Latin, Lush And Lovely - Morton Gould

 

Vamos

Latin, Lush And Lovely

Morton Gould and His Orchestra

Arrangements by Morton Gould

Produced by Joseph Habig

Recording Engineer: Lewis Layton

STEREO LSC-2752

1964

From the back cover: Music is a constant adventure for both performer and listener. At least, it should be. This album was very deliberately undertaken by Morton Gould as an adventure. It is, for him, a jwliay from the concert repertory on which he usually concentrates.

"I wanted to play things that I had never done before," he explained. "I was curious to see what would happen when I interpreted these Latin pieces in my own personal way."

He chose a program based on relatively new but familiar tunes – tunes from films, Caribbean folk material, a couple of older selections – a pari of tuens that would be new to almost every listener (Vamos and Encantado) and, as a signature, one Morton Gould composition, Tropical.

With a full orchestra of strings, winds, brass and percussion, Gould has approached these compositions in a manner that is both typical (that is, natural) for him and, at the same time, a distinct departure.

The departure is in the style of his arrangements.

"My intent was to give color and character to music that is basically simple," he declared. "So I've tried to keep the approach simple. The arrangements are lineal. They're very open and transparent instead of being in the saturation style, with masses of chords and sounds, that used to be the common way of doing material of this sort. This enables a big orchestra to play popular material and to give it a contemporary approach through a feeling of clarity and sparseness."

The one selection on which Gould has used the more traditional blocking style of arranging instead of a lineal approach is hi sown Tropical, which he wrote several years ago and which was originally orchestrated in the blocking style. He has adapted that original arrangement for this recording, but he has kept remnants of the big block effects because the movement of the piece is strong enough to carry them.

The aspect of Gould that is thoroughly typical of him in his treatment of these selection is that he approaches them completely on his own terms as a musician.

"Many of these pieces are basically jazz material," he pointed out, "and they're associated with small groups and in improvisational approach that a large group can't duplicate. Personally, I don't hear these pieces in terms of jazz sounds, although I'm aware of this sound and I appreciate it. I simply use them as a jumping-off-place for orchestral settings. I work in terms of a large array of orchestral forces – a large group of strings and a large group of winds."

Some of these tunes – Never On Sunday and Adiós – Gould has visualized as serenades. To stimulate this idea, he has used pizzicato strings in the way that a guitar might be used as accompaniment. 

Jamaica Farewell, Yellow Bird and Anna he has treated in a kind of classical way yet with rhythmic subtlety and flexibility that are typically popular in feeling ("It's a new-classical jazz treatment that I've been doing for  years." Gould added, "starting with some of my early compositions").

On Adiós, Anna, Vamos and Encantado, he used two complete string orchestras place in the studio so as to achieve a simple antiphonal effect.

"The purpose of this," he explained, "is to get an additional sense of color. We get different colors by using different instruments, but in this case I am getting what amounts to subtle variation in shade from the same color,"

Even the rhythm, which is one of the most distinctive features of these Latin-based tunes, carries a typically Gouldian touch.

"A rhythmic percussion section is the least important of my concerns," he asserted. "I use my rhythm more in terms of ornamentation than as a steady pulsating beat."

As a result, the rhythmic load is frequently carried by pizzicato strings which establish a kind of rhythm that is autonomous to itself and does not depend on the relentless beat of a drummer.

So, while these tunes are Latin and they are lush and they are lovely, they are also distinctively Gould – pure Gould.

One Note Samba

More (Theme from "Mondo Cane")

Yellow Bird

Anna (El Negro Zumbon)

Adiós (Madriguera)

Tropical

Jamaica Farewell

Vamos (Daexar de Conversa)

Encantado

Never On Sunday

Amor

Desafinado

A Session With Chet Atkins

 

Caravan

A Session With Chet Atkins

RCA Victor LPM-1090 RE

1961

From the back cover: Chet Atkins has built a bridge. With six steel guitar strings for material and the songs in this album for blueprints, he has brilliantly spanned the gulf between country and popular music. His co-worker in this enterprise are some of the top names in country music: Bud Isaacs, steel guitar; Dale Potter, fiddle; Ray Eddington, Rhythm guitar; John Gordy, piano and cellist; Bob Moore, bass; and Buddy Harman, drums. On the charts are as choice a collection of standard tunes as you will find in the annals of Tin Pan Alley.

The World's Most Popular Guitar got his first professional licks in at an age when most boys are coping with nothing more challenging than high school proms and algebra exams. Chet quit school in the miiddle of his Junior year for a job with Radio Station WNOX in Knoxville, Tennessee. In the long, lean years that followed hie wandered through the South and Midwest, hiring on at some ratio station as staff guitarist and inevitably getting fired. ("I couldn't wiggle or sing, all I could do was play the guitar..."). In 1950 he returned to Tennessee, this time as a featured performer in Nashville's famed Grand Ole Opry. Trher, without wiggling or singing, he has built a massive reputation as a great guitarist, a reputation already so enduring that it is hard to believe that Atkins is only in his mid-thirties. Today his style, like his reputation, is wide and varied. Chet is equally at home with Spanish, popular and classic guitar as he is with the country music that first launched him.

