Angela Mia - Vic Damone

 

Arrivederci, Roma

Angela Mia
Vic Damone
Orchestration under the direction of Glenn Osser

Arrangements by Glenn Osser
Photo: Harold Lang
Columbia Records CL 1088
1958

From the back cover: That strange combination of romance, melancholy and melody that makes up the Italian popular song is treated to one of its most sympathetic examinations in this new collection by Vic Damone. Long considered one of the finest singers around, Vic has a special feeling for these songs, and it is evident in his interpretations, which are thoughtful and fascinating. It is all too easy to take songs such as these and wind up with a spongy set of sounds that strive too earnestly after a "Mediterranean" atmosphere, a peril that Vic and conductor Glenn Osser neatly side-step by treating the music with familiarity, affection and a relaxation that is altogether winning.

One of the most immediately noticeable aspects of these songs is their rolling gait, derived perhaps from the old barcarolles, a gait that sends the melodies soaring into a pleasingly romantic atmosphere. Vie Damone, with his Italian heritage, is particularly identified with such songs, and brings to them an easy mastery of their idiom. From the beginning of his career he has displayed a natural fondness for them, and many of them are almost inseparable from his interpretations. In this collection he sings them mainly in English, although including an occa- sional half chorus in Italian, and his approach throughout is keyed to an intimate approach. This is not to say that there are not moments of full- throated lyricism, but his basic idea is that of the serenade rather than the concert.

Among the songs that may be familiar under other titles are Just Say I Love Her ("Dicitencello vuie"), You're Breaking My Heart ("Mattinata") and I Have but One Heart ("O marenari- ello"). Conversely, Non dimenticar may also be known as "Don't Forget," Luna rossa as "Blushing Moon" and Anema e core as "With All My Heart and Soul." Glenn Osser's arrangements and conducting of these songs is keyed to the basic idea of a serenade, and skillfully underlines its romantic Italian character without overwhelming the melodies.

The Damone family arrived in America shortly after the first World War, bringing with it the Italian passion for music that found its outlet at first in home concerts, sung by Vic's father, with his mother at the piano. A houseful of music is contagious, and young Vic sang along, expanding his activities to include school presentations and at fifteen-radio, when he made his first major appearance on Station WOR. Soon thereafter Vic got a job ushering at the Paramount Theatre, where he watched and heard most of the great stars in popular music. Later, as an elevator operator, he made a captive audience of Perry Como, who advised him to take his singing seriously. An appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts was caught by Milton Berle, who promised to help him along with his career, and soon Vic was singing at La Martinique, famous as a spot where many young singers won their first major attention.

In 1947, Vic was given his own radio show, and in 1950, made his movie debut. His records were among the best-sellers every year, and, save for a two-year intermission serving with the Army in the United States and Europe, there has rarely been a time when his records were not among the most popular. Recently he has been seen on his own television show, an easy-going and appealing presentation.

Married to one of the most luminously beautiful young movie stars, Pier Angeli, Vic may have had a special feeling in mind when he recorded these songs; whatever the occasion, his singing is warm, vibrant and velvety, and his interpretations of the songs is richer than ever. This is the charming new collection Damone fans have been waiting for, and the verdict is a resounding Che bellezza!

Angela Mia
Tell Me You're Mine
Arrivederci, Roma
Just Say I Love Her

Non Dimenticar
'O Sole Mio
You're Breaking My Heart
Serenade In The Night
Luna Rossa
I Have But One Heart
Anema e Core
Tell Me That You Love Me

An Evening With Hugh Downs

 

Lord Of All Hopefulness

An Evening With Hugh Downs
Accompanied by Mundell Lowe and His Friends
Epic Records LN 3597
A product of CBS
1959

From the back cover: Perhaps this should be called: Hugh Downs Sings, Too. 

