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Friday, September 10, 2010

Echoes Of Budapest - George Feyer

George Feyer
Echoes Of Budapest
Vox VX 25.450
1955

From Billboard - August 13, 1955: Most dealers need not be reminded of the potent sales history of Feyer's "Echoes" series. Tho none has sold as well, probably, as the fabulous Paris package, the first in the set, each succeeding entry has done exceedingly well over the counter. Here is another, and the pianist's imaginative touch is applied generously to mostly familiar material in the Hungarian tradition. Should be a moneymaker.

Cask Egy Kislány (Just One Girl)
Minek A Szöke (I Don't Care For Blondes)
Vörösbort Ittam Az Este (I Drank Red Wine Last Night)
Quick Czardas
Am The Village Rascal
Hungarian Dance No. 5
Sari Valse
Lavotta's Love
Rakoczy March
Play Gypsy, Play
Take Me In Your Arms
Roumanian Gypsy - Fantasie
Yip-I-Addy-I-Aye
I Am Courting A Beautiful Lady
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

Music For Dining - The Melachrino Strings

September Song
Moods In Music
Music For Dining
The Melachrino Strings And Orchestra
RCA Victor LPM-1000
1958

RCA offers another great Moods In Music LP with a cool space age cover and odd title. I blogged Music For Reading in another recent post. I found it curious that RCA was attempting to niche market albums as if certain household activities needed specific music to go with them and that you, as consumer, couldn't figure out what music would best go with your meatloaf.

Also, I wondered what George Melachrino must have felt having his work relegated only to reading or meatloaf consuming.

From the back cover: Perhaps your dinner lacks a few of the courses just mentioned; perhaps it's prepared in a one-room apartment and not in the kitchen at Maxim's. Perhaps the china isn't Wedgewood and the wine hails from California. But whatever the circumstances, Melachino's romantic music will enrich your evening beyond measure.

California wines suck?

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Music For Reading - The Melachrino Strings

Dream Of Olwen (LPM-1002)
Mood Music
Music For Reading
The Melachrino Stings And Orchestra
RCA Victor LPM/LPS-1002
1958

One of a number of Melachrino Strings albums in this series of mood music created to with something you might do at home, like reading. Curious marketing. I wonder how successful the series was for RCA?

Clair De Lune
Greensleeves
Festival
Dreams Of Olwen
Song Of My Love
Mattinata
Amoureuse
Waltz In C-Sharp Minor
Serenade
Flirtation Waltz
Cavatina
Love's Roundelay

Riot In Rhythm - Henri Rene

Mangos

Riot In Rhythm
Henri Rene and His Orchestra
Arranged and Conducted by Henri Rene
Produced by Herman Diaz, Jr.
Recored in Webster Hall, New York City, December 5, 11 and 15, 1958
Recording Engineer: Bob Simpson
RCA Victor
LPM-2002
1959

From the back cover: First of all, it should be understood from the start that this album does not contain music to start a riot by. Not that such an idea wasn't considered at a recent album idea session... but that is another matter entirely. What this album is is just what the title implies... a riot in rhythm. There were no outbreaks of physical violence at the session, of course; and tear gas was definitely not needed to quell any of the participants. Instead, what happened was that Henri René ran amok a bit as he worked on the arrangements for the set.

Until now, Henri has been considered a mild-mannered arranger and conductor whose forte has been bright and sweet played by a large orchestra with a respectable string section. It will come as a surprise to many of his friends, but beneath Henri's placid exterior there beats a quite rowdy heart.

