancing. Desperate, she asked the club owner if she could finish out her date doing the only thing she knew about at all – singing. He decided to let her try, and Joni quickly pulled a few numbers together with the help of a friend who was a singer.

She was a natural from the beginning. Audiences loved her, and before many months had passed, she was on local television in Chicago. True, she merely sang commercials on a late evening movie show, but it was a showcase, and people were getting to know her. She was on her way, she thought. She cut a record of beautiful old song and, sent it to someone she knew at a record company. It turned out that the company liked the song just fine. Next time she heard it, the song was becoming a national hit – with another singer singing it.

This was early in 1952, and though it took Joni a while to get over it, the net result of the experience was a reinforced belief in herself. Later the same year she recorded Why Don't You Believe In Me? for MGM Records, and the struggle for recognition was over. The record sold a million copies within a few weeks of its release, and it hasn't stopped selling yet. Early this year, in fact, it passed the two-million mark in sales.

The rest is show business history. In rapid succession, Joni followed up with Have You Heard?, Your Cheatin' Heart and My Love, My Love, How Important Can It Be, Give Us This Day, You Are My Love and There Goes My Heart. All reached the golden million mark in sales. Two, Your Cheatin' Heart and Why Don't You Believe In Me, reached the rare platinum mark – over two million copies sold. In addition, Joni has also  been awarded the Platinum Album Award, signifying sales of more than two million albums!

This album, 100 Strings and Joni in Hollywood, is part of a series that marks a high point in the career of Cinderella James. Credit for the idea goes to Tony Acquaviva, Joni's arranger-conductor husband, who got the inspiration for the series while talking to some English recording men while Joni was appearing at the London Palladium in 1959. He happened to remark that the quality of Joni's voice has always reminded him of a violin. The Britishers agreed that they had noticed it, too, and then there it occurred to all hands that Joni ought to be recorded with a large string orchestra – the kind that would have been playing at that wonderful ball that ended at midnight. From that point on, it was just a matter of organizing the recording date for this album and one other, 100 Strings and Joni on Broadway.

From Billboard - September 5, 1960: Joni James has two albums here that could be strong sellers. The Broadway set features the winsome thrush singing top songs from Broadway musicals, including "Hey There" and "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face." The Hollywood set features the lass in tunes from the movies, ranging from "Tammy," to "Over The Rainbow," She handles them all in her own familiar style, and the backing by the 100 Strings is lush.

Tammy - Tammy And The Bachelor
True Love - High Society
I'll Never Stop Loving You - Love Me Or Leave Me
It's Easy To Remember - And So Hard To Forget
Over The Rainbow - The Wizard Of OZ
Around The World - Around The World In 80 Days
I Can't Begin To Tell You - The Dolly Sisters
Secret Love - Calamity Jane
Three Coins In The Fountain
The Boy Next Door - Meet Me In St. Louis
Dancing On The Ceiling - Evergreen
An Affair To Remember

Golden Hits By Tony Martin

 

Guilty

Golden Hits By Tony Martin
Mercury Records SR 60644
1961

From the back cover: Tony Martin and the modern recording industry "happened" coincidentally at the same time. When Martin got out of the Navy in 1946, audio engineers were already taking the technical advancements that had developed in radar and other sounding devices which made it possible to record for the first time the really full sound of the human voice and the full range of the instruments that make up the orchestra. Martin's high-range baritone was successful only because of the microphone on personal appearances and in recording studios now picked up the sensitive nuances and innuendoes which were part of the Martin bag of aural tricks. For Tony Martin is no novice at any time in his singing career to the peak in original interpretation.

Already when he was 12 year old in Oakland, California, Martin, a terrific athlete, had trouble trying to find time to squeeze in both his heavy muscle and musical programs. As a young teen-ager, Martin formed a band, in which he played the reeds, called the "Clarion Four," which played professional engagements in between his athletic seasons. At 14, he was played with the five Red Peppers, a jazz combo, and at 16, under his real name, Al Morris, he was playing and ding his first singing with Tom Gerun's band at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco. This same band also gave Woody Herman his first professional break. At 18, he made his first coast-to-coast radio show, while still going to St. Mary's College.

Then followed a period of up's-and-down's, culminating with his Navy stint and finally his Mercury recording pact at the war's end. Martin provided Mercury, then a new firm, with its first million seller – "To Each His Own." And the hit triggered bigger things for him and for the firm.