In this session, however, Chet returns to Nashville's strong musical tradition – but with some big differences. For one thing, there's the deliciously sophisticated sound of John Gordy's celeste adding non-local color to Caravan. Then, there's the impish Atkins humor that sneaks the ominous strain of Dragnet into a light-hearted rendition of Corrine, Corrine. And a pulsating change-of-pace Latin beat surges through A Gay Ranchero.

Throughout this entire album, you'll be conscious of the excellent musicians who surround Chet. But above all, you'll be constantly aware of Chet's mastery of his guitar. There's always a feeling of suspense... a waiting to see what surprise Chet will have ready on his next trip to the mike. And that feeling of suspense, of excitement is all the definition you need of the word, "artist."

South

Indiana (Back Home Again In Indiana)

Alabama Jubilee

Have You Ever Been Lonely? (Have You Ever Been Blue?)

Red Wing

Old Man River

Caravan

Corrine, Corrina

The Birth Of The Blues

A Gay Ranchero

Frankie And Johnnie

Honeysuckle Rose

Single Girl - Sandy Posey

 

Patterns

Single Girl

Sandy Pose

Produced by Chips Moman

Director of Engineering: Val Valentin

Engineers: Tommy Strong & Brent Maher

Cover Design: Jack Anesh

Cover Photo: Lee Friedlander

MGM Records E-4455

1966

From Billboard - March 11, 1967: Posey has enjoyed much success on the singles and LP charts, and this album follow-up to her recent hit should keep her very active. Her distinctive style is especially effective on "Don't Touch Me," "Here Comes My Baby Back Again" and a beautiful "A Place In The Sun." Top production work by Chips Moman.

Hey Mister

Patterns - Arranged my Bill McElhiney

A Place In The Sun - Arranged by Bill McElhiney

The Last Day Of Love

I'm Your Puppet - Arranged by Bill McElhiney

Here Comes My Baby Back Again - Arranged by Jim Hall

Single Girl

Shattered

See Ya' Round On The Rebound

Don't Touch Me - Arranged by Bill McElhiney

I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) - Arranged by Bill McElhiney

The Twelfth Of Never - Arranged by Jim Hall

Aloha Hawaii - Johnny Poi

 

Makalapua

Aloha Hawaii

Johnny Poi and The Oahu Islanders

Stereo Supervision: Dr. George Poisse-homme

Consultant: Dr. Harlow White, B.S.S.R.E.

Photo: Studio East

Design Records SS-68

1958

Aloha Oe

Hawaiian Wedding Song

Ua Like Not Like

Makalapua

Tahiti

Kila Kila Haleakala

Song Of The Islands

Tahu Tahu Wahi

One, Two, Three, Four

Hala Hiu Tree

Wiki Wiki Mai

Swingin' On A Star - The Three Suns

 

Blue Twilight

Swingin' On A Star

The Three Suns

Featuring King Curtis - Tenor Sax

Arranged by Charles Albertine

Produced by Al Nevins

Recorded in RCA Victor's Studio A, New York City, September 27, and October 4 and 20, 1958

Recording Engineer: Ernest Oclrich

RCA Victor LSP-1964

1959

From the back cover: The constant shortening of work hours and the consequent lengthening of "time for fun" are a stimulating force to the entertainment world. The music world is in turn stimulated by the development of new recording techniques and, with hi-fi and stereo, today's "world of sound" is better than ever.

In their latest RCA Victor album The Three Suns (Al and Morty Nevins and Artie Dunn) jumped on an imaginary space ship and are Swingin' On A Star. Their passenger on this jaunt is the driving insinuating saxophone of King Curtis.

The "rocking' in swing" experience makes use of all the familiar Three Suns' styling, the wonderful talents of King Curtis plus a sparkling rhythm section which adds a solid force to the accordion, guitar, organ and saxophone. The tunes are all "out of this world" in the most literal sense and so are the performances. Take particular note of Morty Nevin's glowing fresh way with an accordion on Moonglow. The exciting composer-arranger Charles Albertine has contributed three of his best compositions to the album: Moonlight Shuffle, Starlight Lullaby and Blue Twilight. Listening to his relaxed arrangements makes one suspect that he must have written them while suspended in orbit with a martini in one hand, a star-tipped pencil in the other, and a feeling that all is right in our swinging' world.

Swingin' On A Star

Moonglow

Moonlight Shuffle

Over The Rainbow

I'm Shootin' High

Blue Twilight

I'm Sitting On Top Of The World

Starlight Lullaby

By The Light Of The Silvery Moon

When You Wish Upon A Star

Out Of Nowhere

Breezin' Along With The Breeze

Bongo Rock - Incredible Bongo Band - Michael Viner

 

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Michael Viner's

Incredible Bongo Band

Bongo Rock

Produced by Michael Viner and Perry Boykin, Jr.

Special thanks to Can Base Studios, Vancouver

MGM Records PRIDE PRD-0028

1973

Let There Be Drums

Apache

Bongolia

Last Bongo In Belgium

Dueling Bongos

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Bongo Rock '73

The Eddy Arnold Songbook - Guitars Unlimited

 

Any Time

The Eddy Arnold Songbook

Guitars Unlimited

Nouveau - A Now Record by Design DLP-271

A Product of Pickwick International, Inc.

