Late October goodies

I recently got in touch with another high school chum...it had been quite a while since our paths crossed last.

Anyhooooo...I said I'd post a couple of selections that I thought he'd like. I hope you do too.

Here is one of the few classical 78s I've kept...it's still a favorite. It's by Soprano Bidu Sayão with eight cellos (solo by Leonard Rose) ...from what I've been able to find on the web, Villa-Lobos originally scored his Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 for violin and eight 'cellos, but Sayão suggested to Villa-Lobos that she sing the violin part, without words, and with humming on the last chorus. Though he was reluctant, he agreed to try it, and the crew assembled at a recording studio. According to Sayão, she and the cellos did the piece once and Villa-Lobos decided the result did not require a second take. (info borrowed from http://www.bassocantante.com/opera/sayao.html)

Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 - Bidu Sayão, soprano, eight 'cellos conducted by the composer, Leonard Rose, solo 'cello - Columbia 71670-D
recorded in 1945
http://www.box.net/shared/b0sf6bqrvx

And now for something completely different...some early Cajun music!

Allons a Lafayette Joseph Falcon Columbia 15275-D
New Orleans, 27 April 1928: Joe Falcon, vocal and accordion; Cleoma (Breaux) Falcon, guitar. From the first Cajun recording session (at least the first session for general release...I've heard there was some Cajun music recorded around five years earlier, but came out on a private issue)...this song is still being performed...
http://www.box.net/shared/c7m13qs0ip

I've always liked the following song...I remember hearing Marc and Ann Savoy doing it quite a few years back. The original version is just as pretty.

The Waltz I Love (La Valse J'Aime) Falcon Trio Bluebird B-2182

New Orleans, 20 February 1936: Moise Morgan, fiddle; Joe Falcon, accordion; Cleoma Falcon, guitar and vocal. http://www.box.net/shared/iv14xaek35

And finally, a somewhat weird one...The Little Sparrow rockin' and rollin'!
Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots Edith Piaf Capitol F3219

1956: Piaf belts out a cover of the big hit for The Cheers of the previous year. Apparently foreign issues use L'Homme a la Moto as the title. The American issue uses this title. http://www.box.net/shared/2jj4eymesn

Recent Acquisitions

A few friends and I attended the big Phonograph/Record show in Wayne, NJ last Sunday, and I found a few rather nice 78s...

Here's a fairly big seller in the Decca Race series, the slightly naughty Don't You Make Me High, by Blue Lu Barker.

Don't You Make Me High Blue Lu Barker Decca 7506
NYC 11 August 1938: Blue Lu Barker, vocal; with Danny Barker's Fly Cats: Henry "Red" Allen, trumpet; Buster Bailey, clarinet; Sammy Price, piano; Danny Barker, guitar; Wellman Braud, bass; Paul Barbarin, drums.
http://www.box.net/shared/ie5xgauxqm

I got the next gem for the princely sum of one dollar...the Kentucky Grasshoppers (an Irving Mills-led contingent from the Ben Pollack band) Makin' Friends.

Makin' Friends Kentucky Grasshoppers Banner 6360
NYC 4 April 1929: Jimmy McPartland, cornet; probably Tommy Thuman, trumpet; Jack Teagarden. trombone & vocal; Jimmy Dorsey, Gil Rodin, Larry Binyon, reeds; Vic Breidis, piano; Dick Morgan, banjo; Harry Goodman, bass; Ray Bauduc, drums.
http://www.box.net/shared/a3v2xq2i55

Here's its flip side:

I Get The Blues When It Rains Fred Rich Orch Banner 6360
NYC 29 March 1929: Large studio band, exact personnel unknown, but featuring Leo McConville, trumpet; Tommy Dorsey, trombone; Jimmy Dorsey, reeds, among others.
http://www.box.net/shared/nhb7lzj3bi

I'll end this section with a couple of pleasant Bob Haring sides, both with vocals by The Chickster:

Ho Hum Bob Haring Orch Banner 32162
http://www.box.net/shared/evbl15exb0

Let's Get Friendly Bob Haring Orch Banner 32162
http://www.box.net/shared/evbl15exb0
NYC 15 April 1931: Large studio band, Chick Bullock, vocal. Maybe I'm mellowing as I grow older (or perhaps I'm merely going soft in the head) but I find myself liking Bullock's rather ordinary singing more and more...it's a lot less mannered than most of the singing of the period.

