A Brahms Program with Furtwängler and Menuhin

Programs with the eminent conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler have met with approval from readers, so today we offer another edition, this one delving into the music of Johannes Brahms for the first time.

As he was in the Beethoven concerto, Furtwängler is joined by Yehudi Menuhin for a performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto. The conductor then leads a performance of Brahms' final symphony, the Fourth.

Johannes Brahms, circa 1866

In his book on Furtwängler's recordings, John Ardoin has this to day about Brahms: "By training, inclination, and nature, Brahms was more a classicist [that a romantic] ... Yet beneath his classic exterior beat a fervent heart, and it is in the interior of Brahms's music that we discover, as Furtwängler did, its true meaning and essence."

Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77

The Violin Concerto was set down in a recording session in summer 1949, presumably during the Lucerne Festival and using the festival orchestra.

Those who listened to the Beethoven concerto recently featured here will know that Furtwängler and Menuhin were very much in harmony. John Ardoin had this to say: "The recording ... of the Brahms Violin Concerto is not only their finest collaboration on disc, but it stands as one of Furtwängler's major studio performances. What took place during these sessions and what resulted are best described by Menuhin: 'The great classics were in Furtwangler's blood. He never gave the impression of a deliberate conception; he merely released the work, and indeed the musicians, who never failed to be inspired.'

"The rapport between Furtwängler and Menuhin is ideal in this spacious, uncomplicated, even-tempered performance. It is filled with eloquent phrasing and deeply felt emotions."

Furtwängler and Menuhin at a recording session

The critic of The Gramophone had these thoughts: "The balancing and dove-tailing of the solo and orchestral parts are accomplished to perfection, and, what is more, I am glad to note that Furtwangler faithfully observes Brahms’s fairly lavish dynamic indications...

"His [Menuhin's] playing of the first movement is fine, spacious, and intense. In the slow movement his tone and phrasing do full justice to the poetry of the music, and the emotional expression is properly controlled. The Finale is thrown off deftly and with the right amount of abandon. The playing of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra is very good, although the place where the recording was made would appear to be a little too resonant."

Actually, I prefer a bit of distance between the orchestra and listener, unlike the close-up perspective that would later become common. It also is in keeping with the broadcast sound of the fourth symphony below. This is deservedly a famous performance.

This transfer is from what was likely the first LP issue, put out by RCA Victor in about 1950, when EMI in England and (I believe) Germany had not yet adopted the long-playing format. At the time Victor itself was trying to interest classical listeners in its seven-inch 45-rpm format, without much success. An artifact of that effort can be seen in the cover design, which uses the 45 box artwork inset in a 12-inch frame.

LINK to Violin Concerto

Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98

Unlike the Furtwängler performances presented here to date, this recording of the Brahms fourth symphony comes from a broadcast rather than a recording session. It captures the conductor and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in an October 24, 1948 date in Berlin's Titania-Palast, a movie theater that the orchestra often used for radio appearances and recording sessions.

Titania-Palast

It's often said that the conductor's live performances were "better" than his records. This is an assertion that is impossible to validate, but we can say that this is a very good reading of a symphony that is notoriously hard to bring off - or at least the concluding passacaglia thereof.

Ardoin on this performance: "Everything Furtwängler accomplishes in the finale reflects and grows out of Brahms's marking of allegro energico e passionato. It is fast, it has energy, and above all it is streaked with passion. Along with these qualities, there is also a dizzying senses of controlled abandon ... It is an elation that carries us through the sectional character of the movement, binds the variations tightly together, and peaks in a coda that is Dionysian in its frenzy. Within this high-powered expenditure of energy and passion there is an amazing island of repose - the espressivo variation for solo flute, set against the woodwinds and accompanying strings.

"The potential for this momentary release of tension before the great final push is, of course, a feature of the movement, but few conductors have seized upon its possibilities to such a concentrated extent, and used them to such high dramatic purpose as Furtwangler has."

The passacaglia's theme is adapted from a chaconne theme in Bach's cantata BWV 150, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich - reflecting the composer's reverence for great music of an earlier era.