His Mercury recording successes prompted major bookings from coast to coast, with Darryl Zanuck inking him to a 20th Century Fox pact after hearing him personally enthrall a capacity house at the Trocadero, Hollywood.

To Each His Own
That Old Black Magic
Stardust
Tea For Two
As Time Goes By
Body And Soul
I'll See You In My Dreams
All The Things You Are
A Gal In Calico
Guilty
I Don't Know Why
Make Believe

Sing Me A Song Of The Island - Alfred Apaka

 

Pagan Love Song

Sing Me A Song Of The Islands
Alfred Apaka
And The Hawaiian Village Serenaders
Decca Records DL 78960
1960

From the back cover: No other voice expresses the romance and enchantment of Hawaii more eloquently than that of Alfred Apaka, a tall, handsome native of The Islands. Apaka, who has become quite famous as the singing star of "Hawaii Calls" and his countless appearances in the finest night clubs in Hawaii and on the mainland, came very close to depriving us of this and his many other great recordings. If he hadn't stepped out on a stage back in high school days and let a few hundred students hear his captivating voice, and if they and every audience after them hadn't clamored for more, he might have become a doctor. But since it has been said that a good smile is sometimes as therapeutic as a bottle of pills, Alfred Apaka may have come closer to realizing hie boyhood ambition that he thinks.

Keep Your Eye On The Hand
Sweet Leilani
I Will Always Love You (Wahokukapuiani)
Now Is The Hour (Maori Farewell Song)
Pagan Love Song
Paradise Isle
In A Hawaiian Village
Love Song Of Kalua
Sing Me A Song Of The Islands
Kealona
Sweet Someone
To You Sweetheart, Aloha

Moonlight And Keyboard & Clair de Lune- Raymond Lewenthal

 

Clair de Lune

Moonlight And Keyboard
Raymond Lewenthal - Piano
Westminster Records XWN 18403
1957

Clair de Lune
Raymond Lewenthal - Piano
Westminster Records WST 14053
1957

From the back cover: Raymond Lewenthal was born in San Antonio, Texas. In 1945, while studying with Mme. Lydia Cherkassky, he won all three of the major competitions then being held in California at Los Angeles (judged by Bruno Walter), the Young Artist Contest of Occidental College, and the Gainsborough Award in San Francisco. He completed his studies as a full scholarship student with Mme. Olga Samaroff Stokowski at the Juilliard School of Music. In 1948 he made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Dimitri Mitropoulos, playing the Prokofieff Third Concerto, and an enthusiastic reception following his New York debut a few weeks later launching his career. Since his return to the concert stage following a nearly-fatal accident in 1953, Lewenthal has proved the truth of Bruno Walter's statement about him: "Lewenthal's is the nature of a virtuoso, yet his technical gifts do not prevent him from expressing spiritual qualities with deep feeling and understanding.

Clair de lune - Debussy
Liebestraum No. 3 - Liszt
Nocturne in E Flat, Op. 9, No. 2 - Chopin
Waltz in C Sharp Minor, Op. 64, No. 2 - Chopin
Nocturne in F Sharp Major, Op. 15, No. 2 - Chopin
Waltz in A Flat Major, Op. 39, No. 15 - Brahms
Moonlight Sonata, 1st movement - Beethoven
Greensleeves - Traditional, Arranged by Lewenthal
The Swan - Saint-Saens-Godowsky
How Fair this Spot - Rachmaninoff-Lewenthal
Romance - Rubinstein
Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66 - Chopin
Elegie - Massenet
Serenade - Schubert-Liszt
Traumerei - Schumann

Hungarian Moods - Benedict Silberman

 

Side One

Hungarian Mood
Benedict Silberman's Chorus and Orchestra
Recorded in Europe
Capitol Records T10107
1958

From Billboard - January 20, 1958: One of the label's "Capitol of the World" series, this is a fine package of Hungarian instrumental music. Benedict Silberman's 50-piece orchestra is lush with crying violins, throbbing cymbalons. Performances are full of gypsy fire, gaiety or sadness. Repertoire was recorded abroad, and most of it is Humgarian with brief excursions into related material.

