Teasing the Korean

Yesterday: Robert Cobert - Dark Shadows, Vol. 3 & 4 Robert Cobert - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

I started a "with Strings" thread a few years back that can still be found. I think there is a big difference between records placing a jazz guy in an orchestral setting and what I think of as the "with strings" albums. The former category, including Focus, seem to aim for a hybrid between jazz and symphonic music. The "with Strings" albums lean more toward creating a relaxed late-night mood, consisting primarily of ballads played by the soloist with "romantic" strings. There must be albums that fall on a spectrum someplace between the two.

Les Baxter is the obvious choice. But luckily for us, he had bigger plans than arranging for jazz artists.

Well, you have options to buy Clifford Brown albums without strings. The reason some of us like the with strings albums is because the soloist is placed in a different setting, and the strings may be the main attraction, depending on who the arranger is. The sad thing is that too many Jazz Guy with Strings albums have only adequate arrangements. You rarely hear stuff that had much harmonic depth. I've always liked the Sonny Stitt with Ralph Burns album.

Pete Rugolo and Russ Garcia would have been good choices.

Politeness and elegance are virtues! Tedium, not so much.

Wasn't this kind of the point of most "with strings" albums? Polite background ambiance for cocktails, conversation, and coitus?

I nominate Les Baxter. Listen to his foreboding version of "Poinciana," in which the major-key melody is harmonized in the relative minor. Of course, if Baxter had spent his time arranging jazz albums, we might not have gotten all of his wonderful exotica LPs and AIP film scores, so it all worked out for the better.

There are some mistakes in the booklets to Lalo Schifrin's Bullitt and Krzysztof Komeda's Rosemary's Baby with regard to matching cues from the film versions with tracks from the album versions.

Which part of the discussion are you referring to? The conversation has taken some twists and turns, as happens.

Thanks. Yeah, non of my search terms are working either.

No one remembers this? It was classic.

Robert Cobert - Dark Shadows, Vol. 2

Robert Cobert - Dark Shadows

Thank you! Now playing: George Duning - Bell, Book & Candle

Until the kick drum blows out your subwoofer. I unloaded this LP for that reason. Was this ever corrected for CD?

Who did the music?

Piero Piccioni - Seven Corpses for Scotland Yard

Robert Cobert - House of Dark Shadows/Night of Dark Shadows

This is hanging in our scotch and music room:

Benny Maupin Benny Goodman S'all good, man

Gil Mellé - The Sentinel

Lallo Gori - Legend of the Wolf Woman