The relentless ending of the passacaglia is often sometimes to the inevitability of fate. However, in tis performance it is less fate that seems inevitable than the genius of the classical tradition that Brahms upheld.

The sound from this broadcast is very good. My transfer is from its first issue on LP, which German EMI (Electrola) put out in the 1950s. The back cover notes were entirely in German, so I have added a version with a good English translation, courtesy of Google.

LINK to Symphony No. 4

Three from Jerry Gray and Band

Jerry Gray (1915-76) was one of the most significant arrangers of the swing period, working with the bands of Artie Shaw and Glenn Miller - for the latter both his civilian and Army Air Force ensembles.

Gray has not been featured here for many years, so I wanted to make amends by presenting three of his 10-inch Decca LPs from the early 1950s - two new transfers and one remaster from long ago.

A few words about Gray's career from a earlier post: "Gray first came to notice for Artie Shaw arrangements, including Shaw's biggest hit, 'Begin the Beguine.' Shaw, always ambivalent about fame, disbanded that particular group in 1939, and Gray went to Glenn Miller. He proceeded to write many of that band's iconic numbers - 'Pennsylvania 6-5000,' 'Sun Valley Jump' and 'A String of Pearls' - and arranged others - 'Chattanooga Choo-Choo,' 'Elmer's Tune' and 'Moonlight Cocktail.' Many people think he invented the clarinet-lead Miller sound ... Gray wasn't limited to that sound. His own identity was much more tied up with his compositions. His pattern was to start with a short melodic cell, repeat it, vary it, and then elaborate. If you are familiar with the Miller library, 'Pennsylvania 6-5000' is a good example of this pattern."

Jerry's band existed as a studio ensemble, radio orchestra and a road outfit, although the personnel could vary. The band was heard three time a week on the radio show Club 15 until early 1953.

These recordings show a tight ensemble with talented soloists and excellent arrangements, many of them Milleresque. 

In the Mood

Jerry was in effect Decca's entry in the great Glenn Miller revival sweepstakes, contending with such Miller influenced bands as Ralph Flanagan, Ray Anthony and Tex Beneke. For his first LP, Decca chose to lead off with one of the most famous Miller hits, "In the Mood." Ironically, Gray didn't arrange the song for the Miller band, but he had done so earlier for Shaw.

The LP also includes several standards along with two of Jerry's compositions. One is "A String of Pearls," among the greatest tunes of the swing era. Here, he even includes Bobby Hackett's famous trumpet chorus from the Miller record, transcribing it for reeds. The second Gray original is "Desert Serenade," his band's theme song. Also in the album is "Minuet in G," based on a Paderewski piece.

These recordings all come from 1950, soon after Gray started recording for Decca.

LINK to In the Mood

Dance Time with Jerry Gray

Many big bands in the early 50s were at pains to distance themselves from the progressive jazz bands such as that of Stan Kenton by calling themselves dance bands. There were dancers on the cover of the LP above, and for this 1953 offering the title (and murky cover) made the link explicit. 

The songs include three Gray originals - "Oh! So Good," "Solid as a Stone Wall, Jackson," which I believe he wrote for Miller, and "A Pair of Trumpets," which features Pete Candoli and Mickey Mangano. There are two numbers by Jimmy Valentine - "One Stop Boogie" and "Tompkins Cove," Jerry's famed arrangement of "Begin the Beguine," his gloss on Sibelius' "Valse Triste" and his chart for David Rose's  "Holiday for Strings," first heard with the Miller AAF band.

The recordings date from 1950-53.

LINK to Dance Time

A Tribute to Glenn Miller

In August 1951, Decca had Gray in the studio to record eight numbers that he had arranged for Glenn Miller. Unlike the LPs above - which are composed of items also released on singles or EPs - this album was first issued as a 10-inch LP (along with the usual variants of a 45-rpm box and 78-rpm album).

Four of the eight songs are Gray compositions - "Jeep Jockey Jump," "Flag Waver," "Introduction to a Waltz" and "V Hop." Drummer Don Lamond is the emphatic soloist on "Flag Waver."

