Septet - The New Sounds Of Art Van Damme

 

Cry Me A River

Septet

The New Sounds Of Art Van Damme

Produced by Ernie Altschuler

Cover Photo: Fred Schnell / Globe

Columbia Records CS 8992

Accordion - Art Van Damme

Drums - Marty Clausen

1st Fluegelhorn - Johnny Howell

2nd Fluegelhorn - Warren Kime

Trombone - Brad Smith

Baritone Sax - Mike Simpson

Bass - Herb Kapp or Mel Schmidt

Sweet Georgia Brown

Things Ain't What They Used To Be

Mit Fluegel

Cry Me A River

Planaria

Get Me To The Church On Time

Jing A Jing

Bluesette

Once Upon An Island

Its A Wonderful World

Smoke Rings

I Hear Music

Prepare To Flip! - The Signatures

 

Pete Kelly's Blues

Prepare To Flip!

The Signatures

In The House Of Brass

Conducted by Bob Prince

Warner Bros. W 1353

1959

The Signatures: Bob Alcivar, Ruth Alcivar, Don Purdy, Dottie Dunn, Hal Kratzsch

From the back cover: "Show biz" revels in memorable moments – times when artists "happen" in dramatic dynamic, big-league ways.

Garland – at the Place

Goodman – at the Paramount

Sinatra – at the Sands

The Signatures – anywhere

Perhaps never before in entertainment history has a vocal group earned such universal praise from insiders, the people who know show business best. All at once, at the turn of the decade, the professionals are talking about this talented quintet with phrases like:

"Most exciting vocal group I ever heard!"

"A five-sided jewel!"

"The group has poise, power, and top pro qualities."

"Best treat of the year for my money!"

"Amazing!"

The Signatures, in their recent travels about the country, have started most of their engagements as "just another vocal group," known only to a handful of local people who keep up with the entertainment field for professional reasons. Then, night after night, they have to "beg off" after doing two or three more encores than they had intended. Club owners, at first disturbed by upset time schedules, smile happily at unstoppable applause, excitement-filled rooms, and the rusty of soft paper in cash tills.

No doubt remains – The Signatures are "The Arrivals Of The Year!"

Now, here's your chance.

Prepare to Flip! 'Cause the songs that have been flipping night club and jazz festival audiences alike are in this album... plus!

One big plus is "The House Of Brass." That name covers a swinging combo of crackling trumpets and bed-rock trombones set up by arranger-conductor Bob Prince expressly for this album. They blow cool and hot behind the quintet, giving the group a fulsome back drop to their go-vocalizing.

The Signatures, individually and collectively, make with plenty of pluses themselves. For instances include:

The bright, brassy kickoff tune – I Get A Kick Out Of You – during with Dottie Dunn leaps into her upper register for a thrilling glissando.

Dottie's warm, wide voice and crackling gliss on Lonesome Road as she sings over Hal Kratzsch's mellophone.

Hal taking over Black Coffee, a tune tailored to his rich baritone voice. Ditto his solos on Judaline.

April In Paris, which is fast turning into the group's big show-stopper, whipping up a batch of kicks as The Signatures follow Count Basie's great arrangement to its logical, one-more-time ending.

For anyone who wasn't on board with the Sig's first flew via Warner Bros. Records, we might briefly mention that: the group is a three-boy, two-girl quintet... part of the excitement they create in person comes from the fact that all five of these extraordinary singers also play instruments... Bob Alcivar is founder, arranger, and pianist... his wife, Ruth sings and handles percussion... Hap Kratzsch sing the low parts and plays the high on trumpet or mellophone... Don Purdy plays bass as well as vocalizing... Dottie Dunn sings lead and swings on vibes.

Their versatility extends to the kinds of engagements they play and the audiences they please. Is there any gourd in the c country that can go from breaking up the Playboy Jazz Festival to three weeks at a smart supper club to a month in Las Vegas?

There's but one pice of advice left. Listen. But first, Prepare to Flip!

