Rainy Day - Kai Winding

 

Watermelon Man

Rainy Day

Kai Winding

Produced by Creed Taylor

Director of Engineering for MGM: Val Valentin

Design: Acy Lehman

Photo: Carl Fischer

Verve V6-8620

RECORDING INFORMATION: Recorded January 14, 1964 & February 2, 1965 at Webster Hall, N.Y.C. and February 27 & March 22, 1965 at A. & R. Studios, N.Y.C. Engineer: Bob Simpson (Webster Hall), Phil Ramone (A.&R.)

Leader, arranger, trombone - Kai Winding

Trombone - Bill Watrous or Tony Studd

Guitar - Kenny Burrell or Everett Barksdale or Bucky Pizzarelli, Billy Mure or Russell George 

Piano - Paul Griffin or Ross Tomkins, or Roger Kellaway

Organ - Roger Kellaway or Arthur Butler

Bass - Russell George or Bob Bushnell

Drums & Percussion - Sol Gubin, Al Harewood or Grady Tate 

From the back cover: As you can see from the title, cover and more than half of the song titles in this album, this is music for a rainy day. Kai Winding has put together a tasteful package of songs here that, for the most part, build out from the Rainy Day theme. But he has not driven that theme into the ground.

In addition to songs inspired by precipitation, Kai has also included a number of originals and standards that are marked by highly individual and appealing arrangements. Over all, the tunes showcase Kai's bright, burnished trombone sound backed by tight, talented and propulsive instrumental support.

One of the most important things about the trombone sound is its flexibility. This is an instrument that can roar and whisper, play the clown, holler, moan and bellow like the proverbial wounded elephant. It's an ideal instrument for soft and velvet moods, and it can create the sound of threatening thunder. Kai Winding uses part of all of the elements inherent in the trombone sound on this album. For the most part the set is filled with pepper, fire, a good deal of humor and heavy helpings of swing. But when the mood mellows a bit, and there are tunes to be played like Over The Rainbow, or that new Burke – Van Heusen tune that's bound to become a standard Here's That Rainy Day, Kai has all the equipment to make these wonderfully lyric songs sing of tenderness and nostalgia.

In addition to the instrumentals on this LP there are some attractive and provocative vocals by The Prevailing Winds. They fit in beautifully on the aforementioned Here's That Rainy Day and Over The Rainbow, the standard Singing In The Rain and the originals Leave Me Alone and Half A Crown.

In putting this LP together, Kai has studiously tried to avoid over loading it with too much of any one kind of mood. The material moves (with the arrange- ments) from track to track in a constant and varied kind of progression.

This is the kind of music that can brighten any dull, moody day or night. It's played by one of the leading trombonists in the land who not only knows how to play a series of tunes to instrumental perfection, but also how to select that very same series of tunes so that they fulfill a musical idea. A Rainy Day with Kai Winding is a day well spent...

Half A Crown

We Fell In Love In The Rain

April Showers

Leave Me Alone

Love Theme From The Motion Picture: Umbrellas Of Cherbourg

Here's A Rainy Day

Singing In The Rain

Over The Rainbow

Pennies From Heaven

Puddles

Dinner For One Please, James

Watermelon Man