Keeping Track - Dateline December 2010

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WINTER WONDERLAND – A Christmas Celebration Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians 32 tracks incl. Ring those Christmas Bells; Caroling, Caroling; Carol. Brothers, Carol; The Star Carol; Gesu Bambino; O Come All Ye Faithful/Come, Dear Children; Bright, Bright the Holly Berries; While By Our Sleeping Flock We Lay; I Wonder As I Wander; Silent Night, Holy Night; O Holy Night …The Meaning of Christmas; The Song of Christmas // The Andrews Sisters, Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians 20 tracks incl. Winter Wonderland; Christmas Island; Christmas Candles; Merry Christmas Polka; Stars Are the Windows of Heaven … Dick Haymes There’s A Big Cloud [Next to Heaven]; Christmas Dreaming; The Christmas Song; The First Noel; Cradle Song of the Virgin; Ave Maria [Schubert]; It Came Upon a Midnight Clear; O Little Town of Bethlehem; Joy to the WorldJasmine JASCD 149 [79:29 & 79:06] An essential part of the Christmas celebrations in chez Burt has been Fred Waring’s ‘Now is the Carolling Season’ [Collectors Choice CCM 01662] ever since I bought it on a World Record Club LP more years ago than I care to remember. So imagine my delight on finding this new reissue – sensibly released in good time for this Christmas – with the first [stereo] disc giving us just under three dozen sacred and secular tracks, none taken from the earlier album. Five of the carols were written by jazz musician Alfred S Burt [no relation!] Listening to these pieces, it is no wonder Fred’s Christmas albums were best sellers in the ‘50s and ‘60s. Of the second [mono] disc, it is no surprise to learn that the joint recordings by the Andrews Sisters and Guy Lombardo listed above also sold in their millions. Mr Lombardo, like Robert Farnon Canadian-born, migrated to the USA in the early ‘20s where his Royal Canadians became billed as "The sweetest music this side of Heaven." Completing the disc is the entire Christmas album recorded by Dick Haymes, considered a strong rival to Crosby and Sinatra in the 1940s, appearing on CD for the first time. We have here, then, two attractive exceptionally well-filled discs available for around £9 – and unquestionably my Best Buy for Christmas! Peter Burt

MANTOVANI AND HIS ORCHESTRA Christmas Carols Adeste Fideles [O Come, All Ye Faithful]; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen; White Christmas; Good King Wenceslas; O HolyNight; The First Nowell; Joy To The World; Silent Night; Holy Night; O Tannenbaum; Midnight Waltz; Nazareth; O Little Town Of Bethlehem; Skaters’ Waltz // Classical Encores Slavonic Dance No.2 In E Minor, Op.46; Etude No.3, Op.10; Tango; Barcarolle [from Tales of Hoffman]; On Wings Of Song; Hungarian Dance No.5; Solveig’s Song [from Peer Gynt]; Air For The G String; Cradle Song; None But The Lonely Heart; Ave Maria; Largo Vocalion [Catalogue number & timings not available on going to press] The Christmas album is the CD Mantovanians have long been expecting from this source. [It was released on the US Collectors Choice Music label CCM 20852 very late last year]. This is the 1958 stereo re-recording and is, along with Percy Faith’s no longer available ‘Music for Christmas’, just about the finest album of Christmas music by a light orchestra. At the Kingsway Hall organ featured on some tracks is Harold Smart, whose father Charles played on the original mono LP ‘An Album of Christmas Music’ in 1953. Midnight Waltz is one of the maestro’s loveliest compositions. The album joins Monty’s follow-up ‘A Song for Christmas’,already available on Vocalion CDLF 8122, and is a happy reminder of the first 78 rpm record I ever bought, White Christmas/ Adeste Fidelis, which began my affair with our kind of music. This new 2-CD set is completed by an album recorded in May 1962 for issue in America but held back until 1965 for British release and then, inexplicably, only briefly available. With it I understand that Vocalion have now reissued all of Monty’s stereo LPs. Including it does mean, of course, that this release is not just for Christmas! And there is also the customary added value of Colin Mackenzie’s authoritative liner notes. Three cheers all round for Mike Dutton. Peter Burt

