WE ARE BACK IN BUSINESS!!

I just this very night got the word that the hard drive that puked got restored, and all the archive files, as far as I can tell, are intact! So, this means that you now can peruse all the musical files you thought were gone forever. Don't feel bad, I thought they were gone, too.

A Great Big Shoutout goes to Duane & Diane for getting the drive restored intact... Duane is the connection between myself and the hosting site, and Diane is a veritable wizard when it comes to network and site admin. Massive Blessings to both of you for the assistance!

The bad news: I am back on the night shift for 6 weeks, so new material may be slow to happen, but there'll be some great stuff coming! I have boxen and boxen (inside joke) sitting in here....

And to all of you, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE, as well as thanks for your kind offerings on the PayPal front.

Cheerios!!!

HOSTING SITE DOWN!

If you're wondering where everything went, the box that hosts all of the pic and sound files has taken a massive POOP and will be down for a while. I don't know when it will return, but it should some time soon.

Pray that it wasn't the hard drive....

A Holiday Prezzie for y'all

OK kids, you have been VERY patient and waiting for some postings here. I don't have albums of Mantovani or anything like that, this is a Yule compilation CD that I burned for a couple of friends, and NOW I get bombasted with "I WANT IT TOO!"

sigh.

Anyways, here's the comp. It's garnered from my library, some other comps I have laying around, and some other strange stuff. it'll all fit on one CD - BARELY - so, be warned! It runs damn near 80 mins.

But, I hope that you enjoy it, and all that tommyrot.

Seriously, may you have a Blessed Holiday Season, whichever one(s) you celebrate, and Prosperous New Year. Me? I'll be celebrating the Pagan New Year by freezing my ass off at a "Drum Up the Sun" ceremony at first light on Friday morning (Solstice is 1721 local time the previous evening)....

So, here ya go! Have a Whacked-Out Yule 2006.

A Quick Note

I haven't gone away, my work schedule has kicked most of my spare time out the window... I should have some more posts up for you in the coming weeks...

Patience is the virtue that will be rewarded, grasshopper! :)

The Four Dimensions of Andre Previn

Andre Previn has always beenone of my favorite musicians. The fact that he is a great composer (he was working at MGM when he was 18), arranger, and conductor, just makes it all so much sweeter. I have somewhere in here some of his jazz piano stuff on Contemporary Records (GREAT trio jazz!), and every once in a while I'll throw it on the turntable, or on the playlist in the computer, or on the CD player, depending on where I'm at.

This is kind of a slice, or a group of slices, of his film work, From the Overture to "Gigi" to a suite of light pieces from "Invitation to the Dance" to the heavy orchestral themes from "The Four HOrsemen of the Apocalypse" to the jazz score of "The Subterraneans", this LP shows Mr. Previn is comfortable in any mode of composition.

This is great stuff from a 1963 MGM LP I picked up in the thrift store, I only wish that it had been the stereo release, but beggars can't be choosers for USD$0.99... this is one of those records I am not gonna blather on too much about, because the music speaks volumes on its' own.

Cover scans are here:
The front...
The back (good liners, worth reading!)

Enjoy The Four Dimensions of Andre Previn.

RCA sampler - Taken From the Top

A double shot of LP goodness today!

Got for you an RCA VIctor sampler form 1962, with all live performances. Unfortunately this was only available in mono, but the quality is so good, I ripped it at my "really good shiznat mono" setting, that being 160/44 FHg.

Lots of goodies here, from Al Hirt to Jan Peerce... waitaminnit, JAN PEERCE? What's an opera singer doing on a pops LP? A damn fine job of "September Song" actually... and we get to hear how cloyingly cute Ann-Margaret was. Also great performances by the likes of Della Reese, Jonah Jones, Lena Horne... it's a great set list of live performances.

...all, of course, to get you to buy the full LPs, Victor marketing ain't no dummies!

Cover scans are here:
The front...
The back

Sit back, and enjoy some GREAT live numbers, Taken From the Top.

The Mason Williams Ear Show

Let's take a little break from the lounge & light music to turn to a brilliant songwriter and one of his best efforts at musical art.

Mason Williams, creator of the great hit tune "Classical Gas", followed up that LP ("The Mason Williams Phonograph Record") with this one, which has some (relatively) newer compositions, plus some things that had been lingering in his briefcase. There are some great pieces that he did for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in here, even a little ditty he did for Bank of America in the 60s, that they paid for but never used.

So, you say, this is just a bunch of STUFF. Yes, but it is a GREAT bunch of stuff. And, to my knowledge, it's not currently in print on CD.

One interesting piece on here is one of the first uses of the Moog Synthesizer, aside from Wendy Carlos' "Switched-On Bach"... and the liner notes go through how long it took to get 2 minutes and 45 seconds of tune. The rest of the rear liner notes makes interesting reading as well, including the full list of performers.

Even though this is a collection of stuff, it's a great view into a composer's mind, as well as showing off some of his portfolio.

Cover scans are here:
The front...
The back

The Mason Williams Ear Show.

Mantovani- Gems Forever

Here's another wonderful sounding London FFSS 'Blueback', this time of Mantovani & his Orchestra. Unfortunately, this was a later pressing, but the jacket still has the goofy "StereoPhonic" bit on the upper right, so it was an earlier blueback recording, but a later pressing... the little grey blotch on top I think gives it away as a later press, that plus the "7E" in the matrix number...

It's still a nice set of mood musics, typical lush Mantovani string arrangements, something to chase the chill away on the autumnal evenings (which we are getting now here... the aspens are starting to turn colors, which means that we're gonna have some snow flying soon in the Rockies)...

Not much else to say about this, I'm gonna leave all the "Man-to-van-i, the F F S S Treat" (sing it to the Rice-A-Roni Song) jokes aside, and leave you with the music and the cover scans.

Cover scans are here:
The front...
The back

Light up the fire, grab your hunny-bunny, and offer her some Gems Forever.

You're Hearing George Shearing

This is an EP that I really wish I had a copy of in better condition than the one I have to post for you today. Why? Because, this EP shows George in a very transitional phase between 'just a jazz pianist' and where he would end up 8 to 10 years later, as a phenominal arranger & composer. This EP shows the beginnings of where the lounge classics that we all know and love... the ideas were percolating in his head for all those classics on Capitol... just listen to his solo rendition of "Summertime" on this disc and you'll see what I mean.

George goes solo on a couple of cuts, the remainder is his quintet, and the arrangements are all lush and in the Shearing Style.

I think that some of these may have been released on 78, because I distinctly remember a couple of cuts here... and there are none of the dynamic acrobatics from the mixing console that really impaired his recordings on Discovery in 1958-9... those were really really over-engineered... none of that here!

I got to meet Mr. Shearing in 1973 when he was on tour and played at my high school, such a gentleman, and he has HUGE hands! Now you know how he was able to achieve all those wonderful chord voicings!

Cover scans are here:
The front...
The back (with some very nice liner notes by Leonard Feather, including a little history of George's transition between the UK and the US in the late 40s).

Relax and celebrate, for You're Hearing George Shearing!