Something Old... And Something New! - Sammy Herman

 

Bye, Bye Blues

Something Old... And Something New!

The Sammy Herman Sextet

Produced and Directed by Andy Sannella

Technical Director: Robert Engler

Recording Engineer: Ed Abele

Recording Director: Aaron Nathanson

Everest SDBR-1034

1959

Xylophone - Sammy Herman

Organ - Nick Perito

Guitar - John Cali

Drums - William Gusset

Marimba and Vibraphone - William Dorn

Bass - Ed Safranski

From the back cover: Brilliance is the keynote of this album – brilliance of sound due to the unusual instrumentation as well as the superior engineering and brilliance of technique on the part of these expert players.

There's also brilliance of spirit, because an unusual degree of sustained nerve and excitement is contained in these performances.

The leader is Sammy Herman, one of the most skillful xylophone soloists in the country. He also plays one vibes, on which he's also fluent. In the album, Billy Dorn is on marimba and fills in on other percussion instruments. Nick Perito is the organist; Ed Safranski is on bass; Bill Gusset, drums; and John Cali, guitar and banjo.

This plangent combination has revivified a number of standers – and an original – by approaching the music with a fresh, incite group sound; crisp, entertaining arrangements; and superior musicianship.

Sammy Herman, for years a member of the NBC staff, was born in the Bronx. Although he studied piano and drums as a boy, he discovered his main instrument by accident in the high school band. An arrangement of Saint-Saens' Dance Macabre called for a xylophone solo, but no one in the band had – or could play – the instrument. A xylophone was rented, Sam was drafted, and he's career began.

The usual early professional apprenticeship involved small dance halls, chop suey rooms, and other casual jobs. Unlike most drummers who played xylophone on the side, Same specialized on the xylophone and drums were his secondary instrument.

Sam soon was ready for more demanding assignments, and played with Paul Speech's orchestra. He then went into radio, playing scores of major programs – with Paul Whiteman on The Old Gold Hour; on Abe Lyman's Waltz Time with Frank Munn; and on Manhattan Merry-Go-Round on whose theme he was featured.

Early in his radio career, Sam met Andy Sannella, now an A&R director at Everest and the man responsible for this album. Andy was a prominent player and conductor on the networks, and when he took over the Lucky Strike orchestra after B. A. Rolfe left, Same was in the band. In the years that followed, they played hundreds of shows together.

Sam has also traveled on concert tours and has been guest soloist with many bands. He is a regular performer in the recording studios although this is his first album as a leader.

"We wanted to entertain in this set," says Sam, "and we wanted to create varied moods from the brilliant waltz treatment of La Golondrina to the technical strains of El Relicario. Andy's suggestions were a tremendous help in determining the pace and the shape of the program.

Sam's sidemen are as impressively experienced as he is. Billy Dorn was a member of the New York Philharmonic, and for a number of years was a percussionist in Toscanini's NBC Symphony. Nick Perito is an excellent accordion player as well as organist, and is also a conductor and arranger.

After a successful jazz career, including a term with Stan Kenton, bassist Ed Safranski became a staff musician at NBC where he remains. Drummer Bill Gusset is also a veteran of exacting staff work and is now freelancing. John Gali played many of the most important network shows for a number of years. At the time of the recording he was in the orchestra for Jamaica.

It's rare that instrumentalists of this amount of technical mastery have been assembled in this kind of album. The result, as noted previously, is collective brilliance. – Nat Hentoff

From Billboard - May 25, 1959: A rather unusual instrumental complement here and the crew develops a fine sound. Xylophone, vibes, organ, guitar, drums and bass turn in crystal clear hi-fi performances of "Heartaches," "Bye, Bye Blues," "Raggin' The Scales," etc. Highly interesting listening with the accent on sound.

Tico Tico

A Bunch Of Roses

Whispering

Mummer's Cha Cha

La Golondrina

El Relicario

Doll Dance

Alabamy Bound

Raggin' The Scales

Heartaches

Bye Bye Blues

The Bells Of St. Mary's