Bouquet Of Roses

A Heart Full Of Love

Any Time

Just A Little Lovin'

Take Me In Your Arms And Hold Me

Candy Kisses

Chained to A Memory

Don't Rob Another Man's Castle

I Really Don't Want To Know

You Don't Know Me

Country Style - Sandy Nelson

 

Geisha Girl

Country Style

Sandy Nelson

IR Imperial LP-9203

1962

From Billboard - August 25, 1962: Sandy Nelson's third album of the week features the lad playing country specialties. The group goes through the repertoire of country hits and comes up with some real winners. The tempo varies from track to track and throughout Nelson's ability with the sticks is evident. "Wolverton Mountain," "Geisha Girl," "Wild Side Of Life" and "Four Wall" are some of the better tracks.

North Wind

Wolverton Mountain

The Battle Of New Orleans

Geisha Girl

On A Honky Tonk Hardwood Floor

Bimbo

Waterloo

The Wild Side Of Life

The Tijuana Jail

Fraulein

Four Walls

Chew Tobacco Rag

Patti Page's Greatest Hits

Detour

Patti Page's Greatest Hits

(Newly recorded especially for this album)

Produced by Bob Johnston

Cover Photo: Frank Bez

Hair Styled by Lee Trent

Stereo - CS 9326

1966

Mockin' Bird Hill

(How Much Is That) Doggie In The Window

Detour

Mister And Mississippi

Old Cape Cod

I Went To Your Wedding

Tennessee Waltz

With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming

Changing Partners

Allegheny Moon

Aventures In Time - Dave Brubeck

 

Blue Shadows In The Street

Bluette

Dave Brubeck

Adventures In Time

Produced by Ted Macero

Editing Engineer: Russ Payne

Cover Art and Design: Teresa Alfieri

Cover Photos: Lee Freidlander

Manufactured by Columbia Records

Columbia STEREO G 30625

1971

From the inside cover: History has justified Br. Brubeck. But when Dave started fooling with odd time figures the predominant, almost exclusive, rhythm of American music was in 4/4.

Things in 5/4 or 7/4 or even more complex meters do not startle the people of many foreign countries. An Armenian drummer wouldn't bat an eyelash at 7/4 and tabla players in India approach much more complex rhythms with confidence, aplomb, and maybe even a little of that polite amusement with which many Western musicians look on the lay listener. In the first decade of this century Stravinsky wrote rhythmic configurations that boggled the minds, to say nothing of the fingers, of musicians required to play them. For a long time, however, American musicians, in popular music and jazz, were rendered acutely uncomfortable by anything other than good old 1-2-3-4.

When Fats Waller recorded The Jitterbug Waltz, it was considered peculiar, if not downright disloyal. Nobody played jazz in three. Three, in fact, was looked on as a little old fashioned, square, the kind of rhythm Mother used to make. Also, it was said, it didn't swing. Not so: three swings harder than four once you get the hang of it. The problem was that jazz an popular musicians didn't have the hang of it.

It always came out sounding as if they were wearing straight jackets while performing The Band Played On for a society wedding.

Dave Brubeck probably had more to do with changing that than any single bandleader.

Brubeck claims he was not alone. Drummer Max Roach and others were also making early experiments in the use of unconventional rhythms. But Dave, too, was a pioneer, and many authorities feel that he did more to popularize these ventures in time that anyone else in jazz.

There are two basic metric figures in music: two and three,. That's it. Everything else is compounded of them. A bar of 5/4 is a compound of three and two. You count it: one-two-three-one-two, one-two-three-one-two. (Sometimes however, just to make things harder on everybody, it's one-two-one-two-three.) Seen-four is simply four and three: four beats, three beats, four beats, three beats. In Indian music things can get much wilder, but let's leave that to someone else's liner notes about Ravi Shankar, and good luck to him.

Dave has long believed that the next direction in music is the assimilation of the various musical vocabularies of our many world cultures into one huge, enriched, musical language. African polyrhythms, European harmonic connections, Indian for even Japanese or Balinese or whatever) melodic ideas. This conviction lies at the foundation of much that Dave has done.

This album is a compendium of tracks of sundry Brubeckian adventures in time, most of them dating from the early 1960's. There is only one tune in the album that wasn't written by Dave or members of the quartet. He Done Her Wrong, and that's a variant on Frankie And Jonnie. Take Five and Eleven Four are Paul Desmond's handiwork, and Shim Wha was written by Joe Morello. Everything else came from Dave's pen for pencil, as the case may be). But most significantly only one tune in the album is in the traditional 4/4 of jazz.

Looking back on all these experiments, Dave provided the following breakdowns of the time figures of the tunes:

Unsquare Dance 7/4

Blue Rondo A La Turk: 9/8, the figure being divided into one-two/one-two/one-two/one-two-three.

Take Five: as noted, in 5/4

Castilian Drums: 5/4

It's A Rage Waltz: in three, sort of.

