KEEPING TRACK

Dateline June 2005

MUSIC OF A PEOPLE and SPIRIT OF A PEOPLE Shema; Hava Nagila; Raisins and Almonds; Yes my darling daughter; Eli Eli; Tzena Tzena Tzena; And the angels sing; A letter to my mother; Joseph!; Hebrew Melody; Hatikvah; Exodus; My Yiddishe Moma; Freilich; Sunrise, Sunset; Second Avenue Symphonette; Kinneret; Kol Nidre; Finale. London Festival Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Stanley Black Vocalion CDLK 4256. This double album brings together CD transfers from two outstanding Decca LPs. "Music of a People" was issued in 1965, and I treasure my original copy. "Spirit of a People" dates from 1974; for some reason I never invested in this sequel, so having both discs in one modern package is a long-delayed treat. Decca were using their trademark "Phase 4 Stereo" process, involving a 20-channel mixer enabling the orchestral instruments to be "precisely pinpointed along the horizontal plane, or forward and back." Small beer alongside our modern multi-track magic. But those original tapes have been nurtured by the indefatigable Mike Dutton into a glowing, digital sonic experience that belies their years. There is a lot of Jewish music around on CD. Much of it is "klezmer" – that is, modern imitations of vagrant East European village bands playing traditional Jewish folk-melodies at weddings and other celebrations (as in the famous Bottle Dance in "Fiddler on the Roof"). Stanley Black (born Solomon Schwartz in London’s Jewish East End) gave us something quite different. In his original sleeve notes he wrote: "I have tried to echo the love of traditional ceremony, both sacred and secular, the love of music, the love of dancing, the love of living." He took those traditional songs, dances and centuries-old prayers, arranging and extending sometimes trifling tunes, and scored them for a virtuoso orchestra (I suspect it’s the London Philharmonic, with "Festival" used for contractual reasons). Adding a well-drilled chorus bursting with vigour, his arrangements became little masterpieces in their own right. There’s a glittering array of percussion, punchy brass, sweeping strings, tender woodwind solos and a huge sense of sheer enjoyment at those recording sessions. The range of moods is vast: from Hollywood-style spectaculars like the opening calls on the shofar (ram’s horn) introducing "Hava Nagila" (can there be a more vibrant rendering of this warhorse anywhere on disc?), to the sensitive treatment of traditional synagogue melodies such as "Eli Eli" (Psalm 22) and "Kol Nidre", made famous in its cello-and-orchestra incarnation by Max Bruch but here in its original form for cantor and chorus (John McCarthy, founder of the Ambrosian Singers, contributing his own arranging skills for this track sung by the men of the London Festival Chorus). Sadly, with Stanley Black no longer with us – and the public performance of Jewish melodies in glossy orchestral garb confined to rare gala concerts at the Barbican or the Royal Festival Hall – these scores are in danger of fading from the memory. Black dressed up those familiar tunes in the manner of Dvorak or Brahms in their Slavonic and Hungarian Dances, and the glittering orchestral palette is worthy of Glinka or Rimsky-Korsakov, who also knew a thing or two about reinventing folk tunes for the concert hall. So all thanks to Decca and Vocalion for providing an experience you will probably never hear again "live", and will only get from putting these well-engineered discs into your player. Enjoy the skills of a superb British arranger and conductor, marshalling his forces in music that’s clearly close to his heart, or rather in his very blood. Rodney Greenberg

BRITISH LIGHT MUSIC PREMIERES Volume 1 John Fox – Characters from the Fairy Tales, Strings in 3/4; Philip Lane – Spring in Vermont, Anaiis; Herbert Chappell – ‘The Pallisers’ theme; Adam Langston – Gentle Rains; Carlo Martelli – Jubilee March, Cock Linnett; Gavin Sutherland – Air fur Zwei; Peter Lawson – Baroque Autumn; Adam Saunders – The Magical Kingdom; Geoffrey Wright – Three Neapolitan Dances Dutton Epoch CDLX 7147, 69:02 mins. Volume 2 Philip Lane – Overture on French Carols; John Field – Concertino for flute and small orchestra; Haydn Wood – British Rhapsody; Rimsky-Korsakov – Variations on a theme of Glinka; Anthony Hedges – Festival Dances; Carlo Martelli – Romance, Greensleeves, Aubade; Richard Addinsell – Harmony for False Lovers; Georges Bizet – Pas de Deux (from Carmen) Dutton Epoch CDLX 7151, 77:00 mins. With the flow of new Light Music releases apparently diminishing from the Sanctuary White Line label, it is good to know that Mike Dutton seems to have ensured the continued availability of recordings produced by Philip Lane. From the above details readers will recognise many familiar names, as well as a few new ones: the second volume also covers arrangements by British composers, hence the appearance of the likes of Rimsky-Korsakov and Bizet. Several orchestras are featured, and it is most praiseworthy that (almost) all the music is available for the first time. It could be argued that ‘Light Classical’ might be a better description than ‘Light’ for some of the items, but it would be churlish to be pedantic about such matters. Instead we should rejoice that we have a record company that it prepared to release beautiful music such as this. David Ades All Dutton Epoch CDs are available through the RFS Record Service.

THE FILM MUSIC OF CLIFTON PARKER Suite from Treasure Island, Seascape from Western Approaches, The Sword and the Rose, March from Sea of Sand, The Blue Lagoon – Rhapsody for Orchestra, Theme from Night of the Demon, Virigin Island- A Caribbean Rhapsody, March from Sink the Bismark, Blue Pullman BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Rumon Gamba Chandos CHAN10279, 80:00 mins. The latest instalment in Chandos’ well regarded and successful series devoted to British film music features Clifton Parker and I welcome it the more warmly not least because he was responsible for creating one of my favourite film scores – of which anon. However I do have to start with something of a caveat since I have a difficulty with the first piece on this disc – the music for Treasure Island. This comes in the form of a lengthy 24 minute, seven movement suite and as a free standing concert piece is problematical because the music is essentially descriptive and desperately needs the medium of film more than any other piece on this disc to make its full and proper impact. I can well imagine many listeners’ concentration wandering at this point – like mine did – but others possibly may respond more positively. That said this disc still has ample musical compensation to offer not least the broodingly atmospheric Seascape from the wartime film ‘Western Approaches’. It conjures up a vivid mental picture of the white flecked heaving grey Atlantic Ocean across which a vital merchant convoy is making its way escorted by Royal Navy escorts and at the mercy of a U-boat attack at any moment. At just under five minutes in duration this minor masterpiece is all too short. The film itself was unusual for wartime in being made in colour, starred men from the allied navies and was hailed at the time by the Daily Mail as ‘without doubt the best sea film in existence’. Its surely high time this outstanding film graced our television screens again as a welcome change from the same old batch of British films some of distinctly dubious quality being endlessly and constantly recycled by the various television channels.The favourite piece of film music referred to at the head of this review is the March from the 1960 film ‘Sink the Bismark’ starring Kenneth More and dealing in a reasonably factual way with the sinking of the pride of the Royal Navy, the ill fated battle cruiser HMS Hood by the German super dreadnought Bismark and the subsequent hunting down and destruction of the latter by heavy units of the British fleet. Clifton Parker hits exactly the right buttons with a fast menacing sounding outer section doubtless depicting Bismark and its escort the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen on the loose in the North Atlantic contrasting with a flowing nobilmente triotune much in the style of Elgar and Walton in their marches and imbued with great dignity. The first appearance of this great theme so apposite to the films’ character is surely a moving and poignant moment. The version here though by no means eclipses the fine account of Kenneth Alwyn and the Philharmonic Orchestra on a Silva Screen double CD – FILMXCD309 of Great British Film Music 1938-1998. Other attractions on this Chandos release are a short suite from The Sword and the Rose which includes a graceful and beguiling Lute Dance and a distinctly catchy march tune for the film Sea of Sand. Transport buffs amongst us can delight in having the opportunity to catch an exhilarating musical ride on the Blue Pullman – music Parker wrote for a British transport film to launch a new prestigious express train in 1960. This is music which manages to be both overtly descriptive but also thoroughly entertaining and involving and easily sustains its near 16 minute duration. Despite my earlier reservations concerning the Treasure Island music this generously filled disc with state of the art recording made at Walthamstow Town Hall can be confidently recommended to all lovers of British film music. Roger Hyslop

BRITISH LIGHT CLASSICS Volume 1 Allegro non troppo – from ‘English Dances (Malcolm Arnold), Calling All Workers, By the Sleepy Lagoon & The Dam Busters March (Eric Coates), Barwick Green (Arthur Wood), Coronation Scot (Vivian Ellis), The Bandstand Hyde Park (Haydn Wood), Cornish Rhapsody 9Hubert Bath), Portrait of a Flirt & Westminster Waltz (Robert Farnon), March from Little Suite (Trevor Duncan), Rhythm on Rails, Heart O’ London & Devil’s Galop (Charles Williams), Jamaican Rumba (Arthur Benjamin), Puffin’ Billy (Edward White), Vanity Fair (Anthony Collims),Chanson de Nuit (Edward Elgar) Warner Classics 2564 61438-2 (total timing 59:33 mins); Volume 2 Mexican Hat Dance (arr. Peter Hope), Nights of Gladness (Charles Ancliffe), Dreaming (Archibald Joyce), Pas de Quatre (Meyer Lutz), The Grasshopper’s Dance (Ernest Bucalossi), The Boulevardier (Frederic Curzon), The Haunted Ballroom (Geoffrey Toye), Concert Jig from Silverthorn Suite (Ernest Tomlinson), The Watermill (Ronald Binge), The Old Clockmaker (Charles Williams), Bells Across the Meadow (Albert Ketelbey), Dusk (Cecil Armstrong Gibbs), Jumping Bean (Robert Farnon), Destiny (Sydney Baynes), Londonderry Air (arr. Hamilton Harty), Covent Garden from London Suite (Eric Coates) Warner Classics 2564 62020-2 (total timing 64:24 mins) – Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Barry Wordsworth. If these two CDs had been released 20 years ago we would have all been over the moon! It is a measure of the healthy state of Light Music today that most of us will already have at least one version of these works in our collections. One could be negative and say that we have heard all this before, but I feel that would be highly regrettable. The glory of Light Music is that it can benefit from different interpretations: not only do conductors have their own styles and preferences (The Boulevardier is a good example!), but recording engineers can also have a profound effect on what we hear at home. How often have you noticed a ‘new’ instrument in a piece you thought you knew very well? One famous example is the Decca recording of Robert Farnon’s Poodle Parade where the counter-melody in the middle section is almost entirely lost; it came as a pleasant surprise to many of us the first time we heard the Chappell version. But to return to these two CDs … volume 1 originally appeared on the RPO’s own label, so do check that you do not already have it. This music is now reaching a wider audience through Warner Classics, and one can only wish them well. The RPO is a superb orchestra, and there can be few conductors with a breadth of experience in this genre to match Barry Wordsworth. Forget about duplications! Add these CDs to your Light Music collection, and be grateful that our kind of music is enjoying such a welcome revival! David Ades

I approached this latest offering (Volume 2) from Warner Classics with keen expectations particularly the more so as its predecessor ‘Light Music Legends’ originally issued on the Royal Philharmonic’s own label – RPO 008 reviewed in the June 2004 Journal Into Melody (p. 67) and subsequently re-released as ‘British Light Classics’ – Cat. No. 2564 614382 on the Warner Classics label I hailed with considerable enthusiasm both on account of the sound quality and the stylish idiomatic performances. That recording was made in the Henry Wood Hall London which self evidently has decidedly superior acoustical attributes than the Cadogan Hall, Sloane Terrace used for this newcomer. Whilst many of the tracks on this new disc admittedly tread very heavily in the footsteps the excellent Hyperion Series ‘British Light Music Classics’ featuring Ronald Corp and the accomplished New London Orchestra – which one fervently hopes will be resumed again soon – I was looking forward again to the luxury of listening to these gems of the light music repertoire played by a large ‘Premier League’ symphony orchestra. Alas not only is the recording disappointing with rather bright sound somewhat lacking in any great sense of depth or amplitude but many of the performances here are, surprisingly in view of the conductor’s fine reputation in music of this kind, rather brusque and insensitive with in some cases eccentrically fast tempo. One almost has the feeling of a conductor racing through the recording sessions at a fair rate of knots with a view to catching a particular train! Thus Charles Ancliffe’s fine waltz Nights of Gladness is despatched in a mere 3.25 mins with little in the way of repeats and at a tempo which would have been impossibly fast to dance to. Ronald Corp with his New London Orchestra on Hyperion CDA 66868 has far more ‘oomph’ here. Revealingly no less than eleven tracks on this new disc are contained on the aforementioned Hyperion CD which in every way is to be preferred. Barry Wordsworth’s The Boulevardier instead being out for a jaunty walk about town appears to be in headlong flight, pursued by his creditors perhaps! Compare with Corp’s version which comes out at amore acceptable 3.55 with the music consequently more pointed and better characterised and Vivian Dunn’s account on Vocalion CDLK 4182 at an entirely persuasive 3.34. Again Meyer Lutz’ Pas de deux is simply played too fast with all its effect and charm needlessly dissipated. It is after a balletic piece and Corp invests the piece with a delightful and beguiling lilt which is quite irresistible. Again comparable timings are instructive here with Wordsworth reaching the ‘finishing line’ at 2.55 against the more steady and persuasive Corp at 3.39. You will gather by now that I am not greatly enthused with this disc and it is all the more disappointing since Barry Wordsworth is usually such a sympathetic and reliable interpreter of the light music repertoire. To be fair the more lively numbers such as Peter Hope’s Mexican Hat Dance and Robert Farnon’s Jumping Bean survive rather better. The performance of Ronald Binge’s enchanting The Watermill is simply not in the same class as Vivian Dunn’s version on the previously mentioned Vocalion disc where he coaxes beautifully atmospheric and magical playing from the Light Music Society Orchestra. Sorry to be so negative about what promised to be a significant and desirable addition to British light music discography and others may respond more positively to this Warner Classics disc but on every count Ronald Corp and his New London Orchestra on Hyperion is to be preferred in much of this repertoire where fine, sensitive, committed and idiomatic playing makes for a completely satisfying listening experience! Roger Hyslop

