From the Back Room: More Bobby Hackett on Commodore

Quite a few years ago, I presented an LP called Horn A-Plenty, which reissued several tracks from the Commodore records catalog under the name of cornetist Bobby Hackett.

Today for this "From the Back Room" post we have a much belated follow-up to that LP, consisting of 14 additional tracks from a well-known group of Chicago-style musicians, including Hackett.

All these tracks come from 1938 or 1944 sessions - none of them actually issued under Hackett's name. He is, however, a constant presence on the Commodore sessions, along with guitarist Eddie Condon and clarinetist Pee Wee Russell. Commodore was a New York label based in the Commodore Record Shop.

Here's what I had to say in 2011, which may be helpful as an introduction to the music: 

These particular recordings were made in 1938 and 1944 by a number of groups mostly drawn from the musicians who performed at Nick's Tavern in Greenwich Village. What they played was sometimes called Chicago-style (as mentioned) and sometimes "Nicksieland" jazz. They were inspired by the early jazz bands such as the Original Dixieland Jazz Band and the slightly later New Orleans Rhythm Kings. (One of the trombonists on this record, George Brunies, was a founder of the latter group.) Although inspired by earlier groups, these players generally employed less collective improvisation and more soloing, as is shown on the record at hand.

Here's a quick run down of the 14 selections in this second program. All but the final three numbers come from 1938; the others are from 1944.

Eddie Condon

The first two numbers were attributed to Eddie Condon and His Windy City Seven. The second two came out as a "A Jam Session at Commodore" even though they were made at the same time by the same musicians - all the musicians mentioned above along with pianist Jess Stacy, tenor saxophonist Bud Freeman, bassist Artie Shapiro and drummer George Wettling. The songs are the peppy standard "Love Is Just Around the Corner," the blues "Beat to the Socks," and the improvised "Carnegie Blues" and "Carnegie Drag." The latter three were attributed to Stacy, Condon and Freeman.

That date was in January. In April the Windy City Seven reunited for two numbers, with the illustrious Jack (here called Jackson) Teagarden in place of Brunies: the standard "Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland" and Russell's "Serenade to a Shylock," with a Teagarden vocal.

Jack/Jackson Teagarden

Probably at the same session, "Jack Teagarden and His Trombone" (and the others) played the standard "Diane."

Bud Freeman

In July, Bud Freeman and His Gang recorded two numbers: "'LIFE' Spears a Jitterbug" and Isham Jones' "What's the Use?" The "Gang" consisted of Russell, Hackett, Stacy, Condon, Shapiro, alto saxist Dave Matthews and drummer Marty Marsala. The first song was presumably a take-off on the popular Life Magazine series "Life Goes to a [Party, Funeral, etc.]."

In November, "Eddie Condon and His Band" set down two numbers: "California Here I Come" and "Sunday." In addition to Freeman, Russell, Hackett and Shapiro, the group members includes the young pianist Joe Bushkin, the drummer "Ly. N. Ell" (that is, Lionel Hampton) and the trombonist Vernon Brown. Hampton and Brown were with Benny Goodman at the time.

Miff Mole

We move ahead to a April 1944 date attributed to Miff Mole and His Nicksieland Band, with Mole on trombone, Ernie Caceres on baritone sax, Gene Schroeder on piano, Bob Casey, bass and Joe Grauso, drums, along with Hackett, Russell and Condon. The tunes were the oldie "Peg o' My Heart" and the moldy "St. Louis Blues."

Finally, a September 1944 date that produced a rendition of Walter Donaldson's "At Sundown." The musicians were Hackett, Russell, Caceres, Condon, Stacy, Casey and Wettling with Lou McGarity on trombone. The label attributed the piece to a "Jam Session at Commodore No. 6," while the discographies list it as by Bobby Hackett and His Rhythm Kings.