The other selections are Handy's "St. Louis Blues," Kalmar and Ruby's "Who's Sorry Now?", Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth's "Shine On Harvest Moon" and Larry Clinton's "The Dipsy Doodle."

I transferred this material from my set of the 45s many years ago and have revisited the sound for this post.

LINK to A Tribute to Glenn Miller

Jerry Gray in the studio in the 1940s, with tenor sax Al Klink and
clarinetist Hymie Schertzer. The pianist may be Bob Curtis. 

Film Music from Copland and Thomson

 Paris 1925: Virgil Thomson, Walter Piston, 
Herbert Elwell, Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson, two of the leading American composers of the 20th century, wrote some of their most appealing works for films.

The film scores of Copland, the more famous composer, are actually not as well known as his popular masterpieces such as Appalachian Spring, while many of Thomson's most recognized pieces were for the cinema.

This post brings together newly remastered versions of works by both composers in the film realm. All appeared here originally many years ago.

Apropos of the photo above, there also are links to works by the Americans Walter Piston and Herbert Elwell. All four composers studied with Nadia Boulanger in 1920s Paris.

For the film compositions herein, Copland and Thomson worked in a relatively simple, accessible idioms for works that centered on rural life. Their music can be contrasted with the urban focus of John Alden Carpenter's ballet score Skyscrapers, which recently appeared here, or some of George Gershwin's works.

Copland - Our Town; Thomson - The Plow That Broke the Plains

This 10-inch LP from 1951 brings together suites from scores by the two composers under the direction of Thomas Scherman and his Little Orchestra Society. Both are treasurable and both are in very good performances.

Thomas Scherman

Copland's music is from 1940. Vivian Perlis has written: "With the threat of impending war, Thornton Wilder's play Our Town, with its look back at an America of homespun values, was tremendously appealing. Copland accepted the invitation to compose the musical score for the screen version of life in the small town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire. He explained, 'For the film version, they were counting on the music to translate the transcendental aspects of the story. I tried for clean and clear sounds and in general used straight-forward harmonies and rhythms that would project the serenity and sense of security of the story.'" The orchestral suite is from 1944.

The Plow That Broke the Plains was a Pare Lorentz documentary from 1936 that was sponsored by the US Resettlement Administration. Its purpose was to provide the background for the dust storms then devastating the Southwest. The centerprice of Thomson's suite is a memorably sarcastic piece called "Blues (Speculation)," followed by "Drought" and "Devastation."

LINK to Our Town and The Plow That Broke the Plains

Copland - The Red Pony; Thomson - Acadian Songs and Dances

Decca soon would follow up the coupling above with a 12-inch LP that combined Copland's music for The Red Pony with Thomson's Acadian Songs and Dances from the film Louisiana Story. Both films are from 1948.

Vivian Perlis writes about The Red Pony: "The film was adapted from a novel by John Steinbeck and featured famous Hollywood stars. But it was not a commercial success, and Copland's practical nature led him to recast the musical material for concert purposes. The Suite is in six sections with titles that match the action of the film. Although the melodies have a folklike quality, they are Copland's own."

While Louisiana Story was directed by the documentarian Robert Flaherty, it is a fictional work. The film was sponsored by the Standard Oil Co., although its name does not appear in the credits. The story concerns a boy, his pet raccoon, and friendly oil drillers. Thomson's Acadian Songs and Dances, which make up one of the two suites from the film, are delightful. The second suite from Louisiana Story is below.

LINK to The Red Pony and Acadian Songs and Dances

Thomson - Suite from Louisiana Story and Five Portraits

Thomson's suite from Louisiana Story contains music that was not derived from folk sources. The Philadelphia Orchestra and Eugene Ormandy had recorded the score for the film, and these experts for Columbia. Thomson's music was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1949.

The coupling is a suite of Five Portraits of the composer's friends, the best known of whom are Pablo Picasso and the composer Alexander Smallens. Thomson himself conducts the Philadelphians in this 1945 recording.

The transfer is from an early 10-inch LP. (Thanks to Joe Serraglio for the use of his transfer!)