I Love Budapest
Gypsy Violin Lament
Ritka Buza
Gypsy Song
Happy Hearts Medley
Czak Egy Kislany Cymbalon Solo
Minek A Szoke Ennekem
Puszta-Czardas
Te Adtad Nekem Az Elso
Tezona
Ezert A Legenyert
Nem Adnek Egy Krajcart
Buda Czardas
Akacos Ut
Beloved Themes
The Black Canary Hora
Lavotta Serenade
Szep Asszonynak Kurizalni
Szeretnek Majus Ejszakajan
Szep A Rozsan
A Faluban Nincs Tobb Kislany
Repulj Fecskem
Cymbalon Solo
Hejre Kati
En Vagyok A Falu Rossza Egyedul
Voros Bort Ittam Az Este
The Devil's Czardas
Hullamzo-Balaton
Olyan Edes
Zoldablakos Kicsi Haz
So Little Time
Gypsy's Hora
I Love Budapest

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Madness In Opera

 

Roberta Peters, Soprano
Bellini – La Sonnambula, Act 3:
Recit.: L'ANELLO MIO
Aria: AH! NON CREDEA MIRARTI

Dr. William A Frosch and Mr. Donal Henahan discuss
Madness In Opera
... a discussion accompanied by a high fidelity stereo recording of six outstanding operatic mad scenes
The first in a series of cultural dialogues presented by Lederle Laboratories
As a service to psychiatrists in the interest of continuing education
RCA Special Products
DPL1-0216 STEREO
1975

Marketing vehicle promoting the medication: Loxitane Loxapine Succinate

Lederle Laboratories, developer of LOXITANE Loxapine Succinate and LOXITANE C Loxapine HCI, a distinct chemical entity for the manifestations of schizophrenia, offers today's psychiatrist an alternative in the management of this difficult disease entity.

II Pirate (Bellini) Act II: Col sorriso d' innocenza (Mad Scene)
Montserrat Caballe, soprano
Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Carlo Felice Cillario

Dr. William A Frosch and Mr. Donal Henahan discuss
Madness In Opera
Volume II
... a discussion accompanied by a high fidelity stereo recording of six outstanding operatic mad scenes
The first in a series of cultural dialogues presented by Lederle Laboratories
As a service to psychiatrists in the interest of continuing education
RCA Special Products
DPL1-0373 STEREO
1979

Raun Is Her Name! - Raun MacKinnon

 

Baby, What's Left When The Sun Goes Down

Raun Is Her Name!
Raun MacKinnon!
Produced and Arranged by Barry Kornfeld
KAPP STEREO KS-3556
1968

From the back cover: Raun is her name.

Raun is in her early 20s, pretty, intent, and very talented. In addition to starring as the vocalist here, she also wrote the words and music to each song and played guitar on the session and solo guitar on "Sacrifice The Goat."

She's out of the Philadelphia area, Berwyn, Penn., to be exact. She was a member of the high school band, and that's where she was taught oboe and glockenspiel. She also plays piano and other instruments. Raun taught herself guitar, and is one of a handful of guitarists who can make her technique of playing really work.

Raun first came to the attention of the music business as a songwriter. Kapp's Bill Edd Wheeler recorded one of Raun's tunes.

Her range of mood is remarkable. She can go from the flavor of folk (Angelia) to the bluesy (My Last Farwell) to a song of quiet desperation (Today I Got). And each mood lives.

Her voice is making it big at the colleges where she has been appearing. But after the voice is an echo, the power of her lyrics returns to haunt you. How can you forget lines like, "I was one of many for him; he was one of one for me"?

It's all here, on this record. The voice, the songs, the strong pull of her poetry.

She lives on this record. And Raun is her name.

Baby, What's Left When The Sun Goes Down
Nickel And Dime World
Angelia
Chicken Little
Sacrifice Of The Goat
Today I Sure Got Nothin' To Do
Color Wheel
Sister Marie
Will You Go With Me Now
Hello, You Tomorrows
My Last Farewell
Sugar In Your Soul

Brazilliance - Laurindo Almeida

Acertate Mas

Brazilliance
Laurindo Almeida
A Richard Bock Production
Audio by Phil Turetsky
Cover Design: Woody Woodward
Cover Photo: Bruce Zemby
Back Cover Photos: Williams Claxton
World-Pacific Records WP-1412
A Division of Pacific Enterprises, Inc.
1961