From Billboard - December 7, 1959: The mixed group has a fine hip vocal blend, highlighted by lead singer Dottie Dunn's versatile solo work. The three-boy, two-girl quintet provide exciting, tasteful, renditions of oldies, standards, and originals, including "Black Coffee," "I Get A Kick Out Of  You," and an excellent version of "April In Paris," styles after the Count Basie arrangement. Spinnable wax for jazz and hip pop jocks.

I Get A Kick Out Of You

I'm Beginning To See The Light

Pete Kelly's Blues

Judaline

April In Paris 

Ain't We Got Fun

The Lonesome Road

Playboy

Black Coffee

Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'

It's A Pity To Say Goodnight

So Pretty - Herb Steward

 

So Pretty

Herb Steward Plays

So Pretty

With The Dick Hazard Strings

Produced by Jackie Mills and Tommy Wolf

Audio Engineer: "Bones" Howe

Front Cover Design: Peter Whorf

Back Cover Design: Amino with Photo by Jackie Mills

Recorded March 1962 in Hollywood, California at United Recording Studios

AVA Records As-9

Distributed by MGM Records 

1962

From the back cover: "So Pretty" is a delightful album for those quiet moments when you need a few tender memories to fill your heart with warmth and love. Each melody is like the familiar greeting of an old friend, expressed in glowing arrangements for string orchestra by Dick Hazard, and introduces a soloist who has no equal as an interpreter of romantic ballads... Herb Steward.

Herb Steward was born to be a musician. Not the spectacular kind who commands headlines because of escapades outside the realm of music, but the inspired player whose reward is the respect and esteem of his professional colleagues. It many take a little longer to achieve national prominence this way, but when the recognition finally arrives it is always sweeter and more lasting.

Herb was born in Los Angeles in 1926 and was already a serious student of the clarinet at the age of nine. Soon he added the tenor saxophone to his repertory and, while still in grammar school, worked with various dance orchestras in Southern California. Then at the age of fifteen he joined the Musician's Union, and his career followed the story of American popular music through two decades of the traveling dance bands.

A list of his associates during this time reads like a Who's Who of the music business, for Herb Steward has played lead alto, clarinet and jazz tenor (sometimes all three) with the orchestras of Artie Shaw, Alvino Rey, Charlie Barnet, Tommy Dorsey, Harry James, Freddy Slack, Bob Chester, Elliot Lawrence, Claude Thornhill and Woody Herman, where he played lead tenor and was featured soloist in what is probably the most famous jazz saxophone section of all times... "The Four Brothers"... Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Jimmy Giuffre and Herb.

Since 1961 he has enjoyed the life of a busy Hollywood studio musician. As a soloist, he is an exclusive AVA artist. This, his initial AVA release, may be your first encounter with the lyrical beauty of the Steward sound, but I am certain it won't be your last.  – Tommy Wolf

From Billboard - November 3, 1962: Steward has quite a reputation as a vet jazzman and he displays much of his ballad feeling on this set. Herbie plays clarinet, tenor sax, alto and baritone sax on this LP. He is backed by a lush bank of strings, conducted by Dick Hazard, and the whole album comes off in lovely fashion. The material is made up of ballads like "Remember," "Indiana Summer" and "Among My Souvenirs." Perfect for easy listening stations.

Indian Summer

Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans

Remember

With All My Love

Memphis In June

I'm Coming Virginia

When Day Is Done

Lovely Melody

Among My Souvenirs

So Pretty

Explosion - Terry Gibbs

 

Soft Eyes

Explosion

Terry Gibbs and His Exciting Big Band

Mercury Records SR 60704

1962

From Billboard - November 17,1962: The Terry Gibbs hallmark for years has been excitement, and on this LP, the Gibbs big band once again underlines the word. The leader is out front on vibes and his band swings and shouts with vigor. In addition, there are some fine solos played by top-flight artists on the West Coast scene. The set was recorded on location, but liner information neglects to name the spot. "Tico Tico," "Big Bad Bob," "Do You Wanna Jump Children." "Pretty Blues Eyes" and "Nature Boy" are some of the better tracks.

