A Rendezvous with Bobby Hackett, Plus Many Ambient Stereo Remasters

Following up on my last post, which had a dozen new ambient stereo remasters, today we have a second set of 12, this time from the pop, jazz and soundtrack catalogues.

One of this week's remasters is an LP of 1938 and 1944 records featuring cornetist-trumpeter Bobby Hackett, reminding me of how much I enjoy his playing. Those early records are squarely (no slight intended) in the Chicago-style jazz vein, but Hackett also made a career of being the lead voice for easy listening instrumentals, including the LP depicted above. That disc is newly transferred for today's post.

Bobby Hackett

Hackett (1915-76) was just 23 when the Chicago-style records commenced in 1938, but was in his mid-40s and very much in his prime when Capital engaged him for the lovely instrumental LP, Rendezvous, in 1957.

He had became known for these types of LPs through his solos on several popular easy listening LPs issued under the name of TV personality Jackie Gleason. Hackett was never paid much for those spots, but Capitol and later other companies engaged him for a long series of instrumental albums under his own name. There were both mood music records and small group jazz performances with such like-minded artists as Jack Teagarden.

Glenn Osser

The backings on Rendezvous were led by studio veteran Abraham "Glenn" Osser (1914-2014). Like many in the industry at the time, he was a former big-band arranger who had moved on to providing charts for recording artists on the Mercury and Columbia labels, along with a few LPs of his own.

The results are smooth and entirely pleasant, similar to what Osser might have devised for such vocalists as Vic Damone or Mindy Carson, albeit with Hackett as the voice. You will hear echoes of Glenn Miller (a former employer of Hackett) and the style of George Shearing (also contracted to Capitol at the time).

The songs were all standards, with the possible exception of the following:

• "Autumn Nocturne" - written by Kim Gannon and Josef Myrow and first recorded in 1941 by Claude Thornhill
• "When I'm with You" - by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel, introduced by Shirley Temple in the 1936 film Poor Little Rich Girl
• "Two Cigarettes in the Dark" - by Lew Pollack and Paul Francis Webster, from the 1934 Broadway comedy Kill That Story
• "Love Me" - a Victor Young-Ned Washington song, also from 1934
• "One Kiss" - written by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II for the 1928 operetta The New Moon

The jacket suggests that Hackett plays trumpet on this date rather than cornet, but it really didn't make much difference in how he sounded. He seldom used the bigger instrument's more brilliant upper register.

I do love the colorful cover for Rendezvous, with the ambiguous nature of the establishment the couple is entering.

Ambient Stereo Remasters

Today's ambient stereo remasters are in a variety of styles, perhaps something to interest you...

Bobby Hackett - Horn A-Plenty. This is the collection of 1938 and 1944 jazz sides mentioned above, all from the Commodore label. The LP ascribes them to Hackett, but several of them were issued under other names, such as "Jam Session at Commodore."

Duke Ellington - Mood Ellington. The Duke's 1947 recordings are not among his most celebrated, but they are plenty good in their own right. This is a classic band, led by one of the greats, and showing off Ellington's current interest in tonal colors.

Georges Auric's Music for Bonjour Tristesse. A gorgeous score by the French composer Auric in support of the 1958 film version of Françoise Sagan's popular novel. Juliette Gréco's languid rendition of the title song defines the term "world weary."

William Warfield - Deep River. The distinguished bass-baritone in magnificent recordings of folk and folk-derived repertoire. Note: all Warfield's solo recordings are available on the blog, except for his remake of Copland's Old American Songs.

Dick Haymes Sings Irving Berlin. Haymes' complete Berlin LP with pianist Carmen Cavallaro is the basis of this collection of numbers from the great songwriter's canon. It also includes seven other 78 sides from 1945-49, including numbers from Annie Get Your Gun.

Neal Hefti on Coral. The arranger-bandleader's 10-inch Coral Reef LP and its 12-inch successor are the sources of this post, which also includes Count Basie's contrasting readings of two of the Hefti compositions - "Why Not?" and "Sure Thing." From the early 1950s.