BOTTICELLI AND HIS ORCHESTRA Presenting Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree; My Love; Killing Me Softly With His Song; It Never Rains in Southern California; Day by Day; Mammy Blue … Unlimited Seasons In The sun; Waterloo; Melody of Love; I Won’t Last a Day Without You; The Air That I Breathe; etc. … 22 tracks Dutton Vocalion CDLK4431 [67:24]. I wonder how many of us missed these recordings the first time, nearly 40 years ago? There seemed to be a glut of similar outfits around, with few clues as to who was responsible for them. The title of the orchestra almost suggests that it might be pseudo-Mozart, but nothing could be further from the truth. It is not what we would call "light music", because there are pop elements in the gentle rhythm and the girly chorus, which happily is only occasionally and quite tastefully used. The music concentrates on what was popular at the time, rather than harking back to the 1920s and 1930s, which many others were still doing in those days. The string section is really quite lush at times – pity it wasn’t used more extensively. I suspect many of the players may have been recruited from the ranks of the superb Metropole Orchestra, because the man behind the "Botticelli" albums was Dick Bakker, who later became conductor of that fine outfit founded in the mid-1940s by Dolf van der Linden. The recordings were made in the Dutch Dureco studios, where Bakker was appointed manager when they opened in 1972. Five years later he started his own music production and focussed on composing, arranging and conducting film music, audiovisuals, company presentations, commercials and album projects. In London he established an orchestra with musicians from The London Philharmonic, St. Martin in The Fields and top musicians from the freelance sector. With this orchestra "The London Studio Symphony Orchestra" he recorded his music for the next fifteen years, often for leading multinational companies. By 1987 Dick Bakker was enjoying his international success which resulted in recognition such as the Edison Award for ‘Musica di Gloria’. Today Bakker remains actively involved as an artistic adviser with productions involving the Metropole Orchestra, and occasional music specials on radio and television. With such a pedigree you’d expect a quality product, and if you enjoy the kind of pleasing, undemanding sounds you sometimes hear in the background in public places, then this is for you. As an accompaniment to happy moments spent simply relaxing, and reminiscing about the 1970s, this could hardly be bettered! David Ades 

PHILIP GREEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA Moments in Mayfair These Foolish Things; Someday I’ll Find You; Room 504; She’s My Lovely; Midnight in Mayfair; Love is the Sweetest thing; London Fantasia; A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square; We’ll Gather Lilacs; Limehouse Blues. Music for Leisure – Easy Listening Stardust; La Vie en Rose; Barcarolle; Caravan; Dizzy Fingers; Maneater; Mexican Madness; Farewell Blues; The Merry Mountaineer; Arkansas Traveller; (Back Home Again in) Indiana; West of Pecos; Moonlight in Vermont; St Louis Blues; The Missouri Waltz; By the Waters of Minnetonka Dutton Vocalion CDEA6177 [78:03]. This has to one of the best CDs of 2010. At long last that superb Philip Green 10" Columbia LP from 1956 has been reissued, and now for the first time in stereo! Before stereo LPs arrived EMI issued a small number of "stereosonic" reel to reel tapes, and this was one of them. Very few will have been purchased for two reasons: their high price and the lack of equipment on which to play them. Top marks to Mike Dutton for securing the stereo tapes that have transformed this collection, which sounded great in mono but is now simply amazing. The music has taken on a new vibrancy, thanks to Mike’s expertise, and the sound quality is equal [if not better] to the very latest recordings. The titles confirm that Philip Green chose his material with great care [mostly by British composers] and one assumes that he had a hand in the arrangements. It is nice to hear the romantic theme from Clive Richardson’s London Fantasia which takes on a pleasing new identity divorced from the war atmosphere of most of the work. The title of the other album in this collection has probably prompted some head scratching! Almost as a bonus Mike Dutton has unearthed another early EMI tape to pair with ‘Mayfair’. Before cassettes were invented, EMI and some other companies were trying to encourage us to use our growing number of tape recorders as tape players. The reel to reel tape featuring Philip Green was compiled from various sources – previous 78s, tapes and an LP [the final seven tracks are taken from ‘Pan-American Panorama’]. Highlights include a wonderful – almost hectic – version of Caravan; the Zez Confrey "classic" Dizzy Fingers; Laddie Busby featured on trombone playing his own Maneater; Philip Green’s The Merry Mountaineer; and Mexican Madness by Cyril Stapleton and Bob Sharples. Finally there is even more good news: this great CD is in Dutton’s low price CDEA series. Simply a most enjoyable selection of music, expertly restored, that will be on many RFS members’ "wants" list this Christmas! David Ades

