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Saturday, January 14, 2023

Red Foley's Golden Favorites

 

Plantation Boogie

Red Foley's 
Golden Favorites
Decca Records DL 4107
1961

Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy
Blues In My Heart
Shake A Hand
Blue Guitar
Salty Dog Rag
Smoke On The Water
Sugarfoot Rag
Old Kentucky Fox Chase
Birmingham Bounce 
Careless Kisses
M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I
Plantation Boogie

12 Great Performances Now For The First Time On Records - Johnny Horton

 

Tetched In The Head

12 Great Performances Now For The First Time On Records
Johnny Horton
I Can't Forget You
Produced by Dow Law and Frank Jones
Columbia CL 2299
1965

From the back cover: Johnny was born in Los Angeles. When he was a boy, his family moved to Texas where Johnny worked his way through high school. A star basketball player, he was offered twenty-six different athletic scholarships. At Seattle University, he majored in geology and petroleum engineering.

In high school, Johnny sang very little, except to his mother, "who taught me to play three chords in two keys on the guitar." During his college days, however, he became interested in composing and began to write numbers to sing for his classmates. One day in Los Angeles, a friend challenged him to enter a singing contest. He went to Harmony Park in nearby Anaheim, sang the thirteen songs he knew at the time – and won! A recording company executive heard him and helped him get a featured spot on "Home Town Jamboree," a program originating in El Monte, with Cliffie Stone and Tennessee Ernie as masters of ceremonies. Johnny's talents brought him a wide following and he was soon signed to appear on radio station KWKH's "Louisiana Hayride" in Shreveport, where many other important Country music stars got their first big opportunity.

For three years Johnny was famous throughout the South. Then he burst into nation-wide popularity with his single-record version of "The Battle Of New Orleans," which sold more than two million copies. What time he could spare from personal appearances and Nashville, Tennessee's recording studios, he devoted to is hobbies of hunting and fishing.

Then tragedy struck. In November 1960, Johnny was killed in an automobile accident en route from an engagement in Austin, Texas, to his Shreveport home. His unique artistry survives, however, in the recordings he left behind. Listen to him as he sings I Can't Forget You and the other songs in the album, and share in the urgency and vitality that make Johnny Horton himself unforgettable.

From Billboard - March 27, 1965: Collectors in the country field will want this package. It consists of 12 hitherto unreleased performances by the late, great country and folk singer. There are some Horton originals here, including "Hot In The Sugar Cane Field" and several notable other sides, one of which is the late Leon Payne's "Lost Highway."

Hot In The Sugar Cane Field
Lonesome And Heartbroken
Seven Come Elven
I Can't Forget You
Wise To The Ways Of A Woman
The Same Old Tale The Crow Told Me
Out In New Mexico 
Tetched In The Head
Just Walk A Little Closer
Don't Use My Heart For A Stepping Stone
I Love You, Baby
Lost Highway

L.A. Break Down - Jack Jones

 

'Round Midnight

L.A. Break Down
Jack Jones
Featuring Doug Talber at the piano
Arranged and Conducted by Pat Williams
Produced by Ernie Altschuler
Recording Engineer: Mickey Crofford
Recorded in RCA's Music Center of the World, Hollywood, California 
RCA Victor LSP-4108
1969

L.A. Break Down
Linda
'Round Midnight
Since I Fell For You
You've Changed
Good-Bye
Love Story
Lost In The Stars
I Think It's Goin' To Rain Today
My Man's Gone Now
But I Love You

Foreign Affair - Frankie Laine

 

Laura

Foreign Affair
Frankie Laine
Michel Legrand and His Orchestra
Columbia CL 1116
1958

From the back cover: Frankie Laine has always been widely popular in Europe, and among the reasons is his ability to sing in various language, a talent not always associated with a popular artist. Here, as the program unfolds, he is heard not only in English, but in French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese as well. This in itself is a compliment they return with enthusiasm. During his most recent tour, he amassed some of the finest notices of his career. "His talent," they said in London, "is unquestionable, and he has the experienced touch of a seasoned trouper." In Paris, France-Soir remarked "Frankie Laine chanteuses et nous sommes conquis." The Italians felt much the same way: "E un cantante inimitable." Brussels critics found him "un des maitres de l'école moderne de la chanson" and in Mechelen, they said "Frank zit boordevol ritme, showmanship en... talent," Now, all these things have been known to American audiences for a decade, but it is always nice to have one's opinions reinforced.