Ella Mae Morse - Barrelhouse, Boogie and the Blues. R&B covers can be a dreary listening experience, but not these specimens. The marvelous Miss Morse is backed by a Big Dave Cavanaugh combo, and the whole LP sizzles. Also has one of the greatest covers ever.

Hugh Martin and Alec Wilder - The Grandma Moses Suite. The two distinguished songwriters combined to produce the score for a 1951 documentary on folk painter Grandma Moses, producing this treasurable (and almost unknown) piece of Americana.

Victory at Sea - the 1953 Recording. The awesome score to the televised Victory at Sea series of documentaries is as much a tribute to orchestrator and collaborator Robert Russell Bennett as it is to composer Richard Rodgers. This is the original recording.

Andre Kostelanetz Conducts Grofé and Kern. An LP combining Kosty's recordings of Ferde Grofé's Mississippi Suite and Jerome Kern's Mark Twain, the latter of which the conductor commissioned. Interesting works, again in the Americana vein.

Cy Coleman Trio - Piano Patterns. The distinguished songwriter was also a formidable pianist. This was his first LP (or so I believe). It came out on the small Benida label in 1955, several years before Coleman's celebrity as a Broadway composer.

Bing Crosby - High Tor. The excellent soundtrack to a 1956 television adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's fantasy High Tor. With lyrics by the author, music by Arthur Schwartz, and vocals by Bing and the young Julie Andrews. A particular favorite of mine.

The links above will take you to the original posts. There, check the end (or near the end) of the comments for the download links. All these posts feature new artwork as well.

The link to Bobby Hackett's Rendezvous is in the comments to this post, as usual.

Ida Haendel in Bruch, Plus Many, Many Reups in Ambient Stereo

One of the most popular posts of the nearly 1,200 on this blog is the one devoted to Ida Haendel's 1953 traversal of the Brahms Violin Concerto, recorded in company with Sergiu Celibadache and the London Symphony. Rightfully so - it's a splendid performance and well recorded.

For this post I've turned my attention to another superior Haendel recording - that of the beautiful Violin Concerto No. 1 of Max Bruch.

The second part of this post is devoted to new ambient stereo remasters of a dozen classical recordings that have appeared here over the years - starting with Haendel's Brahms concerto.

Ambient stereo helps to give the narrow and recessed sound of mono recordings a feeling of spaciousness and to bring them forward, seemingly in front of the speakers - without adding anything at all to the recording. When the channels are combined, the mono image is restored. (More explanation is at the end of the post.)

Let's start off with the Bruch concerto disc, then address all the remasters.

Ida Haendel in Bruch, Plus Encores

Ida Haendel's Bruch concerto recording dates from 1948, when she was just 19. Her recording career had begun even earlier, at age 11, with recordings of short works.

Haendel's collaborator in the concerto was the eminent conductor Rafael Kubelik, who just that year had taken refuge in Britain following the Communist coup d'etat in his native Czechoslovakia.

Ida Haendel and Rafael Kubelik

The two musicians work well together in this lovely work, not often heard in today's concert halls. The Abbey Road sound is most pleasing in ambient stereo.

This transfer comes from side 1 of an early 1950s LP pressing on RCA Victor's budget Bluebird label. Side 2 contains a passel of encore pieces, probably selected from the violinist's recital programs and first issued as 78 singles. The main attraction of those pieces, aside from Haendel's performances, is the presence of the remarkable pianist Gerald Moore.

Gerald Moore learns the contents of the recital program 

The encore items are generally in soupy arrangements, such that a Gramophone reviewer termed two of them "equally nauseating." I can't say that I reached for the Dramamine while working on these pieces, but they are not really my thing either. Haendel and Moore seem to be having a good time, though.

Remasters in Ambient Stereo

As noted, to go along with the Haendel LP, I have re-uploaded about a dozen classical recordings enhanced with ambient stereo. The links below take you to the original posts. The download links will be at or near the end of the comments. (The link to the Bruch concerto disc discussed above is in the comments to this post.)