From the back cover: The selections you will hear were the first recorded by the team of Almeida and Shank on concert Spanish guitar and alto saxophone, respectively (two subsequent recordings have appeared and are available from World-Pacific). Produced and issued first in 1953-4, these initial efforts have become minor classics, remaining in steady demand and necessitating several reissues. Previous to these recordings, Almeida had already fashioned a reputation as a superlative classical guitarist in his native Brazil,  and in this country he had not only furthered his classical endeavors, but had found jazz a home for his warm sound and wealth of ideas. Besides appearing, then, in clubs, he spent time with Stan Kenton orchestra, building a solid reputation among native jazz musicians. Bud Shank, too a Kenton band member early in his career, had risen sharply to prominence in jazz with his work with Kenton and in the new West Coast school of players. Since 1954 and these recordings, bud has continued to evolve as a jazz musician (he currently leads one of the most stimulating quartets-quintets in jazz – see Pacific Jazz 21) and in addition has retained a searching interest in musical exploration outside of jazz idiom (hear his intensely rewarding flute accompanying Kimio Eto, the great Japanese kotoist, on World-Pacific 1299).

From Billboard - November 6, 1963: These recordings were originally released a few years ago, and constant demand has necessitated this new album. They show off Laurindo Almeida accompanied by Bud Shank on alto, along with Harry Barbasin on bass and Roy Harte on drums. It combines Latin rhythms and jazz neatly, and should continue to be a steady selling set.

Atabaque
Amor Flamenco
Stairway To The Stars
Acertate Mas
Terra Seca
Speak Low
Inquietacao
Baa-Too-Kee
Carinoso
Tocata
Hazardous
No No
Noctambulism
Blue Baiao

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

More Greatest Hits - Connie Francis

 

Mama

More Greatest Hits
Connie Francis
MGM SE3942
1961

From the back cover: Connie is well known in Copenhagen as she is in Detroit, as familiar on the BBC as she is on TV channels here in the States, as winning in Paris and Rome as she is in Chicago and New York. And now, as a result of her records and personal appearances, Connie is the top singer, in the Far East and in Australia.

Jealous Of You (Tango delle Gelosia)
My Heart Has A Mind Of It's Own
Everybody's Somebody's Fool
Mama
No One
God Bless America
Among My Souvenirs
Where The Boys Are
Many Tears Ago
Malaguena
Valentino
Senza Mamma E Mnaumarata

The Art Of Van Damme - Art Van Damme

 

Laura

The Art Of Van Damme
Art Van Damme Quintet
Columbia CL 876
1956

From the back cover: The winners of the Down Beat poll in 1952 and 1954, the Art Van Damme Quintet stands as one of the most inventive, musical and swinging combinations around. A group based on accordion, vibes, guitar, bass and drums could easily enough veer toward salon sounds and concepts, but the cloying sweetness of such ideas are a far cry from the breezy presentations of the Van Damme group. Their work is founded on lively interplay of musical ideas, on solid standard pieces and on a jazz base; therein lies the art of Van Damme, and therein also lies the entertainment of countless musicians and laymen alike.

Art was born in Norway, Michigan, making his professional debut at the age of ten, eight years later he organized his first combination, and has been busy in similar musical activities ever since. In 1944 he joined the musical staff of the National Broadcasting Company in Chicago, making records and transcriptions, and for the last ten years has concentrated on the presentation of the quintet.

From Billboard - September 15, 1956: The quintet's performance in this package have the light, nimble touch of chamber jazz. The arrangements are complex and swinging, built around a group of great standards including "Don't Be That Way." "Laura," "All Of Me," "Jeepers Creepers," etc. Fine inventory for shops with a jazz and accordion trade. Cover is a real attention getter.

Autumn Leaves
Don't Be That Way
Laura
That Old Black Magic
Fools Rush In
Jamaican Rhumba
All Of Me
Dancing On The Ceiling
Cherokee
Imagination 
A Fine Romance
Jeepers Creepers

The Tony Touch - Tony Mottola

 

Cry Me A River

The Tony Touch
The Best Of Tony Mottola
America's Greatest Popular Guitarist
Project 3 Total Sound Stereo
PR 5041 SD
1969

From the back cover: Tony Mottola is recognized throughout the world fo "The Tony Touch." Tony's albums are in great demand everywhere. He is a best seller in Japan, Spain, Mexico, Australia and other countries where guitar buffs eagerly await his new release. For many years, Tony has been acclaimed for his work with many of the world's most popular vocalists. He was the featured guitarist on The Perry Como TV series and at present he is a spotlighted soloist and member of the Johnny Carson "Tonight Show" orchestra. Professional musicians, as well as discriminating music lovers throughout the world, recognize "The Tony Touch" as being unique. And in this album, Tony has selected what he considers his finest performances of today's great songs.

