Larry Elgart and His Hooked On Swing Orchestra [1983] RCA Victor AFL1-4850

 

Larry Elgart, a saxophonist who formed a popular big band with his older brother, Les, co-wrote the theme song to "American Bandstand," and had his biggest hit album in 1982, a disco-pulsing medley of 1940s standards called "Hooked on Swing." 

A precociously talented musician, Mr. Elgart was traveling with bands at 15 to support his family during the Great Depression. He played alto sax in orchestras led by Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Red Norvo, and Charlie Spivak, some of the biggest-name outfits of the day, and was an adventurous-minded player who also helped compose ballet scores and musical tone poems.

The George Shearing Quintet ‎• Classic Shearing [1966] Verve Special Products VSPS-9 (electronically enhanced for reproduction in STEREO)

 

Tracklist:

01 Brain Wave

02 Quintessence

03 Rap Your Troubles In Drums

04 Basic English

05 Get Off My Bach

06 For Evans Sake

07 Ill Wind (You're Blowin' Me No Good)

08 Appreciation

09 Good To The Last Bop

10 Simplicity

Chucho Ferrer and His Orchestra / Mario Ruiz Armengol and His Orchestra • Mood Music...In The Latin Manner [1962] RCA Victor CSP-103

 

Tracklist:

01 Cielito Lindo (My Heavenly One)

02 Cachita (Sweetie)

03 Júrame (Promise Love)

04 Ay, Ay, Ay

05 Ansiedad

06 Lamento Borincano

07 Adiós Pampa Mía (Farewell To The Plains)

08 María la O

09 Mis Flores Negras (My Black Flowers)

10 Alma Llanera (Soul of The Plains)

Ace Cannon Live [1965] Hi Records SHL 32025

 

John Henry Cannon Jr. was an American tenor and alto saxophonist, born May 5, 1934, in Grenada, Mississippi. Cannon was inducted into both the Rock and Soul Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2000.

The Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra Conducted By Carmen Dragon • La Danza! Capitol Records P 8314

 

As a venue, the Hollywood Bowl can boast that it has hosted an astounding range of luminaries throughout its history. In tandem with the Los Angeles Philharmonic's perennial summer residency there, conductors ranging from Otto Klemperer to Leopold Stokowski (who actually founded the short-lived Hollywood Bowl Symphony in 1943) to Herbert von Karajan to Leonard Bernstein have stood upon its podium; Arturo Toscanini, it is said, is the only major conductor of his time not to have led a concert on its stage. Performers from outside the realm of classical music — including Al Jolson, Frank Sinatra, Simon and Garfunkel, and Mikhail Baryshnikov — have also lent a special cachet to the legendary Bowl. Australian/American composer Percy Grainger was married on its stage in 1928.

Michael Brecker • Don't Try This At Home [1988] Impulse! MCA-42229

 

Don't Try This at Home is the second album by American jazz saxophonist Michael Brecker, that was released on Impulse! records in 1988. In 1989, the album won a Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo.

André Previn Plays Music of The Young Hollywood Composers [1965] RCA Victor ‎LSP 3491

 

Known as a successful classical conductor, jazz pianist, and composer of jazz, classical, and film music, André Previn frequently bridged the gap between popular and so-called "serious" music, and in doing so broadened the horizons of both.

Sir William Walton, London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn • Belshazzar's Feast / Improvisations On An Impromptu of Benjamin Britten [1973] Angel Records ‎S-36861

 

1974 Grammy for Best Choral Performance:

André Previn (conductor), Arthur Oldham (choir director), and The London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

 Walton: Belshazzar's Feast

The Nashville Brass Featuring Danny Davis Play More Nashville Sounds [1969] RCA Victor ‎LSP-4176

 

The Nashville Brass ‎• The Nashville Brass Play The Nashville Sound [1968] RCA Victor LSP-4059

 

The Nashville Brass midwifed country music's transformation from the earthy grit of honky tonk to the lush sophistication of the Nashville sound, introducing the tenets of big-band swing to create a distinctly modern and radio-friendly interpretation of traditional American roots music. The Nashville Brass was the brainchild of trumpeter and bandleader Danny Davis, born George Nowlan in Dorchester, MA on May 29, 1925 -- as a teen he played with the Massachusetts All State Symphony Orchestra, and briefly attended the New England Conservatory of Music before leaving to sign on with famed jazz drummer Gene Krupa's orchestra. Stints behind bandleaders including Art Mooney, Vincent Lopez, Freddy Martin, Sammy Kaye, Les Brown, and Bob Crosby followed before Davis settled in New York City in 1958 to go to work as a staff producer for Hal & Mariam Weiss' fledgling Joy Records label -- a few years later, he moved to MGM Records, helming a series of pop hits for Connie Francis as well as signing British Invasion group Herman's Hermits. Davis joined RCA in 1964, continuing to work with Francis on an album of country duets that paired the singer with Hank Williams, Jr. Over the course of the project he made several trips to Nashville, befriending composer Fred Rose and producer Chet Atkins. After Atkins offered him an A and R executive position, Davis relocated to Nashville in 1968; he soon scored with Don Gibson's "Rings of Gold" and Waylon Jennings' Grammy-winning rendition of "MacArthur Park," records that hinted at the signature sound Davis would soon perfect.

Werner Müller and His Orchestra • Wild Strings [1963] London Records FFrr The Sound of Strings PS 302

 

Wild Strings, a similarly far-out subversion of more traditional favorites -- though not quite so over the top in its stereo gimmickry as Percussion In The Sky, the album retains its predecessor's disdain for conventional sound and structure, stretching compositions like "The Breeze and I," "Lady of Spain," and "Hora Staccato" far past their breaking points.

Werner Müller and His Orchestra • Percussion In The Sky [1961] London Records Phase 4 Stereo SP 44008

 

Seriously whacked-out space-age bachelor pad music from one of Müller's good days. Under the ropey theme of the sun, sky, and stars, Müller works on twisting 12 standards, throwing in whistling, meteors, cowboys on the attack, and much more lunacy. "You Are My Lucky Star" keeps upping the tempo and throwing in new instruments; on "I've Got the Sun in the Morning" he processes the backing vocalists through some sort of strange early delay effect, doubling them back on each other. This is one record worth searching out in the thrift store bins -- the arrangements bring a smile to the face. 

(This is one of a group of LPs I bought at 3 for a dollar in Branson!  That brought a smile to my face!)

The Art Van Damme Quintet ‎• By Request [1978] Sonic Arts ‎LS 12 (Laboratory Series - 12) [Pressed in blue vinyl]

 

The Art Van Damme Quintet • Manhattan Time [1956] Columbia ‎Records CL 801

The Art Van Damme Quintet ‎• Martini Time [1955] Columbia ‎Records CL 630

 

Born April 9th, 1920 in Norway, Michigan, and brought up in Chicago, Art Van Damme took up the piano accordion in 1929 at the age of nine and was classically trained before discovering jazz as a teenager – inspired by the recordings of Benny Goodman. In 1941 he joined Ben Bernie's band as an accordionist, then from 1945 to 1960, he worked for NBC, performing on ‘The Dinah Shore Show’, ‘Tonight’, ‘The Dave Garroway Show’, and other radio and TV shows with Garroway.