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THE HARRY WARREN SONGBOOK
DOUG MUNRO and LA POMPE ATTACK
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GOT MUSIC RECORDS GMR 1004
Lullaby of Broadway [3:33]
(I’ve Got A Gal In) Kalamazoo [2:44]
Serenade In Blue [6:06]
Nagasaki [3:38]
Jeepers Creepers [3:17]
I Only Have Eyes For You [4:36]
Chattanooga Choo Choo [4:29]
The More I See You [6:09]
September In The Rain [4:55]
Blues for Harry [3:29]
Forty Second Street [3:55]
We’re In The Money [2:43]
Boulevard Of Broken Dreams [4:04]
You Again [3:16]
You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby [2:36]
At Last [6:58]
TOTAL PLAYING TIME [66:34]
Musicians:
Howard Alden- guitar
Ted Gottsegen- guitar
Vic Juris- guitar
Doug Munro- guitar
Ernesto Pugliese- guitar
Vinny Raniolo- guitar
Matt Dwonszyk- bass
Michael Goetz- bass
Howie Bujese- violin
Andrei Matorin- violin
Harry Warren was a prolific popular music composer, and wrote almost entirely for the motion picture industry. During his career Harry composed over 800 songs, and his tunes appeared in more than 300 films and cartoons. Doug Munro is Harry’s great nephew and is well-known as a jazz guitarist, band leader, music professor and composer. Two of Doug’s songs, You Again and Blues For Harry, appear in this set, with the remaining 14 tunes selected from Harry’s songbook. Doug assembled a talented group of performers for this project, and they perform on guitar, bass and violin in a hot jazz/gypsy style, with various musicians alternating during four recording sessions. Harry’s song-writing partners included some of the best lyricists of his era, including Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin, Mack Gordon, Al Dubin, Billy Rose and Leo Robin. Unfortunately, almost none of the lyrics from those songs appear on this album. An exception is Nagasaki, a 1928 Tin Pan Alley hit written by Harry Warren and Mort Dixon and the earliest tune in this collection. Guitarists Vinny Raniolo and Doug Munro and bassist Matt Dwonszyk provide a lively Charleston rhythm while an unidentified vocalist sounding like Rude Vallee sings “ and the women wicky-wacky-woo”. Harry Warren and Mack Gordon wrote Chattanooga Choo-Choo for Glenn Miller’s 1941 film, Sun Valley Serenade. Glenn’s band recorded it with vocalists Marion Hutton, Tex Beneke and the Modernaires. Here the song swings with three guitars, (Vic Juris, Vinny Raniolo, Doug Munro), alternating between rhythm and melody with smooth, uncluttered comping, and violinist Andrei Matorin fitting in a brief passage between the guitars. Harry and Mack wrote At Last, Serenade In Blue, and Kalamazoo for Glenn Miller’s 1942 film Orchestra Wives. Kalamazoo is performed here by guitarists Ernesto Pugliese and Doug Munro, Michael Goetz on bass, and violinist Howie Bujese. The guitarists perform to a strutting rhythm with an easy melody and light harmonic accompaniment, while the bass line is relaxed and steady while the violin dances without a care. You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby was written by Harry Warren and Johnny Mercer and was sung by Dick Powell in the 1938 film Hard To Get. Guitarists Ted Gottsegen, Vinny Raniolo and Doug Munro and bassist Michael Goetz provide a swinging up-tempo version with a choppy boom-chucka rhythm and guitar riffs like the old Looney Tunes soundtracks. Great memories!
This music was recorded during four sessions between June and August, 2016 at the Purchase College studios in New York. Adam Pietrykowski performed the recording and mixing, and the mastered was performed by Peter Denenberg. Liner notes and photos are included in a short pamphlet. This is a very well-produced tribute to the music of Harry Warren.
Bruce McCollum
