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Wardell Gray


mrjazzman

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Hi folks,

For information:

1. OPENING - STOMPIN’ AT THE SAVOY / Jun. 26, 1948
2. MARY’S IDEA / Jun. 26, 1948
3. S’POS’N - vo. Jackie Searle / Jun. 26, 1948
4. THERE’S A SMALL HOTEL - Quartet / Jun. 26, 1948
5. MEL’S IDEA / Jun. 26, 1948
6. YOU TURNED THE TABLES ON ME - vo. Dolly Huston / Jun. 26, 1948
7. SWEDISH PASTRY / Jun. 26, 1948
8. INDIANA / Jun. 26, 1948
9. GOOD-BYE / Jun. 26, 1948
10. OPENING - STOMPIN’ AT THE SAVOY / Jul. 3, 1948
11. BYE BYE BLUES / Jul. 3, 1948
12. WRAP YOUR TROUBLES IN DREAMS - vo. Jackie Searle / Jul. 3, 1948
13. BLUE VIEWS / Jul. 3, 1948
14. IT’S THE TALK OF THE TOWN - vo. Dolly Huston / Jul. 3, 1948
15. MEL’S IDEA / Jul. 3, 1948
16. DON’T BLAME ME - vo. Jackie Searle / Jul. 3, 1948
17. AFTER YOU’VE GONE / Jul. 3, 1948
18. GOOD-BYE / Jul. 3, 1948

Benny Goodman Septet. Benny Goodman, Stan Hasselgard, Wardell Gray. Red Rodney, Mary Lou Williams, Billy Bauer, Clyde Lombardi, Mel Zelnick. Vocals by Jackie Searle, Dolly Huston

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Hi folks,

For information:

1. OPENING - STOMPIN’ AT THE SAVOY / Jun. 26, 1948

2. MARY’S IDEA / Jun. 26, 1948

3. S’POS’N - vo. Jackie Searle / Jun. 26, 1948

4. THERE’S A SMALL HOTEL - Quartet / Jun. 26, 1948

5. MEL’S IDEA / Jun. 26, 1948

6. YOU TURNED THE TABLES ON ME - vo. Dolly Huston / Jun. 26, 1948

7. SWEDISH PASTRY / Jun. 26, 1948

8. INDIANA / Jun. 26, 1948

9. GOOD-BYE / Jun. 26, 1948

10. OPENING - STOMPIN’ AT THE SAVOY / Jul. 3, 1948

11. BYE BYE BLUES / Jul. 3, 1948

12. WRAP YOUR TROUBLES IN DREAMS - vo. Jackie Searle / Jul. 3, 1948

13. BLUE VIEWS / Jul. 3, 1948

14. IT’S THE TALK OF THE TOWN - vo. Dolly Huston / Jul. 3, 1948

15. MEL’S IDEA / Jul. 3, 1948

16. DON’T BLAME ME - vo. Jackie Searle / Jul. 3, 1948

17. AFTER YOU’VE GONE / Jul. 3, 1948

18. GOOD-BYE / Jul. 3, 1948

Benny Goodman Septet. Benny Goodman, Stan Hasselgard, Wardell Gray. Red Rodney, Mary Lou Williams, Billy Bauer, Clyde Lombardi, Mel Zelnick. Vocals by Jackie Searle, Dolly Huston

So just to get this straight:

Some of this has previously been released on the "Tribute from Sweden" LP mentioned above (some of the song titles of which must be fictitious, and the non-existent discog info won't help any either, except that the Swedish text - apparently taken from a "Swedish phrases for tourists" book - is hilarious in this context) and on Hep 36 ("Benny's Bop") under the "July 1948" recording date given there?

But the recordings on Dragon DRLP 16 ("Swedish Pastry") are all different, or are the dates and lineups wrong there and at least some of the recordings on that LP ARE in fact from the above two dates?

Edited by Big Beat Steve
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Two tracks from these concerts ("Swedish Pastry" and "Mel's Idea") are on DRLP 29. Everything on Dragon DRLP 16 is from the Click restaurant from between May and June 1948, with nearly the same band. On the White Plains dates Mary Lou has replaced Teddy Wilson and Lombardi has replaced Arnold Fishkind/Fishkin. Patti Page was replaced by Dolly Houston and Jackie Searle. I don't trust Russ Connor's assignment of Red Rodney as the trumpeter on the June 26 date, as Rodney seems to have guested only on the opening weekend when Wilson and Page were still on the band.

"Benny's Bop" was announced as "Mel's Idea" on June 26, so there is only one version of "Mel's Idea" from Westchester County Center. This track sees its first release with the Audio Park CD (the CD calls it "Mel's Idea").

On the "Tribute From Sweden" Lp, “Blues For Sweden” is really Blue Views, “Stompin Slow” is "Mary's Idea" (Just An Idea), and “Swedish Sweets” is Swedish Pastry".

Hep CD 36 has all the V-Disc recordings from August 20, 1948, except for the two alternative takes of "Benny's Bop" (which remain unissued).

As far as I'm concerned, the Audio Park release is the definitive issue of this material - although it would have been nice to have the incorrect "Mel's Idea" title fixed once and for all!

Contemporary reviews are here:
http://wardellgray.org/discography.html

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