The Uncollected Glen Gray & the Casa Loma Orchestra, Vol. 2 (1943-46)

1. Blue Rhapsody

2. Don't Take Your Love from Me

3. Fifth Avenue Sax

4. Savage

5. Dancing on the Ceiling

6. Maybe

7. Lion and the Mouse

8. If I Love Again

9. Sitting on a Third Rail

10. Featuring the Boys

11. After You've Gone

12. Hold the Phone

13. From the Blue

14. Flat Third Jive

15. I Don't Care Who Knows It

16. Who Ray

The Uncollected Glen Gray & the Casa Loma Orchestra, Vol. 2 (1943-46),Glen Gray & the Casa Loma Orchestra,Hindsight Records,Big Band,Jazz,Pop,Sweet Bands,Swing

Jazz

Music

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Average customer rating: good swing Good performance but poor recording Test your stereo rig with this! I love the sound ! One of the best re-recordings of swing orchestra hits

Swinging Sounds of the Great Bands Glen Gray And Casa Loma Orchestra Manufacturer: Eric Collection ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Jazz | Styles | Music Swing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music Swing Jazz | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: More Sounds of the Great Swing Bands Smooth Sounds of the Great Dance Bands Shall We Swing?/Sounds of the Great Bands! Les Brown & His Band of Renown - Best of The Capitol Years Big Band Plays the Big Hits, Vol. 1/Up a Lazy River (Big Band Plays the Big Hits, Vol. ASIN: B00000JNAY Release Date: 1999-08-31

Tracks:

1. Bugle Call Rag
2. Leap Frog
3. Take The 'A' Train
4. Intermission Riff
5. Night Train
6. South Rampart Street Parade
7. Ciribiribin
8. New No Mane Jive
9. Back Bay Shuffle
10. Tippin' In
11. Opus No.1
12. Moten Swing
13. Cherokee
14. Jumpin' At The Woodside
15. Study In Brown
16. In The Mood
17. 720 In The Books
18. Woodchopper's Ball
19. Flying Home
20. The Elks' Parade

Album Description

'Swinging Sounds Of The Great Bands'- between 1957 and 1964, Capitol released a series of LPs entitled 'Sounds of the Great Bands' that featured Glen Gray & the Casa Loma Orchestra playing big hits of the swing era in their original hit arrangements in Full Dimensional Stereo! In other words, these albums were the most hi-fi big-band listening experience to date, and this fantastic collection selects 20 of the best tracks in the series. Includes 'Bugle Call Rag' performed in the style of Benny Goodman and more classics, from Eric Records.

Customer Reviews:

good swing .......2006-03-04

This is another of the great Glen Gray Cds and another happy experience of the wonderful times we had in the 1940s and 50s

Good performance but poor recording.......2006-01-16

Yes, I agree with other reviewers here - this is a well performed selection of music. If only I could say the same about the recording quality, which sounds more like two channel mono than full dimensional stereo. There is practically no central information in the stereo soundstage and the general quality is quite thin with a sound which favours the upper frequencies.

Anyone who is used to listening to decent quality classical recordings or who has a halfway decent hi - fi system, is going to be rather disappointed. Why can't anyone produce decent big band recordings without resorting to a totally artificial sound balance?

Test your stereo rig with this!.......2005-08-09

I have been a big band "swing" fan for lots of years. Problem is most of the original recordings are very poor by today's standards. The recording equipment of the day was just not up to the challenge. In particular, there is practically no bass whatsoever on many BB recordings. Even in the higher registers, many recordings sound flat or tinny. Try to get a decent rendition of "Opus One" and you'll know what I mean.

This album and its sequel, "More Sounds of the Great Swing Bands" are the cleanest, most robust big band recordings I have ever heard. Most of the cuts are covers of other BB theme songs, but they never sounded this good on vinyl.

Crank up your Bose system, or whatever you have, and be prepared to be thoroughly impressed. Your neighbors will be, also! And, if you want to impress your children with the power of great swing music, this would be the album to educate them.

"Leap Frog" sounds as good as it did live by Les Brown at the Carnation Pavilion at Disneyland, back when one could actually afford to go there to dance. Anyone remember those Saturday nights when you could buy a "dance only" pass after sunset?