THE LOST TRANSCRIPTIONS Volume 1 For full track listing please see details in the ‘Light Music’ section of this website. Guild GLCD5174. Previous issues in the Guild Light Music Series have explored the vaults of the Recorded Music Libraries. For this release another musical treasure house has been tapped, namely recordings of the various transcription services made of live performances for use by, eventually, broadcasters worldwide, although the practice began in the US in the early 1940s when they were also distributed to Service personnel. A number of such transcriptions have, almost against the odds, survived and a generous selection is reproduced here in recordings excellent in quality for their time and with modern wizardry sounding very enjoyable even in the 21stcentury. Many of the names of bands and conductors familiar from previous Guild releases reappear here: Dolf van der Linden, Percy Faith, George Melachrino, Philip Green and David Rose. Yet there are surprises to be found among them. Rose’s catchy The Butterfly and the Alligator seems to be otherwise unknown; new to me also were Rose’s Pepper Tree Lane from his ‘Hollywood Bowl Suite’and his arrangement of Ding Dong the Witch is Dead from "The Wizard of Oz" [Rose was briefly married to Judy Garland] which begins like a piece of "train music". A Jota by Anthony Collins and performed by Philip Green’s orchestra has breathtaking energy. Several tracks are from the Second World War, especially those by Melachrino and the young Sidney Torch with the RAF Concert Orchestra, about which not much is known except that it seems to have been based in Blackpool. The junior service, incidentally, headhunted most of the best available musicians during 1939-45. The last nine tracks have perhaps most interest for me personally. Don Gillis is best known for Symphony No.5½; here his Three Sketches [Enchantment, Whimsy, and Day Dreams] are small in scale and economical in instrumentation but are distinctive. Lamar Springfield was also American and his Dance of the Frogs, based on the nursery rhyme A frog he would a-wooing go [inserted, as many will remember, as a fugato in Roger Quilter’s A Children’s Overture], is a gorgeous find. I first encountered Jarnefelt’s Praeludium in the 1940s when it was used to introduce a radio adaptation of one of Walter Scott’s novels; maybe even this performance was used, ‘though at that time there was a commercial 78 of it and its companion piece Berceuse. The name Eric Robinson as conductor of this wartime track is of interest. Eric Coates’ ‘Three Men Suite’ is pieced together by combining recordings, also wartime, from Melachrino’s Orchestra in Khaki [first movement] and Dunn’s Royal Marines Portsmouth Orchestra – a characterful, energetic overall performance. And finally to music by Keler-Bela [1924-84], born in Hungary and who played in theatre or dance orchestras in Vienna and Berlin and later toured Europe, including England, with his own orchestra. He composed 12 overtures, perhaps his major compositions, and lots of dances [a Keler-Bela Czardas was appropriated by Brahms for his Hungarian Dance No.5]; if all have the same colour and sparkle as this Romantic Overture, then a revival of his music generally is overdue, indeed imperative. I hope I have written enough to tempt prospective purchasers; repertoire and performances are alike stimulating, exciting even. Very highly recommended; let’s have more "found" transcriptions!