Brahms - Violin Concerto (Ida Haendel). This 1953 recording is notable for being the last studio appearance by conductor Celibidache. As with all the posts below, I have added new graphics, generally photos of the artists. In this case, it's a photo of the violinist and conductor together.

Works by Robert Sanders, Bernard Rogers and Burnet Tuthill. The first post on this blog 16 years ago was this LP of works by three mid-century American composers. Most enjoyable in worthy performances from a disguised Vienna Symphony and conductor Max Schönherr.

Rawsthorne - Piano Concerto No. 2 (Clifford Curzon). Another early post was this fascinating concerto from mid-century English composer Alan Rawsthorne, in a brilliant performance from pianist Clifford Curzon. The LP has never sounded better.

Schumann - Cello Concerto; Bruch - Kol Nidrei (Joseph Schuster). The exceptional cellist Joseph Schuster made only a few solo recordings, including this Capitol release with backing by Franz Waxman and a Hollywood orchestra. Bruch's Kol Nidrei, plus the great Schumann concerto.

Quincy Porter Conducts Quincy Porter. Ambient stereo has enhanced the sound of this 1955 LP, and in doing so enhanced my appreciation of Porter's Symphony No. 1, Concerto Concertante and Dance in Three Time. The composer conducts a Parisian orchestra.

Violin Sonatas by Delius and Robert Russell Bennett (Louis Kaufman). Kaufman is too febrile for the meandering Delius work, but he was just right for Bennett's sonata. The composer and violinist were well acquainted, both based in Hollywood.

Americana for Solo Winds and Strings. This is surely one of the most pleasant recordings of the 1950s. Howard Hanson conducts pastoral works by himself, Aaron Copland, Wayne Barlow, Homer Keller, Bernard Rogers and Kent Kennan. Fine sound.

Randall Thomson - Symphony No. 2 (Dean Dixon). The American composer Randall Thompson was mainly noted for his choral works, but he also produced three symphonies. I believe this was the first to be recorded. Dean Dixon leads the orchestra.

Rangström - Symphony No. 1; Larsson - Little Serenade for Strings (Tor Mann). As I mentioned in a recent post of Ture Rangstrom's third symphony, the composer's first effort is worth knowing, here in a classic recording from Tor Mann, with a Lars-Erik Larsson makeweight.

Beethoven Concertos No. 2, 4 and 5, Mozart No. 15 (Solomon). I've redone the uploads of historic Beethoven concertos from Solomon, along with his Mozart No. 15, in ambient stereo. These are memorable readings, now sounding even better.

About Ambient Stereo

I suspect that most followers of this site won't have many scruples about the use of ambient stereo in these remasters. But for the skeptical or curious, a few words of explanation.

The term "ambient stereo" can be misleading. It doesn't refer to directional cues but rather the spread of ambiance to provide a sense of space otherwise missing.

I will admit that until now I have not been a great proponent of the effect, although I dabbled in it as far back as 2015 to enhance a few dry recordings. It never struck me as especially helpful until I began experimenting with the Ozone Imager plug-in for the Izotope RX10 audio software. Used in moderation, it often provides strikingly good results.

The Ozone module relies on the so-called "Haas effect." This article explains the effect and its implementation in the Imager plug in.

 

Rangström's Symphony No. 3 and 'King Erik's Songs'

The Swedish composer Ture Rangström (1884-1947) has appeared here before via his first symphony, in a classic version led by Tor Mann. This post fulfills a request for his Symphony No. 3, accompanied by two sets of orchestral songs, in recordings from the late 1970s.

The third symphony is a middle period work, dating from 1929, and has the subtitle Song under the Stars. The work, inspired by a rough sea voyage, is highly romantic and impressionistic. Its programmatic nature and lack of musical rigor led the Scandinavian music authority Robert Layton to dismiss it as kitsch (see review in the download), but it's an enjoyable listen if you are at all susceptible to such works.

Ture Rangström

The main attraction on this record is the performance of King Erik's Songs by the then-young baritone Håkan Hagegård. In his cover notes, Per Skans writes, "These songs have been referred to as 'songs about a mad king to words by a mad poet,' the poet being Gustaf Fröding." 