Michel Legrand is known to American almost entirely through his recordings, apart from a few fleeting television appearances but he is one of the most popular maestros on records. His highly unusual and distinctive approach to well-known standard songs has won him wide fame, and sent his record albums to the top of the best-seller lists. Still a very young man, M. Legrand is already a distinguished musician, with an invention and imagination that make him the envy of many older musicians. Note, for example, the remarkable introduction to Quiereme Mucho in this collection, an example (although far from typical; Legrand never does the same thing twice) of his fresh approach to music.

From Billboard - March 31, 1958: This is one of the singer's finest album efforts. Imaginative ork support by Michel Legrand. The chanter's rendition of "Laura" is enough to sell the set. It's done with both French and English lyrics. The other selections comprise a listenable array of American and international standards. Good cover shot of the artist.

Laura 
Mam'selle
Addormentarmi cosi
Autumn Leaves
Nao tem solução
La Paloma
Mona Lisa
Si tu partais
Quiereme mucho
Torna a Surriento
Too Young
Besame mucho

Friday, January 13, 2023

Trio - Quartet - Quintet - Benny Goodman

 

The Man I Love

Benny Goodman
Trio - Quartet - Quintet
RCA Victor LPM 1226
1956

From the back cover: In a very real sense it is astonishing that the Benny Goodman Trio – and the the Quartet – ever got as popular as it did. For the Trio became a reality, first on RCA Victor records and then in person at the Joesph Urban Room of the Congress Hotel in Chicago, when small-band jazz was at an ebb. Even in 1935 the trend was toward the bigger and more flamboyant; a good big band could make it all the way, but a good little one had an awfully tough time.

The smashing success of the Goodman Trio can be accredited to the marvelous artistry and enormous acceptance of Goodman himself, and to the superb taste of the American public. Right in the midst of the sensational flowering of swing, just when the Goodman band was swinging back triumphantly across the country towards everlasting fame and glory, a new note was introduced in the persons of the Benny Goodman Trio. All at once fourteen men would stop playing, Helen Ward would cease singing, and three men – Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson and Gene Krupa – would slide forward into the spotlight. These three would hold forth in their own inimitable way, playing a style of chamber jazz that was both unique and endlessly inventive. They changed moods often, swinging lightly, melodically on tunes like Body And Soul and Oh, Lady Be Good, while setting sparks to such an old chestnut as Tiger Rag. Here was splendid teamwork, and the crowds never stopped cheering.

Almost everyone knows that the Goodman Trio actually began at a party given by Mildred Bailey in 1935. The Trio became a Quartet when the Goodman band was in Hollywood making "The Big Broadcast of 1937," for that was when Benny discovered Lionel Hampton working in a Los Angeles saloon called the Paradise Café. One of the most electrifying personalities of our time, Hampton's addition to the Trio gave it a whole new dimension. Even before he joined the Goodman organization in person, the Quartet had cut several sides for RCA Victor, of which Dinah is one.

Hampton himself is an old Derbyite from Louisville, Kentucky, who galloped through such towns as Birmingham and Chicago before ending up in Los Angeles doing something titled Skeleton In The Closet with Louis Armstrong for the film, "Pennies Form Heaven." He's a nimble if not expert pianist, a rattling fine drummer, an engaging singer, and a simply terrific vibraharpist. Krupa, like Goodman, is a Chicagoan, who went with Red Nichols and Irving Aaronman, before joining Goodman. Teddy Wilson, that superbly creative pianist, walked softly around Austin, Texas, and Toledo, Ohio before dropping in to Chicago to play first with Erskine Tate, then Jimmy No-one and Benny Carter, before going with Goodman. Krupa's position on drums is taken over by the late Dave Tough of Sweet Georgia Brown and Opus 1/2, and there are many astute observers who will tell you that Davey was the best dance-jazz band drummer who ever lived. The only other diversion from the Goodman-Wilson-Krupa-Hampton team is with the Quintet number, Pike-a-Rib, a tune put together by Goodman and Hamp, and featuring BG, Hamp, Teddy, drummer Buddy Schutz, and that superlative bass player of Onyx Club fame, John Kirby.

Aside from the fact that these were first-rate musicians, I know that these Trio and Quartet records are as fine as they are because Goodman and the others loved making them. The big band was terrific. But Goodman was and is to this day a fellow who loves playing purely improvised jazz. And when you have yourself a 14-piece band, the arranger for the main part must take over while the improvisation hangs loosely around the edges. With the Trio and Quartet, Benny could improvise to his heart's content, which is all that anyone could ask.