Tico Tico

Big Bad Bob

The Big Cat

Soft Eyes

Billie's Bounce

Pretty Blue Eyes

I'll Take Romance

Do You Wanna Jump Children?

Nature Boy

Jump The Blues Away

Sleep

Beauty And The Beat - Bob Scobey's Frisco Jazz Band

 

Lulu's Back In Town

Beauty And The Beat

Bob Scobey's Frisco Jazz Band

RCA Victor LPM-1344

1957

From the back cover: Everybody who knows Bob Scobey and his wonderful music knows that with his appearance on the scene one of his loudest rooters was a disc jockey out of WGN in Chicago. Those Saturday afternoon broadcasts were something special. It was a habit-forming program because you could count on one Scobey tune every time, and usually there were more. Now the disc jockey has left the air and has showed up at RCA Victor. What is more natural that that Bob Scobey should show yup there shortly thereafter. If the attached beauty, appropriately called Beauty And The Beast, is any indication of what's to come, we're willing for the firs time to admit that the Saturday afternoon program did not die in vain.

And it's a whale of a coming-out party. The beauties are famous and well known, and the were never more dazzling. The proud parents, Bob Scobey and Clancy Hayes, have assembled a notable and sparkling stag line at this lovely romp. A glance shows the invited guests to include Matty Matlock on clarinet and arrangements; Abe Lincoln on trombone; Mannie Klein, trumpet; Warren Smith, clarinet. This is, of course, in addition to the usual family group of Bob Scobey; Clancy Hayes; Jack Buck, trombone; Ralph Sutton, piano; Bob Short, tuba; Bill Napier, clarinet; and Fredy Higuera, drums.

The man responsible for this recorded well-being is Robert A. Scobey of Walnut Creek, California. There he's at home with his lovely wife Barbara and a few guests including three children, five Siamese carts, two dogs, and his golf clubs. A man who has to referee this activity is bound to have an open mind about his music. Bob has no "old school tie" to live up to, or overcome. This freedom plus his accurate judgment and fine musicianship make anything he does fresh – entertaining – unique.

Scobey was born December 9, 1916, in Tueuncari, New Mexico, but the family soon moved to Stockton, California. Though he nearly got sidetracked to a career in chemistry, music won out, and upon graduation from high school he started "gigging" around the Bay Area with various bands and at radio stations and theater pit bands. His career in jazz actually started when he met Lu Watters, and Scobey became one of the main liners of that famous outfit – Watters and Scobey on trumpets and Turk Murphy on trombone. Late in 1949 Bib broke from Watters and set up his own jazz band, which has continuously become more and more successful. The band has had several enormously happy tours to Chicago and surrounding territory, and its reception in Las Vegas, especially of late, has been nothing  short of sensational. The Scobyites, as you may have heard and as you many have assumed if you haven't , are at home in San Francisco.

Among the notable things this assemblage produces is a new dimension to the Scoby band. To those used to listening to the Scobeyites in their normal seven-man lineup will come a pleasant clutch of surprises, such as Scobey playing beautiful, driving lead trumpet for a larger group along with the lilting Clancy tunes in strictly ballad style. Clancy shows he can play rhythm guitar with the best of them, for this rhythm group is a solidly packed unit.

Matty Matlock's arrangements fit like a Marilyn Monroe gown. There's a careful, solid structure below – and the solos stand out sharply as they should. Throughout, there is always that extra touch,  a subtle blending of humor, love, whimsey – and always the beat.

From Billboard - May 30, 1957: Scobey's first essay for RCA Victor was done with his usual severn-man band – with seven studio musicians added. It should sell well. It comes off with a pop swing band effect rather than the crisp, tightly-knit Dixieland combo sound that is associated with Scobey. Clancy Hayes also sings in a more flowing pop style, and there will be those who will argue whether this was altogether desirable. Hits "Alice Blue Gown" and "Linda" are jewels of vocal styling.

