TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1928-1935 | The Classics Chronological Series – 833 (1995) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This is the first volume of the complete studio recordings of Tommy Dorsey as presented in the Classics Chronological Series. The first five tracks, relatively rare and gloriously instrumental, are worth the cost of the entire album. Four of these, recorded for the OKeh label in 1928 and 1929, feature "Tom Dorsey" playing the trumpet in the company of guitarist Eddie Lang with drummer Stan King and either tubaist/string bassist Jimmy Williams or pianist Frank Signorelli. The opening selection, an intimate rendering of Perry Bradford's "It's Right Here for You," has a lovely harmonium accompaniment by Arthur Schutt that mingles marvelously with Lang's reflective improvisations. Dorsey's expressive trumpeting pleasantly reflects the influence of Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke. His next opportunity to record under his own name occurred on Bastille Day in July of 1932. Billed now as "Tommy Dorsey," he presented his own composition, "Three Moods." Backed by a seven-piece "orchestra" that included brother Jimmy Dorsey, trumpeter Manny Klein, and Larry Binyon on tenor sax, the trombonist established a waltz and transformed it into a gavotte and then a swinging foxtrot. Beginning on September 26, 1935, Dorsey, billed for one last time as "Tom," made his first recordings as a leader for the Victor label. The three tunes waxed on that day represent in miniature an accurate condensation of Dorsey's stylistic output over the next few years: an innocent topical pop tune (in this case a rather glib cowboy reverie), a solidly swung traditional jazz stomp (here typified by Artie Matthews' "Weary Blues"), and the occasional dreaded blob of musical cotton candy (epitomized by "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"). Anyone listening through the Tommy Dorsey chronology must contend with pop vocals and sidestep periodic outbursts of brain-numbing corn in order to locate and savor the pockets of real jazz that occur from time to time. If Eddie Condon were alive today he would counsel the truly jazz-inclined to listen for the second-chair trumpeting of Sterling Bose whenever the singers run out of lyrics. Two big-band instrumentals, "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" and "Pagan Star," decisively established the Tommy Dorsey sound and provided the public with highly polished background music for all occasions. Several wonderful performances feature the tap dancing of Eleanor Powell, who sounds like she's been cross-dressing as she cheerfully spouts the lyrics to "Got a Bran' New Suit," makes an ass of herself speaking in a fake British accent during "That's Not Cricket," and redeems her dignity to some extent by hoofing her way through "What a Wonderful World." This vintage love song by Arthur Schwartz should not be confused with Bob Thiele's famous philosophical feel-good soliloquy sung by Louis Armstrong near the end of his life. arwulf arwulf    Tracklist + Credits :

TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1939 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1237 (2002) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This 12th installment in the Classics Tommy Dorsey chronology documents the trombonist's Victor studio recordings dating from the first half of 1939. Drummer Dave Tough was back with the band for a few months and Yank Lawson was in the trumpet section for a grand two-part version of the Jelly Roll Morton/New Orleans Rhythm Kings collaborative masterpiece "Milenberg Joys." This excellent stomp was arranged by Deane Kincaide, whose charts helped to make the Dorsey band sound somewhat hipper than it ever had before. The five other instrumentals included in this part of the Dorsey chronology are "Dawn on the Desert," "Marcheta," "By the River Sainte Marie," "Tea for Two," and "Peckin' with the Penguins," a loping opus composed and arranged by Kincaide. Edythe Wright was on her way out of the Dorsey dynasty at this point, which might explain why she's only heard singing on four of the titles reissued here. The best of these is Koehler/Bloom's whimsical "Got No Time." For an interesting listening experience, compare this performance with Fats Waller's version of the same song, recorded one day later for Victor's subsidiary Bluebird label. Speaking of Waller, on the session of February 9th, goofy Skeets Herfurt tried hard to navigate the scat line from "Hold Tight (Want Some Seafood Mama)." Waller's definitive version had been waxed on January 19th and Dorsey, always on the lookout for catchy material to spice up his act, hastened to cover the song as soon as he'd heard it. Rodgers & Hart's "Blue Moon," with its brusque band vocal behind crooning Jack Leonard, gets the same treatment that had made "Marie" into a hit record. The band swings well enough but Dorsey's willingness to milk this routine must have made some listeners wonder which popular song would next become transformed into something so obviously patterned after "Marie." arwulf arwulf        Tracklist :

TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1939, Vol. 3 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1327 (2003) FLAC (tracks), lossless

The 14th installment of the Classics Tommy Dorsey chronology documents all of the Victor recordings he made with the Dorsey Orchestra and with the Clambake Seven from August 3 to October 20, 1939. During this period, Sy Oliver and Jimmy Mundy wrote a handful of big-band arrangements for the bespectacled trombonist. There are only two instrumental records in this segment of the Dorsey discography. "Night Glow" is lush and idyllic. "March of the Toys," from Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland, dates back to 1903. The swing version heard here resulted from an arrangement by tenor saxophonist Deane Kincaide. The rest of this compilation belongs to the vocalists. On August 28th, Dorsey, Hughie Prince, and the Clambake Seven sang "Vol Vistu Gaily Star," based upon Slim Gaillard's "Vol Vist du Gaily Star," a wonderful, almost surreal record Gaillard had made for Vocalion almost exactly one year earlier with a small group including Slam Stewart. Dorsey constantly tempered his sentimental output with comedic material that ranged from imitation hip to almost annoyingly silly and at times overbearing. Hughie Prince sings a corny cowboy song complete with Hollywood-style whoops from the band. Edythe Wright, who coolly negotiates "Are You Havin' Any Fun?" and a couple of wistful love songs, does everything she can with "Shoot the Sherbet to Me, Herbert" and manages to pull off the puerile "All in Favor of Swing Say 'Aye'." The last nine tracks on this disc are features for crooner Jack Leonard and sugary chanteuse Anita Boyer. Dorsey was among the first bandleaders to record Jerome Kern's "All the Things You Are." His sweetly buzzing trombone introduces the melody with studied precision. arwulf arwulf     Tracklist :