TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1935-1936 | The Classics Chronological Series – 854 (1995) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This second volume in the Tommy Dorsey chronology contains nine performances by Tommy Dorsey & His Clambake Seven, an ensemble that feels at times like the antidote to the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. The Clambake Seven, you see, was more of a real jazz ensemble, while the big band often served mainly as a jazz-inflected vehicle for backing up pop vocalists. Edythe Wright was generally more energetic, substantial, and interesting than Dorsey's drawling drones Jack Leonard and Buddy Gately, both standard-issue crooners with about as much personal warmth as catsup and gelatin. Edythe Wright could spice up most any pop tune, and interjected lots of clever remarks in the manner of Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, or Louis Armstrong. Sounding at times merely like a white girl trying to be hip, she nevertheless interacted quite well with the soloists and helped to loosen up a potentially uptight atmosphere even when engaging in formulaic behavior such as carefully exclaiming "my, my!" at the end of a song. She was at her best during "The Music Goes 'Round and Around," which offers a rare opportunity to hear the rather squeaky speaking voice of Sterling Bose, a magnificent trumpeter who appeared steadily with Dorsey's large and small groups until he was more or less replaced by Max Kaminsky in March of 1936, which is when Dave Tough came aboard. Tommy Dorsey was adept at taking other peoples' musical ideas and turning them into lucrative hits. Case in point: "The Music Goes 'Round and Around" was composed by Mike Riley and Eddie Farley, who recorded it with their own orchestra only six weeks prior to the version heard here. Tommy Dorsey made the real money off of this cute little novelty tune. arwulf arwulf      Tracklist + Credits :

TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1936 | The Classics Chronological Series – 878 (1996) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Fans of legendary Chicago drummer Dave Tough will want to listen in on this third installment in the complete recordings of Tommy Dorsey presented in chronological order by Classics. Occurring between sentimental and novelty vocals by sugary Jack Leonard or snappy Edythe Wright, the Dorsey instrumentals of 1936 positively glow with a traditional jazz infusion worthy of Eddie Condon. Indeed, with Dave Tough, trumpeter Max Kaminsky, and tenor sax troubadour Bud Freeman in both the big band and the Clambake Seven, Dorsey was wise to record nice instrumental versions of "Ja-Da," "Royal Garden Blues," "That's a Plenty," "After You've Gone," "Maple Leaf Rag," and "Sleep," a sugary, soporific waltz from the 1920s that by 1936 was taking on new life as an upbeat jazz standard. Spunky Edythe Wright could sing just about anything, even material commonly associated with Shirley Temple. After cordially introducing Bud Freeman, she launches "At the Codfish Ball," a melody lifted directly from an earlier opus, Sam Coslow's "When Erastus Plays His Old Kazoo." As for "You've Gotta Eat Your Spinach, Baby," Wright sings the lyrics with gusto and the band cooks the tune to perfection. arwulf arwulf     Tracklist :

TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1936-1937 | The Classics Chronological Series – 916 (1996) FLAC (tracks), lossless

The fourth installment in the Classics Tommy Dorsey chronology opens with the Dorsey Orchestra's last seven recordings of 1936. Fortified with trumpeter Max Kaminsky, tenor saxophonist Bud Freeman, guitarist Carmen Mastren, and master percussionist Dave Tough, this was a particularly fine band. Their instrumental rendition of Fats Waller's "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now" is one of Dorsey's all-time greatest recorded achievements. At her best, Edythe Wright sang a bit like Lee Wiley, and therefore her voice might grow on you if you sit still for it. This is more than can be said for either Jack Leonard or the goofy trio billed as the Three Esquires. Beginning on January 7, 1937, Dorsey hit the jackpot when he hired trumpeter Bunny Berigan, a man who had spent most of the first half of the 1930s backing up pop vocalists like Chick Bullock. The pleasant instrumentals on this disc all went over well with the record-buying public. Will Hudson's "Mr. Ghost Goes to Town" and something called "Who'll Buy My Violets?" are catchy tunes that benefit from the absence of vocalists. "Melody in F" receives a bouncy treatment that would certainly have startled its composer, Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Song of India" was a smash hit for Dorsey, who was now commercially clambering to the top of the heap. Yet his really big hit of 1937 was gleaned not from classical Russian composers but was filched from musicians of color in Philadelphia. Dorsey's famous version of Irving Berlin's "Marie" was based on a group vocal arrangement that originated in the mind of a banjoist, guitarist, vocalist, and arranger by the name of Steve Washington, a remarkable individual who had risen to prominence in the jazz world as a member of the Washboard Rhythm Kings. Washington died of pneumonia in January 1936. A few months later his arrangement of "Marie" was being performed at Nixon's Grand Theater in Philadelphia by the Sunset Royal Serenaders, an Afro-American jazz orchestra led at that time by trombonist Doc Wheeler. Dorsey was in the audience one night. He memorized the routine and used it in January 1937 to make a record that ended up earning him enormous quantities of money. This sort of racially informed cultural larceny would soon occur again as Glenn Miller scored his all-time biggest cash money hit by swiping "In the Mood" from Edgar Hayes. arwulf arwulf      Tracklist + Credits :

TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1937 | The Classics Chronological Series – 955 (1997) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This fifth installment in the Classics Tommy Dorsey chronology presents recordings he made with the Dorsey Orchestra and the Clambake Seven during the spring of 1937. These ensembles benefited greatly from the presence of certain outstanding players. Bunny Berigan is heard on the first three tracks, but left the band soon thereafter to form his own orchestra. He would return briefly to work for Dorsey again in 1940. Speaking of brilliant musicians with tragically alcoholic temperaments, master percussionist Dave Tough stuck with this band for what was for him a remarkable stretch of uninterrupted professional involvement. Tommy Dorsey sold a lot of records during the mid- and late '30s. One thing hasn't changed very much since then: the public's interest in singers. Dorsey employed crooner Jack Leonard and a perky, interesting chanteuse named Edythe Wright, who seems to have had fun with the lyrics to "Jammin'," sounding almost as hip as Ivie Anderson. Instrumentally, this tune lives up to its name. Wright also did well with "The Milkman's Matinee," Dorsey's apparent attempt to elbow in on Charlie Barnet's turf. Bud Freeman, Pee Wee Erwin, and Johnny Mince turn in perfectly handsome solos on this curious number originally designed as a theme song for Stan Shaw's late-night radio show on WNEW. Dorsey also wisely chose to render a number of instrumentals to vary his recorded repertoire. Continuing to contribute to the popularity of European classical melodies arranged for jazz orchestra, he served up "Liebestraum" by Franz Liszt, Felix Mendelssohn's "Spring Song," and "Blue Danube" by Johann Strauss. Other intriguing performances heard here without vocalists are the popular Gypsy tune "Dark Eyes," "Twilight in Turkey" by Raymond Scott, "Nola" by Felix Arndt, and "Satan Takes a Holiday" by Larry Clinton. A delightfully warm and kicky "Stop, Look and Listen," representing one of the jazziest items in the entire Dorsey discography, swings for a full five and a half minutes. arwulf arwulf      Tracklist :

TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1937, Vol. 3 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1035 (1998) FLAC (tracks), lossless

 The seventh installment in the Classics Tommy Dorsey chronology opens with four love songs swung by the Clambake Seven and sung by Edythe Wright. On the bluesy and slightly dissonant "After You," the leader plays his trombone using a trumpet mouthpiece, creating a sound somewhat similar to what Jack Teagarden would achieve on his "Glass Blues" of 1944 using nothing more than a trombone mouthpiece and a water glass. Bud Freeman's solo on this track is nothing short of marvelous. A light smattering of instrumentals include a majestic and swinging version of Cole Porter's "Night and Day" arranged by Paul Weston, Jerome Kern's "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," "Canadian Capers," and Hoagy Carmichael's "I May Be Wrong, But I Think You're Wonderful." Most of the selections feature pert or sentimental vocals. The goofiest track is "The Big Apple," a slaphappy Clambake Seven call and response number describing a "new dance" combining characteristics of nearly every popular step of the day. The band carefully recites "my my, yes yes," a phrase lifted directly from Fats Waller. This segment of the Dorsey chronology closes with a weirdly out of step remnant from vaudeville days. Back in 1902 a guy by the name of Fred Fisher came up with a barrelhouse rag bearing the dubious title "If the Man in the Moon Were a Coon." This Jim Crow novelty was published by Chicago's Will Rossiter, a shrewd businessman destined to succeed in 1917 with Shelton Brooks' famous proto-jazz hit, "The Darktown Strutter's Ball." The fact that Tommy Dorsey thought it was OK to record Fisher's "Coon" song in 1937 with Jack Leonard merrily enunciating the words speaks volumes about the state of U.S. culture and ethics during the 20th century. The tune itself, which sounds a little like Tony Jackson's "Pretty Baby," is very catchy and lends itself to full throttle jamming. Bud Freeman runs fiendish riffs up and down the tenor and Johnny Mince's clarinet percolates while Gene Traxler slaps his bass. It's one of this group's hottest records. If only they'd omitted the lyrics. arwulf arwulf    Tracklist :

TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1938 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1117 (2000) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This ninth edition of the Classics Tommy Dorsey chronology opens with a splendid instrumental rendering of "Shine on Harvest Moon" but then gives way to numerous vocal performances by Jack Leonard, that grenadine-drenched crooner so favored by this bandleader in the years preceding the arrival of Frank Sinatra. Three more instrumentals, Ted Fiorito's "I Never Knew," Irving Berlin's "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning," and "What'll I Do?" allowed tenor saxophonist Bud Freeman to administer an infusion of his own special warmth. Two more sides from the same session scaled the band down to Clambake Seven specifications and featured the beautiful Edythe Wright, who seems to have been capable of singing nearly any song placed in front of her. Freeman left Dorsey to join Benny Goodman after this session. He was replaced by two tenors, Skeets Herfurt and Deane Kincaide. Dorsey still had Pee Wee Erwin and Johnny Mince and his records continued to sell in large numbers. This was largely on account of his vocalists, the best of whom during this period was without a doubt Edythe Wright. arwulf arwulf   Tracklist : 

TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1938-1939 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1197 (2001) FLAC (tracks), lossless

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TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1939, Vol. 2 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1278 (2002) FLAC (tracks), lossless

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