Remember this too: good improvisation never grows stale. This record will be as good years from now as it is today and was in 1939. These selections are landmarks of a brilliant career. – Notes  by Fred Reynolds - Music Editor, Hi-Fi Music at Home Magazine

Whispering
The Man I Love
Opus 1/2
Sweet Georgia Brown
Body And Soul
Oh, Lady Be Good
Dinah
Sweet Sue – Just You
Smiles
Runnin' Wild
Tiger Rag
Pick-A-Rib

The Exciting Enzo Stuarti

 

All Of A Sudden My Heart Sings

The Exciting Enzo Stuarti
Produced by Bob Stephens
Cover Design: Stephen P. Haas Studios
Jubilee Records 5027

The Seventh Dawn
Summertime In Venice
All Of A Sudden My Heart Sings
You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You
Why Is My Heart Such A Fool
Love My Love (Love Senza Tramonto)
La Domenica
I Understand
Forever And A Day
The Night Our Love Began
Just One Yesterday

The Most Beautiful Girl! - Pickwick Singers

 

The Most Beautiful Girl!

The Most Beautiful Girl!
The Pickwick Singers and Chorus
Pickwick International, Inc.
SPC-3370
1974

The Most Beautiful Girl
And I Love You So
Be
Cherish
Touch Me In The Morning
Where Is The Love
Speak Softly Love
Help Me Make It Through The Night
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Cole Porter Favorites - International Pop Orchestra/110 Musicians

 

So In Love

Cole Porter Favorites
International Pop Orchestra
110 Musicians
Wyncote SW 9063

Begin The Beguine
Wunderbar
So In Love
Climb Up The Mountain

Thursday, January 12, 2023

Rotary Connection

 

Black Noise & Memory Band

Rotary Connection
Arranged by Charles Stepney
Produced by Marshall Chess and Charles Stepney
Cover Design: Harris, Binzer & Churchill
Photography: Curt Cole Burkhart
Recording Engineer: Doug Brand
Electronic Effects: Bill Bradley (Didn't Want To Do It)
Cadet Concept LPS 312
1968

Rotary Connection Vocals: Bobby Simms, Judy Hauff, Mitch Aliotta, Kenny Venegas, Sidney Barnes and Minnie Ripperton

Amen
Rapid Transit
Turn Me On
Pink Noise
Lady Jane
Like A Rollin' Stone
Soul Man
Sursum Mentes
Didn't Want To Do It
Black Noise
Memory Band
Ruby Tuesday
Rotary Connection

'Round Midnight - Hazel Scott

 

For You, For Me, Forevermore

'Round Midnight
Hazel Scott
Piano Solos with Rhythm Accompaniment
On cover: George Steck Piano
Decca Records DL 8474
1957

From the back cover: Miss Scott's musicianship dates back to the age of five, at which time her mother, a leader of an all-girl orchestra, both taught her daughter and gave her the opportunity of playing in public. She was born and raised in the capitol of Calypso music, Trinidad, but came to this country with her family at the age of four. She earned her own radio series in 1936, but found her first great fame as a singing entertainer on Broadway, where she introduced the song, "Franklin D. Roosevelt Jones," in the show "Sing Out The News." The show led her to the night clubs and her first major appearance at Cafe Society in 1939 was so completely successful that it established Hazel as one of the leading night club entertainers in the business virtually overnight. It led to work in all the major clubs in the country, and to Hollywood where she appeared in several movies. Ultimately, she moved her dynamic act into concert halls and played before sellout audiences.

From Billboard - May 20, 1957: A tasty collection of less familiar show tunes and other items that are standards to the intimate-type club crowd. Scott performances are superbly controlled, lightly improvisational with a nod to recent jazz trends in the phrasing. With a little promotional push, this disk could do well. Certainly worth demonstrating to customers with a taste for more than a rock and roll beat.

'Round Midnight
Just Imagine
It's You Or No One
It's Easy To Remember
Lucky To Be Me
Maybe
I Wish I Didn't Love You SO
(In The) Wee Small Hours (Of The Morning)
Love Is The Thing
Ev'ry Time
For You, For Me, Forevermore

Spanish Guitars - David Moreno

 

Aires Moriscos

Spanish Guitars
David Moreno
Recorded in Mexico City
David Moreno photos by Ysunza Nieto of Mexico City
Capitol Records T10045

From the back cover: David Moreno is a guitarist's guitarist – a native of Spain who has performed with unqualified success throughout Europe, and who has more recently been living in Mexico.