But then, if you're at all familiar with the illimitable Hugh Downs personality as it is uncovered on peerless Jack Paar's Monday-through-Friday late-night Witenagemot, you're not surprised to learn that Hugh sings, too. You probably know about his other sidelines: skin diver, astronomer, antique gun and furniture authority, student of American history, delver into philosophy and psychology, ardent volunteer worker in Mental Health Campaigns (he works with patients at Wards Island State Mental Hospital in New York), studious collector of symphonic recordings, composer, pianist, guitarist, artist, amateur physicist, hi-fi set builder, telescope maker, avid reader, husband and father. He supports all this activity by serving as the unruffled announcer-straight man-actor on the Paar show and host of NBC-TV's daytime quiz show, "Concentration."

(For those who may be keeping unofficial score in some kind of All-Time Universal Man Contest, it should be stated that there is really no race between Hugh and that pre-video universal man, Leonardo da Vinci, the 15th-century painter, sculptor, architect, who was also a musician, engineer, philosopher and scientist. Leonardo, as far as is known, never cut an album of songs for Epic and Hugh has never tried carving marble. So they're not evenly matched.)

THE ALBUM: Every six months or so, Downs makes what he calls his "semi-annual farewell appearance as a singer" on the Paar show. His last such performance led to (1) praise from Burl Ives and (2) this album, which includes tasteful show tunes, superb folk songs (some in the "rouser" vein, others "moody"), sea chanteys, hymns and some apt talk.

"I didn't think I'd ever make 12 songs sound different," Hugh said after it was all over. "But Mundell Lowe is a genius. He turned out arrangements with so much individuality and imagination that I was forced to outdo myself in trying to match his work. If there is any freshness in my numbers, it is all Mundell's doing."

Incidentally, Mr. "Big Daddy" Ives thought Hugh did so well he paid him the highest tribute. "Told me I deserved to wear a beard," said Hugh. "I told him I wouldn't grow one. I had a mustache for five years but I finally did it in. It was sapping my strength."

Actually, Hugh has had vocal training, but he doesn't want to be known as a singer. "I don't want to be known as anything. If someone wants a singer on TV, they can easily find one better than me. If they want Hugh Downs, why, nobody can be Hugh Downs better than I."

THE SINGER: Born in Akron, Ohio, on Valentine's Day, 1921, Hugh made his debut as a radio announcer at the age of 17 when he joined the WLOK staff (part-time) in Lima, Ohio, after graduating from Shawnee High School in nearby Shawnee. While attending Blufton College, he also worked as a church singer, putting to use his voice training. When he sang at his Episcopal Church, he could accept no remuneration. But when Baptist and Methodist churches required his baritone voice, Hugh quickly turned pro. His singing also approached operatic quality. (Never quite reached it, just approached it, you understand.) That adventure occurred after he attended Wayne University in Detroit and worked, again part-time, at WWJ and left to join NBC's Chicago outlet, WMAQ in 1943. He was a disk jockey, interviewer and emcee and, in his spare time, once sang in productions of "Pagliacci" and "Cavalleria Rusticana" at the Eighth St. Theater.

In 1954, after 11 years in Chicago, Hugh arrived in New York to serve as co-star and host of the "Home" TV show with Arlene Francis. (He can, as a result of this work, chat about cooking, sewing and decorating without a blush and with impressive authority when the occasion arises.) He was the announcer on "Caesar's Hour" during the 1956-57 season and was selected by Paar for "Tonight" (now "The Jack Paar Show") in July 1958.

Hugh's electronically-induced popularity hasn't short-circuited his modesty or his humanity. "The thought I keep in mind," he explains, "is that the downfall of the magician begins when he starts believing in his own magic. I'm not in this business for the acclaim, as pleasant as that may be for the ego. This is, for me, total expediency. I just want to make money. If I could earn the money I make now on the condition that I never appear on TV or before the public in any way, I'd do it. The reason is that the fuss people make over you is an insidious thing. It can warp your thinking if you're not careful.

"And I'm not after money for material reasons. I don't even own a car. I just find that in order to feed my curiosity about the world, I need money. And, naturally, I would like my kids to enjoy the world, too."

Hugh lives in a Manhattan apartment with his wife, the former Ruth Shaheen, and their two children, Hugh, 13, and Deirdre, 10. There's also an all-important 15-feet of shelf space on which Hugh keeps an impressive library of record albums.

