About three years ago, I was at an estate sale in St. Paul. Among the vintage fainting couches, department store china sets and an unexplained amount of farming tools, the deceased had apparently loved music because s/he had at least 20 boxes full and stacked about six feet tall of nothing but records! Most of those records were not that interesting (Christmas carols, the Andrews Sisters' Greatest Hits compilations, etc.), but I did curiously manage to find this whopper of an album set - with all four discs intact! (Anyone who owns or handles these fragile shellac time capsules knows that's a feat in and of itself!)
I had heard of Hazel Scott (1921-1981) before I went to the estate sale (hence why I picked it up in the first place), but I had not heard a recording by her until I went home and put the first record on my turntable. I was awestruck at how awesome (in terms of sheer command of the keyboard) her playing was, and how the same woman could pull off equally-entertaining driving boogie renditions of classical standards (i.e. "Toccata") yet drip with such marvelous sensitivity and grace on jazz ballads (i.e. "I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plans".)
Sadly, unlike such other well-known jazz pianists as Erroll Garner and Thelonious Monk, Hazel Scott's name was rather quickly forgotten about after her death. Part of it was due to the fact the she did not easily fit into a strictly "jazz" or "classical" designation, and another part was that at the height of her career, she decided to move to Paris and stayed there for over a decade in order to escape the clutches of McCarthyism which was grasping the record-buying public at that time. Fortunately, she is in top musical ability in this album and I consider it a prime example of her talent, although the percussion and upright bassist are not credited despite their obvious talent as well. I am happy to have brought this album into the 21st century so it can once again be appreciated for the great art that it is!
Check out a few clips from YouTube to hear it for yourself!
From the liner notes on the back cover:
Hazel Scott, one of America’s foremost pianists, was born in Trinidad in 1921. Her training in classical music was received at Julliard School of Music in New York City and her jazz technique, she says, she owes to Art Tatum and Teddy Wilson. In October 1940, she was starred at the opening of Barney Josephson’s Café Society Uptown, just off Park Avenue, and ever since that date her pianistic pyrotechnics have been acclaimed, not only throughout the United States but in Europe as well. She appeared twice in the production, “Priorities of 1942” and has played twice at the famed Carnegie Hall in New York City. Her motion picture career included the following pictures: SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT, I DOOD IT, BROADWAY MELODY, THE HEAT’S ON, and RHAPSODY IN BLUE. Hazel Scott is married to the Rev. A. Clayton Powell, Jr., noted Congressman, preacher, and editor. Miss Scott offers a work of her own composing. It is highly melodic, free in form and, harmonically, shows an influence of the MacDowell-Delius school of tonal color. This is a premier performance. The combination of two approaches to piano keyboard mastery in this Signature album of classical and jazz music, played by Hazel Scott, make it an outstanding contribution to every music lover's record library. -MURIEL REGER
Being a record collector living in the Midwest means finding more records of polka tunes than rockabilly hits, more 101 Strings albums than albums of actual classical pieces, and more barbershop group discs than doo-wop/gospel groups recording during the same time period! In short, Midwesterners of the 1950s preferred listening to anything other than the music that most collectors actively seek out! Which is why this album was such a curiosity when it was released, and has remained so for the past 60 years to those collectors fortunate enough to own a copy.
This album is no regular wishy-washy barbershop fare, and the back cover liner notes (see below) also inform the potential listener of that fact if s/he wasn't able to figure it earlier by just looking at the avant-garde cover art. This album does have some barbershop standards on it ("Moonlight Bay", "That Old Gang Of Mine", etc.) but they don't comprise the entire album. In addition, the singers on this LP are no amateur small-town ensemble that most barbershop albums of the time featured and whose albums now lie rightfully unappreciated in a box by the dryer at Grandma's house - this group, composed of bass John Neher (1911-1972), baritone Ed Lindstrom (circa 1920-?), lead tenor Mac Perrin (circa 1915-?) and first tenor Gordon Goodman (1911-1960), is one of the best groups I've heard to this day, and could even give renowned groups like Instant Classic a real run for their money! This album also gives some solo time to the bass and first tenor, a rarity among vocal group albums even today.
This album was originally a find at Hymie's Vintage Records on my first trip to their new location on Lake Street after having irreconcilable differences with their original landlord. As a bass-baritone vocalist myself who is friends with a countertenor, I thought the cover art would look great framed in my room (which it does!) and picked it up for $5. However, when I brought it home, I accidentally left the record lying on the floor in the corner of the living room, where my father's dog got to it and scratched it to the point where it couldn't be played. I was not able to find another copy of this record until recently, when oddly enough, I found another copy of it at Hymie's Record Store Day in April of 2015. Apparently, someone had sold to them just a day earlier, and the proprietors were kind enough to let me have it for free after I confessed to them my carelessness towards my last copy!