After we were done with the show, seven of us sped off to the 88 Palace in Chinatown for a sumptuous dim sum feast...we filled up for $14 a person, including tip. Amazing...bargains like that do exist in NYC!

Do you get the impression I love this place?

I don't have any songs that specifically mention dim sum, but I do have this:

Ling Ting Tong The Five Keys Capitol F2945
NYC 30 August 1954: Maryland Pierce, Ulysses K. Hicks, Ripley Ingram, Ramon Loper, Bernie West, vocal quintet; Unknown Chinese percussionist, gong.
http://www.box.net/shared/njbmr8gd8s

Tie-ess-a mo-cum boo-die-ay, indeed! I found a photo taken at this session: http://home.att.net/~marvy42/5Keys/5keys10.jpg and a good article about the Keys here http://home.att.net/~marvy42/5Keys/5keys.html .

Here's a rather hard-to-find side for a friend...the Mad Doughnut Man of Pennsylvania. I played it for him in NYC the day before the bash...it's a funny record, if a bit on the sick side:

The Last Blast of the Blasted Bugler Sonny Gianotta ABC-Paramount 45-10308
1961-62: Gianotta, narrator; Tommy Cardinale, trumpet.
http://www.box.net/shared/3uaupder3f

Pain Set To Music Phil Cammarata ABC-Paramount 45-10308
The flip side, not quite as funny, but certainly almost as weird...or should I say sick: http://www.box.net/shared/ipe9xf9tjf

........And that's "thirty" for yours truly...later!

Requests from the Providence Record Show 9/30/07

I was at the Providence record show/swap meet last Sunday and ran into a couple of people I had met once before. It seems that on that first meeting I had noticed they were looking at records by baritone saxists and I recommended Serge Chaloff, my personal favorite.

Well, shaw 'nuff, they became Chaloff fans too. But they only know his solo work, primarily those last two albums for Capitol (Boston Blow Up and Blue Serge, both of which are readily available...and have the Zorch Seal of Approval)...and they hadn't really heard any of his work with the Woody Herman band. Not surprising, really...this band flourished during the 1948 Musicians Union recording ban, and didn't leave a lot of issued records (a handful of sides for Columbia and an album or so's worth on Capitol). Thank goodness there are a lot of recorded broadcasts, though.

So, as promised, I'm posting a couple of great broadcast performances of the 1948-9 Woody Herman "Second Herd," aka the Four Brothers Band.

Woody Herman, clarinet, alto sax, and leader; Stan Fishelson, Bernie Glow, Red Rodney, Shorty Rogers, Ernie Royal, trumpets; Bill Harris, Earl Swope, Ollie Wilson, trombones; Bob Swift, bass trombone; Sam Marowitz, alto sax; Al Cohn, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, tenor saxes; Serge Chaloff, baritone sax; Lou Levy, piano; Chubby Jackson, bass; Don Lamond, drums; Terry Gibbs, vibes.

from WMCA Broadcast 20 November 1948: Boomsie (solos, Gibbs, Sims, Chaloff, Levy, Swope, Royal, Rodney and the solo order goes backward in order) A roaring chart by Shorty Rogers, hampered a bit by boxy recording. And the title was also the name of Chubby Jackson's wire-haired terrier. (The Joyce discography calls the song Boomsie, but the LP I got it from calls it Boompsie. Whatever...) http://www.box.net/shared/jtvr0uk7k3

from AFRS "Just Jazz" Broadcast, probably August 1949: Man, Don't Be Ridiculous: a later incarnation of the band (with a few personnel changes), but this was Serge's feature. http://www.box.net/shared/kmck1bqxbq

And from the "ridiculous" to the sublime...I also promised (to someone else I met at the show) to post a couple of sides by one of my favorite vocal groups, Mitchell's Christian Singers. I love how these guys incorporate a lot of dissonant passing tones and slide into "proper" pitch at just the right moment.

23197-1 I Got A Letter From Jesus Mitchell's Christian Singers Vocalion 04418 http://www.box.net/shared/dv5a56vtec

23204-1 Judgment Is Coming Mitchell's Christian Singers Vocalion 04273 http://www.box.net/shared/6mkegshp5x

NYC, 6-7 July 1938: Unaccompanied vocal quartet: William Brown, lead tenor; Julian Davis, tenor; Louis "Panella" Davis, baritone; Sam Bryant, bass.