Pee Wee Russell

These are all fine performances by young veterans of the scene who played beautifully together. Let me mention the inevitably fun and interesting solos by Pee Wee Russell. The writer Whitney Balliett later described him as a "school unto himself," someone who remained difficult to imitate and possessed an originality that foreshadowed modern jazz innovations.

LINK

Orchestral Works by George Chadwick and Frederick Converse

The American Music Society label of the 1950s has been an interest of this blog since its first post. Today we have an ARS LP with compositions by two composers from New England - George W. Chadwick (1854-1931) and Frederick S. Converse (1871-1940).

I believe these were the first recordings of both works.

Both works come from the early years of the 20th century, and both are from the German Romantic tradition, being influenced by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss.

Converse called his work a "fantasy" and Chadwick a "symphonic ballad," but both were inspired by literary sources.

Converse actually studied with Chadwick, and both were pupils of the German composer Josef Rheinberger. Both also were associated at different times with the New England Conservatory - Chadwick as director and Converse as a member of the faculty and later dean.

George Chadwick

Chadwick's work is based on Robert Burns' poem Tam O'Shanter, dating from 1914. In this piece, Tam indulges in a night of revelry, followed by he and his horse losing their way and encountering ghouls on their journey.

In his book on American music, John Howard Tasker had this to day about the composer: "In many ways Chadwick was typically American in his music, not from his use of folk songs or historic subjects, but by something far subtler, something he could never have avoided even if he had tried. His delicious impertinence is genuinely American, the dry humor of the Yankee. He added life to the forms he used, and gave us something vital. There is a freshness in his music that is a matter of spirit rather than of style or idiom." The imputation of these characteristics to a national character is a sweeping generalization - especially in music that is German in form and Scottish in inspiration - but it is true that they did characterize Chadwick's music.

You may be interested in comparing Chadwick's depiction of Tam's drunken episode to that of Malcolm Arnold, which was previously posted here.

Frederick Converse

Like Chadwick, Converse was a talented composer who produced impressive music. His fantasy on Whitman's The Mystic Trumpeter dates from 1903-04.

The notes to this release state: "Converse omitted one episode from Whitman's original poem, 'This because I wished only to use the elemental phrases: mystery and peace, love, war and struggle, humiliation, and finally joy. So I divided the poem into five parts and my music follows this division. Each section is tied to the preceding one by characteristic phrases for trumpet.'"

Gustav Holst also composed music inspired by The Mystic Trumpeter, which has been recorded a few times. Composers also have been inspired by other Whitman works. His Drum Taps (which appeared in some editions of Leaves of Grass) was set by Howard Hanson, whose recording is here. Also Ralph Vaughan Williams' Nona Nobis Pacem largely consists of Whitman settings.

Max Schoenherr

ARS, as was its usual practice, attributed the recordings to the "American Recording Society Orchestra." The actual orchestras involved were almost always European, and generally Viennese. A Classical Discography identifies the Vienna Symphony as the ensemble in the Converse work, with the recording taking place November 8 and 9, 1952.

There is no date or ensemble listed for the Chadwick, but it is certainly possible that it was recorded at the same time as the Converse. The discography says that the conductor for both works was Meinhard von Zallinger, but the record itself lists Max Schoenherr. The latter recorded other works for ARS, so it seems likely that Schoenherr is the conductor here.

The download includes scans and texts of the Burns and Whitman poems and links to analyses of each work.

LINK

David Allyn Sings Jerome Kern

The singer David Allyn (1919-2012) has appeared several times on this blog, in posts devoted to his early recordings (1940-45 and 1946-49) and to his 1959 Warner Bros. LP I Only Have Eyes for You.

Today we'll feature what may be his best LP, A Sure Thing: David Allyn Sings Jerome Kern, from 1957. As a bonus we have a 1976 appearance on Alec Wilder's NPR radio series American Popular Song, which also is devoted to Kern.