In short, buy this album and the "More Sounds..." sequel, which I think actually sounds even better. I don't think you will be disappointed.

I love the sound !.......2005-05-17

I must confess i don't reckon much to the 30s/40s casa loma sound.
Or most 30/40s jazz for that matter.

I'm curious as to who the 'hired guns' were to form this superior sounding band - sounds alot like billy may's boys (but who cares!)


The Casa Loma is a castle in Toronto where they played alot at originally back in the 30s. One of the first white jazz bands.
Glen Gray "Spike" Knoblauch was his actual name

Spike Knoblauch sounds pretty catchy actually !

One of the best re-recordings of swing orchestra hits.......2004-12-09

"Stereo Recordings" of old swinging big band hits are pretty much a dime a dozen-or in most cases, $6.99 in the bargain section of the music store. Most of them are flat out awful, performed by some cheap, thrown together, no-name orchestra, complete with flat tones and lazy readings of the original music.

But not this album...this is as good as recreation as you're likely to hear. The tracks on this album are collected from recordings made in Capitol Studios in L..A., one of the great dynamic recording studios, between 1957 and 1964 and released under the name "Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra" on a series of popular LPs. The wide separation stereo sound and airy acoustics arouns the instruments sounds better than a lot of the more run-of-the-mill digital stereo recordings made today. Stereo was a point of pride back then!

Technically, this isn't the TRUE Casa Loma Orchestra. That unit formed in 1929 out of a Detroit band called the Orange Blossoms and was the first all-white professional swin band, paving the way six years later for Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, et al. They took their name from a hotel in Toronto where they played an extended gig and formed as a corporation with each member as a stockholder. Glen Gray was the bandstand leader and front man, but was never the true leader of the band and his name never appeared in front of the bands until years later on LPs. The band ceased to exist in 1942.

The band heard here is a studio recording group that Glen Gray brought together for the stereo LP series. And even though they aren't the TRUE Casa Loma Orchestra, the musicians on here are topnotch and graduates from some of the great big bands of the period. They do a superior job covering the numbers presented here. The arrangements are strictly those of the famous versions: if you're familiar with the Glenn Miller version of "In the Mood," you'll recognize here pretty much note for note, only in wide spread stereo.

Pretty much everything on here is great listening. The two pieces that particularly impressed me are "Cherokee" and "Jumpin' at the Woodside." The first is strongly identified with Charlie Barnet and his growling saxophone, but almost every cover I hear of his version falls miserably flat -- nobody can get the right boune and fury in their sound to match the origina. But the Casa Loma Orchestra here gets damned close to getting the job done, and this is the only cover I've heard that does justice to the original. As for "Jumpin' at the Woodside," one of Count Basie's big hits. the Casa Lomans almost sound exactly like Basie, and that's a tough thing to pull off.

The only piece on here that doesn't strictly follow the original orchestration is "New No-Name Jive," one of the original Casa Loma Orchestra hits. Glen Gray felt he could play around with it a bit.

The enclosed booklet provides details on each of the pieces, as well as comments from Glen Gray himself that were on the original LPs. Altogether, it's a nice package, and even though more expensive than someother re-recordings, it's the best one to get. Also check out the follow-up CD: More Sounds of the Great Swing Bands

Average customer rating:

Sounds Of The Great Bands - Volumes 1 & 2 (2-CD) Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra Manufacturer: Collectables Records ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Jazz | Styles | Music Swing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music ASIN: B000R9U32E Release Date: 2007-05-29

Tracks:

1. Symphony in Riffs
2. Begin the Beguine
3. One O'Clock Jump
4. Contrasts
5. Cherokee
6. Take the "A" Train
7. After Hours
8. Flying Home
9. Song of India
10. Snowfall
11. Woodchopper's Ball
12. 720 in the Books
13. Boogie Woogie on St. Louis Blues
14. String of Pearls
15. Tenderly
16. Elks' Parade

Tracks:

1. Blues on Parade
2. Moten Swing
3. Study in Brown
4. Huckleberry Duck
5. Jumpin' at the Woodside
6. Boogie Woogie
7. In the Mood
8. Rancho Grande
9. Star Dreams
10. Prisoner's Song
11. Tippin' In
12. South Rampart Street Parade