He is 29 years old, and unlike his idols, Segovia and Don Regino Sainz de la Maza of the Convervatory of Madrid – whom he claims is the "second best guitar player in the world and easily the most obscure," Moreno's sharp Iberian mind leans to the mechanical.

That's why this refreshing collection of Moreno performances is simply entitled "Spanish Guitars." It is in the plural because David believes he can produce better, more interesting and artistic music, by overdubbing himself of certain selections.

"The effects are much more musical," he says. "First I record the selection straight – as written –   but then I run the original 'master' tape again and embellish and augment the first performance with colorful additions. "The selections take on new and far more vivid colors. And Moreno's sounds are unlike the sounds achieved by any other guitarist in the world.

Moreno comes from a family in the obscure little village of Gijón, Spain, comprised of  non-musicians. Neither of his parents or several brothers have musical inclinations. But at 4 years of age, little David was learning to master the requite – a small, Spanish guitar.

At the close of the Civil War in Spain, in 1937, David and his family moved to Madrid. There his father died. David promptly earned his first pesetas - exactly 50 - doing an "in person" show at the modest "La Latina" Theater.

The years passed, and as all musicians must, Moreno traveled extensively. There were periods when he accompanied dancers, and eventually he covered the U.S.A. and South America as a featured musician in Carmen Amaya's troupe.

Moreno now exults in his Mexian residence, and his hard-won independence as a soloist rather than a lowly accompanist for noisy flamenco dancers and singers. But even now, a favorite of Latins throughout the world, he still doesn't read music.

"I don't really know anything about music," he confides. "Everything I play I play by ear. If it is classical I hear it once, then perform it my own way, sometimes with two guitars recorded in harmony with each other. I also compose. It isn't really vital for one to read musical notation. The heart – el corazón is far more important."

Los Sitios de Zaragosa
Cuatro Sevillanas
Aires Moriscos
La Cumparsita
Ojos Verdes, A. Vargas Heredia and La Bien Paga
Malaguena
Jotas Aragonesas
Tanguillo-Las Hijas de Don Juan Alba
Alegrias
Asturias y Galicia

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Buskin Spotlights Berlin

 

Bushkin Spotlights Berlin

Bushkin Spotlights Berlin
Joe Bushkin Plays Fifty Irving Berlin Hit Tunes
Arrangements: Joe Bushkin and Glenn Osser
Cover Photography: Derujinsky
Design and Typography: Bob Cato
Notes by Gilbert Millstein of The New York Times
Capitol Records T 911
1957

From the back cover: Joe Bushkin is a slender, exuberant man, a pianist, composer and arranger of superb talents and impeccable taste upon whom what may very likely be the ultimate cachet was bestowed a number of years ago by Frank Sinatra, a tall pillar of rectitude in artistic matters. "One of the things I hated to leave when I quit the Dorsey band," Sinatra said, "was the piano playing of Joe Bushkin." He had another, equally cogent reason for gratification: It was while playing with Tommy Dorsey's band that Joe wrote his first song, "Oh Look At Me Now," which became Sinatra's first hit. In the course of a career marked by an initial precocity and a steady maturation, Bushkin has served his muse outwardly with a sort of gay, effortless distinction and consideration extemporaneous wit; with what inward trepidation he moved and shook her is not apparent. He remains unmarked. Joe did tours of duty with Bunny Berigan, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong. During the war, he was swept up in the impressive array of talent that constituted the cast of the Army Air Force's production, "Winged Victory," and succeeded David Rose as its musical director. Later, he was sent to the Pacific and wound up in Tokyo, without his piano. After the war, he appeared in night clubs and theaters an on radio and television. In 1949, he became an actor (thus releasing a long-held, ill-suppressed desire), playing a musician in Garson Kanin's "The Rat Race," for which he also wrote the incidental music. The music of Irving Berlin has long been a preoccupation of Bushkin's. He has recorded some of it from time to time and he has even played it in Carnegie Hall. When it came to his attention that 1957 would signalize Berlin's fiftieth anniversary as a composer, Bushkin undertook the task of selecting fifty of the master's greatest songs (the choices were difficult ones) and recording them for Capitol. He could think of no more heartfelt tribute. His readings of the songs are proof enough of his sentiments.