Blue Shadows In The Street: 9/8

Unisphere: 10/4

World's Fair: to quote Dave, "It's in 13 or 15. 1 forget." Don't worry about it, just enjoy. I make it fifteen.

Waltz Limp: in 3/4, basically. This was written for a ballet. At this point, the ballerina has lost her shoe – and her accent.

Countdown: 10/4

Maori Blues: 6/4

Three To Get Ready obviously implies the phrase "and four to go." And that's how it is – 2 bars of three, followed by 2 bars of four, making a basic rhythmic structure of 14 beats.

Cassandra: 4/4 until the release, then 3/4 is superimposed over the 4.

Cable Car: 3/4.

Charles Matthew Hallelujah, written for one of Dave's children on the day he was born, is the one selection in straight-ahead 4/4.

Kathy's Waltz, written for another little Brubeck, is in 3/4.

For More Drums: 5/4.

Shim Wah And Bluette: 3/4.

The interesting thing about these Brubeck tunes is that they feel and sound so natural, even more so today than at the time they were originally recorded. The success of this adventure can be seen in a personal anecdote. One day, in the spring of 1962. I was in a little night club in Georgetown, British Guiana. The strains of Take Five were coming from the juke box. The local people were dancing to it. I don't suppose they knew or cared that the music was in 5/4. It felt good, it felt natural, and that was all that mattered. The song was, of course, by then a huge international success.

Since then many musicians have plunged into experiments in rhythmic complexity. It should not be forgotten that Dave Brubeck and his cohorts pointed the way. This album is the proof of that. – Gene Lees

Unsquare Dance

Blue Rondo A La Turk

Take Five

Eleven Four

Castilian Drums

It's A Raggy Waltz

Blue Shadow In The Street

Unisphere

World's Fair

Waltz Limp

Iberia

Countdown

Maori Blues

Three To Get Ready

Cassandra

He Done Her Wrong

Cable Car

Charles Matthew Hallelujah

Kathy's Waltz

Far More Drums

Shim Wha

Bluette

The Hawk In Hi-Fi - Coleman Hawkins

 

His Very Own Blues

The Hawk In Hi-Fi

Coleman Hawkins with Billy Byers and His Orchestra

RCA Victor LPM-1281

1956

From the back cover: Coleman Hawkins is one of those rare figures on the jazz scene – a man who had to invent a means of jazz expression for his instrument. Before Hawkins took his place in Fletcher Henderson's saxophone section in the mid-Twenties, the tenor saxophone had no individuality as a jazz instrument. Hawkins singlehandedly made place of it. As Benny Goodman once said, Hawkins "invented the tenor."

In as robust and vigorous an art as jazz, it is not enough simply to break new ground. As an originator, Hawkins briefly set the pace and the style for entire saxophonists. But by his originality he had opened the floodgates, shon how it cold be done, and soon the challenges from other inventive tenor men were coming thick and fast.

A less flexible musician than Hawkins could have been buried under this avalanche, forgotten except as an outdated pioneer. Hawkins, however, is o that beed of men who require a challenge as much as they need air and food. For the past twenty years, as tenor styles have changed and the approach to jazz has been revolutionized, Hawkins has faced up to a constant challenge. The fact that he has met this challenge eagerly and gladly is reflected in the pliant quality of his playing today. When the gauntlet is down. Hawkins' is at his best, as he was when he returned from a long stay in Europe in 1939 to find that both he and his charging, chopping, gut-deep style of playing were considered passé. His answer, Body And Soul, is still a classic performance and a model for tenor men.

In planning the program for this album, Billy Byers had Hawkins' challenge-susceptibility in mind. Byers himself is a somewhat unusual figure on the jazz scene. Only 28 when he wrote and conducted these selections. Byers had already had a jazz career and two studio careers and was embarking on his second career in jazz. He was a West Coast studio trombonist when he was 16 and later – after spells in both Harvard and the Army – a sideman with Georgie Auld, Benny Goodman and Charlie Ventura. He retired from jazz when he was 22 to devote himself to arranging and laying on top TV shower. By 1955Byers fell he'd been retired long enough. He got back into jazz, mostly as a trombonist at first, then taking on more and more writing and  conducting assignments.

Byers first got to know Hawkins' work well in the early Forties. He was an admirer of that work but he noticed that as Hawkins giggled his way around the jazz circuit a repetition pattern was settling on most of his performances: Hawkins plays the melody, Hawkins plays jazz, Hawkins played an ending. For this RCA Victor session, Byers determined to break down this pattern and to face Hawkins with the kind of challenge to which he responds by settling him in three different kinds of groups. As Byers had hoped; it brought out three different aspects of Hawkins – the creative Hawkins, the stomping Hawkins and the thoughtful Hawkins.

First there was a mixed ensemble, a single trumpet (Jimmy Nottingham), four trombones (Urbie Green, Fred Ohms, Jack Satterfield, Tommy Mitchell), an oboe, two flutes, strings and a rhythm section made up of Hank Jones, piano, Barry Galbraith, guitar, Milt Hinton, Bass,  Osie Johnson, drums. Hawkins had known Byers as a trombonist but not as an arranger and at this first session he seemed curious to find out about this side of Byers. He plays on these numbers with a reserved a delicacy that is not always associated with him.