Average customer rating: More Great Sounds

More Sounds of the Great Swing Bands Glen Gray & the Casa Loma Orchestra Manufacturer: Eric Collection ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Jazz | Styles | Music Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Swinging Sounds of the Great Bands Smooth Sounds of the Great Dance Bands Shall We Swing?/Sounds of the Great Bands! A Band Is Born/Big Band Bash Got a Date with an Angel ASIN: B00006NSHB Release Date: 2002-11-26

Tracks:

1. Let's Dance
2. A String Of Pearls
3. Stardust
4. Tenderly
5. Begin The Beguine
6. I Can't Get Started
7. Boogie Woogie
8. One O'clock Jump
9. Moonlight Serenade
10. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
11. Oh What A Beautiful Mornin'
12. Redskin Rhumba
13. Apple Honey
14. Stars And Stripes Forever
15. John Silver
16. Boogie Woogie On St. Louis Blues
17. I Left My Heart In San Francisco
18. Embraceable You
19. Song Of India
20. I Can't Stop Loving You
21. Blue Star (Theme From Medic.)
22. Smoke Rings

Album Description

The original Swing arrangements in a Big Band STEREO Spectacular! Here's the sequel to our first Glen Gray CD (Eric #11506) with 22 more authentic arrangements. Digitally remixed in brilliant true stereo sound from the original sessions recorded by the top musicians of the big band era at Capitol's studios between 1957 and 1964. The sound is so good you'll think you're actually in front of the bandstand back in the Thirties! Almost 70 minutes of great music.

Customer Reviews:

More Great Sounds.......2003-11-03

I think this cd and it's companion first volume are a must for any big band fan. When these remakes were first released I recall that many reviewers were not to pleased with the results. When listening to big band music one usually has to make a trade-off between swinging spontaneity and qood sound quality, and this cd is no exception. Casa Loma was a pretty swinging band in the mid-thirties, but seemed to have mellowed out over the years. As a result these recordings sound a little dry and perhaps over-rehearsed. The band clearly lacked a propulsive rhythm section, when compared with the Harry James Orchestra in the fifites and the Basie band at any time. Nonetheless, it is great to hear the original charts (with very few and very minor changes) recorded with relatively modern equipment, and notwithstanding the engineer's apparent desire to favor the brass over reeds and bass. Pop this cd into your sound system and crank up the volume and you'll get a good idea of how the great bands sounded, and how much we have missed.

Average customer rating:

Smoke Rings Glen Gray , and Casa Loma Orchestra Manufacturer: Asv Living Era ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Jazz | Styles | Music Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: That Old Feeling Linger Awhile Music for Romancing and Dancing More Sounds of the Great Swing Bands Swinging Sounds of the Great Bands ASIN: B000063TSN Release Date: 2002-05-21

Average customer rating:

Sweet Country Inspiration Manufacturer: Reader's Digest ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD ASIN: B000CDCABM

Product Description

4 discs of country hits including... The Wings of a Dove, Ferlin Husky; Put Your Hand in the Hand, The Old Village Choir; I Need Thee Every Hour, Don Gibson; Just a Closer Walk with Thee, Patsy Cline; When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder, Jim Ed Brown; Church in the Wildwood, David Houston; Crying in the Chapel, The Fireside Family Singers and Orchestra; How Great Thou Art, Lee Greenwood; What a Friend We Have in Jesus, Bobby Helms; Michael, Row the Boat Ashore, The Jordanaires; You Cant Be a Beacon (If Your Light Dont Shine), Donna Fargo; In the Garden, Larry Gatlin and The Gatlin Brothers; (Therell Be) Peace in the Valley (for Me), The Jordanaires; In the Sweet By and By, The Wildwood Choir and Orchestra; Whispering Hope, Jim Ed Brown; Family Bible, Claude Gray; Rock of Ages, T. Graham Brown; The Lords Prayer, Lee Greenwood; Beautiful Isle of Somewhere, The Sunset Choir and Sunset Strings Orchestra; Oh, Happy Day, Skeeter Davis.