The Great Jimmy Dorsey

 

Besame Mucho

The Great Jimmy Dorsey
Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra
Featuring Bob Eberly, Helen O'Connell and Kitty Kallen
Decca Record DL 8609
1957

From the back cover: These were the "golden" years for Jimmy Dorsey... the years when vocalists Helen O'Connell, Bob Eberly and Kitty Kallen were on hand turning out hit after hit... Remember "Green Eyes," "Amapola," "Tangerine," "Marie Elena"? (all on DL 8153).

From Billboard - October 28, 1957: Here's a group of a dozen perennial favorites from the Decca "J. D." catalog. Examples are "My Prayer,' "Star Eyes," "I Understand," "I'm Glad There Is You," etc. Bob Eberly, Hellen O'Connell and Kitty Kallen share in the vocals. Dorsey fans will not mind the absence of the very lastest hi-fi sound.

Contrasts
Star Eyes
My Prayer
Body And Soul
Besame Mucho
High On A Windy Hill
Holiday For Strings
I Understand
Time Was
I'm Glad There Is You
Embraceable You
My Devotion

Tuesday, January 10, 2023

The Golden Era Of Glenn Miller - Stanley Applewaite

 

String Of Pearls

The Golden Era Of Glenn Miller
Stanley Applewaite and His Orchestra
Design Records DLP 61
A Product of Pickwick Sales, Corp.

Moonlight Serenade 
American Patrol
In The Mood
Strings Of Pearls
Jeannie With The Light Brown Hair
Bugle Call Rag
Volga Boatman
Londonderry Air
Anvil Chorus
When Johnny Comes Marching Home

Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? - Jimmy Smith

 

Slaughter On Tenth Avenue

Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
Jimmy Smith
Arranged by Oliver Nelson and Claus Ogerman
Produced by Creed Taylor
Cover Photograph by Ray De Caracas
Designed by Acy Lehman
Director Of Engineering: Val Valentin
Recorded in New York on Jan. 20, 21 & 27, 1964
Verve V-8583

From the inside cover: I recall my introduction to Jimmy Smith when Babe Gonzales phoned me from New York and blurted: "Hey, Brother 'B', are you hip to this organ playin' cat from Philly, named Jimmy Smith"? He's a boss cat on the Hammond Organ," I would have merely listened politely, but when Babs Gonzales invested his hard-earned cash to call from New York, then I knew it was important. I immediately went over to the swingingest record shop in Chicago, the Met, and ear-checked some Jimmy Smith L.P.'s.

Jimmy had only two releases at that time, but I heard enough to become a great fan. However, I did not have the pleasure of meeting him until a year or two later, in Chicago, when Jimmy and his bride where honeymooning. His wife proved to be charming, devoted, and a real asset to Jimmy's sky-rocketing career. Mrs. Smith, a former school teacher, and I discussed the possibility of booking Jimmy for an appearance in Chicago. The rest is history.

Jimmy Smith now stands alone; a very masterful organist. He is so far in front of his competition on this particular instrument that he is lonesome.

As an artist, he approaches his craft with deep conviction. This instrument has given him the freedom to express himself in a manner that was not possible with the piano.

At your earliest opportunity, observe Jimmy Smith with his second love – the organ. At times he is caressingly gentle, and then he attacks his instrument with a fierceness that leaves him limp. He wrings his fingers with an expression of discontent because he finds it impossible to release the 10 million different combinations of sound that are embraced in this fantastic Hammond Organ.

Jazzistically speaking, the finest thing to happen for jazz in recent years has been the merger of Jimmy Smith and Oliver Nelson.

Oliver is a musician par excellence... a prolific arranger... a creative composer who has a fierce pride in his work. Although I was first introduced to Nelson's music in 1961, with his "Afro-American Sketches" LP. (which still moves me emotionally), it wasn't until January of 1964 that I met him personally. My introduction was initiated with a scheduled 15 minute interview on my radio program. This interview extended itself into 2 1/2 hours of stimulating conversation. Nelson was frankly truthful and outspoken.

This is a very ambitious LP. You just didn't find jazzmen rolling around with classics such as Slaughter On Tenth Avenue until now.

