Jazz — CDs  

A classic session of music from the mighty Raymond Scott – performed here by a small combo led by Scott's old tenor player Dave Harris! All of the tunes here were written by Scott, and many are of the vintage that stretches back to his cool cartoon work – those jaunty, jagged little songs that have been revived heavily in the past decade or so, thanks to renewal of interest in Scott's music. This album's sort of its own "revival" – one that features excellent lat 50s studio sound, which really updates the tracks wonderfully, and offers them up in even sharper-edged versions than some of the originals. Harris plays a host of reeds, and although this album's the only one he ever did as a leader, it more than lives up to the memory of his old mentor – and to the wacky image on the cover! Titles include "Dinner Music For A Pack Of Hungry Cannibals", "Siberian Sleighride", "Reckless Night On Board An Ocean Liner", "Twilight In Turkey", "Minuet In Jazz", "Powerhouse", and "The Toy Trumpet".

Under-exposed genius from the legendary Raymond Scott – a set of straighter jazz material from the late 40s, but all of it with Scott's undeniable sense of madness still very firmly in place! Most of the work here is small combo – played by either a quintet or sextet – and although the styles aren't as dramatic as in some of Raymond's better-known cartoon work, there's still an undeniably fluid, playful feel to the music! Instrumentation includes Scott on piano and celeste, plus trumpet, tenor, clarinet, bass, and drums – and some tracks even feature great early vocals from Dorothy Collins, who seems much madder than usual in the context of the combo! The work appears to have originally been issued by the Master and Audiovox labels – and titles include "Street Corner In Paris", "The Penguin", "By Heck", "Who", "Bird Life In The Bronx", "Curley Cue", "Somebody Loves Me", "Little Girl", "Ectoplasm", "Question Mark", and "Dedicatory Piece To The Crew & Passengers Of The First Experimental Rocket Express To The Moon".

Incredibly lovely work from Italian guitarist Franco Cerri – easily one of the best players on his instrument in the 60s – even on both sides of the Atlantic! The setting here is relatively lush – fuller backgrounds with Cerri's guitar on lead solos – but often with some nice bits of bossa and some of the other delightful flourishes you'd get in Italian charts of the time, particularly some of the soundtrack arrangements. The feel is wonderful – a great expansion of some of Cerri's small group modes of the earlier part of the decade – and titles include "Ti Basta Dare Tempo Al Tempo", "I Love You", "Bluesette", "Che Faro", "Tonsambaris", "Stella By Starlight", and "Girl From Ipanema".