HARRY JAMES AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1942 | The Chronogical Classics – 1178 (2001) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This eighth installment in the Classics Harry James chronology assembles all of his Columbia studio recordings made between February 24 and July 22, 1942, beginning with four superb instrumentals. "By the Sleepy Lagoon," a pretty tone poem later parodied by Spike Jones as "Sloppy Lagoon," is followed with the boogie-woogie-based "Trumpet Blues and Cantabile," a slow sweet "Easter Parade," and an eminently danceable version of "Crazy Rhythm." One change that occurred in 1941 was the departure of tenor saxophonist Vido Musso and the arrival of young Gene "Corky" Corcoran. Much more noticeably, James was continuing to modify the sound of his band with instrumentation most often associated with European classical music. By now the string quartet (first added in January 1941) had expanded into a quintet with the addition of a third violin; Willard Culley began blowing French horn with the Harry James Orchestra on the session of June 5th, and by July 15th the string section had swollen to six fiddles and a cello. There are quite a number of delectable vocals by Helen Forrest (as well as a handful of less substantial ones by Jimmy Saunders) but the most useful and enduring tracks are the instrumentals, during which the interplay of rhythm, reeds, brass, and strings works uncommonly well. arwulf arwulf  
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HARRY JAMES AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1942-1944 | The Chronogical Classics – 1227 (2002) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This is an unusual Harry James reissue in that, after the first four selections (which are from July 31, 1942), the remainder of the disc consists of James' V-discs of 1942-1944. The Musicians Union's recording strike stopped all recording for at least 16 months and, in the case of James' label Columbia, nearly two-and-a-half years. The trumpeter's last studio date of 1942 resulted in the final of three Helen Forrest hits, "I've Heard That Song Before." His wartime band is heard on V-disc versions of such songs as "Two O'Clock Jump"; "Back Beat Boogie"; "Blue Lou"; "Charmaine" (which has particularly inventive writing for the string section); "I'll Walk Alone" (Kitty Kallen's first vocal with the band); and "I'm Beginning to See the Light," the latter cut a month before the commercially released hit version. This formerly rare material is taken from a period when Harry James led the most popular swing band in the world, and it will be of strong interest to swing fans. Scott Yanow  
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HARRY JAMES AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1945-1946 | The Chronogical Classics – 1313 (2003) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Classics' gathering of Harry James' material between July of '45 and May of '46 showcases a band on the far side of their peak as one of the finest swing bands in jazz history. The group is still in top-notch form, and provides a glimpse into vocalist Kitty Kallen's finest moments with the band on numbers such as "Wonder of You." Fans of swing will find this an appealing set to twirl along to. Gregory McIntosh
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HARRY JAMES AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1946-1947 | The Chronogical Classics – 1313 (2008) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

For those who get their kicks by tracing the reissuance of the complete studio recordings of Harry James on the Classics Chronological Series, this is the 12th installment, and it appeared in 2008. During the months covered by this portion of the retrospective (August 26, 1946, through April 9, 1947), the trumpeter continued to ride the crest of his fame as a featured Columbia artist, showcasing pop vocalists and maintaining an orchestra that specialized in relaxing mood music as well as swing. Active in the band at this time was ex-Ellington composer, arranger, and valve trombonist Juan Tizol. The inclusion of the Harry James treatment of Tizol's "Keb-Lah" makes for intriguing comparison with a version recorded by an octet under Tizol's name (one of the only sessions he ever led) for the Keynote label five months earlier on April 7, 1946. With Tizol on that date were saxophonists Babe Russin and Willie Smith, both members of the James orchestra, as was tenor man and fellow Keynote recording artist Corky Corcoran. The jazz element is most strongly manifested in "Keb-Lah" and extended renditions of "Moten Swing" and "Feet Draggin' Blues." James was still utilizing cellos, violas, and violins on some of his records but was in the process of gradually reducing their number and phasing them out during this period. Singers heard on this compilation are Buddy DeVito, Pat Flaherty, Art Lund, and Marion Morgan, a pleasant-voiced performer who eventually quit the band after hearing the leader observe that "singers have ruined the band business." Morgan is the singer heard on "Heartaches," a song that was originally recorded as a rhumba on two different occasions during the 1930s by the Ted Weems Orchestra with whistling by Elmo Tanner and "rediscovered" in 1947 by a DJ in Charlotte, NC. Harry James seems to have timed the release of his version perfectly, for it climbed into the Top Ten on the pop charts. arwulf arwulf  
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