The enormous upsurge of interest in Light Music over the last few years has brought success to several UK record companies, and a number of CDs have been aimed at a target audience of principally ‘classical’ purchasers. A good example is the series conducted by Ronald Corp on the Hyperion label, and more recently (2003) a volume of British light classics by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Barry Wordsworth, which has now been joined by Volume 2. Having observed the work of Barry Wordsworth at close quarters (he conducted the Charles Williams CD with which I was involved in 2003), I believe that he is a highly competent exponent of this genre. In contrast to one or two other conductors, his tempi are usually fairly brisk, but on this occasion some of them are far too much so – eg Nights of Gladness, The Grasshopper’s Dance, and especially The Boulevardier, which bizarrely sounds as if Frederic Curzon’s hero is trying to set a new record for the 100 metres, rather than taking a leisurely stroll! The RPO delivers textbook performances and the same can be said for the quality of Tony Faulkner’s recordings. Aside from the vexed question of tempi, the other problem is that the majority of collectors will already possess at least one – if not several – of every title. It is most unfortunate that no opportunity was taken to include at least a couple of less-often-recorded titles – there are still plenty of fine compositions awaiting their turn to appear on CD. This new Warner release (together with its predecessor) will be mainly of interest to those who are just starting a light music collection. Acknowledgments are given to the Library of the Light Music Society, which was of assistance in providing some of the sheet music, and the booklet also includes a ‘plug’ for the RFS website. Tony Clayden

GUILD Golden Age of Light Music CDs tracklistings earlier in this issue

GLCD5113: Mantovani – By Special Request Vol. 2

GLCD5114: Great American Light Orchestras Vol. 2

In a little over a year, the GUILD Golden Age of Light Music CDs have become firmly established, not only in the UK but farther afield; encouraged by their success, the Company’s string of new releases continues apace. Already we have had Volume 2 of Music Of The ’50s – Midnight Matinée (JIM162) and this is now joined by second volumes of Mantovani By Special Request and Great American Light Orchestras. The Mantovani compilation embraces what I regard as this conductor’s most musically interesting and satisfying period, namely 1940-1951. During these eleven years, he made a surprising number of recordings, although unfortunately many of these never became as well known as his later work. It has been suggested that this may be because Decca’s publicity machine only really moved into ‘top gear’ with the advent of the Charmaine era which was the time when the new LP format was becoming heavily promoted. As with Volume 1 (JIM161), some of the earlier tracks have a definite ’30s ring about them; Nights Of Gladness, Castiliana, Spanish Cocktail and Valse Septembre are all obvious examples. There are some classical ‘borrowings’, including the Song of Norway suite (Edvard Grieg), Tell Me You Love Me (from Ruggiero Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci) and Tango Bolero, which although credited to Juan Llossas seems to be decidedly under the influence of Granada from Suite Española for guitar by Isaak Albeniz. Hejre Kati makes use of what I am certain is a traditional Hungarian melody, because the very same tune crops up in one of the Hungarian Dances by Johannes Brahms. A good few tracks also feature Mantovani as a composer, both under his own name and "Pedro Manilla" in this absolutely splendid collection which should appeal to all who enjoy Light Orchestral Music of the post-WWII period. Volume 2 of Great American Light Orchestras is subtitled Travellin’ Light after the first track by Walter Scharf and his orchestra; Victor Young’s main theme has a particularly ‘English’ sound about it. Some of the orchestras featured in Volume 1 (JIM159) make a welcome return and are joined by a number of newcomers, not all of which are too familiar to British audiences. The programme is a well-chosen combination of original compositions for orchestra, together with Broadway/Hollywood standards dressed up for the occasion in lush orchestral ‘party frocks’. Highlights of the twenty-seven tracks – for me at any rate – are Leon Jessell’s Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (having become metamorphosed from the Tin variety we know and love on this side of the pond) and Fritz Kreisler’s Chinese Tambourine. Both are played like you’ve never heard them before! I would also mention New York in a Nutshell (shades of Gershwin’s An American in Paris?), The Grasshopper by Bernard Landes and two equestrian pieces, Kentucky Trotter by Frank Perkins and David Rose’s Flying Horse – is it my imagination, or has Poncielli’s Dance of the Hours crept (or more likely galloped) into the proceedings? Once again GUILD has produced a collection of the highest quality and a worthy successor to Volume 1. Here then are two more great additions to this excellent series. What rabbits will David Ades and Alan Bunting (aided and abetted by some of our members) pull out of the hat next? Tony Clayden

DAVID HUGHES Great British Song Stylist Castle PLSCD738. 20 tracks for around £2.99 from the Fifties "pop" career of this fine artiste who became a celebrated opera singer and died aged 47. Among the songs are I Talk To The Trees, Rags To Riches, With These Hands, Bridge Of Sighs, Wild Horses, and If I Had Wings. But the disc would be worth the modest price if it only featured David’s duets with Jo Stafford, Let Me Hear You Whisper and One Love Forever, one of the first "Records of the Century" [78 rpm, of course] on the then new Philips label. Peter Burt

A NORWEGIAN BANDSTAND: Borg: Den norske Armé og Marines Revelje, Den norske Armé og Marines Tappenstreg, Svendsen: Carnival in Paris, Okkenhaug: Lyric Dance, Thingn Æs: The Clown, Hansson: Valdres March, Grieg: Norwegian Dances, Gudim: Eg ser deg utfor gluggen, Johansson: Holmenkollen March, Halvorsen: Norwegian Rhapsody No. 1, Grøndahl: New Circus. Royal Norwegian Navy Band, Principal conductor: Leif Arne Tangen Pedersen. Specialist Recording Company SRC 122, 67:00 mins. For the latest in their highly imaginative ‘Bandstand’ series the Specialist Recording Company have ventured intrepidly across the expanse of the North Sea to produce a Norwegian version engaging the services of the excellent Royal Norwegian Navy Band established in 1820 and currently comprising some 29 musicians. Grieg’s endearing Norwegian Dances will probably be the most familiar item in this concert for most collectors and is sensitively and idiomatically treated here in a highly effective transcription for wind band. Johann Svendsen is represented by probably his most popular work namely the ebullient Carnival in Paris, the arrangement being made by the ubiquitous Dan Godfrey, whilst Johan Halvorsen chiefly remembered today by his very popular march ‘Entry of the Boyars’ and like Svendsen a composer of symphonies makes his appearance with the first of two Norwegian Rhapsodies. Also here is a somewhat jaunty Lyric Dance by Paul Okkenhaug and a short 3 movement suite by Frode Thingn Æs The Clown which features a prominent solo cornet. Hanssen’s Valdres March described by fellow composer Ole Olsen as the finest march he had ever heard was included in an orchestral version as part of a collection of Norwegian Classical Favourites by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bjarte Engeset on NAXOS 8.557017 apart from which the two discs are entirely complementary as to their respective contents. In sum there is much attractive and interesting music here in nicely contrasting styles from orthodox military music to a ‘big band’ effect in the Gudim piece which is based on an old Norwegian Folk song and all rounded off neatly by a particularly engaging march by Oscar Borg Den norske Armé og Marines Tappenstreg which apparently translates as ‘The Reveille and Taps of the Norwegian Army and Navy!’ An unusual but inherently tuneful and thoroughly absorbing release, vividly recorded and anyone looking for something a little ‘off the beaten track’ will be well rewarded by purchasing this CD. Roger Hyslop

MANTOVANI ‘Cascading Strings’ 99 tracks including Charmaine, Diane, Under The Roofs of Paris, La Cumparsita, Lovely Lady, Treasure Waltz, etc… 4-CD Box Set from Jasmine Records, JASBOX 15-4. This compilation by Geoff Milne covers the years 1951-1954, when Mantovani was quickly becoming one of the world’s biggest selling orchestras on LP. Thanks to the clever scoring by Ronald Binge, Monty’s string sound was unique, and adored by millions, and this collection fully embraces those exciting years. The compiler has been responsible for many fine Decca releases over the years, and the sound quality here (presumably taken from the original LPs) is perfectly acceptable. If I have a minor criticism, it is that I would have liked to have seen the original catalogue numbers and recording dates given; also there is no reference to the fact that some of the tracks feature compositions by Mantovani himself under a pseudonym. Because so many Mantovani CDs have been released recently, it is inevitable that there will be some duplication with collections already available. However this set is very reasonably priced, and is great value for the money. If you cannot find it in your local record store, you can order it direct from: Jazmail, Unit 8, Forest Hill Trading Estate, Perry Vale, London, SE23 2LX, England (major credit cards accepted). The set costs £17.99 and UK postage is £1.00; Europe £1.50; rest of the world £2.80. David Ades

Wow! What does one write about an historic issue such as this? Here at bargain-price on four well-filled CDs [the shortest is a tad under 70 minutes] is the music that made the great man’s name throughout the world. This is "tingle factor" music supreme. One can only sit back and luxuriate in these simply glorious string-led arrangements – not overlooking the fine woodwind, brass, percussion and occasional accordion or guitar – with their distinctive sound and alluring lilt, originally conceived by Ronald Binge. There is so much to enjoy, I hardly know where to begin. Some of the choices have already appeared on various other CDs, so especially welcome are the four 7-track segments [split in the same way as on the original LPs] from both the ‘Sigmund Romberg’ and the ‘Victor Herbert’ suites, appearing in this format for the first time. There are four numbers, Etude No.3 in E Major [Chopin], Cradle Song [Brahms], Romance [Rubenstein] and On Wings Of Song [Mendelssohn], taken from ‘Mantovani Plays The Immortal Classics’. And Treasure Waltz, Village Swallows [a particular favourite of mine], The Emperor Waltz and Voices Of Spring come from his acclaimed ‘Strauss Waltzes’ album. All the legendary tunes, like Charmaine, Wyoming, The Moulin Rouge Theme, Swedish Rhapsody and Greensleeves, are here. Add to them such gems – some half forgotten – as Lovely Lady, Lehar’s Gypsy Love Waltz, Royal Blue Waltz, Tango Delle Rosa, So Madly In Love, Kisses In The Dark, At Dawning, Faith and Friml’s Dear Love, My Love, and you have a definitive mono set that must feature on any Mantovani aficionado’s most wanted list. The compilation and transfers are by Geoff Milne, who was associated with Monty’s recording company, Decca, in the ‘60s; and the digital processing is by Tall Order. The production standards are high throughout with, presumably, all the tracks having been re-mastered from records. The liner notes are also by Mr Milne and, barring a few minor grumbles over these on the Mantovani website – recording dates would have been nice, agreed – he and the people at Jasmine Records are to be saluted for producing a truly treasurable collection. Peter Burt

LEROY ANDERSON The Waltzing Cat The Typewriter, The Waltzing Cat, Fiddle Faddle, A Trumpeters Lullaby, Horse & Buggy, Plink Plank Plunk!, Belle of the Ball, The Irish Washerwoman, The Last Rose of Summer, The Phantom Regiment, Pyramid Dance, Blue Tango, Bugler’s Holiday, Sleigh Ride, The Syncopated Clock, Chicken Reel, Piano Concerto in C Major. Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paul Mann, with Simon Tedeschi (piano) ABC Classics 476 1589, 68:00 mins. An unexpected but very welcome release from the Australian Broadcasting Commission on their ABC Classics Label of the music of Leroy Anderson made so more so by the inclusion of the rarely performed or recorded three-movement Piano Concerto in C Major – the composer’s only extended orchestral work, playing for about 20 minutes. The music is inimitably and recognisable in his own idiom and style but with occasional hints of Rachmaninov. The concerto was written in 1953 and the composer conducted the first performance with Eugene List as soloist but according to James Koehne in his informative notes was withdrawn immediately afterwards for revision which in the event Anderson never got round to. It only surfaced again in 1989 when his executors allowed the concerto to be finally published in its original unrevised form. There is a rival recording on a difficult to obtain Telarc CD-CD-80112 with Stewart Goodyear as pianist with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra conducted by Erich Kunzel and coupled with music by fellow Americans George Gershwin, Scott Joplin, Morton Gould etc. On the present disc you get more music by Leroy Anderson including many old favourites but one or two novelties such as Chicken Reel and Pyramid Dance which currently lack modern recordings. Good committed playing from the Melbourne Orchestra and exemplary well detailed recording. Perhaps one or two individual items are played with a little more restrain than we are used to from American recordings but this is still a very worthwhile addition to the Anderson discography and I imagine the inclusion of the rare Piano Concerto will enhance the disc’s attractiveness to potential buyers. Well worth seeking out! Roger Hyslop

"TILL THE END OF TIME" 5-CD Box Set from Reader’s Digest featuring a collection of melodies performed by some of the world's finest beautiful music/light music/classical orchestras eg Franck Pourcel, Henry Mancini, Johnny Pearson, The Romantic Strings and Orchestra, Robert Farnon Orchestra, Robert Mandell and the London 'Pops' Orchestra, London Promenade Orchestra conducted by Eric Hammerstein, Malcolm Lockyer Orchestra, Douglas Gamley and his Orchestra, Charles Gerhardt conducting the RPO and also the NPO, Wally Stott Orchestra, Nick Ingman Orchestra and many, many others. Reader’s Digest (UK) RDCD3731-5. This is basically a superb all orchestral collection of light classical music from the extensive Reader’s Digest archives. There is some duplication with Reader's Digest 'Classical Reflections' 3-CD box set that came out a few years ago in the excellent ‘The Wonderful World of Music' series of 3-CD box sets which, sadly, are now all deleted. However the new ‘Till The End of Time’ CD box set has some Pourcel tracks that were not on the previous 3-CD box set and all seven of the Mancini tracks are appearing for the first time on the new box set. There are also many, many other differences in content between the two box sets. I have to say that this is a superb collection with beautifully clear remastered sound. It will appeal to all who like light classical beautiful melodic music done in an easy relaxing orchestral style 'with plenty of strings'. There is the usual one hours’ worth of music on each CD. Reader's Digest say that all the instrumental music in this collection is exclusive to them - you will not find these particular recordings in the shops. ‘Till The End of Time’ also comes complete with Reader's Digest usual excellent full colour 42-page booklet featuring photos and background information on the music. Some of the titles include Stranger in Paradise; Nessun Dorma, My Funny Valentine, Air on the G String, Moonlight Sonata, The Blue Danube Waltz, Summertime, ‘The Onedin Line’ Theme, Fur Elise, One Fine Day, Clair De Lune, Baubles, Bangles and Beads, Could It Be Magic, Greensleeves, Danny Boy (Londonderry Air), Plaisir D'Amour....etc. Disc 1 is titled "The World's Most Beautiful Melodies"; Disc 2 is titled "Candlelight Moods"; Disc 3 is titled "Romantic Melodies That Will Live Forever"; Disc 4 is titled "Classics by Starlight"; Disc 5 is titled "Timeless Favourites". The Franck Pourcel tracks are: Acceleration Waltz, Blue Danube Waltz, None But The Lonely Heart, Song of India, Tales from The Vienna Woods, Waltz of the Flowers. The Robert Farnon Orchestra track is One Night of Love. The Henry Mancini tracks are: A Lover's Concerto, A Time For Us (Love Theme From 'Romeo and Juliet'), I'm Always Chasing Rainbows, 'Moonlight' Sonata, No Other Love, Rhapsody In Blue. The Johnny Pearson track is Friendly Persuasion. The Wally Stott track is The Legend of Glass Mountain. This 5-CD box set collection will cost you £39.99 + £2.99 for packing and delivery within the British Isles. The catalogue number is RDCD3731-5 and can be purchased by telephoning Reader's Digest Customer Services on 08705 113366 (8am to 6pm GMT Monday to Friday and Saturday from 8am to 1pm). If interested, I recommend not delaying in getting this music collection as it may well sell out fast as happened with the 15 (3-CD box sets) in Reader's Digest excellent 'The Wonderful World of Music' series. Chris Landor

