TED
HEATH
The
Essential Collection
Avid
AVC 861
CD1
1. Walkin’ Shoes
2. Take The "A’ Train
3. Begin The Beguine
4. It Don’t Mean A Thing
5. Darktown Strutters Ball
6. I Get A Kick Out Of You
7. Obsession
8. East Of The Sun (And West of The Moon)
9. Hot Toddy
10. Soho
11. Clementine
12. I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
13. Flying Home
14. Woodchopper’s Ball
15. Georgia On My Mind
16. But Not For Me
17. And The Angels Sing
18. Muskrat Ramble
19. Tuxedo Junction
20. Bond Street
21. In A Sentimental Mood
22. Good Bait
23. Jersey Bounce
24. The High And the Mighty
25. Heading North
CD2
1. Opus 1
2. Intermission Riff
3. Don’t Worry About Me
4. From This Moment On
5. Lonesome Road
6. I’ve Grown Accustomed To Her Face
7. If I Had You
8. Exactly Like You
9. That Old Black Magic
10. High Society
11. King Porter Stomp
12. Anything Goes
13. You Do Something To Me
14. Gone With The Wind
15. In The Still Of The Night
16. I Cried For You
17. Blues In The Night
18. April In Paris
19. Change Partners
20. Time On My Hands
21. Adios
22. Speak Low
23. Blue Moon
24. When The Saints Go Marching In
25. Stardust
26. Robbins Nest
27. California, Here I Come
28. Listen To My Music
After
pianist Stan Tracey played with Ted Heath’s
orchestra for two years in the late 1950s,
he was scathing towards any suggestion that
it was a jazz ensemble. This album makes me
think he was on to something. Most of the
music is so tightly arranged that there is
little room for the freedom of expression
that is essential to most jazz. Certainly
there are jazz solos but these are often short.
Exactly Like You is a rare exception,
allowing a tenor-saxist (Tommy Whittle?) to
stretch out.
The
arrangements are played with superb precision,
although versions of Duke Ellington tunes
like Take the "A" Train and
It Don’t Mean a Thing are unimaginative.
Some arrangements are straight copies of recordings
made by American bands – for example, Stan
Kenton’s Intermission Riff. Ted Heath
always employed first-class musicians and
his trumpet section, for example, worked wonders,
while the trombone choir makes a mellow and
recognisable sound. So fans of the band will
find much here to please them.
However,
the selection of tracks hardly justifies the
title "The Essential Collection".
Several of the band’s recordings were hits
but only Hot Toddy makes it into the
collection, while other hits like Dragnet,
Swinging Shepherd Blues and
Tequila are missing. The lack of Tequila
alerts us to the fact that there are none
of Duncan Campbell’s stratospherically anarchic
vocals; nor are some other Heath favourites
included, such as Don Lusher’s storming Late
Night Final or Send for Henry -
a memorable feature for Henry Mackenzie’s
clarinet (although that may be Henry soloing
on Clementine).
This
brings us to another drawback of this set:
the lack of personnel details or recording
dates. Who is the soaring soprano saxist in
Georgia on my Mind? Who plays the delightful
muted trumpet on I’ve Grown Accustomed
to Her Face? The minimal sleeve-notes
offer no information. Altogether this is a
generous but disappointing two-CD set from
a company which usually provides better choices
of musicians’ work.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Avid AVC
861