But the masterpiece, as far as I am concerned, is Jimmy Smith's skillful interpretation of Nelson's arrangement of the music score written by Don Kirkpatrick and Kevin Knox, based on New York's great hit, Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? Part I has all the necessary ingredients to capture the imagination of the typical jazz buff. It has fire and endless excitement... Part II is a tribute to Nelson's ability to completely release Smith on a solo showcase of Jimmy at his finest... here Smith's talent is completely uninhibited and soars in complete abandon. – Daddio Daylie

Note: Holme (Daddio) Daylie is regraded as one of the nation's leading authorities on jazz. Daddio is currently heard four hours daily on WAAF, and Saturday night over WMAQ, an NBC owned and operated station. Daddio has never wavered from his format of broadcasting jazz exclusively during the 15 years he has been broadcasting. Daddio is equally famed as jazz impresario in Chicago, by presenting America's leading jazz artists in concert in the Windy City's beautiful Air Crown Theatre, with overflow crowds of 5000 delighted fans.

From Billboard - April 18, 1964: Jimmy Smith is trying some different things here. Along with a heavy dose of the blues, soul feel, he's demonstrating unique pop concepts. One is the "Slaughter On 10th Avenue" sound. There's some hard-bitten sound for the literati in "Virginia Woolf" tracks too. Best Track: "Women Of The World".

Slaughter On Tenth Avenue
Whos' Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? - Part 1
Who's Afraid Of Virginaia Woolf - Part 2
John Brown's Body
Wive And Lovers
Women Of The World
Bluesette

Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra

 

On Green Dolphin Street

Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra
Loin L70063

From the back cover: Here's the late Jimmy Dorsey, his sax and clarinet, and his orchestra in some of his greatest record hits – a fitting memorial to his talents and one that is, as he would have wanted it, pleasure-filled for his fans.

The Dorsey named Jimmy was one of the true "greats" of American "pop" music – a fine instrumentalist, a knowing composer, a craftsmanly arranger, and above all, the creator of one of the most solid "big band"sounds around. Born in 1904 and passing's on in 1957, his career covered the growth of our music from Dixie through swing and onto progressive sounds. He conducted his career from band-stands of ball-rooms, hotels, theaters, radio, movies and television, excelling in each medium. From his own pen streamed such songs as "I'm Glad There Is You," "It's The Dreamer In Me," "Two Again," such instrumentals as "John Silver" and "Contrasts". In everything he did, Jimmy was a musician and a band-leader par excellence, one of the men who helped shape twentieth century American music.

Angela Mia (My Angel)
Ballerina
Moon Over Miami
Quien Sabe? (Who Knows?)
At Sundown
If I Were You
Three O'Clock In The Morning
On Green Dolphin Street
A Sunday Kind Of Love
Pots And Pans
Heartaches
Easy To Love

Monday, January 9, 2023

Up-Up And Away - Ray Martin

 

Words

Up-Up And Away
Ray Martin and His Orchestra
Produced by Ethel Gabriel
Recorded in RCA Victor's Studio B, New York City
Recording Engineer: Bob Simpson
RCA Victor CAL-2181
1967

Up-Up And Away
Pleasant Valley Sunday
Don't Sleep In The Subway
The Windows Of The World
More And More
The Sweetest Thing This Side Of Heaven
Brave New World
Words
My Mammy (The Sun Shines East - The Sun Shines West)
Carrie-Anne

This Is Glenn Miller

 

Pavanne

This Is Glenn Miller
RCA Victor LPM 1190
1956

From the back cover: One of the country's leading dance band critics once said, "Of all the leaders I've ever met, the one who knows most what he wants, and who's best able to get what he wants from his men, is Glenn Miller!"

There were several reasons for this. Glenn Miller was a forceful man. He was also a thoughtful and intelligent man, He planned his moves carefully, but once his mind was made up, nothing could deter him from making those moves which he had planned.

He was gifted with both a commercial sense and musical education and taste. He was a business man, who appreciated the difficulties that musical purists face when dealing with the general public, but who perhaps appreciated even more the facts that a leader of a dance band must face up to his obligations to his dancers and listeners, his musicians and their families, and to his investors and himself.

Glenn took all these viewpoints under wise and careful consideration whenever he made his moves. This meant selecting not only proper material, songs and arrangements for his orchestra, but also working personnel who would help him steadfastly to carry out his plans.