A Sure Thing: David Allyn Sings Jerome Kern

Allyn's Jerome Kern LP was a watershed in his career. He had spent several years addicted to drugs, even serving a prison sentence for forging prescriptions. But Richard Bock and the Pacific Jazz/World Pacific label was receptive to the rehabilitated singer's idea of devoting a songbook to the works of Kern.

Allyn had some formidable help: the backings were to be done by Johnny Mandel, whom the vocalist knew from his big band days. And the notes were to be written by Sammy Davis, Jr., fresh from his triumph on Broadway in Mr. Wonderful.

Johnny Mandel

The record is an unalloyed success. Allyn is in superb voice and Mandel's arrangements provide a supportive framework for him. Davis' words are generalized but apt: "I think after you hear this album you will feel as I felt - that this is an almost perfect wedding of musical ability and good taste." Sam makes oblique reference to Allyn's absence from the scene as well: "For David, the wait has been a long and very troubled one. You need only to take this album home and play it to know that he has been worth waiting for."

Sammy Davis and David Allyn

The LP is in stereo, and its contents may supply a clue to its genesis. Two of the songs - "Lovely to Look At" and "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" - have the voice in a different acoustic, panned far to the right with guitar and celesta accompaniment. On the left channel there is a flute obbligato. I'm going to guess that the voice and guitar/celesta were recorded first in mono. These may have been demos for Richard Bock, with Mandel adding the flute later. For the stereo LP, they were mastered in very wide stereo, which I've narrowed into a more natural perspective.

This LP also came out in mono, and the 1980s reissue was in mono as well. I auditioned the sound of the reissued mono LP and the stereo is much better.

Here are the songs, the lyricists and when and how each number was introduced.

• "Sure Thing": Ira Gershwin, 1944, in the film Cover Girl, sung by Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Martha Mears)

• "Dearly Beloved": Johnny Mercer, 1941, in the film You Were Never Lovelier, sung by Fred Astaire

• "I'm Old Fashioned": Johnny Mercer, 1941, in the film You Were Never Lovelier, sung by Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Nan Wynn)

• "Lovely to Look At": Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh, 1935, for the film version of Roberta. sung by Irene Dunne and then by Fred Astaire with Ginger Rogers (sort of)

• "The Way You Look Tonight": Dorothy Fields, 1936, in the film Swing Time, sung by Fred Astaire

Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern

• "The Folks Who Live on the Hill": Oscar Hammerstein, 1937, in the film High, Wide and Handsome, sung by Irene Dunne

• "Long Ago and Far Away": Ira Gershwin, 1944, in the film Cover Girl, sung by Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth (dubbed by Martha Mears)

• "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star": Oscar Hammerstein, 1932, in the musical Music in the Air, sung by Walter Slezak and Katherine Carrington

• "All in Fun": Oscar Hammerstein, 1939, in the musical Very Warm for May, sung by Frances Mercer and Jack Whiting

• "In Love in Vain": Leo Robin, 1946, in the film Centennial Summer, sung by Jeanne Crain (dubbed by Louanne Hogan) and William Eythe (dubbed by David Street). This was Kern's final score.

You may have noticed that Allyn's name is spelling "Allen" on the LP's cover. David went back and forth on the spelling of his stage name during his career. His birth name was Albert DiLella.

LINK to A Sure Thing

Jerome Kern: American Popular Song with Alec Wilder

Alec Wilder in 1976

In 1976, National Public Radio sponsored a series on the great American songwriters with the noted songwriter and author Alec Wilder (1907-80). The show's title was derived from Wilder's influential 1972 book American Popular Song: the Great Innovators, 1900-1950.

Each episode of the program featured a notable vocalist, including Allyn for a show devoted to Jerome Kern. The host and musical accompanist for the show was pianist Loonis McGlohon (1921-2002), whose genial charm and North Carolina accent contrasted nicely with Wilder's commentary.