PASSING IN A Life on the Ocean Wave (Russell), Markers Call/Divisons Call (Trad.), Sea Shanties (Trad.), Auld Lang Syne (Trad.), On the Quaterdeck (Alford), By Land and Sea (Alford), Heart of Oak (Boyce), The Thunderbirds (Gray), Rule Britannia (Arne), Scipio (Handel), Defence of the Realm (Weston), The Captain General (Dunn), Soldiers of the Sea (Dunn), Washington Greys (Grafulle), The New Colonial (Hall), Barnum and Bailey Favourite (King), On Parade (Elms), Shrewsbury Fair (Neville), Wellington (Zehle), The Invincible Eagle (Sousa). Band of H.M. Royal Marines, Plymouth. D.O.M. Major P. Weston M.Mus., A.R.C.M., L.R.S.M., R.M. Introduced and Narrated by Commodore D.W. Pond R.N. CLOVELLY CLCD13604, 61:00 mins. A fascinating and imaginatively conceived disc giving an excellent insight into the ‘Passing In’ parade at H.M.S. Raleigh, Torpoint, Cornwall in which new entrants after 8 weeks initial basic training make the formal and somewhat dramatic transition from ‘civvies’ to sailors as the ‘Pass In’ to the Royal Navy. There is an interesting, informative and succinct commentary interpolated at several points by Commodore D.W. Pond R.N. Playing through this CD with one or two occasional shouted orders setting the scene gives one the distinct feeling of being transported to the parade ground of this naval establishment hopefully perhaps as a passive observer rather than an actual participant doubtless under the gimlet eye of a seasoned C.P.O.! The programme which was recorded in the band complex rather than the parade ground includes a fine selection of marches by some of the giants of the genre – Alfrod, Dunn, Sousa and even a certain Mr. Handel! There’s also a recent piece – Defence of the Realm – by the current D.O.M. of the Plymouth Band, Major P.A. Weston. All credit to Clovelly for releasing this disc with all dispatch since the recording sessions took place in late September 2004 and the disc was in my hands by mid November 2004! Recording quality is full and brilliant and it’s difficult to imagine finer playing than we get here from the Plymouth Band. So full marks to Clovelly and the Senior Service for such an unusual, enterprising, and engrossing disc. Despite the armchair ‘square bashing’ this CD has given me great and stimulating pleasure – there is absolutely no danger of ‘nodding off’ and is cordially commended not least for the great musical experience. Roger Hyslop

THE ROYAL MARINES PLAY BRITISH MUSIC Salute to the Colours (Dunn), Cockleshell Heroes (Dunn), The Globe and Laurel (Dunn), Jupiter – The Planets (Holst), March – Suite No.2 in F Major (Holst), I Vow to Thee My Country (Holst), Country Gardens (Grainger), Drakes Drum (Stanford), The Old Superb (Stanford), The Little Admiral (Stanford), The Contemptibles (Stanley), Sea Songs (Vaughan Williams), Scherzo – Music for a Festival (Jacob), Welcome the Queen (Bliss), Call to Adventure (Bliss), The Churchill March (Grainer), Orb and Sceptre (Walton), Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 in D Major Op.39 (Elgar). Band and Fanfare Trumpets of H.M. Royal Marines School of Music, conducted by Lieutenant Colonal F. Vivian Dunn C.V.O., O.B.E., F.R.A.M., R.M., with Frederick Harvey (baritone), David Bell and Barry Rose (organ). EASTNEY COLLECTION RMHSEC009, 66:00 mins. The latest release from the Eastney Collection is to be the more warmly welcomed since it gives us the all too rare opportunity to hear again the fine baritone voice of Frederick Harvey whose career was abruptly terminated by and early death at the age of 59 in 1967. He was a Devon man born in Plymouth and served throughout the Second World War in the R.N.V.R. undertaking a number of recording sessions with the Royal Marines Orchestra, Portsmouth Division under a certain young Captain F. Vivian Dunn so was perhaps uniquely qualified for performing some of Stanford’s Songs of the Sea and Fleet. Never was this considerable talent more challenged than in the tongue twisting ‘Little Admiral’ which required crystal clear articulation for its full effect and in which this gifted singer negotiates through tricky waters with consummate ease. Several of the tracks originally appeared on an HMV LP ‘Music of the Sea’ released in the early 1960’s the cover of which was graced by and illustration of a painting of HMS Victory and a fine official photograph of the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes. Despite the claim that the recordings range in date from 1953 to 1968 which would imply a mix of both mono and stereo tracts careful listening on headphones would appear to reveal that all have two dimensioned sound imaging. Notwithstanding there is little variation in the more than acceptable sound quality throughout this disc which is brought to a resounding conclusion by a splendid and frisson inducing Pomp and Circumstance No.1 complete with the full blooded panoply of organ joining the band in the final reprise of the famous trio tune. This latter recording made in Guildford Cathedral in 1968 is historically significant as Brian Culverhouse in his introductory notes to this release states that this was the final recording Sir. Vivian made for EMI under whom he was contracted with the Royal Marines Band Service although of course he went on to make a number of commercial recordings with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Light Music Society Orchestra. A self recommended disc, a valuable addition to the steadily expanding Eastney Collection and a superb reminder of Sir Vivian’s outstanding musicianship. Roger Hyslop

FRANKIE LAINE "I Believe" I’m Gonna Live Till I Die, Shine, That’s My Desire, We’ll Be Together Again, I May Be Wrong, The Cry of the Wild Goose, Mule Train, Your Cheatin’ Heart, Jezebel, Rose Rose I Love You, etc.. 27 tracks Memoir CDMOIR586, 75:09 mins. Many of Frankie Laine’s biggest hits are here. It’s incredible to think that all these tracks are over 50 years old!

EDMUND HOCKRIDGE with The PETER KNIGHT Orchestra and Chorale International Songs for International Lovers Games That Lovers Play, Make It Easy On Yourself, I Will Warm Your Heart, You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, Yesterday, Comes Once In A Lifetime, Senza Fine, Have I The Right, Sand And Sea, Guantanamera, All Alone Am I, You Can’t Keep Me From Loving You. Western Heritage The Dreams, Westwards, Across The Divide, California Or Bust Vocalion CDLK4245, 74:54 minutes. Ted Hockridge really needs no introduction to readers of this magazine. He is on top form in this collection from two fine Decca albums.

The Ultimate MATT MONRO Portrait Of My Love, My Kind Of Girl, Walk Away, I Can’t Stop Loving You, Softly As I Leave You, Gonna Build A Mountain, And We Were Lovers, From Russia With Love, etc… 24 tracks EMI 560 9392. Matt Monro died on 7 February 1985, so EMI have brought out a 20^th Anniversary selection of his greatest hits. If you are a Matt Monro fan, you’ll probably have most of this music already, although five tracks are stated to be the first time on CD. There is no doubt that he was one of the best singers in Britain during the peak of his popularity, and it was a tragedy that he died at the young age of 52. I can remember meeting him at London’s "Talk Of The Town" when Matt was a guest on one of the Tony Bennett TV shows which also featured the Robert Farnon Orchestra. He was very modest and friendly, especially when I ‘lent’ him 4p to make a telephone call! Full marks for the CD booklet, with some fine photos that will delight Matt’s fans. David Ades

HYDE PARK SHUFFLE - Australian Light Music Jamaican Rumba, Serenata Piccola, Ocean Road, Down Longford Way, Argentina, Romanze, From San Domingo, Bobsleigh, Waiata Poi, Blue Mountains, Rebecca's Dream, Legend, Lifesavers' March from Sydney Suite, Serenade for Small Orchestra, Hyde Park Shuffle, Caribbean Dance: A New Jamaican Rumba. (Australia) ABC Classics. 476272-2. The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra conducted by Guy Noble plays a selection of light music composed by Australians and others who have called Australia home for many years. The composers include Arthur Benjamin, Henry Krips, Eric Jupp, Alfred Hill, William Lovelock, George Dreyfus, Mike Kenny, Katherine Parker, Frederick Whaite, Tommy Tycho and Jack Grimsley. This is the first recording of light music by Australians to be released in many years and provides over an hour of musical delights. It is to be hoped that more CDs of this type of music by Australian composers will be produced in time to come. Barry Freeman

Here is a real surprise – a new (2004) CD of genuine Light Music from Down Under! Curiously, there are none of Percy Grainger’s originals – although he did arrange the Katharine Parker piece – but three by Arthur Benjamin and four excellent compositions (plus an arrangement of Alfred Hill’s Waiata Poi) by Viennese émigré Henry Krips. The latter was the brother of Josef, who was well known in Britain as a conductor after WWII. London ex-pat Eric Jupp makes an appearance with the familiar Bobsleigh whilst Jack Grimsley’s Rebecca’s Dream has more than a slight hint of the Farnon sound about it. There are fine performances throughout from the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under Guy Noble and a recording quality to match. It’s rather unfortunate that there is only just an hour’s worth of music, which is not particularly generous, considering the full price of this most enjoyable disc. Tony Clayden

THE BEST OF VIKKI CARR. Can't Take My Eyes Off You; It Must Be Him; With Pen In Hand; You Don't Have To Say You Love Me; He's A Rebel; For Once In My Life; Plus 14 Other Songs. EMI GOLD 7243 8 75328 2 3. 53:16 mins. Vikki Carr is the kind of singer for whom compilers must have a difficult if not impossible task of finding songs outside of her hits. The reason is simple: Carr's albums always seem to build naturally to a conclusion in a graceful, subtle way. That said, this CD succeeds where no others have: it showcases her abilities in different music forms so well as to be an album in itself. Standards such as "I Only Have Eyes For You" stand side by side with then current hits such as "For All We Know" (the only non-EMI recording) and a meltingly beautiful "Alfie" which is absolutely the most perfect rendition of this song. The CD remastering is breathtakingly alive. The booklet is everything one could ask for with an accurate biography of Carr by Ossie Dales of "In Tune" magazine. There are also adorable photos of Vikki Carr taken at the time of these great recordings. The CD label and the back tray have images of Ms. Carr's beautiful eyes. So take out your check book and, with pen in hand, buy this fabulous album by one of America's greatest natural treasures: VIKKI CARR! And remember, with Vikki Carr, the best is always yet to come! Richard Jessen

SIGMUND GROVEN, Harmonica with Norwegian Radio Orchestra conducted by Christian Eggen "Philharmonica": Sailor’s Song (Milhaud), Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra (Villa-Lobos), Modulations for Harmonica and Orchestra (Rypdal), Legends for Harmonica and Strings (Sigmund Groven), Seeking your Face (Sivertsen). (Norway) Grappa PPC 9050. This latest CD from RFS member Sigmund Groven illustrates just how far the harmonica has advanced as an instrument which deserves to be taken seriously. Sigmund worked closely with the late, great Tommy Reilly who is still regarded as being the finest performer on the instrument during the last century. If you have problems in finding this CD, you can write direct to Sigmund Groven at: PO Box 5167, Majorstua, N0302, Oslo, Norway.