Much of this, of course, was this response to the framework in which Byers set him. On I Never Knew, for instance, Byers sets the scene with a slow flute (Julius Baker) before the rhythm section and the rest of the ensemble creeps in underneath for sixteen bars – all this before Hawkins finally bursts into view in the release. On this first chorus, Hawkins is glimpsed only briefly but on the second chorus, as the tempo increases, he take charge and is off on one of his richly embellished solos. Notice the apt delicacy of Osie Johnson' scumbag and brush break after Hawkins' solo, just before the stings return.

On Dinner For One, Byers brings Hawkins on after a brief string and reed introduction, setting a medium tempo for I'm with Hawkins playing with an unusually light, fluid tone. There are charming example of Hank Jones' light, lilting piano on both releases. One There'll Never Be Another You and Little Girl Blue, short, thoughtful tomboy solos by Freddie Ohms set off Hawkins' playing.

Next Byers faced Hawkins with a more familiar challenge – a big, shouting band with lots of loose blowing space for the Hawk to take flight in. This band is made up of five trumpets, (Nick Tavis, Ernie Royal, Bernie Glow, Chuck Kidd, Lou Oles), four (Green, Ohms, Satterfield and Chauncey Welsch), five saxes (Sam Marowitz, Hal McKusick, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Sol Schlinger) and the same rhythm section as before.

His Very Own Blues, A Hawkins composition, leads out of a pretty Hank Jones opening to a riff played by Hawkins and the trumpets, which is very reminiscent of his work in the mid-Forties. As he gets off on his own, he is his familiar, jabbing, angular self, constantly pushed bye the band and driven to top it as the band builds in back of him. 39"-25"-39", allegedly a descriptive title, turns Hawkins and the trumpets loose at the same pace.

The Bean Stalks Again, another riff-based piece but at a moderate tempo this time, leads off with a muted trumpet chorus by Chuck Kidde. There is a typical bit of Hawkins ingenuity as he picks u the diff under Kidde, takes it down, kneads it, swings it and builds it back up again before Kidde takes the figure quietly on out. I'm Shooting High also pairs Hawkins and Kidd and give Hank Jones a brief moment in the spotlight on the second chorus.

Byer's final challenge to Hawkins is double-edged – a band made up of a big sting section (fifteen pieces), a legitimate woodwind quartet, rhythm section, but no brass, plus, as one of the selections, Hawkins' most famous number, Body And Soul. Many of the changes in jazz in the past seventeen years, and the changes in Hawkins, are summed up in the difference between this Body And Soul and Hawkin's 1939 version. He challenges his old self from start to finish – and particularly at the finish as he deliberately sets out to outdo his old cadenza.

Throughout the pieces with the string section Hawkins olathe meditatively, often with great deliberation. Notice the quiet blend he actives with the strings and woodwinds near the end of The Day You Came Along and the smooth, melodic quality of his playing on his own tune, The Essence Of You, as he comes in after the strings have set the mood. Other high points: Hank Jones' lovely piano passage on both The Day You Came Along and Have You Met Miss Jones and, on this number, theft that is given to Hawkins' playing bye the brilliance and polish of the string section led by Gene Orloff. – John S. Wilson

Body And Soul

Little Girl Blue

I Never Knew

Dinner For One Please, James

The Bean Stalks Again

His Very Own Blues

The Day You Came Along

Have You Met Miss Jones

The Essence Of You

There'll Never Be Another You

I"m Shooting High

39"-25"-39"

Soul - Ray Bryant

 

Goldfinger

Soul

Ray Bryant

Produced by Juggy Murray

Regent Sound Studios

Su Records SUE LP 1036

1965

Ray Bryant - Piano

Tommy Bryant - Bass

Walter Perkins - Drums (Sonny Brown on "Goldfinger", "Susie '65" and "Adalia")

I Miss You So

I Almost Lost My Mind

Since I Fell For You

They All Say I'm The Biggest Fool

Gospel Bird

Little Susie '65

Lonely Avenue

Please Send Me Someone To Love

Stick With It

I Don't Care Who Knows

Goldfinger

Adalia

Juke Box Jamboree - Harry James

 

The Touch

Juke Box Jamboree

Harry James

Photo: Robert James Witt

Columbia Records CL 615

1955

From the back cover: The unifying force in this pleasantly diverse program is the James trumpet, which has been soaring high and free, sweet and hot, through fine polar music for some time now. Harry's career began when his precocious trumpet studios won him a seat in the bandstand of the Might Haag Circus, of which his parents were members. Competing with the roar of lions and the antics of clowns, Harry had a chance to learn ensemble work at an early age, and to explore on his own the possibilities of this instrument. When the family retired and settled down in Texas, he continued his studies, and played with various local orchestras on weekends and holidays. Bit by bit his fame spread, coming to the attention of Benny Goodman, who signed Harry to play with his incomparable orchestra of the late Thirties.