LINK to Louisiana Story and Five Portraits

Thomson - Suite from The River; Luening - Prelude, Two Symphonic Interludes

Thomson's other famous film score is for another Pare Lorentz documentary, The River, from 1937. It was this score that particularly influenced Copland, who called it "a lesson in how to treat Americana." The river here is the Mississippi and the sponsor of the film was the New Deal's Works Progress Administration. The opening theme of the "The Old South" is perhaps the composer's most familiar music.

Walter Hendl, Dean Dixon

The performance here is a good one, by the Vienna Symphony and the American conductor Walter Hendl.

Otto Luening

This early American Recording Society LP also contains works by the American composer Otto Luening, who became known for his tape and electronic works but in earlier times wrote in an accessible style that produced the Prelude on a Hymn Tune by William Billings and Two Symphonic Interludes. Here, the unidentified orchestra is conducted by the American Dean Dixon. Again, the performances are good.

LINK to The River and music by Otto Luening

Music by Walter Piston and Herbert Elwell

The composer Walter Piston has appeared here a number of times:

Howard Hanson's recording of the Symphony No. 3 is here, along with works by Wallingford Riegger, Alan Hovhaness and Henry Cowell.

The Incredible Flutist, Piston's most famous score, can be found in two recordings, both by the Boston Pops and Arthur Fiedler:

• The 1954 recording is part of a collection called The Ballet, with works by Meyerbeer, Stravinsky, Ravel and Weber.

• The 1939 recording is here, along with MacDowell's Piano Concerto No. 2 (with soloist Jesús María Sanromá) and Piston's orchestration of the Moonlight Sonata's first movement.

The blog featured Herbert Elwell's music very recently: a recording of his best-known work, the ballet score The Happy Hypocrite. That same score also appeared in suite form by the Cleveland Pops Orchestra and Louis Lane. The latter post also includes a private recording of Elwell's Blue Symphony.

David Allyn's 'Face the Music' LP - and Much More

Our journey through the recorded legacy of the great vocalist David Allyn today takes us to his fine World Pacific release of 1958, Let's Face the Music and Dance.

This was the singer's second LP for the label, following his Jerome Kern release A Sure Thing, which recently appeared here.

For today's album, we have two different versions - the original World Pacific release and a reissue from the 1970s, which switched the title to Yours Sincerely and reputedly comprised alternate takes from those on the original pressing. In any case, the differences are not remarkable, but I suspect they will be of interest to completists.

Please note that this set of songs was never issued in stereo, to my knowledge.

Let me also mention that this post includes another of the American Popular Music radio shows from the 1970s. with Allyn singing the works of Harold Arlen. As always, the program featured songwriter Alec Wilder and composer-pianist Loonis McGlohon.

Appropriately, the LP below begins with an Arlen song.

Let's Face the Music and Dance

The less said about this cover, the better

Unlike A Sure Thing, the second World Pacific LP had three arrangers - Johnny Mandel, who helmed the earlier album, Bill Holman, and Jimmy Rowles, who was also the pianist heard on the sessions. The band for the dates was called "the Bill Holman Orchestra."

Holman was a tenor saxophonist who joined Stan Kenton's band in the early 50s and soon was to become one of Kenton's primary arrangers. The arrangements here are in all ways supportive and the musicianship is excellent. Sorry but there is no information available about who is playing on the selections, nor who arranged which items.

Bill Holman with Stan Kenton

Allyn, Holman and the arrangers came up with a nice mix of excellent songs that aren't overly familiar, with a few exceptions. 

The LP begins with one of the lesser-heard Harold Arlen standards, "Hooray for Love," which he wrote with Leo Robin. The song was introduced by old friend Tony Martin in the 1948 film Casbah, which had an excellent score, including "For Every Man There's a Woman" and "What's Good About Goodbye."

Jimmy Van Heusen and Eddie DeLange wrote "Shake Down the Stars" in 1940. Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey had a hit with it.

Vernon Duke and Yip Harburg wrote "I Like the Likes of You" for the Ziegfeld Follies of 1934

"You Send Me" is not the Same Cooke song that had been on the singles charts in 1957, but rather a Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson number written for the 1944 musical Four Jills in a Jeep. Dick Haymes sang it therein with the Dorsey band. This is a good example of a worthwhile song that isn't often heard these days.