The Girl Friend

Linda

Miss Annabelle Lee

Mandy Is Two

Alice Blue Gown

Mickey

Calico Sal

Sweet Lorraine

Lulu's Back In Town 

Sweet Substitute 

You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby

Rose Of Washington Square

Music For Holding Hands - Bill Snyder

My Own True Love

Music For Holding Hands

Bill Synder

Piano Solos with Rhythm Accompaniments

Decca Records DL 8102

1955

From the back cover: The mood of this album is completely expressed by the title. For anyone who wants the most romantic of mood music, this is it. The titles, as well as the melodies, are redolent with glamour; the songs are those to which lovers have always thrived; there are tender heart beats in every bar. The spell of this music is accentuated by the subtle piano playing of Bill Snyder.

Bill Snyder was born in Chicago, climbed on a piano stool at the age of three – and has been there ever since. He was six when he made his first recital appearance in Chicago's Kimball Hall. A scholarship at De Paul University was followed by a degree of Bachelor of Music at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, after which he got his Master's at the American Conservatory of Music. It was in Chicago that he met Moritz Rosenthal, then the last living pupil of Franz Liszt. Rosenthal heard him and "adopted" Bill as a protegé. Synder's distinguished technique thus has a long heritage.

In 1940 he was on the staff of the Columbia Broadcasting System, served with the Air Force for several years and, after his discharge, formed a dance band. In 1952 he joined Decca; his records have been popular in Europe well as in his own country. Besides his own arrangements, Bill Snyder has a long list of original composition to his credit, ranging from novelty piano solos to serious concertos. His custom-piano, "Oscar," is one of the few pianos which has a built-in air conditioned unit that keeps the temperature and humidity equalized. "Oscar" was four years in the making and is insured for $25,000.00

The Eleventh Hour

My Own True Love

The Girl Next Door

Younger Than Springtime

The Moon Of Manakoora

I'll Follow My Heart

The High And The Mighty

When I Grow Too Old To Dream

As Time Goes By

My Dearest

Falling In Love Again

I'll See You Again

Modern Jazz With Dixieland Roots - Don Stratton

 

Yesterdays

Modern Jazz With Dixieland Roots

Don Stratton

Produced by Creed Taylor

Cover Photography: Fernand Fonssagrives

Cover Design: Fran Scott

Liner Photo: Alan Fontaine

Engineer: Irv Greenbaum

ABC-Paramount ABC-118

1956

From the back cover: The schism that so violently split jazz in the mid-'40s has nearly been healed. A musician or listener didn't have much choice in those days. He either allied himself with the new movement – the be-boppers – or clung fiercely to his family fare and became known as a moldy fig.

Those were the days when an unwary listener who asked a bop group to play Muskrat Ramble might easily be hooted out of the club. And the days when modernists were laughed at with cries of "Chinese music!" and "Fraud!"

But little by little – sometimes almost painfully – the breach has narrowed. Bobby Hackett's talent for playing only the loveliest of notes cannot be ignored, be you the most avid Dizzyite. The genius of Charlie Parker was such that it cut across all party lines.

And then Dixieland bands began almost surreptitiously to hire up-to-date drummers who could swing in two without playing oom-chuck. Young tenor men began to discover that before Stan Getz there was a Lester Young. And before him, Bud Freeman.

It would seem that the day has again arrived where a man is judged on his talents and inventiveness – not on if he takes his drinks at Nick's or at Birdland. Or prefers the compositions of Clarence Williams to those of Gerry Mulligan.

The collection included in this jacket goes a long way toward proving the point that it isn't whether you use tunes which are old or new – it's what you do with them that counts. And that you approach them with open mind.

Don Stratton and Phil Sunkel obviously did just that when they went about adapting these chiefly Dixieland opuses to their own use. First they assembled a group with unique instrumentation, yet one based firmly in jazz history. Two trumpets lead the way here – lead it brightly and weavingly and with sensitive interplay.