This album also features the beautiful arrangements of James Peterson, a Minnesota-born pianist, composer and conductor who accompanied all the singers on this LP. As far as I know, no other recordings by him survive and no arrangements of his were ever published, so this album is basically the only existing testament to his musical talent.
Check out this clip from YouTube to hear it for yourself!
From the liner notes on the back cover: This is Americana! In presenting this unusual album, Epic Records pays tribute to three tremendously popular classifications of American musical entertainment. (Many of our younger friends may be unfamiliar with such terms as “Basso Profundo” and “Silver-Throated Tenor”, but they can be assured that millions of their mothers and fathers have completely forgotten all their troubles while being transported into another world by these different and highly specialized performers.) Not too many years ago, people tapped their feet to the infectious rhythms of the banjo and laughed at the very corny jokes of minstrel shows. No two such shows used the same format, but they each made a special effort to include a bass singer who literally made the ladies swoon by his utter masculinity and virility of sound (and not by singing saccharine lyrics of love). Oh, he sang of love, to be sure; but in doing so, he also sang of the sea and things rugged. Other than his role of playing the he-man, his trademark was the manner in which he sang the last phrase of his selection. He sang a slow descending scale that was an epitome of dramatic achievement. As he approached that final low note, a hush fell over the audience, the orchestra was tacit, and the only activity in the hall was the scuffling of Mister Tambo and Mister Bones betting their last dollars as to whether our hero would or would not attain his goal. To those of us who vividly remember the basso profundo, this was theatre! Here, John Neher, our basso, sings the best known of all profundo solos, “Asleep In The Deep” and the humorous “When Big Profundo Sang Low ‘C’” in the traditional style. Musicians and those who knew the difference used to chuckle at how the bassos would always talk of singing “Low C” when, actually, very few of them were able to sing that “low”, consistently. John Neher sings the “Low C”. To demonstrate his versatility and great artistry, Mr. Neher also sings the deeply moving spiritual, “Deep River”, and one of the really fine songs of its time, “Forgotten”, written in 1894 by Wulschner and Cowles. Equally popular was another type of singer-the contratenor-he of the light, velvety, effortless high notes. He, too, made the ladies swoon-but in a different way. Instead of the hardy, robust songs of his colleague, he sang the ballad. He sang of tenderness, of sorrow, and of love. With one finely spun phrase, he had the entire audience crying real tears of both sadness and joy. This was the “silver-throated” or, sometimes, the “golden-voiced” tenor. Gordon Goodman, our tenor, sings the great American ballad by Lily Strickland, “Mah Lindy Lou”. Later he sings one of the most beautiful of all Irish ballads, “Has Sorrow Thy Young Days Shaded?”. He also sings a version of the American folk song, “I Wish’t I Was A Red Rosey Bush”. (An additional note: Mr. Goodman uncovered this version himself, while on one of his many tours of the country.) As his final selection he sings the spiritual “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child”. Whereas young people under 35 may not be familiar with the former two classifications, Barbershop Quartets are still very much in existence. Almost every city has a chapter of the Society For The Preservation And Encouragement Of Barbershop Quartet Singing In America, or as it is better known, “SPEBSQA”. These highly stylized chromatic harmonies and smooth blends entertain millions whether they be at a competition of quartets, a night club, a fraternity house, an Army barracks, or just a social get-together. Messrs. Neher and Goodman join two of the finest group singers in the country, Mac Perrin and Ed Lindstrom, to form the Summit Four. This is truly an all-star quartet. Mac sings lead tenor and usually carries the melody. The prerequisite for a good lead is that he has to be solid-definite. Mac is the “solidest”. The baritone is in the middle of all the chords. His part is the most difficult, musically. Mr. Lindstrom’s intonation and taste are impeccable-and, he has a beautiful voice. This group is an “arranger’s dream”. James Peterson, who arranged these medleys, left no stones unturned. This is great Barbershop! Originally from Shelbyville, Ill., and a graduate of the University of Illinois, John Neher went to Chicago to seek his musical fortune. After a very successful stay there, where he was a regular on such shows as the National Barn Dance, Hymns of All Churches, and the Northerners, he came to New York in 1943. His tremendous range and his unusual ability to perform in any style of music have made him one of the most sought-after singers in New York. Gordon Goodman, who has appeared in almost every city in the United States, as well as being very active in radio, television and recording, commands the respect of all people in show business as few other entertainers do. Not many performers are as capable of interjecting such genuine emotion into their performances as is our Mr. Goodman. He lives the part. Hailing from Salt Lake City, Utah, Gordon is best known for his outstanding work with Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians. James N. Peterson, a native of Minnesota, has worked in all fields of musical endeavor-as arranger, pianist par excellence, and conductor. In this album he does all three. He wrote the arrangements, accompanied the quartet, and conducted the orchestra for the solos. -NOTES BY JAMES FOGLESONG The songs on this album are as follows: 1. "Let's Harmonize" 2. "Asleep In The Deep" 3. "Mah Lindy Lou" 4. "Medley" 5. "Deep River" 6. "Has Sorrow Thy Young Days Shaded" 7. "When Big Profundo Sang Low 'C'" 8. "I Wish't I Was A Red Rosey Bush" 9. "Keep In The Middle Of The Road" 10. "Forgotten" 11. "Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child" 12. "Medley" Download (46.8 MB, 160 kbps)
We Americans like to (falsely) think of the 1950s as a more bigoted "wholesome" decade, and that is certainly true when it came to the pop music of the time (think of Andy Williams, Pat Boone, etc.) However, what most people outside of the record collecting world often fail to realize is that once the curtain of the bland, "safe" music commonly sold to the average Joe and Janet back then is pulled back, one immediately sees there was an absolutely gigantic level of creative, virtually-ignored music in that decade that could even make the swingin' 1960s seem like the creations of nothing more than a spoiled, suburban teenager at an inner-city poetry slam!