Harry stayed with this remarkable group until 1939, when he left to organize his own group. There were giants in swing in those days, and even a name as powerful as his had become had some difficulty in establishing itself. But after a year of so, there was a new giant in the lists, for Harry and his sturdy men were making some of the finest  records of the day (and this, for that matter) and providing dancers and listeners with superlative music, superlatively played. There has been no variation in that pattern ever since, for Harry's group has continued to boast some of the finest peers in the music world and the music in this collection offers further proof. Here are fine popular songs, here is fine polar trumpet, here, in  short, is fine music in today's invigorating idiom.

Little Things Mean A Lot

Hernando's Hideaway

Three Coins In The Fountain

The High And Mighty

The Touch

O, Mein Papa

Ruby

Serenata

Smile

I Need You Now

Oop Stoop

Muskat Ramble

Westinghouse Presents The Best Of Command

 

Big Ben Bossa

Westinghouse Presents

The Best Of Command

World Leader In Recorded Sound 

WH-1D

Cheek To Cheek - RS 840 SD Enoch Light and His Orchestra at Carnegie Hall - Play Irving Berlin

If I Loved YHoui - RS 843 SD Carousel - Alfred Drake and Roberta Peters

Love For Sale - RS 837 SD The Big Band Back In Town featuring "Doc" Severinsen

Nina - RS 839 SD Rome Revisited - The Ray Charles Singers

Let's Fall In Love RS 847 SD - Romantic Guitar - Tony Mottola

Big Ben Bossa RS 851 SD - Let's Dance The Bossa Nova - Enoch Light and His Orchestra

I'm Over Here RS 827 SD - Something Wonderful - The Ray Charles Singers

Tonight (from "West Side Story") RS 835 SD - Great Themes From Hit Flims featuring Enoch Light and His Orchestra

Walking To Winnetka RS 849 SD - Big Noise From Winnetka - Bob Taggart and His Orchestra

Moments To Remember RS 817 SD - Persuasive Percussion – Vol. 3 featuring The Command All-Stars

Cumana RS 811 SD - Provocative Piano featuring Dick Hyman and His Orchestra

The Coconut Wireless RS 845 SD - Paradise Islands - Songs Of Hawaii - The Ray Charles Singers

12 Top Hits - Modern Sound MS 1054

 

Sunshine Superman

Valleri

12 Top Hits 

Modern Sound MS 1054

The Ballad Of Bonnie & Clyde

Valley Of The Dolls

Little Green Apples

Simon Says

Valleri

Honey

Sittin' On The Doc Of The Bay

Scarborough Fair

Sunshine Superman

That's Life

Poor Side Of Town

Jackson

Desmo Sings Desmond

 

The Walking Song

Desmo Sings Desmond

Cover Photo by Burt Owen

Coral Records CRL 57073

1957

From the back cover: Coral Records' artist and repertoire chief Bob Thiele is a man who obviously knows his Freud. In an industry that has more than its share of unhappy performers, Coral artist are a remarkable sunny, well-adjusted crew. Thiele keeps them that way by following on simple buy highly effective rule of a. & r. therapy. If an artist does more than one thing – and does it well – Thiele believes in letting him express that suppressed ability on wax.

NBC-TV comedian Steven Allen, for example, has recorded for Coral as a pianist, orchestra leader, singer, composer, dramatic narrator, and monologist during the past year. Still another example of Thiele's "fulfillment formula" is Coral's new composer-album series, which allows prominent songwriter to warble their own material. 

All of which brings us to the star of this package, Johnny Desmond, presented here in the new roel of songwriter – an interesting switch on the composer-makes-like-crooner gimmick mentioned above. Desmond, the composer, has written 12 ne songs for this album; while Desmo, the best-selling record star, singe each tune in the way best calculated to bring out is individual charm and special melodic flavor.

Since composer Desmond knows exactly the kind of material Desmo sings best, the end result is a wonderfully listenable album package. Selection include "Ever Since You Said Goodbye," a wistful ballad sung with tenderness and moving sincerity; "Hello Honey," a bright up tempo rhythm item, which Desmond handles with breezy casualness; and "She's A Good Woman," a swingy blues sold with tasteful phrasing and a true jazz feeling.

In addition to his obvious ability as singer and composer, Johnny Desmond is an accomplished dancer, comedian, dramatic actor, emcee and musician. However, being a multi-talent man didn't come easy. Although still in his early thirties, John has been a professional entertainer for more than 25 years.

While other kids in Detroit were out playing, eight-year-old Desmo was deliver gin paper and working his his father's grocery store to earn money for voice and music lessons. By the time he was 11, the boy soprano – billed rather incongruously as "The Italian John McCormack" – was the star of his own radio program and frequently emoted in small-fry roles on the network "Lone Ranger" series. Two years later his voice changed, and Johnny, at 13, was one of the youngest "Has Been's" in show business.

Johnny today credits his success to five men and one corporation. His human mentors include vocal coach Carl Mann, Detroit radio producer Jimmy Jewel, bandleaders Bob Crosby and the late Glenn Miller; and Don McNeill, veteran host of ABC's "Breakfast Club" show.