Loonis McGlohon

The Kern program allowed the participants to revisit many of the items on the LP above in new, live versions, complete with commentary on the songs and anecdotes. Allyn is disarmingly unpretentious, even allowing the program to make use of a breakdown take on "I'm Old Fashioned."

Allyn's fine voice is drier than it was 20 years before, and his pitch a bit variable. But his interpretations retain the warmth and insight of the earlier versions.

Beside "I'm Old Fashioned," he sings "Sure Thing," "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star," "Long Ago and Far Away," "The Folks Who Live on the Hill" and "All in Fun," which also appeared on the 1957 album. He includes the following new items The notes below again identify the lyricists and when and how each number was introduced:

• "I Won't Dance": Oscar Hammerstein and Otto Harbach, 1934, in the short-lived London musical Three Sisters, sung by Adele Dixon

• "She Didn't Say Yes": Otto Harbach, 1931, in the musical The Cat and the Fiddle, sung by Bettina Hall

Also on the show, Allyn included a song in tribute to Johnny Mandel, the latter's "Don't Look Back" (lyricist Kaye Lawrence Dunham), which is the title number from David's 1975 LP on the Xanadu label.

Finally, each guest on the show also sang one of Wilder's songs. David chose "Soft as Spring," which he had recorded with Jack Teagarden in 1941. That early effort - both words and music by Wilder - can be found in the 1940-45 Allyn compilation I mentioned above.

The file below is completely tracked and tagged.

LINK to Jerome Kern radio program

A Classic Account of 'The Four Seasons'

The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields has only appeared here once before even though they have long been a personal favorite.

So today we make amends by featuring an LP that has some seasonal appeal by virtue of its including a famous performance of the "Winter" concerto. This is of course the oft-recorded and much beloved Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi.

The recording comes from the ASMF's early heyday, 1969, just over a decade after the ensemble was founded under the leadership of Neville Marriner (1924-2016), then the principal second violin of the London Symphony.

Neville Marriner

The ASMF took its name from St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the 18th century James Gibbs church on Trafalgar Square. Here's what I wrote about the group in my earlier post:

While performance styles in baroque and classical music have moved on from the refined and subtle approach of this modern-instrument ensemble, to me the ASMF will always represent a high point in 20th-century recorded music.

The distinctively named Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields laid claim to being the most widely recorded orchestra in the world for many years. Its records were popular for good reason - under conductor Neville Marriner, they were almost guaranteed to be beautifully played and elegantly presented.

From the beginning, the Academy's repertoire was heavily tilted toward the baroque and classical eras.

Concerning this performance, let's hear from Edward Greenfield of The Gramophone:

There is an element of fantasy in this performance that sets it apart from all direct comparison. I have never before enjoyed Vivaldi so much, but I can imagine some will prefer a severer approach...

Continually one seems to be hearing this scoring for the very first time, and the delicacy of rhythmic pointing (as in the opening movement of "Autumn") is even more striking than one expects from the superb St Martin's ensemble...

In keeping with the whole performance Alan Loveday, the soloist, may use a rich tone, but neither he nor the others could be accused of anything like romantic sentimentality. 

Alan Loveday

One more quote - here is Anne Inglis of The Guardian writing about Alan Loveday (1928-2016) and this performance:

The ASMF’s founder, Neville Marriner, asked Loveday to be the violin soloist in a recording of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons (1969); his beautiful, unmannered playing led to sales of half a million copies and the ASMF’s first gold disc. Marriner, a contemporary at the Royal College of Music in London, recalled that Loveday “was better than any of us. I would say that he was the best individual violin player that the RCM has ever produced.”

Simon Preston

Let me also mention another important figure: Simon Preston (1938-2022), the keyboard continuo player on this record. He was a virtuoso organist who was also the choir director at Christ Church, Oxford (as he was when this record was made) and later at Westminster Abbey.

Appropriate to this season (at least around here), listen for the witty harpsichord shivers he contributes to the famed opening of the Allegro movement of the Winter concerto. Just one memorable moment among many in this superb performance by all involved. Vivid recording, as well.

