AFRS "One Night Stand" 218
1. Introduction
2. Hawaian War Chant
3.I Dream of You
4. Opus No. 1
5. You're Mine You
6. Irresistible You
7. Paramount on Parade
8. Mandy
9. My First Love
10. Well Git It!
AFRS "One Night Stand" 411
11. Introduction/I'm Getting Sentimental over You
12. Mandy
13. The Day after Forever
14. I'll Walk Alone
15. Midriff
16. Three Little Words
17. Bells of Normandy
18. Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby
19. I Dream of You
20. Song of India
21. Losers Weepers
Tracks 1-10
Pete Candoli, Mickey Mangano, Sal LaPerche, Dale Pierce - Trumpets
Tommy Dorsey, Tommy Pederson, Tex Satterwaite, Walt "Red" Benson - Trombones
Buddy DeFranco - Clarinet, alto sax
Sid Cooper - Alto sax
Al Klink, Gale Curtis - Tenor saxes
Bruce Branson - Baritone sax
Dodo Marmarosa - Piano
Dennis Sandole - Guitar
Sid Block - Bass
Gene Krupa - Drums
Bob Allen, the Sentimentalists (Jean Clarke, Ann Clarke, Mary Clarke, Peggy Clarke) - Vocals
Tracks 11-21
Roger Ellick, Mickey Mangano, Dale Pierce, George Seaberg - Trumpets
Tommy Dorsey, Walt "Red" Benson, Nelson Riddle, Tex Satterwaite - Trombones
Buddy DeFranco - Clarinet, alto sax
Sid Cooper - Alto sax
Al Klink, Gail Curtis - Tenor saxes
Bruce Branson - Baritone sax
Joe Park - Tuba
Milt Golden - Piano
Bob Bain - Guitar
Sid Block - Bass
Buddy Rich - Drums
Unknown strings
Bob Allen, Bonnie Lou Williams, the Sentimentalists - Vocals
This CD contains two transcriptions made for the American Forces Radio Service, recorded at two different venues in 1944. The album illustrates two aspects of Tommy Dorsey's band at this period. He employed drummers like Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich to add thrust and excitement to the fast numbers, while the slow tunes often featured Tommy's mellow trombone or easy-listening singers.
In the first broadcast, the first of these categories is exemplified by Hawaian War Chant, which makes good use of Gene Krupa's extrovert drumming, as does Well Git It! The smooth tone of Tommy Dorsey's trombone is heard in I Dream of You (which occurs in both broadcasts - so does Mandy, although the solos differ in each version). Buddy Rich's propulsive bass drum is well in evidence on Midriff, which also includes some fine drum breaks. Dorsey's muted trombone takes the spotlight in his famous version of Song of India (from an original by Rimsky-Korsakov).
The drummers and Dorsey are not the only attractions of this album. Buddy DeFranco contributes some neat clarinet solos (especially in Paramount on Parade), and there are good tenor-sax solos - probably from Al Klink. Sy Oliver wrote some of the effective arrangements.
Personally, I prefer the swing arrangements to the schmaltzy dance-band tunes with sentimental vocals, of which there are many here. The recorded sound is foggy and there are crackles at the start of Hawaian War Chant, but the recording is clear enough for listeners to understand why the Dorsey band was popular in its day.
Tony Augarde
www.augardebooks.co.uk
CD Reviews
Sounds of Yester Year DSOY 869