Philip L Scowcroft 

PAUL MAURIAT AND HIS ORCHESTRA El Condor Pasa Love Story; El Condor Pasa; To Be The One You Love; Melancholy Man; Black Harlem; My Sweet Lord, etc… L.O.V.E. Oh Happy Day; Get Back; Windmills of your Mind; Aquarius; Serenade to a Summertime; etc. … 22 tracks Dutton Vocalion CDLK4437 [xx:xx] When the album ‘El Condor Pasa’ was released in 1971, Paul Mauriat had already made more than thirty LPs, and he was in the happy position of knowing that he had an army of admirers who would readily snap up everything new that he offered them. His ‘L.O.V.E.’ LP had been released two years earlier – in France it was called ‘Un Jour, Un Enfant’ – and both collections tended to reflect the way in which popular music was developing in the post-Beatles era. Considering how prolific Paul Mauriat was [looking at lists on the internet one is tempted to say that he may have made more LPs than any of his peers] it is surprising that new CD releases do not feature many more examples of his work. In 1968 he shot to fame when his recording of Love Is Blue was number one in the US charts for five weeks. It had been written by his fellow countryman André Popp as Luxembourg’s entry for the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest where it came a disappointing fourth [Sandie Shaw was the winner for the United Kingdom that year with Puppet On A String], but Mauriat’s elegant orchestration managed to capture the public’s attention. Already well-known in France, his career was now firmly launched internationally. In 1965 Mauriat signed a recording contract with Polygram, and this lasted until 1993. He produced a large catalogue of recordings, selling more than 40 million albums worldwide. He embarked on the first of many world tours in 1969, visiting countries like United StatesCanadaSouth KoreaBrazil and especially Japan, where he would undertake 28 tours in the following years, during which it is estimated that he conducted well over 1,000 concerts. Such was his popularity in Japan that he appeared in television commercials, and made new recordings with their Pony record label when his Polygram contract expired. Paul Mauriat gave his final performance in 1998 in Osaka, Japan, where tribute concerts have been held in recent years. He died on 3 November 2006 at Perpignan in southern France, aged 81. RFS member Serge Elhaik has been a champion of Mauriat’s music for many years, having written his biography with Mauriat’s blessing. This new Vocalion release should help to make music lovers take further notice of a talented man who created a vast army of adoring fans, especially in Japan. David Ades

GLENN MILLER AND THE ARMY AIRFORCES BAND Medley Time 2 CDs 34 tracks Sounds of yesteryear DSOD812 [79:03 & 77:36] Fourteen medleys that according to sleeve were songs most often requested. Guests include Johnny Desmond, Artie Malvin, Peanuts Hucko, Tony Martin, Bob Carroll and the Crew Chiefs. These fifteen minute medleys were broadcast three times a week: by using this format Glenn could double the tunes used! Paul Clatworthy

THE PRISONER The Complete Chappell Recorded Music Library Cues DJR 001a [58:50] DJR 001b [50:29] DJR002 [65:19] For the benefit of any readers who might still be unfamiliar with the cult 1967 television series, it contains a vast range of often spectacular and very tuneful light music, with many items by Robert Farnon, that can be relied on to cater for all tastes. This special Collectors’ 3-CD set makes available for the first time the complete archive collection of incidental music as used in the 1967 Everyman TV production. Aimed at the connoisseur of "Prisoner" music and specialist communities dedicated to the appreciation of library music, television incidental music and British light music, its features include a 56-page booklet containing an episode by episode, scene by scene listing of all the music library original soundtracks and commercial tracks used in the series. There is a total of 174 minutes of music on 100 tracks, many on CD for the first time, and all in high quality sound. For contractual reasons some commercial tracks are omitted but these can mostly be obtained from other sources. This CD set is beautifully presented in a limited edition of 1,000 sequentially numbered and is highly recommended. It is not available from any shops and is available at £26.99 [+ £1.99 p&p] by personal application only from No2YourVillage, 65 Oxford Avenue, Guiseley, Leeds LS20 9BY or on-line. Further details including track-listing etc. can be seen at www.theunmutual.co.uk Peter Luck