DIANA KRALL: THE GIRL IN THE OTHER ROOM. Stop This World; The Girl In The Other Room; I'm Coming Through; Temptation; Plus 8 Other Tracks. Verve B0001826-12. 55:36. This is a prime example of an extraordinarily gifted artist bending differently difficult songs and molding them into their own distinct styles. Thus it is with this CD containing songs by such diverse creators as Elvis Costello, Mose Allison, Tom Wait and Joni Mitchell. The set opens with Mose Allison's "Stop This World," an appropriately angry song about the underside of the music and celebrity business. Of the five songs by the husband and wife team of Elvis Costello and Diana Krall, the final four are among the very best, especially "Narrow Daylight" with its prayerful thoughts for personal strength in times of anxiety. The gloves come off again for a rousing blues number "Love Me Like A Man" with Krall's hard swinging vocal urging onward Anthony Wilson's blazing guitar solo. This is an extremely moody departure for Diana Krall but it should be mentioned that this is a very rewarding experience of hearing this still fresh voice in new material worth her enormous talents. Richard Jessen

JOHN WILSON & HIS ORCHESTRA: DANCE DATE Medley: Nice Work If You Can Get It, The Best Things In Life Are Free, Shall We Dance, A Fine Romance, You’re The Cream In My Coffee (Arr: Pete Moore) - Medley: Just In Time, Get Out Of Town, I Thought About You (Arr: Andrew Cottee) - Invitation (Arr: Andrew Cottee) - Medley: Easy To Love, S’Wonderful, Our Love Affair, In The Middle Of A Kiss, Chicago (Arr: Colin Skinner) - The Boy Next Door (Arr: Andrew Cottee) - Lady In Red (Arr: Alan Roper) - Medley: The Shadow Of Your Smile, You Must Believe In Spring, I’ll Close My Eyes (Arr: Mark Nightingale) - Medley: Who’s Sorry Now, Whispering, Three Little Words (Arr: Roland Shaw) - One Night Of Love (Arr: Andrew Cottee) - Blue Tango (Arr: Alan Roper) - Medley: The Carioca, Cherry Blossom Pink & Apple White, April In Portugal, My Heart Belongs to Daddy (Arr: Pete Moore) - I Only Have Eyes For You (Arr: Roland Shaw) - Medley: How About You, I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm, Thou Swell (Arr: Andrew Cottee) - Mambo No.5 (Arr: Roland Shaw) - Medley: Hello Young Lovers, I Whistle A Happy Tune, Shall We Dance? (Arr: Pete Moore.) Vocalion CDSA 6812. Mike Dutton at Vocalion kindly supplied a ‘test’ CD so that we could hear some of this new collection at our April RFS meeting, but the CD itself was not due to be released until the end of May. The versatility of John Wilson seems to know no bounds! He appears willing to tackle all kinds of music, from the classics to jazz, and this latest CD contains some very fine playing indeed (hopefully the booklet will identify the musicians). The arrangers are some of the very best in the business, and if you fancy adding some high quality dance music to your music library you need look no further. David Ades

ELGAR/WALKER – PIANO CONCERTO, etc. David Owen Norris – Piano, BBC Concert Orchestra/David Lloyd-Jones Dutton Epoch CDLX 7148. Some years ago, the British composer Anthony Payne realised the sketches for Elgar’s third symphony, which had remained unfinished at the composer’s death. Concurrently, Sir Edward had also been working on a piano concerto which he had started 21 years earlier, and which was in a similarly incomplete state. Now, another British composer – Robert Walker – (no doubt influenced and encouraged by the universal acclaim received by the Payne work), has pieced together the composer’s pile of sketches and realised a performing version of the concerto. The World Premiere recording of the completed work is a joint enterprise between BBC Radio 3, the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Elgar Society. Lack of space precludes more than the briefest of comment. The work is certainly impressive, although hearing Elgarian themes performed on a keyboard will take more than a little getting-used-to; (the slow movement only has appeared on a previous recording in a performing version by Dr Percy Young, although Walker’s musical treatment is quite different). Only time will tell whether this work will become universally accepted and take its place as a standard item in the orchestral repertoire, as has the Elgar/Payne Third Symphony. The opportunity has been taken to include a number of other previously unrecorded works and amongst these, of particular interest to JIM readers, is a suite based on four of Elgar’s songs, orchestrated by none other than Haydn Wood, together with a further song in an orchestration by Henry Geehl. Mike Dutton is to be congratulated on this initiative, which deserves every success. Tony Clayden

FRANK SINATRA: SINATRA AND SWINGIN' BRASS. Goody, Goody; They Can't Take That away From Me; I Get A Kick Out Of You; Pick Yourself Up; Plus 8 Other Songs. FRANK SINATRA WITH NEAL HEFTI AND HIS ORCHESTRA. Reprise 9 46971-1. 30:32. This brightly swinging recording is one of Frank Sinatra's best from the early 1960's, pairing Sinatra for the first time with the great Neal Hefti. Recorded and released in 1962, the songs are selected from the great American songbook. Gleefully we start off with an exuberant take on "Goody, Goody" leading up to a slyly witty "I'm Beginning To See The Light" and a naughty "Don'cha Go 'Way Mad" with its over population of "babies." "I Get A Kick Out Of You" is the standout track, so propulsively fast that it leaves the listener panting from exhaustion. Even ballads such as "Serenade in Blue" swing lightly. The charts by Neal Hefti are masterpieces of the arranger's art, dovetailing the rhythmic verve of Sinatra's always superb vocals. The band is overwhelmingly great, playing Hefti's charts with heartfelt enthusiasm. The remastering onto CD is very lifelike which makes this short CD well worth owning just for the arrangements, singing and performances. Richard Jessen

FILM MUSIC OF STANLEY BLACK Battle of the Sexes, Sands of the Desert, Stormy Crossing, Blood of the Vampire, Jack the Ripper, Three Steps to the Gallows, The Young Ones BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Barry Wordsworth Chandos CHAN 10306, 70:20 mins. Late arrival - review to follow in our next issue.

Vocalion has issued an impressive list of new CDs for April and May. Details of some are given below, but we had to close for press before review copies were received for them.

FRANK CHACKSFIELD EVENING IN LONDON: A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square (Sherwin; Maschwitz), Hometown (Carr; Kennedy), The touch of your lips (Noble), There’s a lovely lake in London (Evans; Damerell; Butler), Drink to me only with thine eyes (trad; arr. Young), You’re blasé (Hamilton), The bells of St. Mary’s (Adams), I’ll close my eyes (Reid), Lambeth Walk (Gay), The very thought of you (Noble), Cruising down the river (Beadell; Tallerton), The London I love (Purcell; Posford) Oranges and lemons (trad; arr. Young), Goodnight, sweetheart (Noble; Campbell; Connelly). LOVE LETTERS IN THE SAND: April love (Fain; Webster), Fascination (Manning; Marchetti) Please (Rainger; Robin), Your love is my love (Edwards), The banks of the Seine (Richards; Hirsch) They didn’t believe me (Kern), So rare (Sharpe; Herst), Love letters in the sand (Coots; Kenny; Kenny), East of the sun (Brooks; Bowman), Catalan sunshine (Patacano; Martino), You are too beautiful (Rodgers), The breeze and I (Lecuona; Camarata; Stillman). Vocalion CDLK 4279.

EDMUNDO ROS & HIS ORCHESTRA DANCE AGAIN Patricia – mambo (Prado; Marcus; Delanoe; Salvet), Tropical merengue (Munoz; Elow; Marsh), Tea for two – cha cha (Caesar; Youmans), Miami Beach rumba (Fields; Gamse; Camacho), Cocktails for two (Johnston; Coslow), I came, I saw, I conga’d – conga (Cavanaugh; Redmond; Weldon), Cherry pink and apple blossom white (Louiguy; David; Larue), The wedding samba (Ellestein; Small; Liebowitz), Mambo number fi ve (Prado), Blue tango (Anderson; Parish), When the moon comes over the mountain (Woods; Johnson; Smith), Colonel Bogey – marengue (Alford) PERFECT FOR DANCING The nearness of you – cha cha (Carmichael; Washington) La vie en rose – baião (Louiguy) The rose in her hair – waltz (Dublin; Warren) Orchids in the moonlight – tango (Youmans; Kahn; Eliscu) Dolores – quick-step (Loesser; Alter) April in Portugal – cha cha (Ferrao; Kennedy) National emblem – samba (arr. Ros) Under the bridges of Paris – mambo (Scotto; Roda) Ramona – waltz (Wayne; Gilbert) Jealousy – quick-step (Gade) La rosita – tango (Dupont; Stuart) Estrellita – cha cha (Ponce). Vocalion CDLK 4280.

RONNIE ALDRICH TOGETHERNESS Airport Love theme, Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, Arizona, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Sugar, Sugar, Daydream, Venus, Because, United We Stand, Girl On The Via Veneto, Let It Be, My Mind Reminds Me (Autumn Concerto), Something, Don’t Play That Song (You Lied), The Long And Winding Road, Paper Mache, Make It With You, Snowbird, Cecilia, They Long To Be Closer To You, Riders On The Rain, My Baby Loves Lovin’, The Sound Of Silence, Sun-Dance. Vocalion CDLK 4283.

STANLEY BLACK SPAIN - VOLUME 2: Spanish Gypsy Dance (Marquina), La Paloma (Yradier; arr. Black), El Gato Montez (Penella), Andalucia (Lecuona), Rumba (Trad; arr. El Sali; Pena; de Cordoba), March from ‘The Captain from Castille’ (Newman), Prelude to Act IV from ‘Carmen’ (Bizet) Solamente una vez (You belong to my heart) (Lara; Gilbert), Concierto de Aranjuez (Rodrigo; Vidre), España (Chabrier) Stanley Black conducting The London Festival Orchestra. MORE TOP TANGOS: The Pearl Fishers (Bizet; arr. Black; Cormon; Carre), Poema (Melfi ; Bianco), Violetta (Richter; Mohr), Blaue Himmel (Nightfall) (Rixna), Tango delle rose (Schrier; Bottero), Tango notturno (Beckman; Borgmann), Dark eyes (Trad; arr. Black), Serenade in the night (Bixio; Cherubini; Kennedy), El Amanecer (Firpo) Caminito (Filiberto), Yira! Yira! (Discepolo), La Cumparsita (Rodriguez; arr. Black) Stanley Black and his Orchestra Vocalion CDLK 4286.

MANTOVANI ALL TIME ROMANTIC HITS: Together (DeSylva; Brown; Henderson), Deep purple (DeRose; Parish), The very thought of you (Noble), Tribute to Maurice Chevalier: Gigi (Lerner; Loewe) – Louise (Robin; Whiting) – Thank heaven for little girls (Lerner; Loewe), Valentine (Christine; Willemetz; Valentine), Isn’t it romantic (Rodgers; Hart), Dearly beloved (Kern; Mercer), You were meant for me (Brown; Freed) Tribute to Noel Coward: London Pride – Someday I’ll fi nd you – Zigeuner – Mad dogs and Englishmen – I’ll see you again (Coward). MANTOVANI BY MANTOVANI: Cara mia (Trapani; Lange), Manhattan lullaby (A. P. Mantovani), Piccolo Bolero (A. P. Mantovani), Serenata d’amore (A. P. Mantovani), Italia mia (A. P. Mantovani), Midnight waltz (Lambrecht), Last summer (A. P. Mantovani), Deserted shore (A. P. Mantovani), Our last affair (A. P. Mantovani), Theme for a Western (A. P. Mantovani). Vocalion CDLK 4287.

RONNIE ALDRICH his Two Pianos & Orchestra with The Ladybirds REFLECTIONS: Summer’s end (Aldrich), Never gonna fall in love again (Carmen), Times of your life (Nichols; Lane), Spanish eyes (Snyder; Kaempfert; Singleton), Save your kisses for me (Hiller; Sheriden; Lee), How insensitive (Jobim; Gimbel; De Moraes), Adagio (Trad; arr. Aldrich), On days like these (Black; Jones), Scarlet ribbons (Danzig; Segal), Love is a many splendoured thing (Webster; Fain), All by myself (Carmen). WITH LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING: A little love and understanding, Evergreen from ‘A Star is Born’, For ever and ever (and ever), Feelings, Dancing Queen, When a child is born, When forever has gone, Nadia’s theme, Theme from ‘King Kong’, Summer of my life, Aria, Gabriella. Vocalion CDLK 4288.

MANTOVANI HOLLYWOOD: ‘Born Free’ (Barry; Black), Lara’s Theme from ‘Doctor Zhivago’ (Jarre), ‘Goldfinger’ (Barry; Bricusse; Newley), ‘Ben Hur’ (Rozsa) ‘A Taste of Honey’ (Scott; Marlow), This is My Song from ‘The Countess from Hong Kong’ (Chaplin), ‘You Only Live Twice’ (Barry; Bricusse), ‘The Magnifi cent Seven’ (Bernstein), Tara’s Theme from ‘Gone with the Wind’ (Steiner), ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ (Jarre), ‘Zorba the Greek’ (Theodorakis), ‘The Bible’ (Mayuzumi). THE WORLD OF MANTOVANI: Where is love (Bart), The Windmills of your mind (Legrand; Bergman; Bergman), My way (Francois; Revaux; Anka), Theme from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (Rota), My Cherie amour (Cosby; Wonder; Moy), Theme from ‘The Virginian’ (Faith) Where did our summers go (Lai; Black), Theme from ‘Elvira Madigan’ (Mozart; arr. Milner), I’m a better man (Bacharach; David), Aquarius (Rado; Ragni; MacDermot), Quentin’s Theme (Cobert), Love me tonight (Pilat; Panzeri; Pace; Mason). Vocalion CDLK 4289.

THE TED HEATH ORCHESTRA A SALUTE TO GLENN MILLER & TED HEATH SALUTES THE DUKE Vocalion CDLK 4290.

ERIC JUPP & HIS ORCHESTRA THE ROCKIN’ STRINGS Try A Little Tenderness, Tree In The Meadow, The Very Thought Of You,The Two Of Us, If You Change Your Mind, We’ll Meet Again, I’m In A Dancing Mood, Georgia On My Mind, Garden In The Rain, The Touch Of Your Lips, If I Had You, Goodnight Sweetheart. MUSIC FOR SWEETHEARTS: Let Me Call You Sweetheart, How Deep Is The Ocean, The Very Thought Of You, 'Deed I Do, The Kiss In Your Eyes, If You Were The Only Girl In The World, Moonglow, It’s Magic, Love Walked In, If I Had A Talking Picture Of You, You Are My Heart’s Delight, I Love You Truly. Vocalion CDLK 4294.

GUY LOMBARDO & HIS ROYAL CANADIANS DRIFTING AND DREAMING & DANCING ROOM ONLY Vocalion CDLK 4295.

RAY MARTIN MILLION DOLLAR MELODIES: Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing, Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend, True Love, High Noon, The High And The Mighty, Colonel Bogey and The River Kwai March, Three Coins In The Fountain, The Man That Got Away, Around The World, Ballad Of Davy Crockett, Unchained Melody, (Love Is) The Tender Trap. VIBRATIONS: To Elizabeth, To Grace, To Rita, To Jean, To Zsa Zsa, To Gina, To Marilyn, To Cyd, To Kim, To Diana, To Audrey, To Debra. Vocalion CDLK 4296.