From Billboard - August 23, 1969: The guitar master comes up with a winning artistic and sales package in this program of hand-picked material that he considers to be his top performances on disk. And he's right, as he turns in brilliant treatments of today's and yesterday's hits. "Help Yourself," "Cry Me A River," "This Guy In Love With You," and "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" are among the highlights.

Help Yourself
Georgia On My Mind
Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You
Cry Me A River
I'll Never Fall In Love Again
Goin' Out Of My Head
This Guy's In Love With You
Those Were The Days
Dream A Little Dream Of Me
Lush And Lovely
Come Prima
Do You Know The Way To San Jose?

Songs By A Latin Lover - Cesar Romero

 

Brazil

Songs By A Latin Lover
Cesar Romero
Conducted and Arranged by Charles Palos
Album Production: Dave Pell
Tops HI-FI L1631
1958

From the back cover: Cesar Romero was born in New York City on February 15th. He began his theatrical career as a dancer, appearing in several top clubs in the East. He was elevated to non-dancing role by Broadway producer, Brock Pemberton, who engaged him for the road company of "Strictly Dishonorable". This led to top roles in "Stella Brady" at the Globe Theatre and Frank Craven's "All Points West" and Lenore Uric's "Social Register." Romero also appeared in Broadway "Dinner At Eight", "Spring In Autumn" and "Ten Minute Alibi".

Hollywood claimed him when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayor Studios brought him West for a role in the original "Thin Man".

Some of the pictures he has appeared in include the "Cisco Kid" series,  "Happy Landing", "My Lucky Star", "Wintertime". "Springtime In The Rockies", "Tall, Dark And Handsome", his favorite picture "Show Them No Mercy", and many others for Twentieth-Century Fox.

In his long and successful career as a motion picture star, there are many ladies who have pulsated to his devastating Latin charms, among them, Betty Grable, Greer Garson, Carole Lombard, Marlene Dietrich, Sonya Henie, Loretta Young, Jean Peters, Vera Ellen, etc., etc.

Cesar Romero enlisted in the United States Coast Guard on June 7, 1943. His war record includes action in the South Pacific. He was discharged with the rating of Chief Bosun's Mate, resuming his 20th Century-Fox contract which the studio kept in effect during his entire military career. He was immediately assigned to leads in "Carnival In Costa Rica"  and in the mammoth Technicolor production "Captain From Castille". Then in quick succession, "Lady In Ermine", "Deep Waters" and "Love That Brute."

Other well-known pictures he has appeared in are "Bristish Agent", "Lost Continent" and "FBI Girl". In England he made "Happy Go Lucky", "Lady In The Fog" and "Creeping Shadows". He went to India to make "The Jungle". His recent co-starring roles include "Vera Cruz", "The Americano", "The Racers", "The Story Of Mankind" and he starred in the Paramount Picture "The Leather Saint". He can also be seen in "Around The World In Eighty Days".

He just completed a choice part in "Villa", which was made in Mexico.

In addition to his many chores as Motion Picture Star, he has guest-starred on many television shows, including Climax, Stage 7, Milton Berle Show, Patrice Munsel Show, Eddie Cantor Show, Martha Ray Show, Colgate Comedy Hour, Lux Video Theatre, Matinee Theatre, etc. Hal Roach signed him for his own television series, "Passport To Danger". He has completed 39 half hour shows in the series.

At the Dunes in Las Vegas last year, Cesar starred in his own Musical Revue entitled "Havana Mardi Gras". – Harold Spina

From Billboard - November 3, 1958: "Brazil," "Cielito Lindo," "Yours" and other favorites get tremulous chanting and Spanish recitation from the movie star. Good choral group support. Romero's name value should pull sales.