JOHN FOULDS Keltic Suite, etc. BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Ronald Corp Keltic Overture; Keltic Suite; Sicilian Aubade; Isles of Greece; Holiday Sketches  Festival in Nuremburg, Romany from Bohemia, Evening in the Odenwald, Bells at Coblenz; An Arabian Night; Suite Fantastique – Pierrette and Pierrot, Chanson Plaintive, The Wayside Cross, Carnival ProcessionDutton Epoch CDLX7252 [68:06]. A few weeks ago in my locally owned recorded and sheet music/instruments shop I ordered a John Foulds CD I’d seen on a forthcoming issues list, and since receiving it it’s hardly been out of my CD player. Apart from Paxton and Bosworth recordings of his music, I really didn’t know much about John Foulds [1880-1939] but this Dutton Epoch disc is light music at its best. Lewis Foreman in the CD booklet notes that Foulds was frustrated that his light music was played in preference to his more serious works and listening to this CD I can see why. The programme begins with the Keltic Overture, rather similar I think to Hamish MacCunn’s The Land of the Mountain and the Flood and this is followed by The ClansA Lament and The Call, which make up the Keltic Suite. All very colourful especially The Call, which begins as a jig and works up to a grand martial movement then coming back to its original dance rhythm before once again returning to a martial climax. Sicillian Aubade could have come from a mood music catalogue, it has that Mediterranean melody yet it is one of eleven tracks having their world premiere recordings on this CD. Isles of Greece is a plaintive piece which apparently was dedicated to a couple of dancers, Alexandre and Clotilde Sakharoff , who used it for a short ballet. The suite Holiday Sketches was published by Bosworths but to my knowledge hasn’t ever appeared in their mood music library catalogue as has the Keltic Overture and Lament. The first movement is Festival in Nuremburg but nothing to do with the infamous rallies, it’s a holiday style march and very catchy. The BBC Concert Orchestra’s Cynthia Fleming is the solo violinst for the gipsy Romany from Bohemia as is cello soloist Katherine Wood in the quiet Evening in the OdenwaldHoliday Sketches ends in quite a tumultuous fashion with Bells at Coblenz ringing out. An Arabian Night is a quiet affair with as you’d expect eastern overtones but the CD ends with four movements from the Suite FantastiqueThe Wayside Cross builds to an impressive organ climax played by Roderick Elms, and the final movementCarnival Procession has the Concert Orchestra and conductor Ronald Corp sounding as though they’ve enjoyed themselves immensely playing this much neglected composer’s light music. Ken Wilkins

RAIE DA COSTA – The Parlophone Girl Volume 3 The First Thing I Knew; One Hour With You – Medley; Sunshine Susie – Medley; Hexentanz; Fairies’ Gavotte; The Punch and Judy Show; Butterflies In The Rain; Sarie Marais; I’ll Follow My Secret Heart; etc. … 24 tracks Shellwood SWCD 40[70:00]. This is Shellwood’s third collection devoted to a young lady pianist from South Africa with considerable talent, who died at the tragically early age of 29. Many of her recordings could best be described as syncopated piano solos, but sometimes she was joined by musicians such as Fred Hartley [on celeste] and in duets with the likes of Harry Jacobson. From the brief tracklisting details above, keen eyes will have spotted compositions by top songsmiths such as Sherman Myers [who we all now know was Montague Ewing], and she is also featured as composer on Toyland Holiday. If you’ve enjoyed the first two volumes you’ll be keen to get this one as well. The fine restorations are complemented with comprehensive booklet notes and recording information. David Ades If you have difficulty finding Shellwood CDs, they can be obtained from the RFS Record Service.

PETER DEMPSEY My Dreams : Songs by Francesco Paolo Tosti 26 tracks incl. Io son l’amore!; O Ma Charmante; Shall We Forget?; Marechiare; Beauty’s Eyes; Ici-bas!; Triste ritorno; On Lido Waters; Because of You; Le Rose che mi desti; Senza l’amore!; My Dreams; Petite Valse Romantique [piano solo]; Spring; Serenata allegra; Inverno Triste!; Serenata Allegro; Inverno triste!; Seconda mattinata; ‘A vucchella … FPT 1 [78:39] Here is another of tenor Peter Dempsey’s growing collection of CDs devoted to Victorian or Edwardian ballads and notable, as always, for his clear, passionate delivery and admirable diction. Tosti [1846-1916] is best remembered for the English ballad Good-Bye [not recorded here], but his output of 350-plus songs included, besides English ballads [mostly to lyrics by Fred Weatherly, with six of them here], French chansons [three here including the charmingPour un baiser!, beloved of Caruso] and Italian songs, many specifically Neapolitan ones. Strongly recommended, not least because at least 12 of the 25 song tracks have probably not previously been recorded. Recording quality is excellent. Accompanist Guy Rowland, who supports well, arranged his own solo from a Tosti waltz song. Available from Peter Dempsey at 44 Victoria Road, Bidford-on-Avon, Alcester, Warwicks B50 4AR at £9.95 including postage Philip L Scowcroft