Mann guided Johnny thru those frightening years of voice-change and ultimately taught him "everything I know about handling a voice." Jewel drilled him in the basics of showmanship and dramatic acting. Crosby gave him his first big time adult job back in 1938 when he hired Desmond's vocal group to sing with his band and re-named the quartet the Bobolinks.

Miller picked Desmond to sing with the Official Army Air Forces Band during World War II, a stint which made Desmo internationally famous while he was still a $72-a-month G.I. It was Miller also who insisted that Johnny stop imitating Sinatra and develop his own style. In 1949 McNeil made Desmond a regular member of "The Breakfast Club" and during his five year stay with the show, he taught Johnny the secret of stabling a warm rapport with audiences. The "secret" was "Enjoy your work. If you don't it shows!"

Johnny enjoys his current work "the most," and the corporation he has to thank for it is Philco, which signed him as deejay-emcee of "Phonorama Time" on the Mutual network in 1955. It was Philco also that was responsible for Johnny being cast in his first straight dramatic role last year on NBC-TV's "Philco Television Playhouse," one of video's finest dramatic shows. The play, base on the breakup of a famous comedy team, was titled "Hearts And Flowers," and Johnny's performance was such a revelation that critics wrote rave reviews about his moving and totally unexpected ability as a dramatic actor and his expected, but none-the-less impressive delivery as a song-and-dance man.

Best of all, the show brought Johnny a smash hit record. His Coral waxing of the title-tune "Play Me Hearts And Flowers" (co-written by Desmond) as an immediate best-seller and Johnny moved into his present spot as one of the record industry's most important multi-talent stars. – Notes by June Bundy

From Billboard - February 2, 1957: Maybe you didn't know that Johnny Desmond is an accomplished cleffer. He offers an imposing program of his original tunes, only three of which were available previously ("Oh My Darlin'," "How Much Will I Miss You?" and "Please Don't Forget Me, Dear"). Some of his tunes are pretty hip, coming close to jazz stylings, as for example, "She's A Good Woman." But most are solid ballads of the kind with which he is usually identified. The LP offers variety of material and interpretation, and is a set that can be recommended to the average pop customer.

Hello Honey - Johnny Desmond

She's A Good Woman - Johnny Desmond & Freddy Guerra

Ever Since You Said Goodbye - Johnny Desmond

How Much Will I Miss You - Johnny Desmond

You're The One (featuring Urbie Green on Trumpet) - Johnny Desmond & Freddy Guerra

I Won't Resist (If You Insist)

Miss Lis Is - Johnny Desmond

Oh! My Darlin' - Johnny Desmond

Please Don't Forget Me, Dear (from the "Robert Montgomery Presents" TV Production)

Softly - David Broekman & Johnny Desmond

Yours In Song - Johnny Desmond & Artie Melvin

The Walking Song - Johnny Desmond

Jasmine Jade - Axel Strodahl

 

Flamingo

Jasmine Jade

Axel Stordahl and His Orchestra

Cover Photo: Max Yauno

Dot Records DLP 25282

1960

From the back cover: 

A whiff of jasmine, a flash of jade.

A winding street in Singapore.

A sheik's outrigger on a moon-drenched beach.

A multi-colored bird in a jungle glade.

A tropical breeze, like sandalwood and wine.

Mystery peering through beaded curtains.

These are some of the exotic images women into the rich fabric of Axel Stordahl's sensuous arrangements. The scenes. scents and sounds of faraway places have been masterfully evoked without the use of animal noises and bird-calls, for Axel has taken great pains to create his effects using only actual musical instruments. Some are unusual – such as the boo-bams in "Japanese Sandman," and the Chinese bells in "Baubles, Bangles and Beads," but basically the orchestra has the conventional components – stings, reeds, brass and percussion. The secret lies in the ingenious ways in which they are used.

Axel Strodahl is an old hand at the exciting basins of producing unusual sounds. He claims that he became an arranger in self-defense, because he couldn't stand the sounds he emitted when he was a trouper-layer. Allowing for a little exaggerated modesty, the fact remains that he did play trumpet briefly with the early Tommy Dorsey orchestra, for which he also sang and, later, arranged over a period of seven years. Following this fairly steady job, Axel found himself on the West Coast where he began another career as conductor-arranger for his former Dorsey sidekick, Frank Sinatra. Stordahl spent nearly eleven years in that association, one which embraced the fields of radio, television, recordings and personal appearances. Since then he has put in four years of the Coca-Cola show with Eddie Fisher, a season with Gisele Mackenzie, and has been musical director on numerous television spectaculars.

Axel and his wife, talented singer June Hutton, are residents of Encino, California. That is, they have a home there with daughter Susie and son Jeff. But they really "live" on their new sailboat, the Saga II, which graces a slip at Newport, California, an on which the whole family cruises at every opportunity. Perhaps they dream of extending the range of the Saga II to the faraway, exotic lands this album speaks of so eloquently. In any case, the music which Axel has coaxed out of his wonderful orchestra will transport the listener as surely and pliantly as any luxury liner, to the lands of enchantment.

