ADA MOORE | BUCK CLAYTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA | JIMMY RUSHING — Cat Meets Chick A Story In Jazz (1955) Vinyl, LP | Mono | FLAC (tracks), lossless

As the common format for LPs became 12" rather than 10" in the mid-'50s, record companies and artists struggled to come up with ideas for sustained musical performances lasting 30 to 45 minutes. In 1955, Columbia Records producer Irving Townsend put together a selection of pop songs with the singers Felicia Sanders, Peggy King, and Jerry Vale to come up with Girl Meets Boy, and he had a similar concept in the jazz realm for Cat Meets Chick. Borrowing Jimmy Rushing from Vanguard Records and hiring young Ada Moore, who had recently made her Broadway debut in the musical House of Flowers, he put them in front of an orchestra led by Buck Clayton and had them perform a series of songs in which the story line was that Clayton (through the medium of his trumpet) and Rushing were vying for Moore's attention. For example, Moore would say, "Buck, if I choose you, what are you gonna give me?," which would be a cue for Clayton to launch into "I Can't Give You Anything But Love." "Nothin' but love?" Moore would say, "Uh-huh, you got the wrong girl," after which Clayton would play "The Blues." The concept, of course, was just an excuse to have Rushing and Moore sing a bunch of old favorites before Clayton's band, and that was fine, especially because Moore, sporting a Sarah Vaughan-like alto, held her own against the great blues shouter. Of course, the ruling presence, even in his absence, was Count Basie, who had previously employed both Rushing and Clayton for extended periods. The music had much of the verve and swing of the Basie band, even without the leader being on the date. The story might be silly, but the music was not. William Ruhlmann
Tracklist :
Opening - Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home    0:42
A1a    Unknown Artist–    Opening
A1b    Ada Moore–    Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home
Written-By – Mercer-Arlen
A2    Jimmy Rushing–    Pretty Little Baby 1:32
Written-By – Bernie, P. Baker, S. Silvers
A3    Ada Moore–    I've Got A Feeling I'm Falling 2:26
Written-By – B. Rose, Waller, Link
A4    Jimmy Rushing And Ada Moore–    If I Could Be With You (One Hour Tonight) 2:44
Written-By – Creamer, J. Johnson
A5    Buck Clayton–    Ain't She Sweet 2:39
Written-By – Yellen, Ager
A6    Ada Moore–    Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home 2:17
Written-By – Mercer-Arlen
A7    Buck Clayton And Ada Moore–    You're My Thrill 3:38
Written-By – Gorney, Clare
B1    Ada Moore–    Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea 2:41
Written-By – Arlen, Koehler
B2    Jimmy Rushing–    Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You 2:36
Written-By – Razaf, Redman
B3    Jimmy Rushing–    Cool Breeze, Woman 2:28
Written-By – Rushing
B4    Buck Clayton–    I Can't Give You Anything But Love 2:02
Written-By – Fields-McHugh
B5    Buck Clayton–    The Blues    1:20
Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home - After You've Gone - Conclusion    4:42
B6a    Ada Moore–    Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home
Written-By – Mercer-Arlen
B6b    Jimmy Rushing And Buck Clayton–    After You've Gone
Written-By – Creamer, Layton
B6c    Unknown Artist–    Conclusion
Credits :
Arranged By – Buck Clayton
Bass – Aaron Bell, Milt Hinton
Drums – Jo Jones, James Osie Johnson
Guitar – Steve Jordan
Piano – Ken Kersey, Sir Charles Thompson
Saxophone – Bud Johnson, Eddy Barefield, Willard Brown
Trombone – Dicky Wells
Trumpet – Buck Clayton, Emmett Berry
Vocals – Ada Moore, Jimmy Rushing

GENE KRUPA – 1952-1953 | The Chronogical Classics – 1390 (2005) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Volume 16 in the Classics Gene Krupa chronology documents his recording activity between March 1952 and September 1953. Although Krupa had struggled for years to keep his big band together, he had to throw in the towel in 1951. By the spring of the following year, he was leading his first small-group recording date for producer Norman Granz. Having spent years at the helm of a big band that expended a lot of energy accompanying jazz and pop vocalists, Krupa seems to have relished the intimacy and immediacy of these exciting instrumental blowing sessions with pianist Teddy Napoleon and tenor saxophonist Charlie Ventura. The opening track, "St. Louis Blues" runs for seven-and-a-half steamy minutes, and Ventura uses his baritone for a deliciously deep-toned interpretation of Hoagy Carmichael's "Star Dust." The big horn was also in evidence on a friendly laid-back rendition of "My Blue Heaven" and reflections of a "Moon on the Ruined Castle" recorded in Tokyo for the Victor label one month later when the trio was visiting Japan as part of an all-star entourage financed and presided over by Norman Granz. As Victor was not his company, Granz allowed the taping to occur but prevented the recordings from being released. Back in New York two weeks later, Granz and Krupa began making records using slightly larger ensembles. The six- and seven-piece bands that are heard on the last six titles of this compilation had powerful front liners in Ben Webster, Charlie Shavers, Bill Harris and Willie Smith; the rhythm sections were stoked with Teddy Wilson, Israel Crosby, Ray Brown, Steve Jordan and Herb Ellis. This outstanding compilation chronicles a sunny and artistically rewarding chapter in the life of Gene Krupa. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist + Credits :