For this set, René assembled five saxes, four trumpets, four trombones, four percussionists, and three rhythm section members – all crack New York Musicians. and for this group of valiants, René produced the Hyde side of his musical personality and wrote a set of singing arrangements on a wide variety of themes. Oddly enough, the results hounds please aficionados of his ballad albums because the same spirt of polish and imagination went into this set. Needless to add, this aid an album to delight those among us who have excellent high fidelity and stereo equipment. Four separate percussionists! – Ferris Benda

Whispering
Oh, Lady Be Good
Hansel And Pretzel
When Days Is Done
Time On My Hands
Chinatown, My Chinatown
The Swinging Stars And Stripes
Mangos
You're Driving Me Crazy
Blah-Blah-Blah
Without A Song
Every Little Movement

The Magic Of Hawaii

The Magic Of Hawaii
Sounds Of A Thousand Strings
With The Voices Of Hawaii
Robert Krewson Conducting
Crown Records CLP 5163
1960

Terrific exotica album made magical by the haunting "Voices Of Hawaii". Covers of classics tunes like Beyond The Reef and Hawaiian War Chant.

George Shearing - Concerto For My Love

Portrait Of Jennie

Concerto For My Love
George Shearing
Arrangements by George Shearing
Produced by Dave Cavanaugh and Tom Morgan
Cover Photo: Capitol Studio - George Jerman
Capitol Records ST 1755
1962

From Billboard - September 15, 1962: Another in Capitol's periodic showcasing of pianist Shearing against a lush, romantic backing of string-filled orchestra and the kind of "Ah"-singing chorus you hear in the end title of super-budget movies. This time, the tunes all have the word "love" in the titles (exception: "A Portrait Of Jennie") and the mood is one of shimmering romance. A fine album for mood programing. Typical track in this vein is Shearing's tender treatment of a Charles Trenet oldie, "I Wish You Love."

Portrait Of Jennie
I'm In The Mood For Love
Answer Me, My Love
I Wish You Love
Love Letters 
I Fall In Love Too Easily
Love Is The Sweetest Thing
Portrait Of My Love
P.S. I Love You
Lady Love Be Mine
In Love In Vain
Love Child

George Shearing - When The Lights Are Low

When Light Are Low
George Shearing Quintet
M-G-M E3264
1955

Lovely Shearing album with surprise vocals on a few tracks by Teddi King.

King is unmentioned on the jacket, but is credited on the label. Her "Wikipedia" story mentions that she toured with Shearing for several years beginning in the summer of 1952. She was only 48 when she passed away in 1977.

Ferrante & Teicher - Album Covers

This full color cover predates the monochromatic version shown below
Soundblast - 1956
 This is the stereo release of the mono version of Soundproof as seen below
Soundproof - 1956
Even though this cover image (for the stereo release) is the same as the mono release and two sets feature a different track list.
Ferrante and Teicher With Percussion - 1958
Blast Off! - 1959
Twin Pianos - Stereo
Twin Pianos - Mono
Latin Pianos - 1960
Pianos In Paradise - 1962
The Enchanted World Of Ferrante & Teicher - 1964
Ferrante & Teicher
The Twin Piano Magic Of Ferrante & Teicher - Vol. 2 - 1966
Star Wars - 1978
On this page, I'll be collecting together Ferrante & Teicher covers that I run across. These are all albums from my collection.

George Shearing - Latin Lace

Latin Lace
George Shearing Quintet
Capitol Records T1082
1958

Another great cover and another great light jazz/mood album from Shearing. I think this LP is an exceptionally good Shearing effort. The music still seems fresh and modern today.

George Shearing Capitol Album Covers

Velvet Carpet - 1956
Black Satin - 1957
Latin Escapade - 1957
Latin Lace - 1958
Blue Chiffon - 1958
Satin Brass - 1960
White Satin - 1960
The Shearing Touch - 1960
Satin Affair - 1961
Mood Latino - 1961
Conerto For My Love - 1962
Night Mist - 1962
Burnished Brass - 1962
The Best Of George Shearing - 1964
Here & Now - 1965

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

A Taste Of Honey - Living Brass

The 3rd Man Theme
A Taste Of Honey And Other Favorites
Living Brass
The Swinging Sound Of Mexican Brass
Arranged and Conducted by Ray Martin
Produced by Ethel Gabriel
Recorded in RCA Victor's Studio A, New York City
Recording Engineer: Bob Simpson
Notes by Sheldon Toomer
RCA Camden CAS-949
1966

The cover scan appears dark due to RCA's choice of reflective foil paper stock on which they overprinted the 4-color art (the scanner can't read foil correctly). A print job like this would have been an expensive project for the company's "budget" label.

