Hi Fi Fo Fum - Marty Gold

 

The Breeze And I

Hi Fi Fo Fum

Marty Gold and His Orchestra

Arranged and Conducted by Marty Gold

Produced and Directed by Herman Diaz, Jr.

Recorded at Webster Hall, New York City, November 26 and December 4 and 5, 1957.

Vik LX-1133

1958

From the back cover: Marty Gold has done it again! In this, his latest Vik album, customized especially for the marvels of Hi-Fi, we are carried up to new and exciting heights much of the same as the hero in Jack And The Bean Stalk, of whom we are naturally reminded by the title. The chief difference between our present recorded experience and Jack's fabled climb is that we go even higher with some of the most crystalline musical Hi-Fi ever etched on vinyl disks.

Alas, poor Jack was all alone for the major part of his experience, but Marty Gold provides us with some rather illustrious musical companions. We're whisked into our world of enchantment by Victor Herbert (and his March Of The Toys) along with Richard Rodger, Ernesto Lecuona, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, and Dimitri Kabalevsky, to name just a few. Their melodies are interestingly treated with fresh and provocative Gold arrangements.

The only Giant we encountered, by the way, is Big Sound! This is called forth by Gold from a lush-sounding string orchestra impressively used on eight tunes, and serves as a pleasant contrast to the outstanding brass band used on the remaining numbers. From the solo standpoint, in You Are Too Beautiful the mellow trombone of Warren Covington is featured and Doc Severinsen's limpid trumpet soars majestically in You're Mine You.

And for a "happy ending" in coming down to earth, Marty Gold spares us the trouble of seeking out frequency meters, oscilloscopes, and test equipment by effectively working into each of these arrangements that wonderful Hi-Fi musical array – the Chinese Bells. The crystal-clear tinkle sound of this little member of the orchestral family alone warrants that the entire album is definitely Hi-Fi. And, for example, in Humoresque and the Comedians Gallop there is whimsical, musical humor exploding with brilliant effectiveness. These bubbly arrangements cleverly utilize many of the plucked in pizzicato fashion (and there are twelve of them), an extremely active timpani, the Chinese bells, and flutes alternating with gay, robust bassoons. They should quicken the High and Low frequency pulse of the most jaded audiophile.

The music that is danceable, yet colorfully arranged in a wide variety of Hi-Fi hues for listening pleasure,  you'll enjoy Hi Fi Fo Fum. – George Kluge, High Fidelity Editor of Metronome

March Of The Toys

My Romance

The Breeze And I

But Not For Me

You Are Too Beautiful

Humoresque

The Comedians Gallop

You're Mine You

Fantasia Mexicana

May I

Bambalina

You're Blasé