LINK

A New Year's Eve Rendezvous 2025

I'm pleased to once again cede the floor to Dave Federman, whose imaginative compilations themed to the holidays have become a welcome tradition around here. Today, Dave has put together his usual mix of unusual items, totaling 40 selections. Here's the man himself to tell you more:

Age is no barrier to romance or rendezvous. And no night is greater for romance and renewal than New Year’s Eve. Indeed, no night gives so much hope about the future — whether for revival of old, or discovery of new, promise. For me, it is a holiday about prospects — good, even grand, ones.

When given this importance, the night takes on a mystique that heightens the revelry associated with it. Maybe it’s my age or our Age itself. But I feel it necessary to hold such sentiments. There is a safety and solace in them. In light of these beliefs, I’m inviting the listener to accompany me for what used to be called a “night on the town.” Think, if you share my romanticism, of each song in this mix as a midnight madrigal that contributes to what I freely admit is a highly idealized New Year's Eve.

The opening songs prepare the listener for a night of nights. Once the music locks the listener in idealistic anticipation and expectation, the dancing and singing begins, conducted with confident cheer. So raise glasses to better times ahead. Yes, some retrospect will occur. It has to as we review the tumultuous year we are leaving behind. But whether looking backwards or forwards, tonight our cups will never run dry or our mugs be empty. The mix is filled with toasts to a brighter future. And even if that future is not bestowed on us, we can bestow it on each other.

In short, shared intimacy makes the karma good tonight. So there’s plenty of songs about close dancing in a wide variety of genres. Mindful that there will be those who take to terrace or rooftop, you will find star-studded skies waiting for you. And no matter what its phase, a shining moon will provide ample outdoor lighting.

So grab your coats and hats and drive or catch an Uber to Dave’s Download Ballroom. There the drinks are on me and the toasts are to lives worth living. Book your reservation now.

Have a happy, brave and wise New Year.

David from Ardmore

LINK

A 'Winter Sequence' from Burns and Feather

Composer-arranger Ralph Burns Summer Sequence is well known. Less known is its sequel, Winter Sequence - A Seasonal Suite for Rhythmic Reindeer from 1954.

Burns wrote the first three parts of Summer Sequence in 1945 for the Woody Herman band. A fourth part was added in 1947 as a feature for tenor saxophonist Stan Getz. With Johnny Mercer's lyrics added, this became "Early Autumn," a vocal jazz standard.

Ralph Burns

The 1954 work was actually not written by Burns but by songwriter-impresario Leonard Feather, although Burns handled the arrangements for the 11-piece band.

Leonard Feather

This is by no means a pretentious work; it is a showcase for the members of the band, who are assigned reindeer names for this particular reindeer game.

The eight pieces on this 10-inch LP - and their reindeer soloists - are as follows:

• "Dasher" - Herbie Mann, flute

• "Dancer" - Danny Bank, baritone sax

• "Prancer" - Ralph Burns, piano

• "Vixen" - Kai Winding, trombone

• "Comet" - Oscar Pettiford, bass and cello

• "Cupid" - Billy Bauer, guitar

• "Donner" - Osie Johnson, drums

• "Blitzen" - Joe Wilder, trumpet

The music is highly enjoyable, boppish fun played by some of the best jazz musicians of the day - and in very good sound.

LINK

A V-Disc Christmas

This post gathers all the Christmas V-Disc releases I could find - with the exception of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra's material, which is available elsewhere.

V-Discs were produced by the US government for distribution to its troops during World War II. Their contents were taken from commercial recordings, radio transcriptions and even special V-Disc recording dates - all of which are represented below.

The artists we hear include Richard Crooks, Marian Anderson, Claude Thornhill, Andre Kostelanetz, Charlie Spivak, Dick Haymes, Eileen Farrell, Jan Peerce, Nelson Eddy and Dinah Shore.