From Billboard - June 11, 1960: A striking color photo of a colorful bird gives this package solid display value. Contents spotlight lushly exotic instrumental treatments of romantic oldies and a few originals. Utilizing such off-beat instruments as Chinese bells and the boo-bams with regular sections – strings, reeds, brass, percussion – Stordahl interprets "Moonlight On The Ganges," "Baubles, Bangles And Beads," etc. Sock Jockey wax for mood segs.

Moonlight On The Gauges

Baubles, Bangles And Beads

The Moon Of Manakoora

Japanese Sandman

Neiani

Caravan

Jasmine And Jade

Bali' Ha'i

On A Little Street In Singapore

Flamingo

Pagan Love Song

Lotus Island

Dixieland At Carnegie Hall - 25 Top Stars

 

Drums Vs. Vibes - That's A Plenty

Dixieland At Carnegie Hall

25 Top Stars

Forum SF 9011

A Division of Harmony 

Jimmy McPartland (Courtesy of Epic Records) - Trumpet

Wild Bill Davison - Clarinet

Pee Wee Russell - Clarinet

Vic Dickinson - Trombone

George Wettling - Drums

Joe Barufaldi - Clarinet

Zutty Singleton - Drums

Miff Mole - Trombone

Bud Freeman - Tenor Saxophone

Cozy Cole - Drums

Tony Parenti - Clarinet

Ricky Nelson - Trombone

Dick Cary - Alto Saxophone

Tyree Glenn - Trombone

Al Hall - Bass

Gene Schroder - Piano 

Buzzy Drootin - Drums

Bob Wilber - Clarinet

Phil Failla - Drums

Elmer "Mousey" Alexander - Drums

Tommy Potter - Bass

Sammy Price - Piano

From the back cover: On a recent Saturday, there descended upon Carnegie Hall something called a Dixieland Jazz Concert. It brought to the old stage all the great names of a great jazz era, and it also brought some memories because we hadn't had a big Dixieland concert in some years. It is a pleasure to report that this one held to tradition. 

The first big jazz concert at Carnegie was back before the war when Eddie Condon and Ernie Anderson put "Fats" Waller up on the hallowed stage. "Fats" did some great piano work and then cut out for the intermission. Backstage he attacked a gin bottle and decided to change from tails to tuxedo. Also from piano to organ. He played "Summertime." It seemed to hypnotize him. He played other organ solos and they all came out sounding like "Summertime." 

"I never knew," Oscar Levant said afterward, "how much Tchaikovsky was influence by Gershwin."

Inflamed with their own courage and now established as covert impresarios, Ernie and Eddie, during and after the war, ran a whole series of jazz concerts at Town Hall. Many of these were taped and radioed to the Armed Forces and they were a potent force in building the new, young jazz audience. Things were brought at the beginning , though.

"The audience at the first one was so small, "Eddie remembers, "that I addressed it as, Lady and Gentleman." 

But the gigs caught on and were soon doing capacity. They are remembered by many of us with deep nostalgia. Part of the excitement of a Dixie concept – particularly for the promoter – is the realization that nobody knows who will be on hand or what they will play. Sometimes there are seven trumpet players; sometimes seven clarinetists and no trumpet player. It never matters much. Whoever is on hand just does the best he can.

As a matter of fact, complete lack of organization often makes for the best concert. The music is jazz as it started – impromptu, creative and unschooled. It is a sure shot that once or twice during the night some group will be thrown together, well take off and rock the hall. This seems to be the way the Dixieland fan wants things. He want things to explode off schedule.

Uncoordinated and rough-house as the bashes sometimes are, they have written a full and important chapter in American musical history. It was concerts such as the one recorded here, the most recent of the Carnegie bashes, which took jazz out of the saloon and out of the gutter. It was these concerts which forced the high-brows of the music pages to pay a little attention to the only music basically American. There came a time with the longhairs simply shouldn't ignore any longer an art which sold out the concert halls.

This "Dixieland At Carnegie Hall" recording was done like the old ones. You will note that the applause and laughter comes naturally, and when it should. It doesn't have the tricky mechanical "dubbed" overtones which the practiced ear can spot on so many recorded concerts. Better yet, this concert was surely one of the best of them all. There are several reasons.

A principal reason was that in Jimmy McPartland, an articulate and knowing cornet veteran, the program had the best and easiest moderator available – to say nothing of the soaring McPartland horn. McParland handled the program with the was of a known veteran.

Around him, at one stage of another, Jim had just about every topflight Dixieland in the land. Listen to Wild Bill Davison on the outstanding "River Boat Shuffle," and lend an ear to the ageless and indestructible Pee Wee Russell as he cuts and lifts, pauses and fools you every time you think you known which way he's going. Hear Vic Dickinson do one of his very finest versions of "Basin Street, " and sit still for Tyree Glenn and the whole mob as they march up and down the Carnegie aisles to "When The Saints Go Marchin' In," and the packed audience partially shakes the roof with excitement. 

Royal Garden Blues

Basin Street Blues

Tin Roof Blues (Clarinet Challenge)

High Society

When The Saints Go Marchin' In

Rosetta (Trombone Cavalcade)

Sidewalks Of New York

River Boat Shuffle

Drums Vs. Vibes (Just Blues Harmony)

That's A Plenty