His musicians were well disciplined by Glenn himself, who, because of his extensive musical education and experience, was able to tell them clearly and concisely what he wanted them to do, and also to make sure that they did as directed. The results were reflected in his clean, clear sectional and ensemble sounds. Being a jazzman at heart, however, he never interfered with his musicians' ad lib solos, permitting sidemen like Tex Beneke and Billy May and Johnny Best and all the rest complete freedom whenever the arrangements called for hem to go out on their own.

Those arrangements, too, stemmed from Glenn. It was he who created the band's distinguishing trademark the use of the clarinet with the saxes, the ooh-war's of the brass, the ingenious use of various types of mutes. He wrote some of the arrangements himself. Others he discussed in advance with Jerry Gray, who then carried out the final musical plans. There was just one exception. Glenn had discovered a brilliant young arranger named Bill Finegan (now one half of the Sauter-Finegan band duo), who was permitted almost complete free rein with his writing.

The opening selection of this album, Johnsons Rag, is a Finegan arrangement, presenting one of those slow build-ups, culminating in a rousing finish, that characterized so many of the band's swing numbers. The first eight bars of tenor are by Beneke, the second two by Al Klink. Glenn takes the trombone break and Clyde Hurley the trumpet solo.

My Isle Of Golden Dreams is another arrangement by Finegan, sporting some pretty Beneke tenor and a tempe change that musicians have often admired but which has startled many a confused dancer.

Anvil Chorus, arranged by Jerry Gray, shows off the band's magnificent ensemble execution, plus solos from Beneke, trumpeter Billy May, clarinetist Ernie Caceres and bassist Trigger Alpert.

At Last is one of the most successful of all Glenn Miller's ballad renditions. This version show the wonderfully rich sounds that the orchestra was able to produce.

Sun Valley Jump, from the movie "Sun Valley Serenade," is a typical jumping blues, written by Jerry Gray, and showing off much of the musicians swinging talents.

Chattanooga Choo Choo is one of the band's all-time successes, a happy swinging novelty, complete with lost of singing and whistling from Tex Beneke – a versatile lad, he – and that a fine Miller vocal group, the Modernaires. This is the version from the "Sun Vally Serenade" sound track.

Side Two of this album begins with a lovely arrangement by Jerry Gray of the well-known waltz, Beautiful Ohio, complete with Beneke's tenor and one of Chummy MacGregor's few recorded piano solos. (MacGregor was probably Glenn's closest friends, the band's oldest member in point of service, and extremely popular with everyone connected with the outfit).

Pavanne, the familiar Morton Gould composition, gets the Miller band treatment via another Finegan arrangement, with Beneke and Miller's trombone, again spotted.

Danny Boy, one of the band's oldest arrangements, written by Miller and MacGregor, features Chummy on celeste and some very pretty Miller horn. This number used to be especially effective on theater dates.

Adios is another tasty, sweet arrangement by Jerry Gary, with Mickey McMickle supplying the pretty muted trumpet passage and Doc Goldberg plucking the clean bass notes.

Serenade In Blue, another standard ballad with the band, is herewith presented in a concertized arrangement, complete with some very lovely John Best trumpet played against the saxes, good Ray Elberle singing and more pretty Beneke tenor saxing.

Bugle Call Rag, like the preceding selection taken from the sound track of the band's movie, "Orchestra Wives," is a typical Miller screaming flag-waver, fast, loud and jumping, generating a maximum amount of musical excitement for the Miller fans.

This, then is Glenn Miller – the man and his music – one of the really great leaders of one of the really great dance bands of this or any other age. Listen and you will know why. – Notes by George T. Simon - George T. Simon, former editor of Metronome, is now free-lance recording producer and television writer.

Johnson Rag
My Isle Of Golden Dreams
Anvil Chorus
At Last
Sun Valley Jump
Chattanooga Choo Choo
Beautiful Ohio
Pavanne
Danny Boy (Londonderry Air)
Adios
Serenade In Blue
Bugle Call Rag

Emil Coleman Lights Up The Plaza

 

Eso Es El Amor

Emil Coleman Lights Up The Plaza
New York
Emil Coleman and His Orchestra
Arranged by Jim Tyler and Sy Oliver
Philips Records PHM 200-041
1962

Who Cares
The Man I Love
Give Me The Simple Life
Eso Es El Amor
St Louis Blues
Do It Again
I've Got A Crush On You
I Wish I Were In Love Again from "Babes In Arms"
Soon
Similau
Ballin' The Jack
Love Is Sweeping The Country