Mama Inez
Would I Love You, Love You
Jealous Cabellero
Maria Elena
Brazil
The Breeze And I
Cielito Lindo
Amor, Amor
Yours
Rio De Janiero

24 All Time Popular Tunes - Arthur Tatler

 

The Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo

24 All Time Popular Tunes
Arthur Tatler - Pianist with Rhythm
Halo 50283

Misleading cover art... to say the least. Dreadful budget set.

Ta Ra Ta Boom De Ay
The Bowery
Sidewalks Of New York
Just Like The Ivy I'll Cling To You
She Was One Of The Early Birds
Two Lovely Black Eyes
Meet Me Tonight In Dreamland
The Old Rustic Mill By The Bridge
Sweet Rosie O'Grady
And The Band Played On
Bill Bailey 
Break The News To Mother
Comrades
Little Annie Rooney
After The Ball
Silver Threads Among The Gold
In The Shade Of The Old Apple Tree
Daisy Bell
The Miners Dream Of Home
Honeysuckle And The Bee
When I Married Maria
I Wouldn't Leave My Little Wooden Hut
In The Good Old Summertime
The Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo

Jane In Spain - Jane Morgan

 

The Moon Was Yellow

Jane In Spain
Jane Morgan
Orchestra Conducted by Frank Hunter
KAPP Records, Inc. KL-1129
1959

The Moon Was Yellow
Adios
Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps
Perfidia
You Belong To My Heart
Baia
Granda
I Get Ideas
Be Mine Tonight
What A Difference A Day Made
Let Me Love You Tonight
Magic Is The Moonlight

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

The Rite Of Spring - Hubert Laws

 

The Rite Of Spring

Hubert Laws
The Rite Of Spring
Arranged by Don Sebesky
Produced by Creed Taylor
Cover Photography by Pete Turner
Liner Photography by Dean Brown
Album Design bu Bob Ciano
Recorded at Van Gelder Studios
Engineer: Rudy Van Gelder
Recorded June, 1971
CTI 6012

Personnel:

Flute: Hubert Laws
Guitar: Gene Bertoncini & Stuart Scharf (Brandenburg Concerto only)
Bass: Ron Carter
Drums: Jack DeJohnette
Vibes & Percussion: Dave Friedman
Piano, Electric Piano & Electric Harpsichord: Bob James
Basson: Wally Kane & Jane Taylor (Brandenburg Concerto only)
Percussion: Airto Moreira

From Billboard - September 18, 1971: Laws is a flute master and this LP only underscores that fact. His treatment of the classical Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, both the first and second movements, demonstrate the improvisational artist's ability to interpret and adapt other forms of music into his reals of reality. The tight percussion of Jack DeJohnette and the rhythmic patterns of Ron Carter with percussionist Airoo Moreira really sound off the tunes.

Pavane
The Rite Of Spring
Syrnix
Brandenburg Concerto #3 (Frist Movement)
Brandenburg Concerto #4 (Second Movement)

Once More With Feeling - Joe Venuti

 

Purple Pussycat

The Jazz Violin Of Joe Venuti
Once More With Feeling
Produced by Dick Schory & Marty Gold
Technical Director: Ron Steele
Recording Engineer: Rich Mays
Mastering Engineer: John Janus
Cover Photo: Reed Wallace
Cover Design: Gunar A. Barkans
Ovation Records STEREO OV/14-04
1969

Personnel:

Violin: Joe Venuti
Keyboard: Lou Stein
Bass: Jack Lesberg
Drums: Cliff Leeman
Percussion: Bobby Christian 
Guitar: Ron Steele

Popi
Little Green Apples
By The Time I Get To Phoenix
Les Bicyclettes De Belsize
Windmills Of Your Mind
Autumn Leaves
I Wanna Be Happy
Purple Pussycat
Undecided
Four Finger Joe

The Middle Road - Jimmy McPartland

 

Stranger In The Night

The Middle Road
Jimmy McPartland and His Orchestra
Jazztone Society Classic J-1227
1956

Personnel:

Jimmy McPartland - Cornet
Marian McPartland - Piano
Bill Stegmeyer - Clarinet
Bud Freeman - Tenor Sax
Vic Dickerson - Trombone
Joe Morello - Drums
Milt Hinton - Bass

From the back cover: 

James Duigold McPartland was right there at the beginning of what has come to be known as "Chicago Style" jazz. Of Scottish extraction, Jimmy was born in the Windy City on March 15, 1907 and began playing violin at the age of five, switching to cornet at fifteen. A charter member of the famous Austin High School Gang, Jim, along with his banjo playing brother Dick, Bud Freeman on C Melody sax, Frank Teschemacher, violin and Jim Lannigan, piano, drew early inspiration from the Original New Orleans Rhythm Kings and the Wolverines. The Austin High Gang soon augmented their little band: Frank Teschemacher switched from fiddle to clarinet and Lannigan from piano to bass, while Dave Tough, Floyd O'Brien and Dave North moved in on drums, trombone and piano. This was in 1923, and it was also at about this time that McPartland first ran into young Benny Goodman, with whom he was soon to work and later to play.