I can't tell you much more; no texts or translations were supplied with this record or another recording of the cycle in my collection. I did, however, secure the texts from Liedernet and for the most part relied on Google for translations, which you may find to be somewhat superior to choosing words at random. The songs follow the King from farce through imprisonment and awareness of his impending death.

Also on the disc, and also settings of Gustaf Fröding poems, are Two Songs in Antique Style, one being a colloquy between a knight and a maiden, the other a drinking song. Hagegård sound splendid in both this set and King Erik's Songs.

Janos Fürst, Håkan Hagegård, John Frandsen

The recordings, dating from 1978-79, feature the Helsingborg Symphony, resident in a city on the border of Sweden and Denmark. The orchestra these days has about 70 members; presumably it was about the same strength back then. Not a huge band, but they play well and the recording is pleasing.

In the symphony the conductor is the Hungarian Janos Fürst (1935-2007), who had recently finished a stint as music director in nearby Malmö, and would soon take up the same position in Aalborg, in adjacent Denmark.

The songs are led by the Dane John Frandsen (1918-96), principal conductor at the Royal Danish Opera from 1946 to 1980. Swedish baritone Håkan Hagegård (1945- ) was just finishing several years at the Royal Opera in Stockholm when these recordings were made, and beginning to establish himself as an international artist.

FYI - if you enjoy Rangström's music, the afore-mentioned Tor Mann LP of the first symphony is now available in ambient stereo, along with Mann's recording of Lars-Erik Larsson's Little Suite for Strings. The new versions can be found here.

Jeri Sullivan Transcriptions Plus More Singles

The talented yet virtually unknown singer Jeri Sullivan returns with some of the best material I've posted as yet - six songs from an Armed Forces Radio Service transcription, along with six additional songs from commercial singles.

Sullivan was on radio throughout the 1940s, worked as a Hollywood dubbing artist, and made singles for several labels. Then in 1953, she turned up as "Jenny Barrett" and made recordings for two different companies.

She's appeared on this blog several times. Post number one detailed her early career and included a single on Signature records, a V-Disc of her "Rum and Coca-Cola" recording and two radio transcriptions. In post two, we looked at her work on the movie A Song Is Born and some of her releases under the name Jenny Barrett in the 1950s.

Later, Bryan Cooper contributed another Signature single, which I published on Buster's Swinging Singles, and then a set of Standard Transcriptions for this blog. Simon Buckmaster added six one-of-a-kind acetate recordings, a single on the Metro Hollywood label and one more Signature single.

Here are the details on today's selections.

AFRS Showtime Songs

Sullivan appeared on an AFRS transcription in a series called Showtime. The programs in that series either recreated musicals or focused on the songs from musicals. The latter was the case in this program, which I believe came from about April 1946, based on the numbering and dating of other shows in the series.

Jeri sang six songs on the show - all excellent and well recorded. She started off with two Rodgers and Hart tunes - "This Can't Be Love" from The Boys from Syracuse and "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" from Too Many Girls, both beautifully done and sympathetically conducted by Michel Perriere.

The program took a break from show tunes to showcase what it called "Jeri's own song" - "Rum and Coca-Cola." A nice sentiment, even if Sullivan didn't actually write it. (See discussion here.) That said, her interpretation is among the best I have heard.

Finally, Jeri takes up three torch songs from circa 1930, and shows she had quite an affinity for the genre. The first is "The Thrill Is Gone," which originated in George White's Scandals of 1931, where it was introduced by Rudy Vallee. (Never would have guessed that.) The writers were Ray Henderson and Lew Brown.

Next she programmed two songs closely associated with Libby Holman, both from The Little Show of 1929. "Moanin' Low" was written by Ralph Rainger, with lyrics by Howard Dietz. "Can't We Be Friends?" has lyrics by Paul James and music by Kay Swift. I've not heard either done better, although it sounds like Perriere wanted a faster tempo than Sullivan.

