Really lovely work from Pat Moran – leader of one of the grooviest groups of the 50s! The Pat Moran Quartet were unique in that they were both a jazz combo and a harmony vocal group – one that mixed two male voices and two female voices in a nicely swinging way that has plenty of echoes of the Hi Los or Four Freshmen from the time! Pat plays piano and Bev Kelly's the other female voice in the group – blended nicely with the voice and bass of John Doling and vocals and drums of Johnny Whited. Tracks are often familiar Bethlehem jazz numbers, but they're given a really groovy twist in this setting – and although the group only recorded 2 albums, we love them both to death! Titles include "Somebody Loves Me", "Sunday Kind Of Love", "Gone With The Wind", and "Have You Met Miss Jones". CD

One of two albums cut for Bethlehem by the Pat Moran Quartet – a groovy little combo that harmonized vocally while they were grooving on their instruments! The group's led by Pat on piano and lead vocals – and singer Bev Kelly is also with the group – and this album features additional backings by Nat Pierce, with players that include Anthony Ortega and Sam Most on reeds – fleshing the sound out nicely from some of the group's other work. The four part harmony mode is in the Hi-Los mode, but the twist is that it's half-male, half-female – making for a lighter sound. Tracks include "I'll Be Around", "Jordu", "Have You Met Miss Jones", "Come Rain Or Come Shine", and "Mother Macree". CD

One of our favorite recordings ever of George Gershwin's Porgy & Bess – done by Bethlehem Records in the mid 50s, and featuring nearly every one of the label's great talents at the time! The choice of the lead characters is a bit odd – as Mel Torme plays Porgy and Francis Faye plays Bess – but both singers are actually pretty darn great for the set, and really bring a lot out of the tunes. Plus, the other artists on the set really keep things interesting – as the collection features vocal performances by Johnny Hartman, Frank Rosolino, Betty Roche, Bob Dorough, and Sallie Blair. Plus, the whole thing's presented as Gershwin wrote it – complete with narration by Al Jazzbo Collins, and a number of strong instrumental passages. Music is performed by groups led by Russ Garcia, Duke Ellington, Pat Moran, and Stan Levy – and players are an array of the best of both the New York and LA scenes at the time! CD