Aug - AmericanRadioHistory.Com

RECORDS
the Vienna Woods; Waltz from The Gypsy
Baron; Waltzes from Die Fledermaus; Artist's
life; Voices of Spring: Emperor
Waltz; Vienna Life; A Thousand and One
Nights
Andre Kostelanetz and his Orchestra.
COLUMBIA ML 4993. 12 -in. $4.98.
"Special" arrangements of Strauss waltzes,
with the cutting apparently so heavy on
some of them that they seem to be over
almost before they've begun. What's left
gets a rather hefty shove rhythmically from
the Kostelanetz band, which never manages
to achieve the superlative level of at least
several Strauss recordings issued by Vanguard
and London, among others, in the
recent past.
THE BEST OF JAZZ
by John S. Wilson
COUNT BASIE AND HIS ORCHES-
TRA
Seventh Avenue Express; My Buddy; Mister
Roberts' Roost; Wonderful Thing; If You
See My Baby; Katy; South; Sweets; Rat
Race; Just an Old Manuscript; Basie's
Basement; Lopin'.
RCA VICTOR LPM 1112. 12 -in. $3.98.
The last days of the old Basie band (1947-
50) are represented on this disk which is
made up of a mixture of previously unreleased
and reissued sides. South, My
Buddy, Basiés Basement (with Basie on
organ) , and Seventh Avenue Express are
the reissues. Six of the numbers are by the
full band, six by small groups. Basie has
never lacked for talented sidemen and even
in its twilight days this band could still
boast of Emmett Berry, Harry Edison, Clark
Terry, Dicky Wells, Paul Gonsalves and
the original Basie rhythm section.
It was, inevitably, a swinging group, still
swinging in the driving manner of the
early Basie success but varying it with such
an atypical performance as Katy, a lovely
melodic, slow conception with some unusual
trumpet- over -saxes work. Wonderful
Thing is also in this relaxed vein. The
small group selections are in the usual
Basie manner except for Lopin' in which
Basie shares the spotlight with baritone
saxophonist Ronald Washington. This is a
varied collection, most of it well above
average. The only outright failure is South,
a peculiarly gutless version of a tune for
which Basie might be expected to have
some affection. The recording is good for
its time.
WILD BILL DAVISON
Eccentric; Tishomingo Blues; Clarinet
Marmalade; Trombone Preaching Blues;
Can't We Be Friends: Skeleton Jangle;
Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None of This
Jelly Roll; It's Right Here for You.
Wild Bill Davison, trumpet; Jimmy Archey,
trombone; Albert Nicholas or Edmund
Hall, clarinet; Ralph Sutton or James P.
Johnson, piano; Danny Barker, guitar;
Pops Foster, bass; Baby Dodds, drums.
RIVERSIDE RLP 2514. ro -in. $3.98.
AUGUST 1955
This, again, is a mixture of new issues and
reissues. In this case, the reissues predominate
-Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None
of This Jelly Roll, Skeleton Jangle, and
Trombone Preaching Blues are the items
which have never before been available
(the rest have been on the Circle label) .
The disk is notable for bringing together
three masters of the rough -toned attack -
Davison, Archey, and Hall. Davison has
managed, like a musical Peter Pan, to
maintain the rough and ready sound of the
Chicago jazz of the Twenties, while Archey
is a glorious exponent of New Orleans tailgate,
and Hall, another New Orleans man,
has added a caustic touch to the usually
creamy New Orleans clarinet style.
Archey is a particular delight on these
numbers, huffing enthusiastically in both
background and foreground and giving an
all- around demonstration of his slower
style on Trombone Preaching Blues. And
Danny Barker, a guitarist of subtlety and
taste, adds to almost every number with
both chortled and single -string solos. One
of the highlights of the set is Can't We Be
Friends on which the ensemble shows what
a merry clobbering an astute group of jazzmen
can give a pop tune. The recordings
were taken from several broadcasts in 1947
and, accordingly, the balances vary.
range is somewhat limited.
The
DON ELLIOTT DOUBLES IN BRASS
Wally's Theme; Blues for Brother Herb;
My Heart Stood Still; Do Nothing Till
You Hear from Me; Out of This World;
Charmaine.
Don Elliott, mellophone, trumpet, vibes;
Ellis Larkins, piano; Aaron Bell, bass;
Bobby Donaldson, drums.
VANGUARD VRS 8016. ro -in. $3.95.
Elliott, an all- around type, shows off a few
of his talents on this disk (he plays guitar
and bongos in addition to the instruments
listed above and he also sings). But he is
more than simply versatile -he is an intelligent,
creative jazz musician whose play-
ing shows increasing
signs of maturing
taste. On these selections his work on
mellophone is most consistently rewarding,
particularly on My Heart Stood Still and
Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me, an
especially apt piece for the mellophoné s
haunting tones. On this latter number, he
has dubbed in a trumpet accompaniment
but this is the only occasion when he has
succumbed to the temptation to do tricks
with his talents. He runs something of a
gamut - and a good gamut - on Blues
for Brother Herb, an engagingly swinging
thing in which Elliott plays all three of his
instruments.
Throughout the disk he gets exceptional
assistance from Ellis Larkins, a sensitive
and tasteful pianist whose fine jazz sense is
just beginning to be used to advantage in
instrumental sessions such as this. Recording
is good.
DON ELLIOTT RUSTY DEDRICK
Six Valves
Vampire Till Ready; When Your Lover
Has Gone; Gargantuan Chant; Your Own
Iron; Easy to Remember; Dominick
Seventh.
RECORD
INDEXES
of all
High fidelity
RECORD REVIEWS
1951 -1953
1954
1lailable
NOW
A complete index, alphabetical
by composer or collection -title,
of all the classical and semiclassical,
jazz and spoken word
record reviews contained in
HIGH FIDELITY Magazine
from 1951 through 1953 and
1954. Discographies included.
A "must' reference.
ONLY 500 EACH
Send for your copies NOW'
HIGH FIDELITY Magazine
Publishing House
Great Barrington, Mass.
Enclosed find .
send me a copy of:
1951 -1953 Index
1954 Index
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