A Second Metro Hollywood Single

The newly discovered singles start with a release by the small Metro Hollywood label circa 1948. The two songs were probably recorded by the ARA label, which was active from 1944 to 1946, and acquired by Metro Hollywood. The latter label seems to have gone under in 1948 after having been sued by M-G-M records for infringement.

As I previously speculated about another Metro Hollywood release, these probably were made in 1946. One side is "I'll See You in C-U-B-A," a 1920 Irving Berlin song revived for the 1946 Bing Crosby-Fred Astaire musical Blue Skies. (The Metro Hollywood label calls the song "CUBA" and dubs the singer "Jerri Sullivan," one of several variant spellings for her name.)

The flip side was another torch song - "Take Me in Your Arms," written by Fred Markush and Fritz Rotter. Mitchell Parish gave it English lyrics and it became a US hit in 1932 for Ruth Etting.

Both songs are very nicely done, with an unidentified orchestra.

Vogue, Coral and 'Jenny Barrett'

If You Please - Drusilla Davis, Sullivan, Frank Fay, Barbara Torrence

In 1950, Jeri appeared in Frank Fay's revue, If You Please, in San Francisco. As late as 1952, the singer was making personal appearances as "Jeri Sullivan." Then in 1953 she became Jenny Barrett, and again made a few records.

Billboard, June 13, 1953

The first, "He Loves Me," was on the small Vogue label. The label gave away the fact that Barrett was Sullivan by advertising that she wrote the song and attributing it on the label to Sullivan (and Bedell). 

This transfer of "He Loves Me" in this collection is better than the one I included in an earlier post. As I wrote then, "It's not a successful record, but is fascinating even so. The singer carries on an internal monologue throughout the song, a year before Richard Adler and Jerry Ross were to employ a similar device for 'Hey There' in The Pajama Game. But in 'He Loves Me,' it turns into an overdone and distracting gimmick."

This post also includes the flip side, "Do Me a Favor," a double-tracked waltz that's an incursion into Patti Page territory. It's OK, and well produced. Both songs have lush backing by trumpeter-arranger Hall Daniels.

At the same time as her Vogue release, Barrett/Sullivan was in the studio for the much bigger Coral label. Her initial effort was a breathy take on the Ray Noble standard "The Touch of Your Lips." Billboard observed, "The thrush bows on the label with a sexy, suggestive rendition of the evergreen, selling the item via a most intimate and cozy rendition which should get it banned from a few stations with no trouble at all."

The other side of the Coral record was "Hurry, Hurry Home," which betrays more than a little familiarity with Chopin's Minute Waltz. It was attributed nonetheless to Jeri Sullivan and Cindy Barrett (not sure about the Cindy-Jenny relationship, if any). There is not as much heavy breathing on this side. Tony Iavello was the bandleader.

Since my first "Jenny Barrett" post, I've come across Sullivan's own explanation of the name change, via an article in the June 3, 1953 Down Beat. "Why did I become Jenny Barrett? The answer is just too simple: I am Jenny Barrett. It is my legal name. Jenny was the name my parents picked for me. Barrett was the name of my husband, who died about a year ago... Jenny Barrett is not only my real name but part of my life, the part that is nearest and most important to me right now."

Jeri Sullivan on radio in the 1940s

I have to say her explanation confuses me, because I had previously uncovered information that suggested she was born as Leona Schlosser. And the month after this Down Beat issue came out, the magazine announced that she was "becoming Mrs. Bob (Ten Top Tunes show on KLAC) McLaughlin."

The self-penned Down Beat story was likely placed by a Vogue records publicist to draw attention to her as Jeri Sullivan, allowing her to boast that "as soon as word got out that Vogue's 'new singer' was 'Jeri Sullivan' I have been contacted by not only the news services but by many nationally known columnists who 'wanted to get the real story.' Why was I scrapping Jeri Sullivan and all the publicity value that went with that name?" Well, precisely because publicizing the change helped her to regain the limelight she had lost.

Her revived recording career did not last long. Vogue went under and Coral made only one more single with her, one of the few items that hasn't turned up for posting here.