Sarah Vaughan - Michel Legrand

 

Blue, Green, Grey And Blue

Sarah Vaughan
Orchestra Arranged and Conducted by Michel Legrand
Michel Legrand Courtesy of Bell Records
Produced by Bob Shad
Engineer: Chuck Britz
Cover Photograph: William Hennigar
Photography: Charles Fretzin
Consultant: Marshall Fisher
Album Design: Ruby Mazur's Art Department
Mainstream Records 361
1972

Keyboard: David Grusin, Mike Wofford, Artie Kane

French Horns: Vince De Rosa, Bill Hinshaw, Art Maebe, George Price, Sinclair Lott, Ralph Pyle, Dick Perissi, Dick Macker

Guitar: Tom Tedesco

Bass: Ray Brown, Chuck Berghofer, Bob Magnusson

Fender: Chuck Rainey

Drums: Shelly Manne, John Guerin

Percussion: Larry Bunker

Oboe: Arnold Koblenz

Woodwinds: Bud Shank, Pete Christlieb, Jerome Richardson, Bob Cooper, Bernie Fleischer

Trumpet: Buddy Childers, Chuck Findlay, Conte Candoli, Gary Barone, Al Aarons

Trombones: Lloyd Ulyate, Charley Loper, Frank Rosolino, Grover Mitchell, Bob Knight, George Roberts

Tuba: Tommy Johnson

Violins: Israel Baker, Ralph Schaeffer, Arnold Belnick, Marvin Limonick, George Berres, Shirley Cornell, Sam Freed, Alex Murray, Thelma Beach, Bernie Kundell, George Kast, Herman Clebanoff, Carl Lamaga, Joe Stepansky, Anatol Kaminsky, Irv Geller, Joe Chessman, Nate Kaproff, Dorothy Wade, Mort Herbert, Hal Dicterow, Glenn Dicterow, Erno Neufeld, Jake Krachmalnick, Gerry Vinci, Jim Getzoff.

Viola: Allan Harshman, Milt Thomas, Rollice Dale, Alex Neiman, Myer Bello, Bob Ostrowsky, Virginia Majewski, Mary Newkirk, Dave Schwartz, Myra Kestenbaum

Cello: Ed Lustgarden, Ray Kramer, Fred Seykora, Ron Cooper, Marie Fera, Emmett Savent, Jesse Erilich

Basses (Arco): Milt Kestenbaum, Abe Luboff, Mickey Nadel, Pete Mercurio, Ray Siegel

Harp: Dorothy Remsen, Verlye Mills

Voices: Evangeline Carmichael, Sally Stevens, Suzy McCune, Sara Jane Kane, Jackie Ward,  Betty Jane Baker, Sue Allen, Peggy Clark, Ron Hicklin, John Bahler, Tom Bahler, Gene Merlino, Mitch Gordon, Jan Smith, Gene Morford

The Summer Knows (Theme from "Summer Of '42)
What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life
Once You've Been In Love
Hands Of Time (Brian's Song)
I Was Born In Love With You
I Will Say Goodbye
Summer Me, Winter Me
His Eyes, Her Eyes
Pieces Of Dreams
Blue, Green, Grey And Gone

Sunday, January 8, 2023

Polynesian Fantasy - The Out Islanders

 

The Moon Of Manakoora

Polynesian Fantasy
An Exotic Musical Mood Adventure by The Out Islanders
Produced by Dave Cavanaugh and Curly Walter
Cover Photo by Tom Kelly
Capitol Records ST 1595
1961

From Billboard - August 7, 1961: The most interesting thing about this group is the presence of Billy May as arranger and Charlie Barnet as sax soloist, neither of whom are known for their Polynesian proclivities. However, the results are lush, Hawaiian stylings with much use of the steel guitar and various percussion instruments of the Islands, set against a substantial woodwind sections. Included are "Ebb Tide," "Beyond The Reef," "Poinciana," and several numbers featuring the high soprano stylings of Loulie Jean Norman and Marni Nixon. Delightful mood wax with a most displayable cover.

My Tase
Little Island
The Moon Of Manakoora - the voice of Loulie Jean Norman
China Sea
Beyond The Reef
Sand In My Shoes
Poinciana
Return To Paradise - the voice of Marni Nixon
Sea Breeze
Moon Mist - the voice of Loulie Jean Norman
Ebb Tide
Honorable Hong Kong Rock