GEORGE BEVERLEY SHEA The Wonder Of It All 2 CDs 48 tracks Jasmine JASCD 674 [65:13 & 69:33] The canyon-deep baritone of "Bev", now in his 102nd year, was a key part of Dr. Billy Graham’s great Christian crusades held throughout the world during the second half of the 20thcentury. Many old favourites are here such as Somebody bigger than you or IIf I can help somebody, How great thou artHe’s got the whole world in His handsThe Lord’s Prayer and Blessed assurance. The last 12 tracks on Disc 2 are devoted to Christmas titles. Both generously-timed CDs [at mid-price] will bring back moving memories to many people of their lives being changed. Peter Burt

CENTRAL BAND OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE Reach For The Skies Battle Of Britain March; Fanfare For The Common Man; 633 Squadron; RAF March Past; Lawrence Of Arabia; It’s A Long Way To Go; The Dambusters March; Winston Churchill: "Their finest hour" [Jerusalem]; Reach For The Sky; Danny Boy; Pomp And Circumstance; Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines; Spitfire Prelude; Wind Beneath My Wings; Evening Hymn and Sunrise; Winston Churchill: "Never in the field of human conflict" [The Day Thou Gavest] Decca 2747513 [48:36] Released to mark the 70thanniversary of the Battle of Britain, this is guaranteed to lift the spirits with its mix of RAF-related classics, including three composed by Ron Goodwin, and tunes traditional and modern. The 45-strong band is conducted by the RAF’s principal director of music, Wing Commander Duncan Stubbs. I am not enthusiastic about the three vocal tracks: It’s a long way sung by Fl. Lt. Matthew Little, which was especially written for the album by two of the bandsmen, Danny Boy [Hayley Westenra], and Wind beneath [Kerry Ellis]. The two speech extracts give added poignancy to an otherwise fine album with a very high level of musicianship. I recall 55 years ago how proud I was to march behind this band with bayonet fixed as RAF Wyton received the Freedom of Huntingdon. Not for the first time my mainquibble with this CD is the short measure. When will Decca match the quality with quantity on their popular band releases? Peter Burt 

BOB SCOBEY AND HIS FRISCO JAZZ BAND featuring CLANCY HAYES Feelin’ The Spirit Frisco jazz parade; Georgia blues; Too much mustard (take five) There’s nothing in Dixie (take three) Memories of bunk; Sudan (take six) Geary Street blues; Feelin’ the spirit; That’s for sure; Strawberry time; My hearts in Dixie (take three) Hobo blues (take two) Don’t count your kisses; Southern comfort; Bourbon street; Tailgate romance; Cable car swing; Clarinet capers; While you are away; Along the Wabash shore; Hobo blues (take three) Too much mustard (take four) What a lonesome day (take five) Bob’s blues (take one) Two beat (take four) Sounds of yesteryear DSOY 817[67:50] One for Chris Barber fans! Paul Clatworthy

JOE VENUTI AND HIS BLUE FIVE Blue Five Swing Hoe-down low down; Tango interlude; Hot ‘N’ trot; Bohemian bounce; Blue five swing; Nobody loves me; Red sea rumba; Fickle fiddle; Orchids; Concerto for new sounds; Black rhythm; Desert flower; Fleur-de-lis; Beautiful Oregon; Loco motives; Gee its great; Could I care; Noveletta; The distant lake; Sambalina. Sounds of yesteryear DSOY 815 [55:02] Joe Venuti is considered the father of jazz violin. He worked with major big bands such as Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden and Benny Goodman. Bing Crosby’s radio show featured him on a regular basis. A great practical joker, he used to send one armed trumpet player Wingy Malone a single cufflink every Christmas. Another time annoyed by a band member’s insistent foot tapping he nailed the culprits shoe to the floor! These tracks were recorded in 1957 and make pleasant listening; few violinists could coax so much joy out of the instrument in a small group setting.

