Innovations By Boyd Raeburn - Volume 2

Soft And Warm

Innovations By Boyd Raeburn
Volume 2
Savoy MG 15011
1951

10 inch LP.

From Billboard - July 21, 1951: In music circles some four or five years ago, there was a considerable to do over the rather sensational concert approach which Boyd Raeburn had employed for his new band. The band, hitting at a time when Woody Herman and Stan Kenton were immovable from the top rungs of the big band jazz ladder, never really got off the ground in the market. However, its recording, then issued on Jewel Records, received quite a bit of attention. These disks now have been reissued in long-play form and, at least in sound, are an improvement over the originals. An appraisal of the content of these disks at this point would show that the Raeburn idea, put into practical action by arrangers George Handy and Ed Finckel, was quite pretentious and windy but produced many moments of fascinating sound and modern "progressive" jazz touches. "Boyd Meets Stravinsky" still stacks up as something of a big band jazz masterwork, for instance. The half dozen or so vocals in the three volume are shared between Ginnie Powell and David Allyn, the latter a particularly gifted young man. Jazz fans of the modern school will most particularly want to have this complete disk documentary of the noble Raeburn experiment.

Over The Rainbow
Hep Boyd
Rip Van Winkle
Prelude To The Dawn
Love Tales
Soft And Warm

Continental Latin Rhythms - French Latin Orchestra

Anders

Continental Latin Rhythms
French Latin Orchestra
Recorded In Europe
Royale 1845
1954

10 inch LP.

Rio
Bermuda
Tony
Quatro
Ellen
Maria
Porto
Anders

Dance Time U.S.A. - Herbie Layne

Nearness Of You

Dance Time U.S.A.
Herbie Layne And His Orchestra
Hollywood Records LPH-46
A Blue Ribbon Product
1957

From the back cover: Herbie plays tenor sax and has surrounded himself on these sides with a group of really fine musicians.

Dancing On The Ceiling
I Could Write A Book
Star Dust
Autumn In New York
La Vie En Rose
Get Happy
Carolina In The Morning
Girl Of My Dreams
Our Love Is Here To Stay
The Nearness Of You
Once In A While

Organized For Hi-Fi - Marty Gold

Yesterdays

Organized For Hi-Fi
Marty Gold And His Organ Ensemble
Arranged And Conducted By Marty Gold
Recorded At Webster Hall, New York City, August 29 and 30, 1956
Recording Engineer: Lew Layton
Produced And Directed By Herman Diaz, Jr.
Vik LX-1069
1957

From the back cover: Marty Gold's preparation for this unusual arranging and conducting task started with a Town Hall debut when he was only 12 and has included arranging assignments for Charlie Barnet and other big bands and work as a conductor for such singers as Sarah Vaughan and the Four Aces. For several years he has been associated with The Three Suns.

The tunes has has chosen for his three-organ ensemble are some of the most warmly loved works of our popular composers. Most of them are thoroughly familiar and some – like Yesterdays and Over The Rainbow – are heard almost daily by anyone within earshot of television, radio or jukebox but never before in the unusual instrumentation in which they are offed here.

From Billboard - March 2, 1958: Superior sound, unusual instrumentation, and excellent technique make this package a solid commercial bet. Ensemble features three organs, string bass, percussionist, celesta and a keyboard glockenspiel. Nostalgic line-up of standards included "I Saw Star," "Penthouse Serenade," "All The Things You Are," etc. For hi-fi addicts, organ fans and romantic deejay sets. Striking cover photo.

I Saw The Stars
My Silent Love
Penthouse Serenade
Yesterdays
It's Easy To Remember
All The Things You Are
S'posin'
Once In A While
You're Mine You
Sentimental Journey
Someone To Watch Over Me
Over The Rainbow

Blue Prelude - Gordon Jenkins

Blue Prelude

Blue Prelude
Gordon Jenkins
Art Direction" Woody Woodward
Cover Photo: Three Lions
Sunset/Liberty Records
SUM 1149
1967

From the back cover: Gordon Jenkins, a product of Webster Groves, MO., gained some early professional experience as banjoist, pianist and later conductor and arranger with various orchestras in St. Louis. Broadway became award of him in 1937, when he scored the music and served as conductor for "The Show Is On." A year later, he was with NBC in California as musical director.

