ghost of miles Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 I was playing the title track off Sue Raney's Dreamsville on my afternoon show today and neglected to backannounce the flugelhorn soloist. A few minutes later a listener emailed me inquiring as to the soloist's identity, so I checked the liners and replied. Just got a followup from the listener regarding further biographical information about said soloist--I used to have baseball cards of this guy when I was a kid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.D. Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 (edited) I remember him well...even saw him play (baseball) live at Wrigley Field back in the day! IIRC, he played the National Anthem on trumpet at least once. Edited December 16, 2015 by T.D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazztrain Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 Some more about Fanzone: http://wrigleywax.blogspot.com/2010/04/23-carmen-fanzone.html http://wrigleyvillenation.com/2014/07/26/will-real-carmen-fanzone-please-stand/ http://baseballhall.org/discover/card-corner/music-from-the-fanzone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 Who else is on that record? I see it was arranged by Alan Broadbent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Stryker Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 (edited) I met Carmen (and Sue) a couple years ago when she played a gig in Detroit. Very nice guy. He is still playing well in a kind of understated Chet Baker vein. She sounded tremendous. He was born in Detroit, attended Cass Tech. They had picked up a group of locals for the gig. Very detailed charts, including one on "There Used to be a Ballpark Right Here," which included a slick little quote of "Take Me Out tot he Ballgame" as a coda. I thought the setting was a little too scripted, more cabaret than jazz if you know what I mean. I saw two "shows" and it was the same set done twice and Sue, as good as she sounded, felt constrained, though I later learned she gets nervous with players she doesn't know and stays on script. The best moments came at the end of the night -- I had been talking to the trombone player on the break about how I wish Sue would just sing a standard like Body and Soul off the cuff -- and at perfect time the trombone player said to her, "Hey, why don't you just sing 'Body and Soul' with the piano." They picked a key, and Goddamn, it was incredible. Beautiful phrasing. Her voice is well preserved; actually all of her is, and I don't mean that salaciously. She just looks good. Edited December 16, 2015 by Mark Stryker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted December 16, 2015 Report Share Posted December 16, 2015 The first Raney Capitol albums had above-average Nelson Riddle charts and are worth digging up/out. I take it that Riddle and/or Capitol had an above-average interest in her and initially gave her deluxe treatment that was not repaid in the market place. But that was surely time/place and nothing else. The woman's got serious skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted December 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 13 hours ago, JSngry said: Who else is on that record? I see it was arranged by Alan Broadbent. Broadbent on piano, Bob Magnusson on bass, Jim Plank on drums, Fanzone on flugelhorn, and then playing on various instruments, Dan Higgins, Ray Reed, Dick Mitchell, Bob Cooper, Ray Pizzi, Bill Perkins, and Jack Nimitz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted December 17, 2015 Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 Higgins and the rest are all saxophonists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted December 17, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 (edited) Right, but they are all listed on mutliple instruments for this album--for instance, Cooper is listed as playing flute, clarinet, alto flute, oboe, and tenor sax.... Higgins is listed as performing on flute, piccolo, alto flute, clarinet, and alto sax,... etc. Edited December 17, 2015 by ghost of miles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted December 17, 2015 Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 I should have said reed players, and even then I would have missed on the flutes, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted December 17, 2015 Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 Overdubbed into sections, perhaps? Right time and place for that. Haven't yet heard the record though. Pizzi also one helluva bassoonist. Right singer, wrong show business time, at least until not. And let's unbury Ralph Carmichael long enough to praise him before we rebury him. My criterion for singers of this ilk is simple - how comfortable are they with the lyrical/melodic meld, do they sound like they're inside each to make conscientious choices about both simultaneously (as opposed to just "doing what they're told" by either by producer or a lead sheet), and damn if I've ever heard Sue Raney - regardless of contexts - sound as if she had anything less than a complete and confident ability to make any number of such choices. As with so many things, if it were that easy, everybody could do it, and everybody can't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted December 17, 2015 Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 Wow, all kinds of wrong and all kinds of right, all at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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