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. 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 – 1938, Vol. 2 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1156 (2000) FLAC (tracks), lossless

The tenth installment of the Classics Tommy Dorsey chronology presents a series of Victor recordings he made during midsummer and early autumn 1938 in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. Edythe Wright was Dorsey's primary vocalist from 1935 to 1939. While some of her recorded performances are pleasantly zippy and entertaining, she sometimes had to participate in Dorsey's tightly scripted mechanical cornball routines, rhythmically chanting rhymed verse in an atmosphere almost entirely devoid of spontaneity, not to mention dignity. The stupidest, most painfully contrived Clambake Seven recording of all was "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," and Wright's duets with Skeets Herfurt are almost as obnoxious. Instrumental tracks therefore take on a comparative aspect of richly rewarding artistic merit. A high-stepping rendition of "Panama" by William H. Tyers, Hoagy Carmichael's wistful "Washboard Blues," the catchy "Copenhagen," and the soon to be famous "Boogie Woogie" were each arranged by tenor saxophonist Deane Kincaide. Other rewarding instrumentals heard here are "Carolina Moon," a bouncing oddity with eccentric modulations and a dash of boogie flavoring called "Lightly and Politely," Benny Carter's "Symphony in Riffs," and "Chinatown, My Chinatown," expertly swung by the Clambake Seven, a tight little group that sounds for all the world like a contingent from the Eddie Condon mob as they tear through a sizzling salute to "The Sheik of Araby." 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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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 :

GLENN MILLER AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1935-1938 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1377 (2004) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This is the first volume in the Classics Glenn Miller chronology. It presents his earliest sessions as a leader, beginning with a very handsome session for Columbia that took place on April 25, 1935. The presence of trumpeter Bunny Berigan, clarinetist Johnny Mince, tenor saxophonist Eddie Miller, pianist Claude Thornhill, a well-behaved string quartet, and Miller's own buttery sounding trombone make this a surprisingly charming little date. The first two titles have vocals by Smith Ballew. "In a Little Spanish Town" and the excellent "Solo Hop" are swinging instrumentals propelled by drummer Ray Bauduc; these very danceable stomps clearly prefigure Glenn Miller's later achievements as a successful purveyor of big-band swing music. The second date in Miller's complete chronological recordings took place on March 22, 1937. Recorded for the Decca label, these tracks have all the qualities that would distinguish Glenn Miller's band during its wartime heyday. Without downplaying vocalists Doris Kerr, Jack Lathrop, and the Tune Twisters, let it be said that the instrumentals "Peg O' My Heart" and "I'm Sitting on Top of the World" are the cream of the crop. Miller's tenure with Brunswick records began on June 9, 1937 with four more exceptionally fine instrumental dance numbers. Over the next 11 months, Miller would feature a steady stream of good vocalists (Kathleen Lane, Gail Reese, and Ray Eberle) while fortifying the band with outstanding musicians like Dick McDonough, Charlie Spivak, Sterling Bose, Pee Wee Erwin, Hal McIntyre, Irving Fazola, and Tex Beneke. Even as Glenn Miller's later recordings seem always to attract more attention, these early sides illustrate what a solid leader, arranger, and soloist he was fairly early on in the game, before he became one of the most popular bandleaders in the country. arwulf arwulf   Tracklist :

FRANKIE TRUMBAUER AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1932-1936 | The Chronogical Classics – 1275 (2002) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The 1930s recordings of C-melody saxophonist Frankie Trumbauer are fairly obscure, particularly compared to his classic 1927-29 collaborations with Bix Beiderbecke. This set starts with a couple sessions from 1932 that feature a large ensemble mostly taken from the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. A couple of interesting medleys benefit from fine arrangements and the band also sounds strong on "Business in Q" and "The Newest St. Louis Blues." There are two sessions from 1934 that feature trumpeter Charlie Teagarden and trombonist Jack Teagarden (who sings "Emaline" and "'Long About Midnight") and includes a version of Beiderbecke's "In a Mist." The other session from 1934 has spots for trumpeter Bunny Berigan and clarinetist Artie Shaw while the numbers from 1936 again include both Charlie and Jack Teagarden. The material is pretty jazz-oriented and some of the other memorable tracks are "China Boy," "Breakin' in a Pair of Shoes" and "Somebody Loves Me." This is excellent music that serves as a transition between the classic jazz of the 1920s and swing. Scott Yanow  
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RED NORVO AND HIS ORCHESTRA – 1933-1936 | The Classics Chronological Series – 1085 (1999) FLAC (tracks), lossless

Aside from a handful of early pioneers such as Harry A. Yerkes, Charles Hamilton Green, and Jimmy Bertrand, Red Norvo was the first person to regularly play jazz on the xylophone. He also led the way in presenting that kind of music on vibraphone and marimba. This first volume of his complete recordings in chronological order documents Norvo's outstanding experiments in chamber jazz and small group swing during the years 1933-1935. Also covered in detail is the next phase of Norvo's career, as he led a big band either graced with or encumbered by jazz/pop vocalists. The first two sessions, recorded for the Brunswick label during the spring and autumn of 1933, resulted in four pieces unlike anything else being presented to the public at that time. "Knockin' On Wood" and "Hole in the Wall" are zippy features for xylophone with support from clarinetist Jimmy Dorsey and a sympathetic trio of pianist Fulton McGrath, guitar virtuoso Dick McDonough, and bassist Artie Bernstein. "Dance of the Octopus" and Bix Beiderbecke's "In a Mist" are rendered by a quartet that positively glows with the fascinating combination of Norvo's sublime marimba and Benny Goodman's colorful bass clarinet. The Swing Septet sessions of 1934 are remarkable for the combined presence of four men remembered today for having helped to shape the course of musical history by leading their own swing bands during the 1930s and '40s: Teddy Wilson, Artie Shaw, Charlie Barnet, and Red Norvo. The lineup on the following session -- apparently Norvo's only date as a leader during the year 1935 -- is every bit as formidable, as Bunny Berigan and Chu Berry appear alongside Wilson, Bernstein, George Van Eps, and Gene Krupa. These first 12 tracks are worth the price of admission. A 13th selection, "Gramercy Square," is an instrumental sweet serenade with richly rumbling reeds behind the xylophone. Its original flip side, "Decca Stomp," is a smooth but caffeinated foxtrot, correctly appraised in the liner notes as a premonition of what John Kirby's Sextet would be playing by the end of the decade. But something has surely changed -- these sessions from January of 1936 were a turning point as Norvo now began leading a semi-sweet jazz orchestra gilded at first with weirdly chosen vocalists. The trio heard singing "Polly Wolly Doodle" also tried to handle "The Wedding of Jack and Jill" but this is terminally cute stuff, strangely disconcerting after all of the honest jazz heard earlier in the chronology. Things get even more bizarre with Mae Questal -- the original voice of Popeye's Olive Oyl -- squealing and giggling as she sings "The Music Goes 'Round and Around" in her overgrown little girl's voice. This Betty Boop routine actually works better than her attempt at presenting "The Broken Record," a clever song re-creating the exact pace of a skipping 78-rpm platter. While Wingy Manone's rendition of this song is charming [see Classics 828], Questal's alarming hiccup effect is distracting at best. Finally, six melodies recorded in February 1936 and subsequently issued on the Champion label are deadened by trumpeter Stew Pletcher's attempts at romantic vocalizing. If only he'd kept his horn glued to his lips, these would have been pleasant instrumentals, but there's nothing that can be done about it now. arwulf arwulf
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