Average customer rating:

Swing Tonic: 1939-1946 Glen Gray Manufacturer: Jasmine Music ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Jazz | Styles | Music Swing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Musical Nights Glen Gray / Casa Loma Orchestra 1939-1940 And the Angel Sings Dardanella ASIN: B000MTEBHC Release Date: 2007-02-26

Tracks:

1. Prelude in C Sharp Minor
2. It's Funny to Everyone But Me
3. Memories of You
4. Sometimes I'm Happy
5. Breeze
6. (The) Hour of Parting
7. Sassin' the Boss
8. Come and Get It
9. Under a Blanket of Blue
10. Watchin' the Clock
11. By the River Saint Marie
12. No Name Jive, Pt. 1
13. No Name Jive, Pt. 2
14. What Is This Thing Called Love
15. In the Mood
16. Last Night's Gardenias
17. Little Brown Jug
18. Tuxedo Junction
19. Big Bad Bill
20. You've Got Me out on a Limb
21. Jimtown Blues
22. Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland
23. Soft Winds
24. Rock Island Flag Stop

Tracks:

1. Mirage
2. Hindustan
3. High Society
4. Swing Tonic
5. Fifth Avenue Sax
6. Birmingham Special
7. Blackberry Jam
8. Don't Take Your Love from Me
9. Flat Third Jive
10. Who Ray
11. My Heart Tells Me
12. Sitting on a Third Rail
13. From the Blue
14. This Heart of Mine
15. One More Tomorrow
16. I Walked In
17. Robin Hood
18. I Don't Care Who Knows It
19. Maybe
20. Integration Framework I Love Again
21. Just an Old Manuscript
22. Blue Rhapsody
23. After You've Gone

Album Details

This Glen Gray Double CD Set Includes Many Tracks from Original 78 RPM Discs which have Previously Not Been Available on CD Before. Vocals by Eugene Baird and Skip Nelson and Trumpet Solos by Red Nichols, Bobby Hackett and Sonny Dunham.

Average customer rating:

Glen Gray & His Casa Loma Orchestra: Live at Meadowbrook Ballroom, Cedar Grove, NJ 1940 Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra Manufacturer: Jazz Band ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Jazz | Styles | Music Swing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music General | Jazz | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Glen Gray / Casa Loma Orchestra 1939-1940 The Complete Okeh and Brunswick Hits ASIN: B00004UFAY Release Date: 2000-06-13

Tracks:

1. Theme: Smoke Rings - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra
2. By the River - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra
3. Indian Summer - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra, Kenny Sargent
4. You're a Lucky Guy - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra, Pee Wee Hunt
5. Honeysuckle Rose - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra
6. Prelude in C Sharp Minor - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra
7. On the Isle of May - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra, Kenny Sargent
8. Save Your Sorrow (For Tomorrow) - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra, Pee Wee Hunt
9. Tumbling Tumbleweeds - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra, Kenny Sargent
10. Git Away Day - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra
11. Theme: Somke Rings - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra
12. Tuxedo Junction - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra
13. How High the Moon - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra, Kenny Sargent
14. Wham (Re-Bop-Boom-Bam!) - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra, Pee Wee Hunt
15. It's a Blue Moon - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra
16. What Is This Thing Called Love? - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra
17. Yours Is My Heart Alone - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra, Kenny Sargent
18. Stop! It's Wonderful - Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra, Pee Wee Hunt
19. No Name Jive - Glen Gray

Average customer rating:

Stardust Ballroom Manufacturer: Reader's Digest ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Jazz | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music ASIN: B000CD6DI8

Product Description

Music from Glenn Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, Jan Garber, Harry James, Sammy Kaye, Charlie Spivak, Artie Shaw, Larry Clinton, Benny Goodman, Les Brown, Russ Morgan, Glen Gray, Guy Lombardo

Average customer rating: The first outstanding white big band

The Complete Okeh and Brunswick Hits Glen Gray Manufacturer: Collector's Choice ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Jazz | Styles | Music Swing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Similar Items: Glen Gray & His Casa Loma Orchestra: Live at Meadowbrook Ballroom, Cedar Grove, NJ 1940 ASIN: B00005KIXE Release Date: 2001-07-10

Tracks:

1. Casa Loma Stomp (La Danza De La Casa Loma)
2. White Jazz
3. Do The New York
4. Blue Jazz
5. Wild Goose Chase
6. Under A Blanket Of Blue
7. Weep No More My Baby
8. Trouble In Paradise
9. It's TheTalk Of The Town
10. Heat Wave
11. You're Gonna Lose Your Gal
12. Dixie Lee
13. You Have Taken My Heart
14. Limehouse Blues
15. Love Me
16. Infatuation
17. The Champagne Waltz
18. The House Is Haunted (By The Echo Of Your Last Goodbye)
19. Spellbound
20. I Never Had A Chance
21. Moon Glow
22. Pardon My Southern Accent
23. Out In The Cold Again
24. Learning
25. Two Cigarettes In The Dark

Album Description

Of 25 hits on this package, only about a quarter of them have appeared on CD! So for fans of that clean, Casa Loma sound, this package fills a gaping hole, which we've also helped to cement with liner notes and photos. 'Collectors' Choice Music'.

Customer Reviews:

The first outstanding white big band.......2002-06-22

The Casa Loma Orchestra started out as one of the great oddities of the music scene in the late 1920's. At the dawn of the great depression, they decided to model their sound after the great hot jazz bands of Duke Ellington and Fletcher Henderson rather than the sweet ballroom styles of contemporary white dance bands. They also incorporated the band, with each member holding shares of stock and receiving dividends based on the band's earnings. Needless to say, the band experienced very few changes in personnel over the years.

The result was a remarkably polished and tight ensemble that blew furiously through barn-burners like "White Jazz" and "Limehouse Blues". The arrangements and original compositions by the band's guitarist, Gene Gifford, featured part writing for brass, woodwinds, and rhythm section that clearly provided the basis for instrumental arranging in the 1930's, and in doing so, laid the foundation for the big band era. While the Casa Loma Orch. did not have star soloists of the calibur of Bunny Berigan or Artie Shaw, they did have several capable players including reedman Clarence Hutchenrider and trombonist Billy Rausch, who modeled his playing on Tommy Dorsey's smooth trombone phrasing.

But in addition to being a fine hot jazz outfit, Glen Gray was a realist and understood that in order to make it big he would also have to compete with white bands like Anson Weeks, Guy Lombardo, and Leo Reisman, who featured 'sweet' music. So the Casa Loma Orch. also became one of the finest interpreters of ballads, aided greatly by the romantic (if not sometimes overly campy) crooning of sax man Kenny Sargent. Sargent's voice propelled tunes like "For You", "Under A Blanket of Blue", and "I Never Had A Chance" into top hits.

Naturally, the band's sweet numbers did not sit well with jazz fans, who considered them to be a sellout to commercialism. But the band, with its perfect mix of sweet and hot, became the number one band in America until it was unseated by Benny Goodman.

Unfortunately, the Casa Loma Orch. was more adept at playing the older 'hot' style of jazz than the newer, more sophisticated 'swing' style, and though the Casa Loma Orchestra charted several more big hits during the 1930's, they were never serious competition for the great swing bands of Goodman, Count Basie, or Chick Webb. By the early 1940's, the glory days of the band were gone.

This CD presents 25 hits recorded by the band during the days when they were at their peak - 1929 to 1934. The formatting of the CD seems to indicate that the tunes were chosen based on relative popularity and overall record sales. Unfortunately, this results in some of the band's finest jazz work ("I Got Rhythm", "Ol' Man River", "Panama", "San Sue Strut") as well as the band's theme song, "Smoke Rings" being omitted in favor of the pop tunes which sold more records.

Aside from this minor complaint, this CD presents a good overview of the Casa Loma Orchestra during their most successful and influential period. The sound quality of the digitally-remastered selections is good. With Columbia's "Best of the Big Bands" CD featuring the Casa Loma Orchestra now out-of-print, this CD is my suggestion for a compilation to fill that void.

Average customer rating: I'm not generally a "split the difference" kind of guy WOW, HORRIBLE Billy May at his best! Shall We Swing

Shall We Swing?/Sounds of the Great Bands! Glen Gray Manufacturer: EMI Int'l ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Jazz | Styles | Music Swing General | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Classic Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Contemporary Big Band | Swing Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music Jazz | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Swinging Sounds of the Great Bands More Sounds of the Great Swing Bands Smooth Sounds of the Great Dance Bands Les Brown & His Band of Renown - Best of The Capitol Years Ray Sings, Basie Swings ASIN: B000089HBD Release Date: 2003-04-07

Tracks:

