duaneiac

From 1996 -- fortunately, the music on this CD sounds much less dated than the outfit Mr. Flory wore for the cover shot.

Something I recently received in the mail and I'm just giving it a first spin A little early in the season for this kind of music, but since there were no music samples available when I ordered it, I wanted to check it out. It's actually a pretty nice album, mostly in a mellowish mood. Ms. Dennerlein plays Hammond B-3 and is accompanied by reeds player Magnus Lindgren, drummer Robert Ikiz, percussionist Abdissa Assefa, bassist Luca Alemanno (on9 tracks) and guitarist Nicola Conte (on 2 tracks). Zara McFarlane sings on 3 tracks. I like it.

Well, Tony Perkins did also star in a Broadway musical, Frank Loesser's Greenwillow, so he was not a total amateur as a singer. (The show flopped and its best known song is probably "Never Will I Marry" which was covered by Nancy Wilson on her album with Cannonball Adderley.) Jack Lemmon was a good pianist (not great, but good) and so-so as a vocalist, getting by more on charm than skill. Now playing

Jack Sheldon, trumpet; Charlie Mariano, alto sax; Bill Holman, tenor sax; Marty Paich, piano; Buddy Clark, bass; Mel Lewis, drums. Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, June 5 and 6, 1957

Disc 1 of 2

Michael Caine's character was a mere toddler when Berlin fell in 1945. His father was a high ranking Nazi officer and he made a covenant with 2 other officers which is now coming to fruition some 40 years later. The adult sons of those 3 men must come together to sign a document to unleash a fund of $4.5 billion to be used to make reparations for the Nazi atrocities. However, there are also pro-Nazi forces at work who would love to get their hands on those funds and the story revolves around the question of who is really on which side and who can really be trusted. I may just have been in the wrong mood for watching this. It seemed like a good movie, but all the plot & character twists seemed more wearying than suspenseful to me after a while.

How about these:

Original LP sources: Tracks #1-12, from the album "Woman Talk (Live At The Village Gate)" (Mainstream Stereo S/6065) Tracks #13-21, from the album "Carmen McRae Live & Wailing" (Mainstream Stereo S/6110) Personnel on #1-12: Carmen McRae (vcl) with Ray Beckenstein (fl), Norman Simmons (p), Joe Puma (g), Paul Breslin (b), Frank Severino (d) and José Mangual (bongó). Recorded live at the Village Gate, New York City, November 1965. Personnel on #13-21: Carmen McRae (vcl) with Norman Simmons (p), Victor Sproles (b) and Stu Martin (d). Recorded live at the Half Note, New York City, June 1966

This volume covers the years 1964-67 so it does include her BIG hit, but there also many other fine songs amongst the 26 tracks included here. One which surprise was "Are You Ready For This" which sounded as much like a Diana Ross & The Supremes single as possible.

The CD reissue pairs this Kenyon Hopkins album with this one:

OK -- the album was recorded in 1986. That explains, but does not excuse, the hair.

in addition to music I also enjoy listening to old time radio programs. The theater of the mind created by some of those shows is really wonderful Appropriate for Halloween, here's a classic episode from the Suspense series called "Three Skeleton Key". It's about three men who staff a lighthouse on a small, lonely island miles from the nearest coast. One stormy day a seemingly deserted ship crashes upon the shore of their island -- but it is not deserted for it bears on its decks and in its holds thousands and thousands or hungry, ravenous rats. With the sound effects used and the presence of star Vincent Price, this is a truly scary, suspenseful story. You can listen to it (with the lights out, of course) here: http://ia800500.us.archive.org/26/items/OTRR_Suspense_Singles/Suspense_561111_673_Three_Skeleton_Key_-128-44-_28101_29m53s.mp3

Any of Blossom Dearie's albums on her own Daffodil Records label are worth hearing and are now fairly obscure, I suppose. I have a couple of them on vinyl and this "live" recording is very nice with a good assortment of songs, including the wonderful "Someone's Been Sending Me Flowers" and the seasonally appropriate "You Have Lived In Autumn".

Another excellent Ace compilation. A great assortment of Leiber & Stoller songs (some written in collaboration with others) sung by such artists as Ben E. King, Jimmy Scott, Tommy Roe, Irene Reid, The Shangri-Las, Solomon Burke, Carmen McRae, The Walker Brothers and more. There are some well known hits, the best known being perhaps Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?" (which had an enormous impact on me as a boy), but even the more obscure tunes make for great listening. The liner notes are very informative. For example, Mike Stoller wrote "Juicy" (a hit for Willie Bobo) as a TV commercial jingle for the Florida Citrus Commission and Jerry Leiber got co-writing credit on Johnny Cash & June Carter's hit "Jackson" by helping songwriter Billy Edd Wheeler edit and restructure his song, basically telling him to dump several verses and begin the song with his last verse and that unforgettable "We got married in a fever / hotter than a pepper sprout" line.