What Are You Listening To?

[Music Head]

White Rock - Rick Wakeman. Love the quieter sections on the album (After the Ball, Searching for Gold).

One of the few instrumental albums I like

Six Wives of Henry VIII

He got married to the widow next door

[Jerome]

A great album! 'Criminal Record' isn't bad either.

[Music Head]

from my library (vinyl)



As promised for my friend Tiggi. The only thing I have for Mr. James, from a series of Time-Life releases that summarize some greats of the big band era. As stated previously, will not grade each of these tracks as I love them all, if for nothing other than the historical significance. Harry James (1916-1983) was one of the most popular band leaders of the 40's. Born in Georgia, later moving to Texas, he learned to play the trumpet at an early age. Joining Benny Goodmans orchestra in 1938, it didn't take him long to gain the experience he needed to start his own band in Philadelphia around 1939. No looking back, as the band toured into the 1980's. First top 10 hit was You Made Me Love You in 1941. Second in popularity only to Glenn Miller in that period. For a short time, Harrys band featured a young vocalist by the name of Frank Sinatra. Frank was with the band for a few years before he moved on with Tommy Dorsey where he rose to the top. He appears on two tracks on this compilation (#3 and #12). At Harrys passing from cancer in 1983, Frank gave the eulogy. A few more vocalists appear on this set, Dick Haymes (#9), Betty Grable (#14), Helen Forrest (#16 and #18) and Kitty Kallen (#20). All of these tracks are from the period 1939 to 1945 which were his peak years in popularity. Once again, recordings from before my time, that I have grown to love as if I was there. The live clips are amazing. I swear it's not hard to see dad in some of these pics.

I LOVE THIS ALBUM

1) Ciribiribin
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1rrStwf01M
2) Feet Draggin' Blues
3) It's Funny To Everyone But Me
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H70u0hWNug8
4) Concerto For Trumpet
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNWxwvIwC-Q
5) Two O'Clock Jump
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuubtOZNOfI
6) You Made Me Love You
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3UxUOXstHc
7) I'm In The Market For You
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQAJwUZHiOY
8) Flight Of The Bumblebee
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxS7llr8x_4
9) My Silent Love
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8XNHbdoT-w
10) Flash
11) Trumpet Blues
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbXF8x_HbXo
12) All Or Nothing At All
13) Back Beat Boogie
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKPf07ZAcIU
14) I Can't Begin To Tell You
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK401-OlSZk
15) Music Makers
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsu1Tyetxkc
16) I Had The Craziest Dream
live - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CoC3oo_HOA
17) Willow Weep For Me
18) I Don't Want To Walk Without You
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIH3HAUrfDc
19) Sleepy Lagoon
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1r6PCa6II0
20) I'm Beginning To See The Light
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7ZKnSHGx-g

[Tiggi]

Excellent, thanks for that.

Must progress a purchase...

[Music Head]

from my library (vinyl)



Didn't really expect this to come out this high. After all, except for one track, it is an instrumental album. Then again, jazz/big band and classical seem to be an exception to the rule. New Orleans native Al Hirt had a few hits with that smooth trumpet, the biggest being the leadoff here of Java. It gets the head moving and the foot tapping. Sorta set the mood.The lone non-instrumental track of The Best Man is a nice duet with Al and Ann Margret. With four top rated tracks and only one dud, it turned out rather good. Al started playing at the age of 6, and by 16 was playing professionaly with his friend Pete Fountain (clarinet). He graduated to spend some time playing in both Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodmans bands. His first love was the Dixieland sound to which he returned in the 50's. Al soon signed with RCA and went on to have 22 albums listed on the Billboard charts in the 50's and 60's. The single of Java was the biggest hit, reaching #4 and netting him a grammy award in 1964. After his star faded, he opened his own nightclub in New Orleans where he remained a crowd pleaser until his death in 1999 at the age of 76.

I LIKE THIS ALBUM

Worst Track - Holiday For Trumpet

Best Track - Java

1) Java - ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERNdH-0OcXc
2) Stranger In Paradise - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf-r5moQA6w
3) Bourbon Street Parade - **
4) The Best Man - ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5dSglq70cM
5) Stella By Starlight - **
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfWDNTUWhzY
6) Holiday For Trumpet - *
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLZIdyse9xE
7) I Love Paris - **
8) Sugar Lips - ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8KWibRvn8Y
9) Poor Butterfly - **
10) Cotton Candy - ***
audio - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1W5Iat2NXg
11) Love Makes The World Go 'Round - **
12) When The Saints Go Marching In - **

3's - 4
2's - 7
1's - 1

Grade - 2.3

[CRAZY-HORSE]

thanks for that MH, i now know the music in track one is called "java"

same wavelength again today eh?...you do someone associated with Dixieland sound and i do "king creole"

[Thraak]

[video=youtube;Tn27IcAapPI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn27IcAapPI[/video]

Feeling like such an idiot right now as I've only just discovered this great guitarist!

This is an insanely good cover and the guitar solo from 1.55 onwards is amazing.

[Tiggi]

Inspired by Music Head's post above.

HJ used to be discussed in the Hi-Fi magazines I used to read twenty years ago, and was presented as the apex of what Big Band Jazz could sound like. Mental notes were made, but these have never translated into a purchase. Ed's review galvanised me into action, and this bargain 2 CD set (£3.99 delivered, from amazon) was fast tracked onto the Buy List, and has resulted in in that long-overdue purchase.

Contains two complete albums, One Night Stand (Allmusic 3/5 stars), & Harry James in Hi-Fi (Allmusic 3/5 stars), plus the majority of material from two others, Jazz Session (Allmusic 4/5 stars), & More Harry James in Hi-Fi (Almmusic 2+/5 stars).

The first of these is a live recording from 1952, and the others are later studio efforts. The sound of the studio albums is uniformly excellent, and the music is very good too.

I'm a bit baffled by the low Allmusic scores, but this may be due to all of these albums seeing release well after the heyday of the Big Band phenomenon, and possibly being judged as adding little to the genre.

Whatever, these are all good albums, and are a welcome addition to the collection.

[Music Head]

^^
good job my man and thanks for the acknowledgement

[latorius]

I can recommend the entire album, but the track "Imagine my frustration" which is up on youtube, is a classic. It was also known as "Wallflower Blues", but it is a tour de force, kicks ass and as one of my all time favourites, derserves to be made known to a much wider audience.