A Taste Of Honey
South Of The Border
Brasilia
Some Enchanted Evening
Cu-Cu-Rru-Cu-Cu Paloma
The 3rd Man Theme
Life
Happy Pierre
Heartaches By The Number
Never Too Young

Viva Cugat! - Xavier Cugat

Jungle Concerto

Viva Cugat!
Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra
Photo: Robert Buchbinder
Mercury Records PPS 2003
1961

From the inside cover: What Paul Whiteman was to symphonic jazz, Guy Lombardo to 'sweet corn' and Benny Goodman to swing, Xavier Cugat has been to the Latin Beat in America dance music. For almost three decades, beginning with the appearance of the rumba craze in the very early thirties, interpreter of Latin rhythms. It is a position which has brought him popularity, not only throughout the Americas, but on the Continent as well.

Cugat's long and fabulous musical journey had its beginnings in a cafe in Barcelona, Spain. There, in the twenties, he was found playing the violin by the great Italian tenor, Enrico Caruso. So impressed was the world-famous opera star by what he heard he retained the young fiddler and took him on a tour to America.

In the course of their joint travels, Caruso discovered that young Cugat's talents reached into areas other than music. The youngster handled a drawing pen as skillfully as the violin bow. Since Caruso was himself an amateur artist, the two amused themselves on their journeys by drawing caricatures. Cugat's caricatures have since appeared in many of the country's large circulation magazines, among them Life.

By that time that Caruso died at the peak of his fabulous career, Cugat decided that his own future as a violinist lacked the horizons of greatness he had hoped for. A job as a cartoonist on The Los Angeles Times seemed to open new, exciting vistas. But the magnetism of music was not so easily neutralized. Before long, Cugat was leading a small six-piece combo. It specialized in rumba rhythms and secured bookings in hotel rooms as a "relief" band to the name bands of the day.

In 1934 an NBC program "Let's Dance," now regarded as a radio landmark, helped launch the brassy era of swing. It presented the first big, blasting sound of Benny Goodman, who became the King Of Swing. Bug the "Let's Dance" show also focussed the spotlight of a coast-to-coast program on the music of two other bands. One was Xavier Cugat, who soon was crowned The Rumba King.

It was a well-earned title. The rumba as it was danced in Cuba, its native habitat, was actually too difficult for American dancers, particularly the middle generation that frequented expensive night clubs and hotel rooms. Watching dancers trip over themselves, Cugat worked out a simplified version of the Cuban rumba. He placed the bass conga-drum accent on the fourth beat, giving the Afro-Cuban polyrhythms the simplicity almost of a march step. Now, Americans really took to the rumba. It became the first of a series of Latin dances to sweep the country.

Late in the thirties, the conga became an overnight craze. Associated with Desi Arnaz, the conga was caricatured on stage and screen in the well-known play My Sister Eileen. In the middle forties, the Brazilian Bombshell Carmen Miranda burst on the American entertainment scene, bringing with her a set of crazy, colorful hats – also the Brazilian dance known as the samba. By the middle fifties, American dancers were unable to resist the mambo, introduced by Machito and popularized by Perez Prado. The mambo (grunt) fad was soon overtaken by interest in the cha-cha-cha, whose vogue has continued through the rock 'n roll era in the form of the rock-cha-cha. Neither the conga nor the samba – the same is true of the merengue imported from the Dominican Republic – ever commanded the following of the rumba, mambo and cha-cha, although all of them are still to be heard on dance floors.

