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 – 1937, Vol. 2 | The Classics Chronological Series – 995 (1998) FLAC (tracks), lossless

This sixth installment in the Tommy Dorsey chronology opens with Paul Weston's snappy big-band orchestration of "Humoresque" by Antonin Dvorák, including a quote from Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home," better known as "Swanee River." For the flip side of this Victor recording, guitarist Carmen Mastren fashioned a lovely arrangement of the famous theme from Dvorák's Symphony No. 9 in E Minor and casually rechristened it "Rollin' Home." Crooner Jack Leonard is featured on the next three titles, and although "You're Precious to Me" is one of his least insipid performances on record, it pales considerably when compared with Wingy Manone's soulful version. Relief arrives in a smokin' jam on W.C. Handy's "Beale Street Blues." This marvelous traditional jam scintillates with Dave Tough's cymbal work and the incredible warmth of Bud Freeman's tenor sax solo. Six sides recorded on June 12, 1937, by the Clambake Seven sustain the friendly mood with a succession of catchy studies in small-group swing with vocals by Edythe Wright. The party culminated with "Posin'," a slaphappy stop-action novelty singalong punctuated with abbreviated instrumental breaks by several of the band's star players, including Dave Tough, who was famous for his reluctance to take drum solos. Three fine big-band instrumentals were recorded at the same session: "That Stolen Melody" by Fred Fisher, "Barcarolle" by Jacques Offenbach, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Hymn to the Sun." About one month later, Edythe Wright and Dorsey's Clambake Seven returned to the Victor recording studios to wax four swinging renditions of romantic Tin Pan Alley marzipans. The session concluded with two more Wright vocals backed by the big band and "Are All My Favorite Big Bands Playing or Am I Dreaming?," a hilariously bizarre pastiche of sound effects and cornball novelty licks accompanying Bud Freeman as he recites wistful lyrics in a theatrical British accent. Interestingly, this sounds a lot like a premonition of "The Wrong Idea," that ruthless send-up of big-band gimmickry that Charlie Barnet would record more than two years later during the autumn of 1939. arwulf arwulf           Tracklist + Credits :

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 :