And most jazz fans will recall that it was more than 30 years ago that Louis Armstrong joined Joe (King) Oliver's band and produced some thrilling two-trumpet work with Joe that still is remembered with awe by those who heard it.

The two horns here belong to Dn and Phil, and they are played with wide variety of sound and scope, with mutes and without. Abetting them is the muscular tenor saxophone of ex Woody Hermanite, Dick Hafer. Another onetime Herdsman is on piano – Dave McKenna – and the broad background he has had in all of jazz music is readily apparent in his two-fisted playing. Chuck Andrus is the bassist, and behind the drums is Karl Kiffe, an alumnus of such bands as Jimmy Dorsey and Georgie Auld.

This is Stratton's first record date as a leader. Born in Woburn, Mass., in 1928, he stared on trumpet at the age of 7. After high school he minded the band of Nat Pierce, then working around Boston when work was available. He went on to play with Buddy Morrow, Claude Thornhill, and Elliot Lawrance.

Many intent jazz listeners already are convinced that Phil Sunkel, even though sparsely represented on records thus far as a writer-instrumentalist, possess that rare talent of bing alba to write melodic lines of rare beauty and perception, and that he is going to become one of our major talents.

Born in Zanesville, Ohio, in 1926, he graduated from the Cincinnati Conservatory in 1950, then moved to New York, where he played with many bands, including Thornhill, Pastor, Charlie Barnet, Stan Getz, and Sauter-Finegan.

And so, though it might have been deemed an impossibility as few as five years ago,  young and perceptive jazzmen of the caliber of Stratton and Sunkel now are probing into material long associated with an older idiom and are adapting it gracefully to their conceptions.

If you need more than the obvious sincerity of these performance and the swinging jazz hat results to prove there is no tongue-in-cheekiness involved, listen to Stratton's R.HJ.S and Wiggling' And Giggling' and see how well the lessons taught by elders have been absorbed by these men in writing, as well as playing. Modern Jazz with Dixieland Roots. – Jack Tracy - Editor, Down Beat Magazine

From Billboard - September 1, 1956: One of the best covers of the season will draw attention to what is actually some pretty sticky jazz. Stratton, far from a modernist, is stiff and often downright corny. Phil Sunkel, a far better jazz trumpeter, is heard in just a few spots. Some of the tunes ("Black Bottom," "Charleston," etc.) would seem to convey the idea of the title. 'Tain't so.

Black Bottom

Royal Garden Blues

Wigglin' An' Gigglin'

Sow Goo Mang

What Is This Thing Called Love?

Personnel on: "Black Bottom", "Wigglin' An' Gigglin", "What Is This Thing Called Love?" - Don Stratton, John Williams, Dick Hafer, Chuck Andrus, Karl Kiffe

Personnel on: "Royal Garden Blues: - Don Stratton, Phil Sunkel, Dave McKenna, Karl Kiffe, Chuck Andrus

Personnel on: "Sow Goo Mang" - Don Stratton, Phil Sunkel, Dave MeKenn, Karl Kiffe, Chuck Andrus

Charleston

Sunday

Yesterdays

Moxahala

R.H.S.

Personnel on: "Charleston", "Yesterdays", "R.H.S." - Don Stratton, Phil Sunkel, Dave McKenna, Karl Kiffe, Chuck Andrus

Personnel on: "Sunday", "Moxahala" - Don Stratton, John Williams, Dick Hafer, Chuck Andrus, Karl Kiffe

Experiments In Sound - Johnny Richards

 

Concerto To End All Concertos

Experiments In Sound

Johnny Richards

Recorded January 14-15, 1958

Capitol Records T981

From the back cover: The two characteristics of Johnny Richards that usually come first to my mind when his name is mentioned or his music is played are fever and tenacity.