Steve Allen's second best-known song is probably "Impossible," which David handles wonderfully. Teddi King's single version is available here.

"Can't Help It" was a new song that Allyn was apparently the first to record. It's a nice piece that doesn't deserve its obscurity. The authors were Marvin Fisher and Jack Segal.

Not the Mississippi Sheiks' version

"I'm Sitting on Top of the World" is a great title that spawned two songs - one by Walter Vinson and Lonnie Chatman of the Mississippi Sheiks, the other by Ray Henderson, Joe Young and Sam Lewis, the latter made popular by Al Jolson. David chose the second song and did well by it.

The Gershwins wrote "They All Laughed" for Shall We Dance, the Astaire-Rogers hit of 1937, where Ginger was the vocalist. Fred's commercial recording is here.

A terrific Rodgers and Hart song that isn't often heard is "Yours Sincerely," which comes from 1929 and the show Spring Is Here. David's sincerity is on full display in this one.

One song that is still performed today - although not as much as decades ago - is "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries." DeSylva, Brown and Henderson penned it for 1931's George White's Scandals and the young Ethel Merman.

La Merman also introduced "I've Got the Sun in the Morning" in Irving Berlin's huge 1946 hit Annie Get Your Gun.

Finally, the LP's title tune, which is another number from the Astaire-Rogers catalog. This one is by Irving Berlin and comes from 1936's Follow the Fleet. Fred's commercial recording is here.

LINK to Let's Face the Music and Dance

Yours Sincerely

For those of you who didn't read the introductory paragraphs, let me mention again that this is the same album as the one above, only reissued under a different name and cover in the 1970s - and reputedly with alternate takes.

I will tell you that the processing of this version was not all that good. The sound from vinyl was screechy and muddy, which I've adjusted. It now sounds as good as the original above.

LINK to Yours Sincerely

Harold Arlen: American Popular Song with Alec Wilder

Alec Wilder

In 1976, National Public Radio sponsored a series on the great American songwriters with the noted songwriter and author Alec Wilder (1907-80). The show's title was derived from Wilder's influential 1972 book American Popular Song: the Great Innovators, 1900-1950. The host and musical accompanist was pianist Loonis McGlohon (1921-2002).

Each episode of the program featured a notable vocalist. We recently heard David Allyn in the works of Jerome Kern. This second 1976 show is devoted to Harold Arlen.

Allyn conveniently starts his selections with "Hooray for Love," which also began the LP above. He follows this with "This Time the Dream's on Me," which Arlen and Johnny Mercer wrote for the film Blues in the Night. Wilder surprisingly professes to be unfamiliar with the piece, which is strange because it's hardly obscure. More to the point, it's a fantastic song, here most affectionately sung by Allyn.

"Let's Fall in Love" comes from the 1933 film of the same name, where it was sung by Art Jarrett. The composer himself recorded it at the time. (If you are interested as Arlen as a vocalist, I posted a set of 13 songs by him a few years ago.) Ted Koehler did the lyrics for this number.

Loonis McGlohon with Charles Kuralt

As mentioned on the show, "Last Night When We Were Young" is associated with Judy Garland. But it was introduced on records in 1936 by Lawrence Tibbett. He had been slated to sing it in the film Metropolitan, but it was unused. Yip Harburg wrote the words.

Garland did introduce "The Man Who Got Away" (here "The Gal That Got Away"), in the 1954 version of A Star Is Born. It's one of the great songs (and performances). Allyn does it well. Ira Gershwin was the lyricist.

Arlen and Harburg wrote "Down with Love" for the 1937 Ed Wynn show Hooray for What! David mentions that he recorded it years ago for an unreleased album. This LP was to be issued in 1979 as In the Blue of Evening, and it is coming up next in this series. Allyn's performance here is over-emphatic.

No, Priscilla Lane did not sing 'Blues in the Night'

The famed "Blues in the Night" comes from the 1941 film of the same name, where it was sung by William Gillespie and later reprised instrumentally. Johnny Mercer was the lyricist.