Since then, Jenkins has enjoyed a multiple career. His compositions have ranged from "Manhattan Tower" to "Tzena Tzean"; he has had many TV and film credits, and occasionally he has been teamed with virtuosi from the jazz world, his best-known partnership having having been with Louis Armstrong. Marshall Royal has been a sort of eminence grass of the Count Basie band, which he helped reorganize in 1951. Born in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, he studied violin as well as the reed instruments and was only 13 when he made his professional debut. During the 1930s, he worked in California, chiefly with the Les Hits orchestra, which for a while served as Armstrong's backdrop. When Lionel Hampton left Benny Goodman to form a band in 1940, Marshall was a key man with Camp' unit for two years. During the 40s he played with Jack McVea, Eddie Haywood and many studio groups around Hollywood.

Because he has been best known for his section work with Basie and is rarely given a chance to exhibit his solo ability, Marshall Royal's work here will come as a surprise to less observant followers of the Basie phenomenon. Fortunately, like many musicians who had studied the band closely Gordon Jenkins has long been aware of Royal's gifts as a subtly melodic improvising musician. His style most closely evokes the work of another great alto man who rose to prominence in the 1930s. Benny Carter, and at times there are traces of Johnny Hodges. What emerges most strikingly from these sides, though, is not the impression of any influence but the sweeping impact of Royal's own fluency and inspiration and the remarkable degree to which Jenkins, by giving him this sumptuous showcase, has drawn out his full personality to an extent the Basie setting can never make possible.

Pagan Love Song
When I Grow Too Old To Dream
Ain't Misbehavin'
Caravan
Birth Of The Blues
Blues For Beverly
Battle Royal
Goodbye
Blue Prelude
Take The "A" Train

Latin Si! - Warren Covington

The Moon And I

Latin Si!
Warren Covington And His Orchestra
Warren Covington's Instruments By Selmer
Cover Photo: Decca Records Photo Studio, Hal Buksbaum
Decca Records DL 4208
1962

From the back cover: Latin Is!, loosely translated means we like our latin music with a Latin Beat!

Wild Pachanga
Jim Cha Cha
Yellow Bird
My Guantanamera
Dream Tango
La Macarena
Never On Sunday Cha Cha
The Moon And I
La Pachanga
Wall Street Cha Cha
Tequila
La Empaliza

That's Life - Living Brass

Sunshine Superman

That's Life
Living Brass
Arranged and Conducted by Ray Martin
Produced by Ethel Gabriel
Recorded in RCA Victor's Studio A, New York City
Recording Engineer: Bob Simpson
RCA Camden CAS-2143
1967

That's Life
Cry
Riders In The Sky
Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)
Besame Mucho
Sunshine Superman
You Belong To My Heart (Solamente Una Vez)
My Little Tramp
Tangerine
Mariachi Blues

Hamp In Hi Fi - Lionel Hampton

Le Prisoner de Nantes

Hamp In Hi Fi
The Lionel Hampton Quartet
Harmony
A Product Of Columbia Records
HL 7115
1958

From the back cover: The whole thing started in 1956 when the news got around the Camp was planning to tour the Old World again. This time, however, it had to be completely different. It seemed a good idea, therefore, to try and persuade Camp to record a number of well-known European – folk songs and other similar melodies – accompanied by his rhythm section. Lionel Hampton was immediately taken by the idea of giving free rein to his imagination with some completely new material. However, there was one major handicap to be overcome. Like a number of other "greats" in the world of jazz music – Erroll Garner, for example – he can't read music, so it was impossible to give him the "new" music on paper to allow him to study it and make his choices. A week later – March 30 and 31 to be precise – our Mr. Streefkerf met Hampton during his stay in Brussels and they started to play, one the vibes and the other the piano. Hamp picked out some tunes he liked best, and some head arrangements were thought up at the same time. It all happened on May 1 and 2. Lionel was working in Paris at the time and it was there he recorded the numbers he'd worked on since the original rehearsals in Brussels. These numbers – all of which you've heard before, but never, never like this – have been grouped together under the title Camp in Hi Fi.

It's A Long, Long Way To Tipperary
La Vie en rose
Olee Dolee Doff
Tire l'aiguille
Sarie Marais
Vieni sui mar
Le Prisoner de Nantes
Die Lorelei
Londonderry Air
Zeg Kwezelken Widet Gij Dansen

Java - Jim Collier

Anymore

Java
Featuring Honey In The Horn
Jim Collier
Wyncote SW 9013
1964

Java
When Your Baby Is Gone
View From My Window
Miss Daisy De Lite
Happiness Is A Thing Called Fun
Honey In The Horn
Anymore
One Little Kiss
Chills
Get It Movin'

The In Crowd - The Wilson Lewes Trio

The Breeze And I

The In Crowd
The Wilson Lewes Trio
Diplomat Records DS 2369

The In Crowd
More
The Peanut Vendor
What A Difference A Day Made
Poinciana
Manhattan
The Breeze And I