There is a consuming passion for music as self-expression in Johnny, and so precise is this obsession that Johnny will expend on his music and on the training of his musicians huge amounts of energy, patience and his own money. He is a perfectionist who will not allow himself to be represented by work that he considers below his own fierce standards. Accordingly he hires the most expert musicians he can find and rehearse until they and he are satisfied that they understand each other.

Johnny's tenacity becomes contagious if you're as music-struck as he is. As Down Beat joined out during a review of their band's first date in April, 1957: "The band had spirit, and plenty of it. The trombones and other members of the sections took the book home during rehearsal. It was obvious the members were working heard on the book but also obviously enjoying their work... This is a band whose impact is not easily forgotten. It is not only a personal triumph for Richards, who wrote the very end in the book, but also for the men on the band, who blew the very end because they had been challenged and had the drive to answer."

Since that April landing at the Red Hill Inn in Camden, New Jersey, the Richard ensemble has played Birdland several times, some one-nighters, the New York Jazz Festival at Randall's Island, and concerts, including on a at Town Hall. There has also been an aptly titled album, Wide Range (Capitol T885) and considerable hosannas in the music press.

John summarizes his perspective concerning the band by stating that, "within the framework of 17 men, I have a complete gamut of musical possibilities, and it's up to me to utilize it. I feel all the fellows should have plenty of room for blowing so that they can integrate their own music and feeling into the greater whole that each arrangement tries to be." Although Richards has a reputation for his ability to write in complex forms and with massive effect, he also indicates in this set his respect for comparative  simplicity. "I believe," he says, "that you can play something simple with as much enthusiasm and care as something wild. And the scope of this band does range from the simple to the wild"

All of the writing is by Johnny, who also conducts. The personnel consists of: Al Stewart, Johnny Bello, Burt Collins, Ray Copeland, trumpets; Billy Byers, Jimmy Cleveland, Jim Dahl, trombones; Gene Quill, alto; Frank Socolow, tenor; Bill Slapin, baritone saxophone and piccolo; Shelly Gold, bass saxophone; Jay McAllister, tuba; Joe Venuto, percussion; Chet Amsterdam, bass; Bobby Pancoast, piano; Jimmy Campbell, drums. Julius Watkins is on French horn except for Neolore, No Moon At All, This Time and Theme From The Concerto To End All Concertos were the French horn is Paul Ingraham. – Nat Hentoff

From Billboard - November 17, 1958: This is a most interesting and intriguing album by the Johnny Richards Ork that will interest both hi-fi and jazz fans. The leader himself, has been responsible for a lot of excitement with his band and this new album should keep up that excitement. If features attractive sounds, rhythms and fine blowing by the swinging Richard Ork. Some of the tunes are standards, other originals, like "Theme From The Concerto To End All Concertos," penned by Richard himself. A stimulating set.

Omo Ado

What Is There To Say

Estoy Cansado

Theme From The Concerto To End All Concertos

How Are Things In Glocca Morra

Terpsichore

Je Vous Adore

Neolore

This Time

No Moon At All

I've Got You Under My Skin - Georgie Auld

 

Body And Soul

I've Got You Under My Skin

Georgie Auld - Tenor Sax Solos

With Orchestra Directed by Andre Previn

With Bud Conlon's Rhythmaires

Vogue Coral Series LVA 9012

Made In England

From the back cover: The tenor saxophone can explore a mood with tenderness as well as passion. Its warmth of tone, its range and flexibility all make it a perfect medium for the expression of a contemplative, romantic approach to jazz. The soloist and his instrument become a singe creator; a man's emotions our from the sinning bell of his saxophone.

Nearly all evergreens of modern poplar music, the tunes on this record are romantic in mood, tinged with nostalgia. Georgie Auld interprets them quietly and sensitively, his imagination moving within their fabric to create a lyrical melodic line and dark harmonic textures. The instrument responds to the genuine artist within this brilliant young musician.