1. Hungarian Dance No.5
2. Minuet
3. Finale G Minor Symphony
4. Humoresque
5. Poet And Peasant Overture
6. Melody In F
7. D Minor Symphony
8. Minuet In G
9. Dance Of The Hours
10. A String Of Pearls
11. Lean Baby
12. Take The 'A' Train
13. Casa Loma Stomp
14. Stardust
15. No Name Jive
16. Frenesi
17. Collaboration
18. The Mole
19. Early Autumn
20. King Porter Stomp

Album Description

Twofer combines two albums, 'Shall We Swing?' (1961) & 'Sounds Of The Great Bands In Latin', from one of the very best exponents of big band music, both are unavailable domestically. 20 tracks. EMI/Capitol. 2003.

Album Details

"shall We Swing" is a Collaboration Between Glen and Billy May who Arranged all of the Tracks on the Album. "Sounds of the Great Bands in Latin" is an Album Full of Well Known Tunes Given that Latin Feel.

Customer Reviews:

I'm not generally a "split the difference" kind of guy.......2007-01-24

But this may be a place to do so. The early 60s, when music had not yet been overrun and all opponents crushed by rock, was a time of oldsters trying hard to remain relevant while various newsters fought to be heard. There was a huge folk base, abundant jazz that was still readily available in your local record shop, a strong C&W contingent, Ed Sullivan staples, and various international sounds arriving daily. In 1963 most college-aged people would probably have heard of Chad Mitchell, Eydie Gorme, Woody Guthrie, Martha and The Vandellas, Dave Brubeck, Trini Lopez, Andy Williams, and Henry Mancini. Such variety would soon disappear.

One of the hangers-on still churning out the goods was Glen Gray, a famous swing band leader who had a sensational arranger in Billy May. Together these two, and their crackerjack musicians, spilled out LPs that replicated the old sounds perfectly (and remember, those old sounds weren't as readily available in good quality as they are today) and meandered into "relevance." This is a combo of two relevant records, taking a pair of those early 1960s LPs and packing them on to one CD. You get 9 famous classical tunes performed in a perfect but cold swing style, and 11 swing classics infused with the newly popular Latin flavor.

Though I recognize the excellence of both arrangement and playing, and have no qualms about re-imaging very familiar older material, I cannot warm up to this pair. Somehow the whole thing, including the tracks so highly praised in other reviews, is just a little chilly. Sterile. Packaged. Processed. I'm not sure. But the swing bands of the 30s and 40s, including Gray's Casa Loma Orchestra, had a fire and passion that just feels missing here. You got lots of samples...see if you like them. I don't hate it; I don't love it. Tepid music inspires a tepid response.

WOW, HORRIBLE.......2004-09-15

Who in their right mind would add a latin beat to great swing music? Terrible. Just terrible.

DO NO BUY IF YOU WANT WANT MUSIC THAT SWINGS

Billy May at his best!.......2003-04-05

I've listened to many big band albums but this one remains one of my all-time favorites. The "Shall We Swing" selections are big band arrangements of great classical themes arranged by the incomparable Billy May. These arrangements are fantastic and the band he assembled was up to the challenge. This band has all the great 50's and 60's studio musicians from Hollywood such as Uan Rasey, Babe Russin, Conrad Gozzo, Skeets Herfurt, Don Fagerquist,
Ted Nash etc. Just hearing "Poet and Peasant Overture" and "Hungarian Dance" is worth the price. Truly unique! Get it - you won't be sorry.

The "Sounds of the Great Bands" are from Glen Gray's early 60's albums (and he did a lot of them) in which he did original arrangements of famous bands. No telling these from the originals. Even the solos are practically exact duplicates. Again these arrangments were played by Hollywood's finest.

Shall We Swing.......2003-04-04

Billy May's arrangement of "Poet and Peasant Overture" alone is worth the price of this great album. Great big band; fantastic May arrangements. One of the finest big band albums I've ever heard!

Jazz Music:

1. The Unspoken Word [Live]
2. The Very Best of Bird
3. Thinking About You
4. Tricky Lix
5. Trouble in Mind
6. View from Fifth
7. Walk In His Glory
8. Wish You Were Here Tonight
9. Wish You Were Here Tonight
10. A Portrait of Thelonious

Jazz Music

jazz music