VICTOR SILVESTER & HIS SILVER STRINGS BEWITCHED • THE MUSIC OF RICHARD RODGERS Shall We Dance?, Mountain Greenery, Some Enchanted Evening, If I Loved You, The Lady Is A Tramp, People Will Say We’re In Love, No Other Love, Manhattan, Bewitched, Isn’t It Romantic?, This Can’t Be Love, Dancing On The Ceiling, Blue Moon, I Didn’t Know What Time It Was, I Could Write A Book, My Heart Stood Still. YOU DO SOMETHING TO ME • THE MUSIC OF COLE PORTER You Do Something To Me, Just One Of Those Things, Love For Sale, In The Still Of The Night, Rosalie, Begin The Beguine, I’ve Got My Eyes On You, Allez-vous en, Go Away, Easy To Love, So In Love, I Love You Samantha, It’s Alright With Me, I Get A Kick Out Of You, I’ve Got You Under My Skin, After You, True Love. Vocalion CDLK 4297.

MORTON GOULD SHOWCASE, INTERPLAY & OTHER WORKS INTERPLAY The original set MX 289 (1948) ROBIN HOOD DELL ORCHESTRA OF PHILADELPHIA Interplay for Piano and Orchestra (American Concertette) Morton Gould (piano) MORTON GOULD SHOWCASE The original set MM 706 (1947) MORTON GOULD & HIS ORCHESTRA Two Guitars (Russian folksong), Through Your Eyes to Your Heart, The Birth of the Blues, The Peanut Vendor, Georgia on My Mind, Begin the Beguine, Blues in the Night Limehouse Blues, Time on my Hands, Masquerade MORTON GOULD IN CONCERT The original set C 96 MORTON GOULD & HIS ORCHESTRA The Donkey Serenade, Pavanne, Ay, Ay, Ay, Dark Eyes MORTON GOULD & HIS SYMPHONIC BAND The original set MM 743 (1948) Fourth of July, Home for Christmas, Yankee Doodle Vocalion CDUS 3030, total timing 76:02 mins.

STANLEY BLACK conducting The London Festival Orchestra & Chorus A TRIBUTE TO CHAPLIN: Smile from ‘Modern Times’ (Chaplin), Texas from ‘Chaplin Revue’ (Chaplin), Who’ll buy my violets (La Violetera) from ‘City Lights’ (Padilla), Morning promenade from ‘The Kid’ (Donaldson; Kahn), Medley from ‘The Great Dictator’ (Chaplin; Willson) Napoli March – Falling Star – Ze Boulevardier Theme from ‘Limelight’ (Chaplin), Titina from ‘Modern Times’(Daniderff), Mandolin Serenade from ‘A King in New York’(Chaplin), Green lantern rag from ‘Chaplin Revue’ (Chaplin) This is my song from ‘A Countess from Hong Kong’ (Chaplin.) DIMENSIONS IN SOUND: Fantasy Impromptu (Chopin; arr. Black), Take the ‘A’ train (Strayhorn), Alfie (Bacharach; David), These boots are made for walking (Hazelwood), ‘Exodus’ – main theme (Gold), La bamba (Trad. arr. Black), Michelle (Lennon; McCartney), Money to burn (Heneker), A taste of honey (Scott; Marlow), Three blind mice (arr. Black) Vocalion CDLK 4278.

ARTIE SHAW "featuring his inspired clarinet" Serenade to a savage (Garland, Battle), Softly, as in a morning sunrise (Romberg), Rosalie (Porter) with Tony Pastor (vocal), What is this thing called love? (Porter), Begin the beguine (Porter), Copenhagen (Melrose, Davis), Zigeuner (Coward), I surrender dear (Clifford, Barris), Hop, skip and jump (Carleton, Shaw), These foolish things (Marvell, Strachey, Link), Time on my hands (Adamson, Gordon, Yeomans), Doctor Livingstone I presume (Shaw) with Gramercy Five, Frenesi (Dominguez), Easy to love (Porter), Back bay shuffl e (McRae, Shaw), Stardust (Parish, Carmichael), Moonglow (DeLange, Mills, Hudson), Traffic jam (McRae, Shaw), Dancing in the dark (Dietz, Schwartz), Oh, lady be good (I & G Gershwin), Don’t take your love from me (Nemo) with Helen Forrest, Blues Part 1 (Shaw), Blues Part 2 (Shaw), The Grabtown grapple (Shaw, Harding) with Gramercy Five) Vocalion CDVS 1943, total time 75:08 mins.

ANTONIN DVORAK – American Suite – Prague Waltzes etc. Naxos 8.557352.

PYOTR TCHAIKOVSKY – Souvenir de Florence – Andante Cantabile - Anton Arensky – Variations of a theme of Tchaikovsky. Forum FRC9104

The young Dvorak, having served an apprenticeship, became duly qualified to practice as a pork butcher. However, it is our good fortune that the music profession had more appeal than the lure of a career in the meat trade! He rose to become a musical giant, on a par with his mentor Johannes Brahms; internationally acclaimed, he achieved great success in the USA and particularly in Britain, where his popularity has remained constant to the present day. It is absolutely true to say that he had a significant influence on a succeeding generation of British composers, notably Charles Villiers Stanford, and in turn the likes of Samuel Coleridge Taylor, Haydn Wood and Montague Phillips; with this new Naxos release it is easy to see why. Here is a collection of orchestral miniatures, although some of these were originally conceived for smaller forces. It must be stressed that this is not what would generally be classed as Light Music, although some of the material certainly has a light character. Whilst not all the items will be familiar, in common with most of Dvorak’s work, they are immediately accessible. I would especially mention the Seven Interludes for Small Orchestra, a relatively early work from the time when he was making a living as a viola player in the Prague Opera Orchestra. If, like me, you are charmed by this ever-tuneful composer, you will need little persuasion to part with just under a fiver for a generous 78 minutes of music.

The other CD, published in 2004 on the Forum label, presents Tchaikovsky in a rather different light from the ‘crash-bang-wallop’ of some of his large-scale orchestral works. Souvenir de Florence was originally written for string sextet and the Andante Cantabile is taken from the String Quartet Number 1; both pieces work very well performed by the Chamber String Ensemble here. The imaginative variations by Arensky are based on Legend, one of sixteen children’s songs which make up Tchaikovsky’s Opus 35. The London Primavera under Paul Manley gives a fine performance in the warm acoustic of Rosslyn Hill Chapel, Hampstead, North London. For those who enjoy music for strings, this is well worth just under another fiver! Both these bargains are highly recommended. Tony Clayden

THE COMMODORE GRAND ORCHESTRA conducted by Joseph Muscant FBCD 134 Around the Volga; A Sailor’s Adventure; Black Eyes; Blossom Time; By the Swanee River; Cavalcade; Chu Chin Chow; The Desert Song; Gold and Silver Waltz; Gypsy Moon; Knave of Diamonds; Lazy Pete; Lilac Time; Linke Winke Pot Pourri; Maid of the Mountains; One Hour With You; Pan and the Wood Goblins. You may not have known many tracks from Volume One but you are sure to know much of Volume Two in this terrific collection of tunes by the outstanding Commodore Orchestra with Harry Davidson adding to the fun by occasionally popping up on the organ. With Frank Bristow’s knowledge and Alan Bunting’s amazing restorative powers we have another delectable light music winner to please the ear. The Commodore was a large pre-war cinema in Hammersmith which later ended up as a Mecca bingo hall but in its heyday was used for broadcasting as well as showing films. The resident orchestra was conducted in turn by Joseph Muscant and Harry Davidson and was up there among the best, as this splendid new CD will testify. Hum along to Noel Coward, Sigmund Romberg, Harold Fraser-Simon, Frederic Norton, Franz Lehar, Paul Lincke and many others. Order direct from Frank Bristow, 2 Cross Street, Brighton 3186, Victoria, Australia or e-mail franbris@ozemail.com Your CD will arrive together with an invoice to be paid direct to a stated British address or you can donate £13.50 to Paypal or send an international money order for 29.30 Australian dollars. No cheques accepted because of high bank charges. Edmund Whitehouse

THE FOUR FRESHMEN "In session" It's all right with me, My one and only love, Skylark, If I only had a brain, Early Autumn, Something's gotta give, How do you keep the music playing, That old feeling, September song, If I had you, You've changed TFF7248, total timing 42:15 mins. "Live in Holland" Young and foolish, Invitation, I'm gonna go fishin¹, Indian summer, Every time we say good-bye, Angel eyes, You call it madness, I call it love, After you've gone, Day in day out, Poinciana, There never will be another you, Day by day, It's a blue world, Route 66 TFF7656, 45:22 mins. This Group has been making wonderful music for fifty years, during that time over twenty singers have kept their sound alive. The latest line-up is as good as any previous outing. They have a fan club of close to 3000 world-wide and keep their members happy by recording CD's such as these two. (Information@www.FourFreshmen.com). "In session" contains songs the group has not previously recorded. The second CD revisits songs tackled before, this time augmented with Dutch players led by Henk Meutgeert, a stalwart of the Dutch jazz scene, perhaps most notably with The Metropole Orchestra. Information on who plays what and where is not given but the musicianship could not be finer! The first named CD has been over dubbed by the Four Freshmen themselves. You may have the original Capitol and Creative world issues but you will thoroughly enjoy the input by the Dutch players on the live album and the other CD has new titles given the unique Four Freshmen vocalising and playing. When the "Freshmen" first formed they more than held their own in competition with such groups as "The Hi-Los" and The John Lasalle Quartet; with those groups no longer recording, the "Freshmen" are an oasis in a vast selection of mediocre sound alike "Rap" groups. Paul Clatworthy

TRAFALGAR 200 – Zehle: Viscount Nelson, Elms: The Battle of Trafalgar, Siebert: Three Jolly Sailormen, Haydn Wood: The Seafarer, Nestico: All Through the Night, Grainger: Molly on the Shore, Trad arr. Hines: Amazing Grace, Farnon: Rhapsody on A Minstrel Boy, Knox: Sea Songs, Dunn: The Admiral’s Regiment, arr. Henry Wood: Fantasia on British Sea Songs The Band of HM Royal Marines, Plymouth. DOM Major P A Weston MMus ARCM LRSM MinstLM RM Narration: Admiral the Lord Boyce GCB OBE DL. Clovelly CLCD13705 75:00mins. If you have ever wondered, as I have, about the significance and relevance of the extended clarinet cadenza in Sir Henry Wood’s Fantasia on British Sea Songs you will find a suggested rationale contained in the notes accompanying this latest release from Clovelly – a splendid and handsome tribute to Britain’s greatest naval hero Admiral Lord Nelson. This popular feature from the Last Night of the Proms was created by Sir Henry in 1905 to mark the century of the Battle of Trafalgar. As it includes a full panoply of traditional naval bugle calls plus an additional sea song proceeding The Saucy Arethuse the playing time is 17:20 compared with Paul Daniel’s version with the English Northern Philharmonic on Naxos 8.553981 which runs to 14:34. There’s a fine sensitive oboe solo featured in Tom Bowling in Lieu of the usual cello and a deft and beautifully controlled Sailors Hornpipe. Haydn Wood’s finely wrought The Seafarer will be familiar to most light music enthusiasts but no less welcome here for that but Thomas Powell Knox’s arrangement of traditional nautical melodies will be new to many. He was for 16 years until retirement in 1985 chief composer and arranger for the US Marine Band. His treatment of these familiar tunes is in a more modern idiom and its distinctly more flamboyant and brasher style contrasts somewhat to the more restrained and less arranged treatment by his two British counterparts. Albert Elms was a former Royal Marines musician and his best known piece became the musical description The Battle of Trafalgar which was premiered at a Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund for Children Concert held at the Royal Albert Hall in 1975 with a narration written by Richard Baker and spoken by both him and the popular film actor Kenneth More. On this recording this same simple and eloquent narration is effectively enunciated by Admiral the Lord Boyce GCB OBE DL, a former first sea Lord, Chief of Defence Staff and currently holding the appointment of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. Of the shorter pieces on this disc a particularly warm welcome to one of Robert Farnon’s many fine arrangements in the form of a Rhapsody based upon ‘The Minstrel Boy’. There’s also an exhilarating and sprightly Molly on the Shore and the whole programme is complimented by two fine marches by maestros of their craft – Wilhelm Zehle’s ‘Viscount Nelson’ and Vivian Dunn’s ‘The Admirals Regiment’. The recording, full and vivid, was made in partnership with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution at HMS Raleigh Torpaint, Cornwall as recently as mid-January 2005 and its been possible to write this review barely four weeks later – a remarkable and commendably fast process from recording to release! The Royal Marines Band play to the manor born so even if you have perhaps only a hint of the sea in your blood I would urge you to consider this impressive disc particularly in the year in which we celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar! Roger Hyslop

AARON COPLAND Suites from "Rodeo" and "Billy The Kid" ; GERSHWIN "Porgy & Bess" (arr. Robert Russell Bennett) Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Farrer Sanctuary CD RSN 3042. If these classic American works are missing from your collection, here’s your opportunity to fill the gap. This is a welcome reissue of recordings from 1993.

VINTAGE TANGO TONIGHT 25 tracks featuring Alfred Hause,, Hans Carste, Tito Schipa, Louis Ferrari, Francisoc Canaro, Robert Renard and other legendary names mainly from the 1930s – plus Sidney Torch ("Jealousy"). Sanctuary Living Era CD AJA 5561. Ralph Harvey had a hand in the compilation, and Alan Bunting did the sound restoration, so you know that this is a quality product. If this kind of light/dance music is your cup of tea, you’ll be delighted!

KYLE EASTWOOD "Paris blues" Big noise from Winnetka, Marrakech, Muse, Le point royal, Solferino, Cosmo, Paris blue, Big noise (remix) Marrakech (remix) (USA) CANDID CCD79789, 55:32 mins. available in UK from Compact Disc Club. Probably hoping for greater sales, Kyle waters down the jazz of his previous CD and dips his toe into near "Pop"; I hope this is just an experiment, I like it but purists from either camp may be wary! His six self composed titles explore sounds that Herbie Hancock and Stanley Clarke visited during their electronic recordings. "Muse" and the title track are outstanding and the synthesised string fade on "Marrakech" total magic. It's not synthesiser dominated, brass, horn and piano also get space to improvise, Kyle's bass playing is outstanding and Clint (Kyle's Dad) does a bit of whistling! Gimmicky but tremendous fun. "Big noise" doing its best to outdo the Henry Mancini version. I doubt he needs the money but if sales sponsor more out and out jazz next time around more power to his elbow! Paul Clatworthy

Among the many new releases sent to us by EMI, the following may be of interest to readers:

THE VERY BEST OF SANDIE SHAW 26 nostalgic tracks for pop fans of the 1960s EMI 8661102.