Mercer also worked on "Out of This World," the title song of an Eddie Bracken film of 1944. That's the one where Eddie is a messenger who can sing like Bing - and is dubbed by Crosby himself. It's a great song for sure, but David is a little unsteady here.

Wilder praises "My Shining Hour" to the heavens, and rightfully so. David includes the seldom heard verse, always welcome. This is one of the many songs introduced by Fred Astaire, in this case in the film The Sky's the Limit - where it's actually co-star Joan Leslie who sings the complete version of the song. Mercer was again the lyricist.

The program concludes with a Wilder-McGlohon number called "Saturday's Child," a nice song indeed.

As before, this program has been remastered and is completely tracked.

LINK to Harold Arlen: American Popular Song with Alec Wilder

Elgar with Gladys Ripley and George Weldon

Edward Elgar's memorable song cycle Sea Pictures was written for soprano, but it was a contralto, Dame Clara Butt. who persuaded him to transpose it and orchestrate it for her use.

Dame Clara recorded only "Where Corals Lie" from the set, but a latter English contralto, Gladys Ripley, did set down her interpretation of the cycle twice, with the same conductor, George Weldon.

It is those latter recordings that are the basis of today's post, with two additional items - Weldon's recording of Elgar's In the South and Ripley's of Haydn's "Hark! What I Tell to Thee." And on my other blog, we hear from Dame Clara as well - also in Elgar; not the Sea Pictures, rather "Land of Hope and Glory."

The 1946 Recordings

Ad in The Gramophone, July 1946

Gladys Ripley's first recording of Sea Pictures was in August 1945 with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the young conductor Maurice Miles. She went on to record or perhaps re-record "Where Corals Lie" from the cycle with the same forces the following February. That set was not issued. Instead, in May 1946, Ripley and the Philharmonia again assembled in EMI's Abbey Road for a re-do, this time with George Weldon on the podium. He was at the time the conductor of the City of Birmingham Orchestra.

That set was released a few months later to acclaim from The Gramophone's Alec Robertson: "I have, personally, an abiding fondness for Elgar’s Sea Pictures, and it would be difficult to imagine them better sung, played, and recorded, than in this present issue." Ripley and the recording quality came in for special praise:

Miss Ripley has none of the faults traditionally associated with contraltos. She does not hoot, her vowel sounds are pure in quality, her diction clear...

Miss Ripley gives a most moving and dignified interpretation of this picture of a spirit awaiting its beloved companion and the beauty of the orchestral accompaniment is fully realised. Throughout this recording the balance is unusually good and altogether it is an outstanding issue and one that conveys the actuality of a concert performance.

The fill-up (i.e., the sixth side of the 78 set) was given over to Haydn's setting of "The Spirit's Song" (here called "Hark! What I Tell to Thee") in an orchestration by an unknown hand.

LINK to 1946 recordings

The 1954 Recordings

Just eight years later, Ripley and Weldon were back at Abbey Road, this time with the London Symphony Orchestra. By this time Weldon had become the assistant conductor of the Hallé Orchestra to Sir John Barbirolli. I don't know why the remake was considered necessary, but it may have something to do with EMI's transition to long-playing records, which had begun a few years earlier.

The interpretations were very similar and Alec Robertson's reactions in The Gramophone much the same:

I find now that I could repeat that [i.e.,, the 1946] review word for word except that there is now no astringency in the tone of the violins in the first song, or in "Sabbath Morning at Sea." Miss Ripley’s lovely voice is ideal for these songs and, as I said before, she sings them with complete understanding and is free from all the usual contralto vices of hooting and scooping.

Gladys Ripley

Elgar is not always very sensitive in his setting of the words, as such, and indeed makes nonsense of some lines of the first song ("Sea Slumber Song"), but his music gives distinction to some indifferent poetry, the orchestral part is full of imaginative touches, and his vocal line has a fine sweep and singable-ness that seem to have departed from most vocal writing to-day. George Weldon and the L.S.O. provide a sensitive accompaniment, the balance is excellent, and altogether I found these five songs as enjoyable as ever.