Christmas V-Discs for the most part used the red and green color motif seen above, although the early issues came out with the standard red and blue regalia.

This set contains 25 cuts, presented in order of their release on V-Disc, except for the final number.

The first Christmas V-Disc came out in 1941, and was a reprint of a commercial recording that the tenor John McCormack had made fifteen years earlier. That recording of "Adeste Fideles" can be found in a McCormack Christmas compendium I put together a few years ago.

Richard Crooks

Our first entry in this collection comes from another tenor, Richard Crooks, who is not as well remembered as McCormack. Crooks come from a time when a popular Metropolitan Opera star - which he was - could also be a favorite on the radio. His performance of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" was taken from a 1941 commercial recording. Here is an article on this fine artist.

Marian Anderson, 1946

Another singer who achieved great popular and artistic success was the distinguished contralto Marian Anderson. Her recording of the "Ave Maria" setting associated with Schubert was done at a special V-Disc session in late 1941. Anderson's first Christmas LP - less well known than her later album - is available here, newly remastered.

Claude Thornhill

I believe bandleader Claude Thornhill recorded his lovely theme "Snowfall" a number of times, starting in 1941. The version on V-Disc comes from a Lang-Worth transcription recorded that same year.

Andre Kostelanetz

The "Christmas Medley" from maestro Andre Kostelanetz is derived from a 1943 broadcast of The Pause That Refreshes on the Air, a title that was taken from Pepsi-Cola's slogan of the time. Baritone Leonard Warren of the Met soloed in "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear."

The other side of Kostelanetz' V-Disc presented the Army Air Force Training Command Band with another "Christmas Medley," featuring the sonorous soloist Bob Carroll, then an Army corporal. He has appeared on my other blog a few times, including a recording of "White Christmas" with Gordon Jenkins. This side has a brief introduction by Shirley Temple. These recordings came from a special 1944 Christmas broadcast of For the Record that was later excerpted for V-Discs.

Charlie Spivak

The popular band of trumpeter Charlie Spivak made a set of World Transcriptions that included "White Christmas," later issued on V-Disc. The vocal is by Garry Stevens.

Dick Haymes

Dick Haymes makes his first of two appearances, in company with the Travis Johnson Singers and organist Jesse Crawford. Dick sings "O Little Town of Bethlehem," the Singers take over for "Deck the Hall," and Haymes returns for "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen." These are also from World Transcriptions.

Eileen Farrell

The other side of Haymes' V-Disc has greetings to the troops from Brig. Gen. Joseph Byron, the Ben Yost Choir with "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" and the marvelous young soprano Eileen Farrell with "O Come, All Ye Faithful." She was then on radio; later she would become an opera star. These were taken from the same For the Record broadcast noted above.

Jan Peerce

Also from that session, but issued on a separate V-Disc, Farrell was heard in the Bach-Gounod "Ave Maria" and "O Holy Night." They were coupled with the Met's Jan Peerce presenting a Bizet setting of "Agnus Dei."

Nelson Eddy

A December 1945 edition of radio's Electric Hour yielded several songs with Nelson Eddy, a choral group and Robert Armbruster's orchestra. First we have the inescapable and interminable "Twelve Days of Christmas," a greeting from Eddy himself, "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" from the choir, "Gathering Clouds" from Eddy, "Silent Night" from the choir, and the "Hallelujah Chorus" from one and all.

Dick Haymes then returns with a spoken greeting, "Silent Night" and "O Come, All Ye Faithful," backed by Gordon Jenkins' orchestra.

Dinah Shore

To complete the package, I've added a song that is really more suggestive of the season that truly a part of it, simply because I like both the tune and the singer. This is Dinah Shore's 1944 version of "Sleigh Ride in July" with Al Sack's orchestra. It's a Burke and Van Heusen song that V-Disc took from Dinah's commercial recording.

LINK