SOHO LOUNGE HEAT 2 Loose Collar Man, Down a Dark Street, Baggage Boy, Hop Skip and Jump, Leagueliner (Ray Davies); Disco Tek, Rhythmic Action (Syd Dale); Fat Man, Time Out (Dick Walter); Lady in White (Dennis Farnon); Mad Mendoza (Trevor Duncan); plus works by Steve Gray, Bill Geldard, Tony Kinsey, Bill Loose, Vic Flick, Alan Hawkshaw, Sam Fonteyn and Dominic Sands. EMI 560 6312. You can call it ‘Test Card’ or ‘Lounge’ music, but the composers’ names will let you know what to expect! All the tracks come from either the Amophonic or Boosey & Hawkes Recorded Music Libraries of the 1970s.

THE ULTIMATE AL MARTINO 24 tracks EMI 563 8922.

THE ORIGINAL 60s LOVE ALBUM 25 tracks by The Animals, Bobby Vee, Beach Boys, Manfred Mann, The Hollies, Adam Faith and many more. EMI 873 4882.

FRANK SINATRA "Live from the Golden Nugget" This is one of a Las Vegas Centennial series (see below) recently available from EMI associated with great performances at Las Vegas by the finest vocalists of the period. They are all so well-known and admired, that further comments seem superfluous! EMI 5601 452.

DEAN MARTIN "Live from The Sands" 5602 292.
WAYNE NEWTON "Mr. Las Vegas!" 5601 442.
NANCY WILSON "Live at The Sands" 8759 382.
BOBBY DARIN "Live at The Flamingo" 8759 392.
LOUIS PRIMA & KEELY SMITH "Live at The Sahara" 8759 372.
Various Artists "High Rollers!" 8759 372.
Various Artists "Live from Las Vegas" 5601 472.

THE BEACH BOYS "The Platinum Collection" 3-CD set by the famous US group who managed to create a distinct style that made them instantly recognizable. This was largely due to the talented Brian Wilson, and it is good to see that his work is still receiving praise today. EMI 571 3452.

The Very Best of JULIE LONDON 2-CD collection containing 50 of her best-known numbers. EMI 312 1292.

"The ultimate DAKOTA STATON" The folks who live on the hill, Misty, Too close for comfort, The very thought of you, Angel eyes, God bless the child, They all laughed, Whispering grass, Anything goes, I hear music, The thrill is gone, Give me the simple life, Travelin¹ light, How high the moon, My heart beats like a hammer, On green dolphin street, The late late show, September in the rain, Avalon, Round midnight, Body and soul, Love walked in, My funny valentine, Willow weep for me. EMI 860 3542, 64:23 mins. ‘Who arranged it?’ has been my main draw when collecting vocal records. Dakota Staton has worked with some of the best, Nelson Riddle, Sid Feller, Manny Alban and Benny Carter naming a few. "Billboard" said of her "She can belt, she can whisper, she can be cute and she knows what to do with a lyric. Capitol records launched her in 1954 and she made several LP's getting in to the charts with "The late late show". This fine collection only repeats three tracks contained on the "Two for one" CD previously released thanks to Ray Purslow at The Record Centre in Birmingham. No arranger credits are present on the "promo" sent to me but I know from LP's I have that at least three tracks are the work of Sid Feller who often used the muted trumpet of Jonah Jones with great effect. There is some nice string work on "Whispering grass" The printed titles are not in the same order as the CD which may be corrected when finally released. A great opportunity for Dakota's fans to replace aged LP's! Paul Clatworthy

DVD: CHARLES AZNAVOUR and LIZA MINELLI in Concert at the Palais des Congrès, Paris in 1992. EMI 544 5149, 137 mins. Music DVDs are now growing very fast in popularity, but I have to confess that this is the first one I have studied closely. A promotional copy arrived from EMI, and I must admit that I found most of it highly entertaining. The picture quality and sound are both fine, and the little extras that we expect with DVDs seem to be there, although I find that the main hurdle is to ensure that things such as unwanted subtitles are switched off, otherwise they can become tiresome! If either of these famous singers appeal to you, I think you are unlikely to be disappointed with this souvenir of a memorable ‘live’ concert. David Ades

ALICE MARY SMITH: Symphony in A minor; Symphony in C minor; Andante for Clarinet and Orchestra Angela Malsbury (clarinet) London Mozart Players conducted by Howard Shelley Chandos CHAN 10283 66.00 mins. We don’t often stray into the realms of purely symphonic music but I think this latest release from Chandos fully deserves our attention. Alice Mary Smith was a Victorian composer born in 1839 and, as Ian Graham-Jones mentions in his informative notes, she was notable in being the first British woman to have composed and performed a symphony – indeed she wrote by far the greatest number of orchestral works of any 19^th century British female composer. Sadly her life was cut short by typhoid fever and she died at the early age of 45 in 1884. The two symphonies included on this disc are certainly a revelation being exceedingly well crafted and structured examples, rich in melodic invention which both beguiles and stimulates the ear. There are occasional hints of Mendelssohn as one would expect, as there are indeed in some of Sir Arthur Sullivan’s orchestral music, but these are strong confident symphonies which certainly make a positive and lasting impression. Chandos deserve our gratitude for rediscovering the music of a long lost composer who certainly never warranted such neglect, but sadly we seem very dependent on commercial recording companies to perform this vital and important role of disinterring musical treasures such as this since the BBC with five ‘in house orchestras’ in tow seem to display little interest or make any great effort in this important field. To return to this new release the recording, full and vivid, was made at St. Silas Kentish Town and the London Mozart Players under Howard Shelley play immaculately so this enterprising and rewarding disc earns a strong commendation. Alice Mary Smith could not possibly have stronger advocates than she receives here and I do urge you to give her a try! Roger Hyslop

STEVE TYRELL: THIS GUY'S IN LOVE. Isn't It Romantic; This Guy's In Love With You; The Nearness Of You; Just In Time; Plus 10 Other Songs. Columbia CK-89238. 49:16. Steve Tyrell has carved out a comfortable niche for himself as this generation's ballas singer of the classic American songbook. Things get intothe lightly swinging vein with "Isn't It Romantic" with the big band and strings backing heard throughout this CD. A lot of pros in the jazz field show up including Clark Terry, Dave Grusin, Randy Brecker and Plas Johnson. Clark Terry plays on four tracks playing both muted trumpet and flugelhorn. He brings a lifetime's experiences with Ellington's music in "Do Nothing 'Till You Hear From Me" and then joins Plas Johnson on "Nevertheless" where he adds to Johnson's honeyed tenor sax with some musically fluid playing on flugelhorn. Burt Bacharach is heard playing piano on two of his songs, the most effective being on the title track "This Guy's In Love With You" sung with more warmth and sensitivity by Tyrell than on any other recording of this beautiful song. Tyrell deserves applause for following the late Ray Charles' lead on "Georgia," sung with a softer and more sensitive approach. Dave Grusin wrote and plays piano on "Love Like Ours" which had to be the most difficult song to record as it was dedicated to Tyrell's wife Stephanie who had died shortly before these sessions. The fantastic arrangements are by Bob Mann, Dave Grusin and Burt Bacharach. This is definitely a rewarding evening's entertainment, to be savoured with one's favourite drink after a tough day! Richard Jessen

Dateline March 2005

ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Conducted by VIC LEWIS "Colours" Ochre, Red, Green, Sienna, Jade, Black, Mauve, Gold, Azure, Yellow, Grey. also "Russian Suite" excerpts, plus Romance for Violin (Lewis, arr. Rob Pronk). Vocalion CDLF 8112. Vic Lewis has been responsible for some exciting recording projects over the years, which have not always received the publicity that they deserved. Possibly "Colours" is a case in point. Originally on an RCA LP released in 1978, it has previously appeared on CD, but this new Vocalion release is far more attractive. Also it has extra tracks which were not on the original album. The idea for "Colours" was basically simple, yet imaginative: invite the leading composers and arrangers of the day to submit new works each depicting a colour, take the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra into the CTS Studios (October 1977), and allow the magic to flow. With contributors such as Malcolm Williamson, Ken Thorne, Kenny Clayton, David Morgan, John Scott, John Cameron and Randy Edelman – plus Robert Farnon (his Irena from "Shalako" renamed Mauve) and Vic Lewis’s own Red (a tribute to Shostakovitch, who had died the previous year) …the project was bound to produce some outstanding results. This is excellent value for money in all respects. David Ades

MANTOVANI Mantovani – By Special Request Guild Light Music GLCD5110 77:46 mins. [full track listing in JIM 161 – page 30]. My wife, who doesn’t share all my light music enthusiasms, likes Mantovani and thought this album sounded very nice. High praise with which I couldn’t agree more as it was in contention for my "CD Of The Year 2004". Three outstanding tracks are Monty’s own September Nocturne, featuring pianist Arthur Sandford; Blue Mantilla, written by Pedro Manilla, who bore more than a passing resemblance to the maestro himself; and Ronald Binge’s Whirlwind [an antidote to Sailing By!]. The trademark string sound was mint fresh in the early ‘50s and rings out on such tracks as my favourite Love’s Roundabout, but 14 of the 26 tracks are pre-Charmaine. I especially like Passing Clouds by Phil Cardew, and The Timbalero with its echoes of the conductor’s Tipica Orchestra. Ian Stewart’s Whistling Boy is in the long tradition of this orchestra’s novelty numbers. There are also film themes and a quartet of those terrific tangos. All in all a wonderful disc – I suppose it would be greedy to ask for second helpings? Peter Burt

MATTHEW CURTIS Orchestral Works VOL 2. Ring in the New; Romanza; Little Dance Suite; Irish Lullaby; Autumn Song; Graduation Day; Sinfonietta; Bon Voyage! Royal Ballet Sinfonia/Gavin Sutherland. Campion Cameo 2035 76:53 mins. Over the past twenty years Matthew Curtis has been delighting us with his melodic gifts. He will not delight the musical establishment, as ever since Sullivan it has down cried the writers of tunes. This disc, splendidly performed by the dream team of Royal Ballet Sinfonia and Gavin Sutherland includes a work of symphonic stature, 27 minutes long, but rather coyly styled Sinfonietta – the Irish inspired slow movement is beautiful indeed, the whole stimulatingly worked out. For the rest we have two examples of the British light concert overture (Ring in the New and Graduation Day) which come well up the order of merit in that huge genre, a march Bon Voyage!, a tribute to Gavin Sutherland (it briefly quotes his musical Little Woman), a Little Dance Suite, concise but with one or two surprises, and three rich slow movements: the early Romanza, the Elgarian Autumn Song and, written especially for this disc, Irish Lullaby. Curtis might not regard all these as light music, but we should salute him for helping keep light music’s traditions alive. Strongly recommended. Philip L Scowcroft

PETER CORK: Through the Looking Glass†; A Man of Kent*. †The Carroll Ensemble/Peter Cork. *Royal Ballet Sinfonia/Gavin Sutherland. Campion Cameo 2031, 51:28 mins. Peter Cork has spent most of his life (he is 77) teaching music (Dudley Moore was a pupil), but he has composed much for radio, TV and film and these concert works make very enjoyable listening. The suite Alice Through the Looking Glass (12 movements, 35 minutes – surely no-one will hear it complete in concert) is performed by ten instruments (wind quintet, string quartet, piano). It was inspired by Tenniel’s drawings, many of which are reproduced in the booklet and, as Peter Cork points out, these can be scary to a youngster. The music, even Jabberwocky, is not scary; generally it is shapely and tongue-in-cheek, whether it is depicting a train, Humpty Dumpty, The White Knight (who is seen as a kind of cowboy) or Alice’s Coronation. A Man of Kent, played by the admirable RBS under Sutherland, is a most attractive addition to the topographical suite repertoire; Romney Marsh and Alkham Valley rely largely on folk elements, the finale, The White Cliffs, reflects Dover’s maritime heritage. Do try this. Philip L Scowcroft

Guild Light Music

GLCD5111 – MIDNIGHT MATINEE

GLCD5112 – REFLECTIONS OF TRANQUILITY

As promised, here are two more GUILD releases, which bring the current total to a ‘round dozen’ – incredibly, these have all appeared within the space of 12 months. Midnight Matinee is the subtitle of Volume 2 of the 1950s, which introduces a whole new clutch of composers and orchestras. It begins with the eponymous Len Stevens composition, which to my ears is more than a little suggestive of the late Benny Green’s signature tune That’s Entertainment. Amongst the conductors we meet along the way are Hugo Winterhalter, Cyril Ornadel (accompanying the pianist Winifred Atwell) and Nelson Riddle, whose arrangement of The Shadow Waltz by Clive Richardson – alias Paul Dubois – is a far more voluptuous affair than the composer’s original concept; it was one of Riddle’s first recordings for Capitol records. Other orchestras include those of Richard Hayman, Ronnie Pleydell, Geoff Love, Johnny Douglas, Laurie Johnson, Axel Stordahl, Reg Tilsley and George Siravo. This time there are rather more ‘commercial’ tracks, including a couple from the small British Melodisc company. Publishers’ labels have not been totally ignored, however, and are represented by items from the Boosey & Hawkes, Chappell, and Paxton libraries, albeit recorded on the European mainland as a result of the Musicians’ Union embargo which was discussed in JIM 161. Comparing this new offering – and indeed Volume 1 – with the GUILD 1940s CD, it is most apparent that the light orchestral music of the early/mid ‘50s was evolving fairly rapidly, both in terms of compositional and, especially, performance styles. The character of much of the music is distinctly different – ‘smoother’ and ‘glossier’ are two words which come to mind – from its predecessors of only a few years earlier. Of course, this was happening to almost everything else: clothes, furniture, cars and architecture of the brave new post-WWII era all underwent what we would call today a ‘makeover’. Reflections of Tranquility embraces a relatively long time-span between 1946-1954. David Ades has created a compilation which is deliberately soothing and relaxing – just the thing for late-night listening with the lights dimmed, and accompanied perhaps by a glass or two of your favourite beverage…! Try Angela Morley’s Adrift in a Dream, Trevor Duncan’s Moon Magic, or the two Bob Haymes/Acquaviva tracks, and you’ll see what I mean. The formula is the usual GUILD combination of well-loved favourites, interspersed with equally worthy compositions deserving of the wider exposure which hopefully they will now receive. In common with Midnight Matinee, a good number of tracks originate from across the Atlantic. By the ‘50s, U.S. record companies such as MGM, Mercury and Capitol, together with Philips and Decca (who controlled the Brunswick label) found a steady market within the UK for American orchestral recordings, their popularity being given a considerable boost by regular airings on the BBC’s Light Programme. In the Publishers’ department, Chappell and Paxton are this time complemented by items from the vast Harmonic and Bosworth libraries. Both CDs contain a generous helping of tracks which, as I have remarked before, will surely jog many memories and evoke a great deal of pleasure. It hardly needs restating that the digital transfers are up to Alan Bunting’s usual impeccable standard; as the years progress – we are now well within sight of the first stereo recordings of the late ‘50s – it is likely that the sound quality will improve still further. From their inception, the GUILD CDs have attracted an enthusiastic following, with many RFS members placing a standing order for new releases as they are issued; for these collectors, and also to those who have not yet taken the plunge, both additions to this great series will not disappoint – in fact they are wholeheartedly recommended. Tony Clayden