In 1925 Jimmy replaced the great Bix Beiderbecke in the Wolverines, and a year later he joined Art Kassel. Then, from 1927 to 1929, he worked with Ben Pollack's orchestra along with Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and several other now famous names. The depression years found him working in Broadway pit bands and with a succession of "commercial" groups. In 1936 he broke loose and formed his own little jazz combo, leaving it a few years later to join Jack Teagarden, with whom he remained until the war broke out. In 1941 Jimmy became a member of the Second Infantry Division and was a combat soldier in the Normandy invasion. Later on, while playing with a USO unit in Belgium in 1944, he met Marian Page, a British pianist working with another USO troupe. They were married in Aachen, Germany, in 1945 and returned to the United States very soon after the war was over. Back in the States, Marian and Jimmy worked together for a while but soon split up – professionally, that is. For the past few years Jimmy has  been freelancing, playing with his own and other jazz groups around the country.

Marian Margret Turner "Page" McPartland was born in Windsor, England on March 20, 1920. Coming from a musical family, she first studied violin and didn't get around to the piano until she was seventeen and a scholarship student at the Guildhall School of Music. She made her professional debut as half of a piano team and, with the outbreak of war, began working with ENSA and, later on, its American counterpart, the USO. After the war, as member of her husband's band, Marian began to attract the enthusiastic attention of both critics and fans, and she soon struck out on her own with the now famous Marian McPartland Trio. Combining a tremendous drive and an unerring sense of time with intelligent and sensitive musicianship. Marian is now acknowledged to be one of the world's finest jazz pianists, regardless of sex.

Lawrence "Bud" Freeman is often mistakenly considered a member of jazzdom's old guard. Born in Chicago on April 13, 1906, Bud, who is another alumnus of Austin High School, is far from traditional in either his ideas, his tone or his general musical outlook. A veteran of such bands as Ben Pollack's, Red Nichols', Ray Noble's, Benny Goodman's and Tommy Dorsey's, Bud has a style which, though easily recognizable, is not one that can be pegged as either dixieland, swing or modern. It is his own particular way of playing, and it has managed to cut across the artificial boundaries frequently set up by critics and cultists.

Vic Dickerson is another musician who has managed to find himself accepted as a master by his colleagues in all schools of jazz. Self-taught, Vic was born in Xenia, Ohio, in 1906. Until the 1930's, Vic worked throughout the midwest with dozens of now forgotten bands. In 1931 he joined Blanche Calloway, then worked with Claude Hopkins, Benny Carter, Count Basie, Sidney Bechet, Hot Lips Page, Frankie Newton and Eddie Heywood. For the past few years Vic has had his own groups, recorded prolifically with all sorts of combos, and has become a fixture in New York and Boston jazz circles

Bill Stegmeyer, who did all the arrangements for this session, was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on October 8, 1916. A former member of the original Glenn Miller band, Bill also worked with Bob Crosby, Billy Butterfield and several other jazz groups in New York. For the past few years he has been engaged principally in radio and television work as an arranger and is responsible for most of the writing on the "Hit Parade."

Milt Hinton was born in 1910 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and began his professional career in Chicago in 1932, first with Eddie South and then with Erskine Tate. He was with Cab Calloway from 1937 to 1942, and since then has been one of the most active and prolific bass players in the business, recording with modern, swing, dixieland and what-have-you groups as well as with combos under his own leadership.

Joe Morello has been with the Marian McPartland Trio since 1953 and has come to be recognized as one of the tastiest and most exciting of the younger drummers. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on July 17, 1928, his first big job was with Glen Gray in 1950. Before joining Marian he worked briefly with guitarist Johnny Smith at The Embers in New York and Stan Kenton. – Nat Shapiro

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