George Weldon

My own small reservation is that the performance of "Sabbath Morning at Sea" could have been more urgent, such as in the classic recording by Dame Janet Baker and Barbirolli. 

Side two of the Ripley/Weldon LP is given over to Elgar's In the South, a tone picture of his beloved south Italy. Just as Sea Pictures is criticized for its choice of poetry, In the South is accused of being repetitive. There is truth in both judgments, but both works do make glorious sounds.

Here is Alec Robertson on In the South:

George Weldon’s lively interpretation deserves the praise Elgar gave to a performance by the Hallé Orchestra, "The thing goes with tremendous energy and life": and if the Roman section is not, to us "knocking over", as Elgar described it, the recording is, even though it is a little weak in bass.

Actually, the problem with the recording is in the overall balance - too strong in the highs, too weak in the mid-range and upper bass and too strong in the lower bass, which made the result muddy and a bit strident. I've rebalanced it accordingly.

This transfer is from the US Capitol issue.

LINK to 1954 recordings

Swing Dancing with Ralph Marterie

I've enjoyed the Ralph Marterie records posted here so far, so, hey why not another?

This item comes from 1955, is called Swing Baby, and is subtitled "dance album," in case the dancers on the cover aren't enough of a clue for you.

(The cover shot is from the same photo session as the one for On Bandstand No. 1 from 1956.)

Marterie's band was popular in the 1950s, but then and now was not considered a "jazz band." Its purpose was to play for dancing and listening, not so much to show off solo improvisations.

That said, there are solos on this LP and the charts are very much in the big band mainstream. In the tunes, the bandleader pays homage to Count Basie, Lionel Hampton, Woody Herman and others. The ensemble is tight and the charts are for the most part enjoyable (save for Laura).

Swing Baby takes its title from the first song on the LP, co-written by Marterie. This song and most of the others are traditional swing band arrangements. Unlike 1953's Dancing on the Down Beat, the album doesn't rely on the nascent rock 'n' roll movement for added spice.

Several songs, however, make use of an electric piano, which was unusual at the time. There were, to my knowledge, only a few such models on the market - the Fender Rhodes and a Wurlitzer. I wish I could enjoy the sound of the instrument, but it lacks the depth, resonance and dynamic range of the real thing - which is also present on some songs.

A few words about the selections:

• "Stella by Starlight" is by Victor Young, dating from 1945. Ned Washington was to add the familiar lyrics, not used here, of course.

• "One O'Clock Jump" is Count Basie's blues-based theme song, here in a different arrangement from the original.

• "It's a Wonderful World" was a 1939 hit for its author, bandleader Jan Savitt, along with Johnny Watson and lyricist Harold Adamson.

• "Basie Boogie" is a Count tune from 1944, written with Milton Ebbins.

• "Lullaby of Birdland" is the famous George Shearing piece based on "Love Me or Leave Me."

• "Robbins Nest" is by the jazz stars Illinois Jacquet and Sir Charles Thompson, from 1947. The title is taken from the radio program of disk jockey Fred Robbins.

• "Midnight Sun" is a 1948 tune by bandleaders Lionel Hampton and Sonny Burke. Johnny Mercer later added lyrics.

• "The Prisoner's Song" is listed as by Guy Massey but the real "author" was Vernon Dalhart, who recorded it in 1924. The song is folk-based, however.

• "Laura" is the great David Raksin theme from the 1944 film of the same name. Johnny Mercer did the lyrics.

• "Woodchopper's Ball" is Marterie's homage to Woody Herman, who wrote the song for his band with Joe Bishop back in 1939.

• "Danse Arabé" is the Arabian dance from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker.

I wish I could tell you who the soloists are on this record, but as with other Marterie discs, the identity of the musicians is largely unknown. The songs were recorded in October and November 1955 sessions and were not released as singles, as far as I can tell.

Mercury's sound is OK, but the bass was loose and the brass at times strident, both of which I've adjusted. Also, by this time recording engineers had discovered the wonders of the compressor, so there's not much dynamic range.

LINK