Two More Jerry Gray LPs

My earlier post of three of Jerry Gray's Decca LPs met with some favor from the big band aficionados in the audience, so here's a follow-up.

Today we have Jerry's other two Decca albums - his first, from 1950, and his last, from 1955.

As with the first set, these albums display the same intricate charts, superior ensemble work and pleasing solos - much of it couched in the Glenn Miller style that Gray did so much to establish. For me, these records are pure listening pleasure.

Dance to the Music of Jerry Gray

Perhaps unexpectedly, the first side of this 10-inch LP consists of standards - Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies," Rodgers and Hart's "This Can't Be Love," Hoagy Carmichael's "Star Dust" and Jerome Kern's "All the Things You Are."

Side 2 is more diverse - starting with Vincent Youmans' "Carioca" (from Flying Down to Rio, which introduced Astaire and Rogers).

Next, Gray indulges in the Miller trope of turning innocent songs into marches - here the unlikely source is Harold Arlen's "Stormy Weather."

"By the Waters of Minnetonka," by James Mulloy Cavanass and Thurlow Lieurance, dates from 1915. It will be familiar to anyone who has been around as long as me.

Finally we have an excellent Gray original, "Crew Cut."

Billboard ad - click to enlarge

LINK to Dance to the Music of Jerry Gray

Big Dance Tonite

Decca liked to work the word "dance" into the title of most Gray albums, so that no one would mistake his ensemble for the blast-and-blare approach of Stan Kenton. And so it did for this 12-inch LP.

Big Dance Tonite collects songs from throughout Jerry's tenure at the label. It contains five Gray originals, a few Latin songs, some novelties and just two standards.

Rodgers and Hart's "Thou Swell" leads off - it's a tune suited to a dance tempo, and this one is just right. 

Following is the Mexican composer Maria Grever's attractive "Júrame" from 1926. This, and three of the other songs in this set can be found in their original versions on my other blog.

Gray's "Champagne Boogie" highlights (if you can call it that) an enthusiastic band vocal. It is followed by Jerry's "Off Limits." One of the greatest of all standards is next - Kern's "The Way You Look Tonight."

Much different is "Off the Wall," which Little Walter made an R&B hit in 1953. This shows Gray's interest in changing his approach with the times. No wailing blues harp here, but Jerry does adopt the chugga-chugga beat of the original - which can be found on my other blog.

The second side begins with another change of direction: Enric Madriguera's song "Adiós." It comes from 1931, when the Barcelona-born composer was a New York bandleader. My other blog has two Madriguera recordings of the song - from 1931 as "Adíos Linda Morena" and from 1947 as plain "Adiós."

Harry Babasin, Don Lamond

The "Darktown Strutters' Ball" was a huge success for composer Shelton Brooks in 1917. The first recording was by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band (found here). For the Gray version, Jerry's brother Tony provides a vocal in the Louis Prima mold. Bassist Harry Babasin received a label credit for his solo. 

Next is a novelty, Joe Hornsby's "Kettle Drum Hop," a specialty for the powerful drummer Don Lamond.

The album concludes with three Gray compositions - "Oomp-Chuck," "Coronado Cruise" and "Baby's Lullaby." The latter is in the nature of a slow "last dance," customary in dance dates of the time.

Finally, let me add a bonus cut. Perhaps Gray's most famous composition was "A String of Pearls," a big hit for Glenn Miller. Jerry's own version is on his In the Mood LP, posted here. Gray also prepared an alternate version of the tune, called "Re-stringing the Pearls (A Ball of Twine)," which was issued on a single in 1950, and then on EP and a Vocalion reissue LP. That's our bonus for this post - and thanks to musicman1979 for the suggestion!

LINK to Big Dance Tonite