50th Anniversary Commemoration Edition of the TORMÉ-PAICH legendary sessions. A milestone in the history of vocal jazz, with fully illustrated booklet (rare & unpublished photos). The definitive edition. Fascinated by the sound of the 1953 Gerry Mulligan Ten-tette, Mel Tormé had always felt that these same patterns, re-worked for the proper vocalist, could blend voice and instrument to the mutual satisfaction of both. In 1956, this idea became a reality. The task of selecting musicians who could produce this sound was given to the versatile pianist-arranger Marty Paich who, in fact, co-featured with Mel on these recordings.
This 1956 recording was Bob Dorough's debut, an introduction to one of the most unusual talents in jazz. He's a gifted songwriter and a fine pianist, but most of all, he's a unique lyricist and singer, rattling off hyperkinetic vocalese in an almost chirping, high-pitched voice that somehow retains hints of an Arkansas drawl and a conversational intimacy. He's as distinctive on Hoagy Carmichael's beautiful "Baltimore Oriole" as he is on the bop fanfares like Dizzy Gillespie's "Ow!" and Charlie Parker's "Yardbird Suite," with his own memorable lyrics. His boppish piano playing–with all the virtues of crisp articulation and an acute sense of time–is an oddly conventional complement to the vocals, and there are good contributions by Warren Fitzgerald on trumpet and Jack Hitchcock on vibes. Devil May Care's title tune has recently received fine covers by more conventional singers like Diana Krall and Claire Martin, but it's much more distinctive here. While Dorough has influenced generations of jazz singers, from Mose Allison to Kurt Elling, there's nothing quite like the original.
This 2-CD set truly demonstrates what was defined as the "West Coast style of jazz" but, in fact, was the Shorty Rogers style. We can hear arrangements of a loose variety, played by the most outstanding group of musicians of the Los Angeles jazz scene. The music presented here is a major example of Shorty Rogers' great talent, and a milestone in the orchestral idiom of modern jazz. Shorty's writing and playing were a pretty honest reflection of his own personality. If there was ever an individual to be selected as the head of the West Coast school, it definitely would have been Shorty Rogers.
They drive the cattle from Oregon to Wyoming in Canyon River – in other words, the wrong way. That, however, is about the only surprise in this pleasant, and pleasantly acted, Western melodrama from Allied Artists. Everything about the film is pleasant, including leading men (and onscreen rivals) George Montgomery and Peter Graves. Marcia Henderson makes a pleasant heroine, Alan Hale Jr. is pleasant as a reformed outlaw, and even villain Walter Sande is on the mild side. The color is by De Luxe (and is, needless to say, pleasant to look at) and the locations are on the grand scale – all of which, sadly, are somewhat lost in the pan-and-scan versions.
This CD reissue has four selections apiece from two different bands, both of which feature subtle interplay and cool tones. Bob Brookmeyer plays valve trombone and piano on two songs apiece with his 1955 quartet, a group also including guitarist Jimmy Raney, bassist Teddy Kotick and drummer Mel Lewis. The other half of this disc is actually led by vibraphonist Teddy Charles who features Brookmeyer on both of his instruments along with bassist Teddy Kotick and drummer Ed Shaughnessy; Nancy Overton takes a vocal on "Nobody's Heart." Although the overall set is not all that essential, the music is pleasing and reasonably creative.
This 2-CD set presents the legendary valve trombonist acting as co-leader with Zoot Sims on the January 1956 album "Tonite's Music Today" and as leader of three separate studio groups on the self-titled "Brookmeyer" from October of the same year. He's leader of the BB Quartet on "The Blues - Hot and Cold" from June 1960, and finally shares leadership on "Stan Getz/Bob Brookmeyer" from September 1961.