Creative, virtually-ignored music runs the gamut in this album featuring twenty accordions, harp, percussion and bass performing standards like "April In Paris", Latin/exotica numbers like "Jungle Fever", and a not-so-sappy version of "La Vie En Rose." The brainchild of infamous film composer, jazz accordionist and convicted tax evader Dominic Frontiere (born 1931), The Mighty Accordion Band is both the perfect complement and contrast to my first post about accordionist Dick Contino and his wild antics. As can be plainly heard, all of the accordionists are in strict time and harmony with one another - except for the eight-bar solos, when all hell breaks loose! (And there's a lot of hell that can be broken loose on accordion, believe me...)
This album truly features accordion like I had never heard it before, or have heard anything quite like it since. I picked this album up on eBay last year intending to buy it mainly for the bizarre cover photo. When I put the record on my turntable, I was pleasantly surprised to hear an ensemble that had plenty of chops, great interpretation and delivery, and original style. Some of the songs have aged very well and still shine as much as the day they were recorded ("Scherzo"), while others positively stink of 1950s arrangements and have aged worse than Madonna ("Swanee Cha River Cha"). But in either case, that's what makes this album so worthy of inclusion on this blog, and makes it an album worth at least a quick listen. Don't believe me? Check out a few clips from YouTube to hear it for yourself!
From the liner notes on the back cover: Scoffers, unfazed by their predictions concerning Fulton’s Folly and the Wright Brothers’ contraption, claimed it was preposterous. They said it was impossible to combine a big batch of accordions (usually considered strictly solo instruments) into a meaningful, cohesive whole, then add other instruments and get anything that resembled good music or good stereo. Here is the magnificent refutation: a wonderful new sound created by twenty accordions, playing the main role, plus harp, guitar, bass, bells, xylophone, drums, tympani, and other percussion instruments. Oh yes – and a boat whistle as well. Exceptionally good stereo recording provides ample room for them all. One thing, though. If you’re looking for a nice old-timey accordion album with “Lady of Spain” and the like, it should be pretty clear already that this isn’t it. For the quality of the big sound produced by massed accordions simply does not resemble one squeeze-box playing away all by its lonesome. Instead, it’s like a magic new kind of organ, and at the same time, uncannily like the strings, reeds, and brass of some beautifully blended, unique orchestra. For the listener, music by The Mighty Accordion Band can be summed up simply: more fun than a barrel of monkeys. ABOUT THE COVER: Pictured in his Empire drawing room is Mr. Joseph Kong-Young, composer of “Concerto Untouched by Human Hands” (A Thinking Ape’s Music), and advocate of Stereo at its Most Simian. If you suspect trickery you are correct: Joseph is not really a gorilla; if he were to take off that phony gorilla suit, you’d see he’s actually a very large gibbon. Among his other duties, Mr. Kong-Young is Vice President in charge of Turnover. Accordingly, he thanks you for turning this album over to find out what it was they said Couldn’t Be Done. -PRODUCED BY JOHN PALLADINO The songs on this album are as follows: 1. "The Syncopated Clock" 2. "Holiday For Strings" 3. "April In Paris" 4. "Tenderly" 5. "Caravan" 6. "The Donkey Serenade" 7. "Swanee Cha River Cha" 8. "Scherzo" 9. "Boogie Woogie" 10. "La Vie En Rose" 11. "Jungle Fever" 12. "The Beer Barrel Polka"