Georgie Auld has been playing jazz professionally ever since he was fifteen. Born in Canada on May 19, 1919, he moved to Brooklyn, N.Y. with his parents when he was ten years old. Two years later the boy could play the alto saxophone well enough to win a Rudy Wiedoeft scholarship. (in the days Wiedoeft was an unchallenged virtuosos on that instrument.)

Doing the late Twenties the Negro musician, Coleman Hawkins, created almost single-handed a style for the tenor saxophone. The richness of Hawkins' tone, the originality and scope of his ideas, the intricacy of his elaborate rhapsodizing, the power and swing behind his playing – these made such an impression upon young Georgie Auld that he gave up the lighter-toned alto saxophone and shifted to the tenor instrument.

Nick's in Greenwich Village became a centre of jazz activity in the Thirties. It was there that Auld, still only fifteen years old, came to be heard by Bunny Berigan, one of the greatest white trumpet players in jazz history. Berigan had just left Benny Goodman's first big band and was about to form a group of his own. Soon afterwards he asked Georgie Auld to join him, and for the nest three years the young tenor saxophonist played with Berigan's band.

Artie Shaw led one of the top-ranking swing bands of those years. In 1938 Auld replaced Ron Perry in Shaw's reed section. Now he started attracting attention among a wider audience; his style of playing began to be imitated by other tenor saxophonists. When Artie Shaw walked off the stand one night in 1939, declaring himself to be tired of the band business, and caught a plane for Mexico, it was Georgie Auld whom the other musicians elected to be their leader. Twenty-one years old, he led a band for the first time.

In 1940 Auld joined Jan Savitt's orchestra but stayed only a month. He left to work with Benny Goodman. Some of his finest solos were created with the Goodman Sextet – his tenor saxophone was the first to be heard within that group. But when Artie Shaw reformed his band (adding strings this time) Auld went back to him, staying until Shaw enlisted in the U.S. Navy.

In 1943 Georgie Auld joined the army, but was medically discharged the following year. He immediately organized a band of his own, the first of several which he was to lead during the next few years. None of these bands proved very successful from a commercial standpoint, although they contained outstanding sidemen and were rated very highly among musicians.

During the spring of 1946 Auld went to Arizona to rest and recover from the strains of being a bandleader. A couple of months later he was back again in New York, with plans for yet another orchestra. After the failure of this group Auld remained idle for a time, but in March, 1947 he took a sextet into the Three Deuces. Red Rodney, George Wallington and Serge Chaloff were members of that unit. Later that year Auld joined an all-star group comprising Chubby Jackson, Bill Harris, Howard McGhee, Shelly Manne and Lou Levy.

A spell on the West Coast found Georgie Auld working with Billy Eckstine. But the spring of 1949 brought him back to New York, where he opened a club – the Tin Pan Alley – on Broadway and 49th. He oiled his tenor saxophone rarely, but appeared in the role of a musician in  Garson Kanin's olay, "The Rat Race". Soon he grew tired of a club-owner's life, got out his saxophone and started touring with a quintet. The bad luck which dogged Auld's earlier attempts to become a successful bandleader struck once again: the club in St. Paul at which they opened burned down and the instruments were all destroyed. Refusing to be defeated, the band went on with its tour. In recent years, however, Auld has confined most of his playing to recording, radio and television studios.

This record highlights the dazzling instrumental technique of Georgie Auld. His relaxed, graceful style is touched with both delicacy and ferocity. His taste and skill derive from a basic, native musical intelligence.

Georgie Auld elaborates rich melodic solos within an orchestral framework created by that brilliant young composer and pianist, André Previn. The tenor saxophone takes on a new and captivating richness when set against a background of strings. Two tunes – Body And Soul and Smoke Gets In Your Eyes – have unusual accompaniment provided by the voices of Judy Conlon's Rhythmaires. The vocal-instrumental setting produces intriguing tonal blends and thrusts the saxophone into prominence. A romantic reverie, this selection of tunes played by Georgie Auld makes easy, dreamy listening.