INSIDE AND UPSIDE DOWNS: On camera, Hugh is an accomplished salesman of floor wax, paint, underwear, headache remedies or carpeting.. Off camera, Hugh relates his enriching pastimes to a serious quest for answers about man's role on earth and his relationship to his universe.

The common thread tying his seemingly varied interests together is Ultimate Truth. His studies of astronomy, physics, psychiatry, music, poetry and history all serve to help Hugh understand with more clarity our reasons for being. Like Socrates, he has disciplined himself "to investigate the reason of the being of everything-of every- thing as it is, not as it appears..."

His interest in cosmology, that branch of philosophy that treats the structure of the universe as a whole, has taken Hugh into the study of atoms and beyond.

"I have studied Einstein's theory of relativity enough to know that I probably haven't the mental equipment to master it. And that is quite a humbling feeling," said Hugh, a 175-pound, near-six-footer whose brown hair, at 38, is gray-tipped around the eartops. "I had believed that the ultimate truths reside in the cosmos, but I'm about to abandon it. I believe they will be found in man. Remember when the atom meant the smallest indivisible particle of a substance? Well, we've smashed the atom and that theory to ridiculousness and this shows me that maybe we are on the wrong track. Maybe the whole basic atomic theory is wrong.

"This is disheartening, but it leads me to believe that perhaps we cannot find the answers in technology. Maybe inner man holds the answer. So I go into other fields. And that has led to my interest in mental health. Maybe probing our minds may be our salvation. I think man's proper study now should be the relationship between the mind and heart."

The universality of Hugh Downs has one blind spot. "I like almost all kinds of music except the pop or hit parade music. That's of no interest to me. But," Hugh added, "I'm a big fan of the Nashville music, the Grand Ole Op'ry. I think Red Foley is one of the greatest singers of all time. And I include him with Caruso. This usually evokes laugh- ter, but I'm serious. His singing represents life and that's what music should do.

"Otherwise, I prefer the symphonic literature. I'm enamored of Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss. I have everything Mahler ever wrote. At home, I plan Mahler music festivals that last a month. That's one advantage of our technology. It has made me better acquainted with him, through hi-fi, than the wealthiest concertgoer of his time. You know, someone was trying to sell me a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. That's quite a car. But I said no, that's the primrose path. I have Mahler's Second on disks and that's what counts."

His fondness for poetry, like his antique gun collection, starts with domestic samples. "It all ties in with my interest in history. I buy guns not because I'm interested in ballistics. It's because they tell something about our history. In poetry, I like the American poets. That sounds chauvinistic, I know, but I just like their flavor, their ways of reflecting our history. Stephen Vincent Benet is one favorite."

That, briefly, is Hugh Downs. A civilized man. – NOTES BY FRED DANZIG

Two Brothers
To Pass Away The Time
I Wonder As I Wander
The E-r-i-e Was A-risin'
Drink To Me With Thin Eyes
The Ride Back From Boot Hill
So Long, Blue Valley
Sweet Li'l Jesus Boy

Look To The Rainbow
The Delaware Light
Scarlet Ribbons
Lord Of All Hopefulness

The Many Faces Of Jazz Vol. 39 - Claude Luter

 

The Many Faces Of Jazz Vol. 39

The Many Faces Of Jazz Vol. 39
Claude Luter et ses lorientais
Mode Serie - Vogue International Industries
Collection Universelle CMDINT. 9843

From the back cover: The name of Claude Luter and his "Lorientais" is, more than any other, associated with the vogue for New Orleans music in France. 

In fact, what was the deeper meaning of this "NEW ORLEANS REVIVAL"? 

It's important to understand that the public, and more specifically the youth of the Old World, only truly began to discover jazz in the aftermath of the Second World War. It was perfectly natural that this introduction, like jazz itself, should begin with its original form, and Claude Luter, like his followers, first sought inspiration from the great pioneers who had given New Orleans its distinctive sound. 

For a long time, King Oliver's old records constituted the veritable "Bible" for New Orleans musicians, whose atmosphere needed to be recreated and whose secrets of collective improvisation needed to be rediscovered.