THE LEGENDARY BOBBY DARIN Once in a Lifetime, More, Charade, Beyond the Sea, As Long as I’m Singing, Mack the Knife, On The Street Where You Live, Hello Dolly, etc… 24 tracks EMI Capitol 5945772, 66:17 mins. With all the publicity surrounding the Kevin Spacey film of Bobby Darin’s life story, it is hardly surprising that his own recordings should be reissued again. It seems incredible that he died over 30 years ago, because many of his performances still seem fresh in the memory. Some of the tracks feature live performances, rather than the original studio recordings. The CD booklet contains notes by respected writer Will Friedwald (although they are perhaps rather brief), but full recording details are given for each track. This is a fitting souvenir of a singer whose work seems to be gaining greater respect with the passing years. David Ades

THE BUTTON DOWN BRASS ‘Girl Talk’ Castle PIESD269. 18 tracks, 58:20 mins. Ray Davies was one of the top arrangers and session players in the 1960s and 70s. But he came to the public’s attention as the man behind The Button Down Brass who recorded a string of hit easy listening albums between 1968 and 1977. A lot of the early BDB Fontana material was collected on a previously issued ‘Best Of’ CD but here the PYE archives have been trawled for a more varied selection of material. This CD was actually issued as long ago as 2002 but somehow slipped by without attention, but is still available. It combines some superb tracks from Ray’s five PYE albums including the hard-to-find Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington tribute ‘Benny and The Duke’ (the master tapes of which were thought to be lost until recently). It’s a combination of jazz standards, film and TV themes plus some of Ray’s own pop/rock influenced titles which marked a change in the style from his earlier work and featured top session players such as Harry Stoneham and Alan Hawkshaw on keyboards and Alan Parker on guitar. These include Heavy Water, Hadrian’s Wall and Mach 1 (all showcasing Alan Parker’s distinctive guitar solos), and the more laid-back lounge of Martinique and Girl In The Green Dress. Ray also recently revealed that he was the writer of Truckin’ (also included) which is credited to ‘Kendall’, which was actually his wife’s maiden name. And he was also the name behind the 1973 PYE/Cavendish big band offshoot ‘All In An Afternoon’s Work’ (credited to The Terry Cavendish Orchestra). That same year he also produced and wrote material for fellow session player Dennis Lopez’s Latin-rock PYE album Cinnamon Rock which was in similar funky territory. Sadly no tracks from these two albums are included here, although some of Ray’s other Cavendish titles are to be found on the recently released CD ‘Transmission Impossible’ for which Ray has also written an introduction. Today Ray is still busy writing mood music for Cavendish/Boosey (although he no longer plays the trumpet) including the impressive ‘Moviedrome’ where different styles of movie music are explored. He also keeps busy as the chairman of The Performing Rights Society Member’s Fund. Collectors of Ray Davis material may also be interested to know that in the mid-1980s he recorded some Latin albums for independent dance label Dansan as The Ray Davies Orchestra, and some tracks from these sessions have surfaced on some Dansan CDs (DACD011 and 012). Please see www.maestrorecords.com/raydavies_catalogue.html for information. ‘Girl Talk’ should be available from larger branches of Virgin and HMV and via the HMV website.

David Noades (with thanks to Ray Davies)

JOHNNY HARRIS ‘Movements’ Warner Bros 8122736022 11 tracks, 43:35 mins. Johnny Harris’ classic 1970 album ‘Movements’ has recently been re-launched on CD with improved artwork and corrected sleeve notes. Since it was last released in September 2002 it has come to light that the guitarist on these legendary sessions was not Mickey Gee (as erroneously listed on the sleeve notes and in my previously published Johnny Harris article) but Bill Parkinson. It seems that both had previously been guitarists in Tom Jones’ backing band The Squires, but it was Bill who provided the distinctive guitar sound (with wah-wah effects) which helped make ‘Movements’ the classic it is today. The album was recorded at The Olympic Studios in South London with Bill on guitar and Johnny Harris on piano, plus Harold Fisher (drums), Herbie Flowers (bass) Roger Coulam (Organ) and Harold McNair (flute). The only exception was Footprints On The Moon (which was released as a single), which was recorded earlier at Chappells in Bond Street with the same group plus a full orchestra. The same small group had also recorded the score for the movie ‘Fragment Of Fear’ that was the basis of the album but at The Teddington Studios, and it was re-recordings of these tracks, which graced ‘Movements’. Another track, Norwegian Wood, was also laid down at the same sessions but was shelved and used on Johnny’s next Warner Bros. album ‘All To Bring You Morning’, which was very much in the same style, but didn’t see the light of day until 1973. This album also included the epic 11 minute title track, which Johnny later reworked for some concerts with singer/actress Lynda Carter. Bill Parkinson was a busy session guitarist and had previously worked with Johnny Harris with Tom Jones on his legendary ‘Live at The Talk of the Town’ album and ‘Thirteen Smash Hits’, and went on to contribute to album sessions for Petula Clark and Shirley Bassey, also arranged/conducted by Johnny. The latter included the legendary Something which was recorded in Milan with Johnny Dean (drums) and Tony Campo (bass) with the rhythm section laid down first and the strings (and Ms Bassey’s vocals) added separately. Bill also appeared on various live performances with Johnny as conductor including Sammy Davies Jr, Vic Damone, Bobby Vee, and Petula Clark, including with the latter, the first ever televised live colour transmission in 1970 from the Albert Hall. With Tom Jones they also toured the USA in the late 1960s including some memorable gigs in Las Vegas at The Flamingo. One of these Vegas trips was turned into a holiday with Bill and Johnny hiring a private plane and visiting the sights including the Hoover Dam and The Grand Canyon. And Bill was also poached by Ralph Dollimore to play a few gigs with the Ted Heath Orchestra who was also touring the US at the time. Johnny relocated to North America in 1972 and is now a successful writer of TV movie scores and musical director at The Palm Springs Follies. Bill is still active in the music business in Britain and regularly tours as a session jazz guitarist and is also a successful artist. And he’s at last enjoying being recognised as one of the names behind the legendary ‘Movements’ album! Before the score for ‘Fragment of Fear’ (and ‘Movements’) bought his name to the attention of Hollywood Johnny was struggling to make a name for himself as a film composer. He initially penned a lot of advertising jingles but in 1969 he was commissioned to write some cues for some obscure German movies. Some of these have just been issued on a German CD called ‘Schwabing Affairs’ Diggler Records DIG 012, 17 tracks 44:45 mins. In a similar style to the previously issued ‘St Pauli Affairs’ this compilation sees a variety of themes and pop songs lifted from the obscure Munich-based comedy and soft porn films. The music dates from 1967 to 1972 and is up-tempo, kitsch, pop-beat with the accent on cheesy brass, Hammond organs and guitars (some with vocals). A variety of composers and styles are on display including Peter Thomas (kitsch pop), Martin Bottcher (bossa nova jazz), David Llywelyn – later with rock band Supertramp (soul-pop) as well as Johnny Harris: his contributions include the funky soul-grooves Let’s Beat It and Go Go Shake, which have a library music feel about them but were specially commissioned. Unfortunately the sleeve notes are all in German and so the background to the music and the films must remain a mystery to British readers (although looking at some the accompanying photos perhaps that’s for the best!). But this is a pleasant, upbeat collection which will appeal to collectors of kitsch, ‘sixties pop sounds. David Noades (with special thanks to Bill Parkinson)

Both CDs are available from larger branches of Virgin and HMV and via the HMV website. (See also Diggler’s website www.diggler.de for more information on ‘Schwabing Affairs’).

TO YOUR GUARD Marches – Hughes: The Guard’s Colours, To Your Guard; Ancliffe: The Liberators, Ironsides; Hall: General Mitchell, Death or Glory, The Red Men’s March; Crosse: Unter Den Linden; Stanley: Alamein; Mansfield: The Red Cloak; Walker: The Right o’the Line; Rimmer: Punchinello; Fucik: Fearless & True; Brigham: Colchester Castle; Plater: Ridgewood; Herzer: Hoch Heidecksburg; Latann: Frei Weg; Tulip: The Prince; Friedemann: Kaiser Friederich; Neville: Shrewsbury Fair; Bashford: By the Left!; Blankenburg: Back to (the) Camp. The Band of the Grenadier Guards, Director Of Music Major Denis Burton ARCM pcm. DROIT TRCD 235, 73:00 mins. An enterprising, imaginative and well chosen selection of British, American and European military marches including many, I suspect, that are not currently available on alternative recordings, and not a single one by Sousa! It was honestly no hardship or ordeal to play through the 22 marches on this disc at one sitting and simply marvel at the versatility and ingenuity showed by all the composers represented here whose task was to produce good strong tunes within the fairly restricted and disciplined medium of the military march. One suspects that the German composer Hermann Blankenburg had a continuous production line of military marches going for according to Colin Dean’s notes he apparently produced a mind boggling 1,300 of the genre, the majority of which have since been lost. A particularly novel item is Rodney Bashford’s By the Left! which cleverly interweaves bugle calls with popular army songs such as the evergreen "Bless ‘em All". A particular favourite of mine included here is Charles Ancliffe’s irrepressible The Liberators composed during the First World War to which I immediately returned for ‘an encore’ at the end of the disc which, incidentally, takes its title To Your Guard from a march by William Hughes who served for a time in the Scots Guards Band. Despite the minor irritant that individual times are not listed for each track this well recorded CD made in the Chapel, Chelsea Barracks is well worth exploring and I can safely promise that you will not feel short changed! Availability: from Discurio – Note new address. Discurio, Unit 3, Faraday Way, St. Mary Cray, Kent, BR5 3QW, Tel/Fax: 01689 879101. Visits are by prior appointment only (a mail order service is operated). Alternatively the disc should be available, or could be ordered, from the HMV Stores. The Specialist Recording Company CDs mentioned elsewhere in this feature are also available from Discurio. Roger Hyslop

‘ROSEMARY & THYME’, Music from the ITV series composed and conducted by Christopher Gunning Rosemary & Thyme theme; They Understand Me in Paris; Up the Garden Path; And No Birds Sing; Rosemary’s Chase; Orpheus in the Undergrowth; The Tree of Death; A Gracious Garden; The Memory of Water; The Gongoozlers; Laura’s Dash; Sweet Angelica; An Elegant Garden; Blown by the Wind; Swords into Ploughshares; Arabica & the Early Spider. Sanctuary Pure Classics PCACD002. Whether or not you are green-fingered or enjoy watching criminal detectives at work, you will love this CD of gardening and classical music mixed together by Christopher Gunning for the television series starring Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris. Most of the compositions are original but famous classic tunes pop up from time to time – excuse the pun – adding up to a delightful pot pourri of modern light music. It matters not whether you have seen any of the series because the melodies stand alone, ranging from the brightest blossoms to the darkest and most sinister plots worthy of Sherlock Holmes at his best. Edmund Whitehouse

A HENLEY BANDSTAND Gounod: La Reine de Saba; Herold: Zampa; Percy Fletcher: Bal Masqué; Peter Yorke: The Shipbuilders Suite; Mussorgsky: Gopak (Sorochinsy Fair); Rimsky Korsakov: Introduction and Wedding March (Le Coq d’Or); arr. Nestico: A Cole Porter Spectacular; Kaps: The Eton Boating Song; Elmer Bernstein: Theme from the Magnificent Seven; Haydn Wood: The Seafarer; Laukien: Through Night to Light. The Band of the Grenadier Guards, DOM Major Denis Burton ARCM psm. Specialist Recording Company SRC123, 78:00 mins. On release of ‘An Irish Guards Bandstand’ (JIM No. 159 p.72) the Specialist Recording Company promised that this was the first of a series replicating typical programmes featured in the past at park and seaside bandstands. Now hard on the heels of that attractive disc comes ‘A Henley Bandstand’ this time featuring the Grenadier Guards Band and including along with light classics a very fair representation of British Light Music. Peter Yorke’s suite The Shipbuilders was included only recently by The King’s Division Waterloo Band in their ‘Northern Salute’ on Band Leader BNA 5180 (JIM No. 158 p.82), but this newcomer has the undoubted benefit of a distinctly superior recording. Good also to have in this collection are Percy Fletcher’s Bal Masqué and Haydn Wood’s The Seafarer. Naturally The Eton Boating Song makes an appearance and Colin Dean, who is chairman of the IMMS UK (Founder) Branch and provides the very interesting and informative notes for this new release, mentions that the composer Karl Kaps – a nom de plume for John Roberts – took the principal melody composed by a Captain Algernon Drummond and developed it into a very successful waltz sequence lasting near 8 minutes, and it’s delightful to hear such a familiar tune in this less familiar guise. One hopes the opportunity will not be lost in future issues of this series to include selections and pot-pourris from popular musical comedies and operettas from the Edwardian era and later which were such a mainstay of the bandstand of yesteryear. Meantime with vivid refined recording made at The Chapel, Chelsea Barracks, fine playing, very generous playing time and attractive art work, strongly recommended! Roger Hyslop