I've Got You Under My Skin

S'posin'

I Cover The Waterfront

I Didn't Know What Time It Was

A Stairway To The Stars

Body And Soul

I Don't Stand A Ghost Of A Chance With You

Take Care

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

Easy To Love

All The Things You Are

Someone To Watch Over Me

Jazz Furlough - Danny Long

 

Penny

Jazz Furlough

Danny Long - Piano

With Ray Heapolitan - Bass

And John Whited - Drums

Cover Photo: Capitol Photo Studio / Ken Veeder

Capitol Records T 1988

1963

From the back cover: Last year I was appearing at a Chicago club, a young pianist by the name of Danny Long was heading up his own instrumental trio there at the same time. I was so impressed by his impeccable, swinging style that I decided right then that I wanted him to make an album.

Danny Long plays a lot of piano. You'll hear what I mean when you listen to this album. – Bobby Darin

The chances for Bobby Darin to record Danny came a little later when the Trio was on the West Coast, packing crowds in nightly at a club called P J's. The Darin production staff is headquartered at the Capitol Records building in Hollywood, so they moved into action while Danny was in town.

As it turned out, the recording was completed just in time, because Danny was called into the Army shortly after the last date.

Bobby went ahead with the album, working with Capitol Records to arrange the many details that are necessary to turn out a finished album. Then, just about the time the records began to come off the presses, Danny Long got his first furlough.

He returned to the West Coast to get some well-deserved relaxation, to hear playbacks of his new record for the first time, and to renew acquaintances at P J's. It was during this time that Capitol producer Tom Morgan got the idea for the cover picture of this album – literally, a portrait of Danny Long enjoying his "Jazz Furlough."

Now the album is released and Danny Long is back at work with the Army. Fortunately, however, Bobby Darin is not the only one who knows something good when he hears it. For Uncle Sam has given Danny the job of packing in G.I. audiences at concerts all over the U.S., and Danny's career is still flourishing, just as when he was a civilian.

Form his beginnings in Chicago, where he rose quickly to play in many of the finest clubs, Danny has branded out to top bookings in New York, Los Angeles and Atlantic City, and now with the Army he's making even more of a name for himself.

Recently, he has performed concert engagements at Fort Knox, Kentucky; Fort Riley, Kansas; has functioned as composer-arranger-conductor for the 1st Division Dance Band; emerged as winning instrumentalist of the 5th Army Area Entertainment Contest; took second place as vocalist in the same contest (though he didn't get around to singing in this album); was Grand Finalist in the All-Army Entertainment Contest, held at Fort Lee, Virginia; and the list of credits goes on, with concert and musical directing assignments and credits across the country.

His skill as a composer is not to be overlooked – a fact that listeners can attest to for themselves by listening to five of Danny's own compositions in this album.

As for Danny's "Jazz Furlough," the vacation version is a thing of the past – just a pleasant memory. But the "Jazz Furlough," album version, is only the beginning of a big climb to a bright future for Danny Long. And in the meantime, he's not slowing down along the way.

From Billboard - November 23, 1963: Here's a fine young pianist, a discovery of Bobby Darin. Long, with bassist Joe Neapolitan and drummer Jim Whited make tight, lucid swing. The trio works well together and there are a number of tracks that have the pop-jazz ring. "Paul's Raffle, Part I and II" and "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" are the leading examples. The lad has a strong touch and has a good sense of dynamic dramatics.

Smile (John Turner - Geoffrey Parsons - Charles Chaplin)

Save One For Bugs (Danny Long)

Paul's Raffle, Part I and II (Danny Long)

Penny (Danny Long)

Audrey's Purpose (Danny Long)

I Can't Give You Anything But Love (Dorothy Fields - Jimmy McHugh)

Broadway (Henri Wood - Teddy McRae - Bill Bird)

It Could Happen To You (Johnny Burke - Jimmy Van Heusen)

Strange Meadow Lark (Dave Brubeck)

Mrs. E. T. (Danny Long)