Cugat's contribution to Latin-American music goes far beyond the popularization of Cuban dance steps. Always on the look-out for new musical talent, he has brought into this country many of Cuba's outstanding instrumentalists. Some of these, like Desi Arnaz, Luis del Campo and Miguelito Valdes, went on to make their own mark as interpreters of Afro-Cuban music.

Dazzling as these stars have  been in the Latin-American firmament, they have burned themselves out quickly. Only Cugat has remained 'hot' – a pivotal and permanent sun around which Latin music revolves. His musical appeal has, in fact, been as persistent and universal as the appeal of Afro-Cuban rhythms themselves. Today, after three decades of unceasing activity on radio, TV, stage and screen, he still is in unabating demand wherever dancers congregate – whether it is a South American bistro, a Continental cafe, or the glittering Empire Room of New York's Waldorf-Astoria.

Not the least appealing phase of the Cugat magic in recent years has been the vocalizing and dancing of Abbe Lane, in private life, Mrs. Cugat. Widely known to motion picture audiences here and abroad, Abbe Lane has added a large dimension to visual appeal to the aural magnetism of Cugat's music.

The present album is a first for the maestro in many ways. It marks his return to the Mercury label. But it is also his first adventure into the ear-arresting world of stereo. Most significantly, you will hear a group of outstanding Afro-Cuban melodies performed with a rare lyricism and rhythmic drive. To the flavor of many of the selections Cugat has, in fact, added the zing and zest of good jazz, making this album irresistible from the ears down to the feet.

From Billboard - January 30, 1961: The Latin sound of the Xavier Cugat ork here gets an all-out stereo presentation. The songs, for the most part, are familiar Latin melodies done in samba, rhumba and cha-cha styles. The stereo conception adds novel and attractive touches. Included are "Peanut Vendor," "Siboney," "Maria Elena" and "Poinciana." Set is attractively packed with gatefold containing descriptions of tunes, placement of instruments and explanations of effects.

Jungle Concerto
The Peanut Vendor (El Manisero)
Isle Of Capri
Tropical Merengue (Amanecer Tropical)
Nightingale
Perfidia
Siboney
Jungle Drums (Canto Karabali)
Anna (El Negro Zumbon)
Maria Elena
Poinciana (Song Of The Tree)
Sai Si Si (Para Vigo Me Voy)

Ferrante & Teicher - Pianos In Paradise

Ferrante & Teicher
Pianos In Paradise
Orchestra Conducted By Nick Perito
United Artists Records UAS 6230
1962

Another great mood album from Ferrante & Teicher with an exotica flare. African Echoes is on this LP as well as many tracks that are found on earlier F&T albums. Without reviewing, I'm not sure how many are straight re-released songs and or how many Nick Perito had something to do with. Maybe the Perito tracks are also repackaged on this set?

Monday, September 6, 2010

The Exciting Pianos Of Ferrante & Teicher

The Exciting Pianos Of Ferrante & Teicher
Pickwick SPC-3003
1962

The album isn't found on any of the online Ferrante & Teicher discographies. One track is from Blast Off (1959).

Orchestra Gems

Ritual Fire Dance
Orchestra Gems
Sounds Of 1000 Strings
DynaDisc SCH-821

Obscure budget label Dyna-Disc offers up a vibrant cover on this collection of lush strings tracks by the equally obscure 1000 Strings.

Gypsy Romance Gypsy Fire

A Russian Fantasy
Gypsy Romance Gypsy Fire
Dyna Disc SCH-824

I can find no information on the Dyna Disc label. I think that there may have been an association with another budget label, Somerset. This record is a grab bag of tunes DynaDisc found laying around the office including a 101 Strings track (Dark Eyes). Another, much more obscure but very nice track is: A Russian Fantasy by Sania Poustylnicof.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Music Of Haiti - Orchestre Citadelle

Choubouloute
Music Of Haiti
Orchestre Citadelle
IBO 106
1960

Rene Diogene Directeur Orchestre Citadelle assisted by composer Luc Mondesir.

Orchestre Citadelle was apparently based in Port-au-Prince.