Paul Clatworthy

DON REDMAN ORCHESTRA featuring COLEMAN HAWKINS Free And Easy Last night in town; To the river; Ballad ‘N’ bounce; Dreamy melody; Desert dance; Chevy’s chase; Christmas in the valley; Donnybrook; Ain’t gonna get fooled again; Voodoo; Peetni Petite; Waiting on the corner; My dream of yesterday; Fall leaves; At the swing cats ball; Free and easy; Echoing; Coffee light; The black cat; I dream of summer. Sounds of yester year DSOY 816 [51:58] Don Redman made his mark as an arranger in early big band jazz providing scores for Louis Armstrong, Ben Pollack and Paul Whiteman [my Dad’s favourite band]. He later worked for Jimmy Dorsey, Count Basie then as musical director for Pearl Bailey. All twenty tracks are absorbing listening, I would dearly love to know who did the composing and arranging as there are no credits on the sleeve. Coleman Hawkins puts extra colour in to these rare sessions which are undated. The sleeve says Don stopped leading his own band in 1940 so I assume the music predates, if so either excellent first recording or wonders worked in the remastering. I loved the title and tune Chevy’s chase although unfair to pick one among so many goodies. Paul Clatworthy

LALO SCHIFRIN Mambo in Paris featuring the Orchestras of Eddie Warner and Lolo Martinez Harkit Records HRKCD8347 [63:15] Twenty-one tracks arranged by Lalo. His piano teacher told him the Conservatoire de Paris was offering scholarships for foreign students, so he set off with his book of arrangements. The year was 1952, these tracks were originally issued on The Barclay and Odeon labels between 1953 and 1955 A fascinating look at Lalo’s early writings, four original compositions, others by Gillespie, Perez Prado, Juan Tizol, Morales and names familiar in South America but less well known in Europe. Paul Clatworthy

MONICA MANCINI I’ve Loved These Days These days: God only knows; American tune; Blame it on the sun; Without him; How can I be sure; I’ll follow the sun; Ballad of the sad young men; Something so right; I’ve loved these days. Concord 08880072307452 [43:15]. Despite arrangements by Jorge Calandrelli I wish I had given this one a miss. Revisiting hits by others only works if you can improve or add something. Some tracks have the original artists involved but it is still a letdown.

Paul Clatworthy

FOLLOW THAT GIRL 17 tracks incl. Tra La La; I’m away; Follow that girl; Solitary stranger; Life must go on; Three Victorian mermaids; Doh, Ray, Me; Song and dance; The Chase; Taken for a ride; Lovely meeting you at last … & 2 other tracks Hooray For Daisy! 12 tracks incl. She coming on the 4.48; I feel as if I’d never been away; No lullaby; How when and where?; If only you needed me; Nice day … Must Close Saturday Records MCSR 3047 [76:21]

FOLLOW THAT GIRL [Original London Cast] 17 tracks …& 7 other tracks Sepia Records Sepia 1156 [72:64]

Not a blast from the past but the gentle zephyr of a breeze! My wife and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary by going to the Vaudeville Theatre in London to see Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds’ delightful follow-up to their then record breaking show "Salad Days." And now, 50 years on, here is not only its first re-issue on CD but mirabile dictu its second as well. Starring Peter Gilmore [later of the popular BBC series ‘The Onedin Line’] and Susan Hampshire [later of ‘Forsyte Saga’ and ‘Monarch of the Glen’ fame] with musical direction by Philip Martell, it ran for 211 performances and was one of the first show recordings to be made in stereo. The story is about a young Victorian girl whose parents want her to marry a businessman so she runs away followed by her two suitors, Tancred and Wilberforce. The policeman sent to find her, who himself was lost 20 years ago while his parents [played by Marion Grimaldi and Newton Blick] were Shopping in Kensington, falls in love with her. Among the good tunes and witty lyrics Waiting for our daughter, sung in mock-opera style by James Cairncross and Patricia [Hyacinth "Bucket"] Routledge, is especially fun. Slade and Reynolds also wrote the Christmassy ‘Hooray for Daisy’, a dozen numbers from which are included on the Must Close album performed by the Bristol Old Vic Company. As well as the tracks from the two stage shows there are two additional tracks: Michael Collins’ orchestral selection from ‘Follow’, and the title tune played as a slow foxtrot by Victor Sylvester and his Orchestra. This CD also has the added appeal of the recording being restored by our friend Alan Bunting. Aside from that the Sepia album is only slightly shorter in length and is £2 or so cheaper. It has some fascinating "bonus" tracks: two selections from ‘Follow’ played by composer Julian Slade himself at the piano, a "pop version" of the title tune sung by Mr Gilmore backed by Tony Osborne and his Orchestra, three tracks [two songs from ‘Follow’] from the 1955 recording ‘The Music of Julian Slade’, and Christmas Madrigal from another Slade show "Look Who’s Here". All wonderfully nostalgic. Peter Burt 