We still remember the extraordinary enthusiasm for "Les Lorientais" in that cellar in the Latin Quarter where these new "apostles," like their "gods," preached this new religion. And this is not just a metaphor. For this phenomenon must be considered a social event whose profound repercussions were felt for a long time among French youth. And it is precisely to some of the works of King Oliver, Kid Ory, and Louis Armstrong that this LP by Claude Luter is dedicated, where the Lorientais demonstrate the extent to which they had managed to identify with their mentors.

New Orleand - Oh! Didn't He Ramble
Workin' Man Blues
Jazz Lips
Steppin' On The Blues
Ory's Creole Trombone
Alligator Blues
Gumbo Creole
Oriental Strut
Georgia Bo Bo
Chattanooga Stomp
Riverside Blues
Buddy's Habits
Weather Bird Rag
Tia Tia

Bird In A Silver Cage - Herbie Mann

 

Birdwalk

Bird In A Silver Cage
Arranged and Conducted by Sylvester Levay
Produced by Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay for Rosalba Music, Inc.
Recorded at Union Studios, Munich, Germany
Recording Engineer: Zeke Lund
Cover Art: Don Brautigam 
Design & Art Direction: Paula Bisacca
Atlantic SD 18209

1976

Flutes - Herbie Mann
Keyboards - Sylvester Levay
Drums - Martin Harrison
Bass - Gary Unwin

Guitar - Nick Woodward
Percussion and String Ensemble of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Fritz Sonnleitner

Background Vocals on all tracks by Jerry Rix except on "Aria," Munich Studio Choir. The Lady on "Aria" is Penny McLean

Bird In A Silver Cage
Aria
Fly, Robin, Fly
Birdwalk
Years Of Love
The Piper

Maria Teresa Vera

 

Sovre Una Tumba Una Rumba

Maria Teresa Vera
Y Sus Canciones

Con Nene Allue y Su Conjuntio
Kubaney 109
1956

From the back cover: ABOUT THE IDEA FOR THIS RECORD: This recording is a legitimate source of pride for KUBANEY RECORDS, as it has satisfied the desire of the immense public who, day after day, throughout the years, have listened to and admired Maria Teresa Vera on various radio frequencies throughout the Republic. We have achieved a high level of sound quality on this record, never before attained in a recording based on guitars and rhythm. Therefore, we would like to congratulate the person directly responsible for the high quality of this Long Play, Mr. Medardo Montero, recording engineer at Radio Progreso.

ABOUT THE PERFORMER: MARIA TERESA VERA, a legitimate source of Cuban pride (she is undoubtedly the greatest exponent of the romantic songbook of yesteryear, where so many heartfelt songs were forged).

Her unique style has earned her the affection of a large audience for over forty years, an audience that has continued to delight in the romantic melodies that only she has been able to interpret.

María Teresa has taken our music to various Latin American countries. She has visited the United States on several occasions, where she recorded for different labels.

On this album, María Teresa perfectly blends her diverse interpretations, from her incomparable "Santa Cecilia" to her highly personal style of the Bambuco "Esta vez toca perder." The Clave Ñáñiga "En la alta sociedad" is a particularly striking addition to this album, appearing for the first time on a long-playing record.

ABOUT THE ACCOMPANIMENT: The accompaniment for this recording is provided by the performer herself, showcasing her mastery of the guitar, and the Nené Allué Ensemble, composed of two guitars, a treble, bass, and rhythm guitar.

Disc Label Track List

Santa Cecilia
Sobre Una Tumba Una Rumba
Doble Inconciencia
Y Tu Que Has Querido ?
Esta Vez Toco Perder
Veinte Amos
El Soldado
Nena
Boda Negra
En La Alta Sociedad

Longina
Pensamiento

Jacket Track List

Santa Cecilia
Longina
Veinte Años
Y Tu Que Has Hecto
El Soldado
Nena
En La Alta Sociedad
Doble Inocencia
Pensamiento
Sobre Una Tumba Una Rumba
Esta Vez Toco Perder
Bodas Negras