The Sound Of The Saucer-Finegan Orchestra

 

Horse Play

The Sound Of The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra

Especially Recommended For High-Fidelity Fans

RCA Victor LPM 1009 

1954

From the back cover: To the history of recorded sound, the orchestra led by Eddie Sauter and Bill Finegan has made one of the most remarkable contributions. Not only have Eddie and Bill added considerably to the size and instrumentation of the traditional jazz orchestra; they have heightened color, produced new sounds, and evoked moods heretofore unconsidered in the usual pop music set-up.

The new music they have created is not strictly limited to records. Although the idea of the band was born in the minds of Eddie and Bill some years ago, and was carefully nurtured in the RCA Victor recording studios, the music they produce is not "gimmicked," nor is it sound-for-sound's-sake. At this writing (Summer, 1953), the band is enjoying a highly successful run through the middle west where these same dis- tinctive sounds are being eagerly applauded by an enthusiastic public. Long known among the musical cognoscenti as top-drawer arrangers for Benny Goodman, Ray McKinley, Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey, among others, Eddie and Bill had definite ideas from the outset about their eventual goal. "The music of our new band," they said, "can best be summed up in two words – COLOR and MOOD." But they also stated that "we are not starting out with any preconceived notion of style," and what the band has already cut on records, and is now performing in public, is the result of a steady progression of ideas based on the way they wanted the band to sound, and on the things they were most eager to say.

To obtain this color and mood, Sauter and Finegan immediately planned to augment the usual instrumentation of the jazz orchestra. They considered its scope too limited in the combination of brass, reeds and rhythm, and they proceeded to add, first, an enormously expanded percussion section including tympani, triangle, chimes, celesta and xylophone. As the need arose, they also added such "ten-cent store" items as recorders, kazoos and toy trumpets – not to mention just about everything that could be beaten or struck – anything, in fact, that would contribute to the sound for which they were striving.

The impact with which the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra has burst upon the pop music world is well illustrated in the fact that Howard Taubman, music editor of The New York Times, and a man more usually occupied with the classical aspect, made a recent trip to New Jersey's "Meadowbrook" to observe the band "that is putting some lively notions on popular music into practice.." Mr. Taubman, one of the country's leading music authorities, writing in The New York Times of July 5, 1953, labeled Sauter and Finegan "bandleaders with a creative approach." He went on to note the similarity between the music of the band and that of certain 19th century impressionists, and he concluded by saying that "it would not be surprising if they (Sauter-Finegan) led their listeners toward an easier accommodation with a lot of the longhair repertoire."

The current collection presents the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra in all of its amazing aspects: from the march-tempo of "Yankee Doodletown," through the riffs of "The Honey Jump," "Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee," "Now That I'm in Love" and "Stop Beatin' 'Round the Mulberry Bush." It remains to be said that another instrument has been added to the orchestra in the person of Joe Mooney, whose superbly evocative vocals are heard in the sophisticated settings of "Time to Dream," "Nina Never Knew" and "Love Is a Simple Thing."

"Child's Play" and "Horseplay," also included in this album, were originally issued by RCA Victor as the "Extended Play Suite," and exhibit Eddie and Bill at their wittiest and most inventive.

Child's Play

Horseplay

Time To Dream

The Honey Jump

Nina Never Knew

Love Is A Simple Thing

Tweedle Dum And Tweedle Dee

Stop Beatin' 'Round The Mulberry Bush

Now That I'm In Love

Yankee Doodletown