LANG LANG The Best Of Lang Lang 27 tracks Deutsche Grammophon 4779014 [131:70] Here is the phenomenally talented 28-year-old pianist [his name translates as "very brilliant"], about whom some music purists are a bit sniffy, playing on a new mid-price 2-CD collection of recordings ranging from Liebestraum to – of special interest to JIM readers – Nigel Hess’s 23½-minute Piano Concerto, commissioned by The Prince of Wales in memory of the late Queen Mother. In between there is an eclectic mix of pieces: Rhapsody on a Theme of PaganiniTräumerei; Tchaikovsky’sPiano Concerto No.1, 3rd movt.; Mike Oldfield’s Harbinger; Alexandre Desplat’s River Waltz [from the film "The Painted Lady"]The Yellow River Piano Concerto, 2nd movt. Ode to the Yellow River; Schiller’s Time for Dreams, other tuneful works by Liszt, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Satie, Rachmaninov, Schumann, and some particularly fascinating ones by Chinese composers, about which I would have liked some information in the booklet notes. Put this on your Christmas gift list.Edward Trub

More reminders from Wilfred Askew of recently received releases

THE CREATIVE SOUNDS OF FRANK DE VOL – Portraits 55 tracks on 2-CDs incl. Stranger in Paradise; Moments to Remember; My Foolish Heart; Unchained Melody; Chances are; Tammy; True Love; Say One for Me; Love Letters in the Sand; Silver Moon; When I Grow Too Old to Dream; Wonderful one; I’ll See You Again …Jasmine JASCD 538 [156:51] Original Capitol, CBS & RCA Recordings including 21 vocal tracks: Bing Crosby, Jo Stafford, Margaret Whiting, Dinah Shore, Mel Torme & Gordon Macrae.

MAURICE JARRE ‘Lion Of The Desert’ & ‘The Message’ The Original Film Sountracks on 2-CDsTadlow Music Tadlow 008 [138:32]

HENRY MANCINI Mancini Marches [issued in 1959 as ‘March Step In Hi-Fi’National Emblem; Entry of the Gladiators; The Billboard March; Under the double Eagle; Colonel Bogey; On the Mall … & six more titles Sousa In Hi-Fi [reissued in 1963 as ‘Sousa’s Greatest Marches’Semper fidelis; National Fencibles March; Stars & Stripes Forever; The Invincible Eagle March; King Cotton; Manhattan Beach March … & six more titles Collectors’ Choice CCM-959 [65:05] Original Warner Bros. albums from 1959.

RALPH MARTERIE Into The ‘Fifties 50 original Mercury recordings on 2-CDs: Pretend; Caravan; Shish-Kebab; Moonlight in Vermont; La Rosita; Beautiful Ohio; Alice Blue Gown; Alone; Once in a while; Boulevard of Broken Dreams, John and Julie; In a Persian Market … Jasmine JASCD 541[132:13]

THE ARHUR MURRAY ORCHESTRA directed by Ray Carter Arthur Murray’s Music For Dancing Cha Cha 12 tracks incl. Watermelon Heart; Cheerful Little Earful; Arrivederci, Roma; Rico Vacilon; Arthur, you should smile more; It might as well be Spring … Sbme SBMk700725 2 [31:40]Fox Trot 12 tracks incl. Mack the Knife; Autumn Leaves; Canadian Sunset; There’s a small hotel; April in Portugal; Arthur Murray taught me dancing in a hurry … Sbme SBMk 700726 2 [28:26]Mambo, Rumba, Samba, Tango, Meringue 12 tracks incl. Red Petticoats; Tequila; Dansero; Bandolero, [La La] Colette; Ole Guapo … Sbme SBMk700727 2 [29:06] Waltz 12 tracks incl. Tenderly; Wunderbar; Under Paris Skies; A Kiss in the Dark; Alice blue gown; Wonderful One …Sbme SBMk 700728 2 [29:43] Original RCA recordings 1959.

KEN THORNE ‘Juggernaut’ & ‘The Bed Sitting Room’ Original Motion Picture SoundtracksKritzerland 20016-1 [33:56] 1,000 copies

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