THE ROYAL ARTILLERY BAND – The Music of the Royal Artillery. The Royal Artillery Band, DOM Lt. Col. Malcolm Torrent LTCL LGSM psm CAMUS. Specialist Recording Company SRC131 76:00 mins. I hesitated to submit a review of the above disc on the grounds that some readers might feel it too peripheral for our magazine but hope the Editor will generously allow a little space to extol the virtues of this latest splendid offering from the Specialist Recording Company. The Royal Artillery Band taking a well deserved break from their complete Sousa Edition perform music with a strong affinity to this famous regiment who, incidentally, boast the oldest established symphony orchestra in Great Britain. What we have here – on 43 tracks (!) – are some fine marches with suitably appropriate titles such as The Gunners, The Little Gunners, Once a Gunner, etc., a splendid grand march by the Italian born Cavaliere Ladislao Zavertal Queen Victoria and two impressive fanfares by Frederic Curzon and Sir Arthur Bliss. And who could not thrill at the dignified, imposing and stirring strains of the Royal Artillery Slow March reputedly composed by HRH The Duchess of Kent, mother of Queen Victoria? Also making an appearance is Captain A C Green’s moving and poignant Sunset. Music much associated with the Senior Service when colours were struck on Royal Navy warships at the end of the working day. The centrepiece of this disc is a twelve minute audio depiction which seeks to recreate the celebrated Royal Horse Artillery The Musical Drive – a popular feature of countless Royal Tournaments down the years. The music blends traditional tunes such as Bonnie Dundee, Come Lasses and Lads, The Campbells are Coming, The Keel Row etc. with snatches from the Light Cavalry Overture and The Galloping Major. This CD proved to be an exceptionally enthralling 1¼ hours. The vivid resplendent recording – for the technically minded in 24 bit sound – was made at the Woolwich Town Hall. This latest release from SRC simply exudes quality and, with excellent art work, thoroughly deserves a mention in dispatches – I hope the editor agrees! Roger Hyslop

FRANK WEIR Frank Weir & His Saxophone The Happy Wanderer, From Your Lips, The Bandit, By Candlelight, The Never Never Land, The Little Shoemaker, Whistle Along The Road, Starlight Souvenirs, The Cuckoo Cries, Misty Islands Of The Highlands, Theme from ‘Journey Into Space’, Serenade To An Empty Room, Hold Me In Your Arms, Too Many Dreams, [Tinkle-Tinkletay] The Water Tumbler Tune, Whispering Leaves, I’m A Little Echo, Castles In The Air, Stein Song [University of Maine], Lily Of Laguna, The ‘Trek’ Song, Vieni, Vieni, The Story Of A Starry Night, By The Sleepy Lagoon, The Donkey Serenade, Oh! My Papa, Du bist mein Liebchen [You Are My Beloved], The Glow Of A Candle, My Love, My Life, My Own, I’ll Come When You Call, Thank You For The Waltz [Dear Stranger] Vocalion CDLK 4266 78.39 mins. Congratulations to Mike Dutton for resurrecting these recordings from this most talented and versatile Welsh musician. They consist of a 10-inch Lp and singles from Weir’s golden years at Decca in the 1950s, when he ranked alongside such light music luminaries as Black, Chacksfield, Farnon, Mantovani and Ros. The Happy Wanderer was the most popular tune of 1954 and this version spent a total of 19 weeks in the charts and went to No.4. The appeal of Weir’s version was undoubtedly his lilting soprano saxophone. The success of this recording meant the combination of 24-piece string orchestra, 12-voice male choir and his instrumental solos was to be Frank Weir’s stock-in-trade formula for almost all of his recordings for the next few years. There are other vocalists featured among the 31 tracks. One is the Swiss, Lys Assia, who was responsible for introducing O Mein Papa to this country and here sings her English language version. It is thought that the Theme from ‘Journey Into Space’was probably the only recording made of the cult BBC radio series tune. Serenade To An Empty Room is a very attractive mood piece. Weir’s third single in 1954 was a popular coupling of The Never Never Land, with a group of schoolgirls - Maureen Childs & The Little Tinkers - and The Little Shoemaker, featuring The Michael Twins. Other featured vocalists are Jean Hudson, Eula Parker, Janet Harrison, Gillian Harrison and Jean Marden. My favourite track The Cuckoo Cries was another title, like Weir’s biggest hit, introduced to the UK by the Obernkirchen Children’s Choir. It is great to have all these titles back in circulation as a reminder of a musician who does not deserve to be forgotten. Peter Burt

TANGO ROMANTICO INTERNACIONAL … 2 CD Collection (France) Marianne Melodie 041655, 46 tracks. It’s been a little while since we have seen a new compilation from Pierre-Marcel Ondher, but here he is with an entertaining 2-CD collection of Tangos, recorded between 1933 and 1953. Many of the orchestras will be ‘old friends’ to readers – Victor Young, Sidney Torch, George Melachrino, Mantovani, Victor Silvester, Frank Chacksfield and Leroy Anderson. There are also some distinguished ensembles from the Continent of Europe, among them Alfred Hause, Heinz Huppertz, Georges Boulanger, Werner Muller and Barnabas von Geczy. Most enjoyable! David Ades This 2-CD set can be obtained to special order through the RFS Record Service.

A COUPLE OF SONG AND DANCE MEN featuring Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Bojangles Robinson, Sammy Davis Jnr, Jack Buchanan, Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers, Ann Miller, etc… Sanctuary Living Era CD AJA 5568, 76:23 mins. This could almost be called an RFS production! David Lennick has selected some memorable tracks, which have been expertly remastered by Alan Bunting. There are so many highlights that I won’t even try to identify them. But one title may intrigue: Ray Bolger sings Once In Love With Amy on a 10" Decca 78 that lasts 4:21mins. That’s not a misprint – the 78 (one side only) really does last that long, because I have it in my own collection. Dating from 1949, it may have been an attempt to transfer the ‘new’ LP technology to 78s. Who knows! David Ades

DEPARTMENT TV 30 tracks including Eye Level by The Simon Park Orchestra, Leonie, Soft Spectum, Downtown Motown & Touch Of The Bow Bells by Reg Tilsley plus tracks from Barbara Moore. Winchester Hospital Radio WHRCD501 (see advertisement on page 92). Welcome to Department TV. Come on in. Take a musical cocktail and sit down. Relax and enjoy this varied mixture of melodic tunes from the DeWolfe Music Library. This library has a wealth of tunes covering over five decades and has not been widely exposed at all. So for production music fans this will come as a breath of fresh air to be able to find so many tracks not heard elsewhere. For the connoisseur of light melody then this is how loungecore used to be before it became jazzy and trendy. Here we have a good mixture of tempos and melodies, punchy catchy numbers, a few vocalise swingle style tracks from Barbara Moore and some lovely orchestral instrumentation from Mr Reg Tilsley, who was a backing orchestra for the likes of Tom Jones. I must draw your attention to Soft Spectrum. This is a track that just melts with sophistication. You listen to this and you wonder why music like this cannot be produced today. This CD also includes the No. 1 Single Eye Level, which was the catchy theme used for the TV Series "Van Der Valk" starring Barry Foster as the Amsterdam detective. You can feel the drama unfold as this theme plays out and as usual with all CD’s that go to help the funds at Winchester Hospital the quality here is second to none. A lot of the big producers out there could not better the sound quality of this CD. So sit back and enjoy Department TV.   Malcolm Batchelor

STANLEY BLACK conducts The London Festival Orchestra and Chrous ‘Music of a People’ / ‘Spirit of a People’. Vocalion CDLK4256, 92:41 mins (2 CDs for the price of 1). Two fine Decca Phase 4 albums (from 1965 and 1974) offer a thoughtful selection of traditional Jewish melodies, interlaced with a few popular hits from leading Jewish writers. The fine orchestra produces some wonderful sounds from the maestro’s inventive, yet sensitive arrangements. Stanley Black’s own original sleeve notes are supplemented with some biographical details by RFS’s Tony Clayden. David Ades

THE GREAT DANCE BAND VOCALISTS featuring Carole Carr, Anne Shelton, Alan Dean, Al Bowlly, Paul Carpenter, Beryl Davis, Eve Boswell, etc… Memoir CDMOIR587, 75:18 mins. Gordon Gray can always be relied upon to come up with interesting compilations, and he is well supported by Ted Kendall in the remastering department. Robert Farnon accompanies Paul Carpenter in Maybe You’ll Be There, and Bob is also the conductor (uncredited) on Getting Nowhere featuring Carole Carr with the Geraldo Orchestra. David Ades

VERA LYNN ‘Yours’ You’ll Never Know, Again, By the Fireside, I’ve Heard That Song Before, etc. 24 tracks Memoir CDMOIR588, 72:53 mins. This is an interesting selection, covering the years from 1943 to 1953, with several 78s arranged and conducted by Robert Farnon: You Can’t Be True Dear, My Thanks To You, Heartaches, Put Your Dreams Away, I Don’t See Me In Your Eyes Anymore, You’d Be Hard To Replace and Our Love Story. Other conductors include Len Edwards, Roland Shaw and Bruce Campbell. Ted Kendall’s digital remastering treats the material sympathetically. David Ades

The World of NAT ‘KING’ COLE EMI Capitol 560 6802. Marking the 40^th Anniversary of Nat’s death on 15 February, this collection begins with Let’s Face The Music And Dance and ends with Stardust. In between you’ll find 25 other numbers that are all indelibly associated with one of the greatest popular singers of the last century. Of course, we’ve already got most of them safely filed away in our collections, but there will probably be a few tracks that may have escaped you previously. What is new, is the excellent booklet that accompanies the CD. Mainly the work of Nat’s daughter Natalie, the booklet is crammed with photos and other memorabilia, and happily the arrangers and conductors also receive their due credit. The only possible ‘extra’ would have been the inclusion of recording dates, but this is truly an outstanding tribute. A DVD is also due to be released around the end of February. David Ades

PERCY FAITH Columbia Singles, Volume 1: 1950-1951 [full track listing in JIM 161 – page 82] [There are 28 tracks; some booklet listings are incorrect as they omit track 9, Goodbye John] Collectables Records [US] Col 7635, 78:32 mins. When I was nowt but a lad the only Percy Faith 78 single I possessed was Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride coupled with the piece appearing at the top of the above listing. I still have that record albeit with a bit broken out of it. Most of the other songs here, released in the first two years of Faith’s association with Columbia that was to last for close on three decades, were new to me so this release has been a journey of discovery. In fact, The Loveliest Girl and Come Home will be new to everyone, as they have not been previously issued in any format. All the tracks not credited with a vocalist feature a chorus. We are told that most of these titles were released in the hope of breaking into the hit parade. Imagine that today! Only three titles actually made it: I Cross My Fingers [Faith’s first appearance in the charts], When The Saints and I Want to Be Near You. If you are happy with all the vocalising you will find this an enjoyable album. Several of the songs, like Hal David/Leon Carr’s There She Goes, are great fun if not great music. Unsurprisingly the best tracks come from the Gershwins, Lerner & Loewe, and Freed & Brown. Being our Percy, ‘though, everything is done well. [Since finishing this review I have found myself re-playing the CD quite often]. Peter Burt

PERCY FAITH Columbia Singles, Volume 2: 1952-1958 [full track listing in JIM 161 – page 82] Collectables Records [US] Col 7636, 74:41 mins. Even if the first volume was not entirely to my liking, I was looking forward to this album especially after reading the paean of praise from Alan Bunting, who liaised closely with Dan Rivard of Sony in the compilation of the collection. Alan has already mentioned two previously unreleased tracks -- they are Somewhere and Do I Need You -- and Leroy Anderson’s exciting Pyramid Dance [Heart Of Stone]. These are three of the ten tracks appearing in stereo, some for the first time, having been remixed from the master tapes especially for this compilation. The others are Katsumi Love Theme, Never Till Now, Maria, The Impala Theme, Indiscreet, Same Old Moon, and Isle Of Paradise. One has to agree with Alan in lamenting that Faith did not record more Anderson titles or do a ‘West Side Story’ album. This is another release that will especially appeal to RFS members [and there are quite a number] who prefer the great arranger, conductor and composer with vocals. Peter Burt

PERCY FAITH I Think I Love You [Plus Bonus Tracks] Everything’s Alright; [Where Do I Begin] Love Story; Love The One You’re With; He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother; Easy Days-Easy Nights; The Green Grass Starts To Grow; I Don’t Know How To Love Him; I Think I Love You; My Sweet Lord; Rose Garden; Don’t Say Goodbye; The Time For Love Is Anytime [‘Cactus Flower’ Theme]; Peppermint Hill And Strawberry Lane; Theme For Young Lovers [Where Is My Someone]; I Can Hear The Music; The Godfather Waltz; Life Is What You Make It [Theme from ‘Kotch’]; Emmanuelle-The Joys Of A Woman Collectables Records COL 7653. In the summer of 1972 the LP of ‘I Think I Love You’ was hardly off our turntable at home. Before listening to this CD version my thoughts were that I must have been more tolerant of Percy Faith’s Chorus then than I am now. It was after this album that I believe Faith yielded to protest from his "hard core" listeners [significantly, I bought the original record in a WH Smith sale] and dropped the chorus altogether. But on re-hearing it I have to admit that the rock-influenced arrangements are good, the singing crystal clear and the sound recording fine. Pity about the fade-outs but they are part and parcel of a ‘pop’ approach. I even think I prefer the two ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ songs in their vocal guise to Faith’s instrumental versions on his album of that name, although not everyone will agree. The standout track for me is Burt Bacharach’s Green Grass. The CD is completed by seven singles also from the early ‘70s; ’76 in the case of the last track.

Peter Burt

DAVID ROSE Holiday For Strings [full track listing in JIM 160 – page 29] Sanctuary Living Era CDA5499 75.43 mins. As soon as I joined the RFS I sought to fill a gap on my CD shelves by ordering from our Record Service a cheap-as-chips disc called The Stripper by the David Rose Orchestra – presumably without David Rose. The selection here is the real thing: 25 original recordings spanning the years 1942 to 1952. There’s no Stripper, nor that other million seller Calypso Melody, but there are 11 titles penned by the man himself including the title tune from 1944 that made him famous and gave him his first million seller 14 years later, as well as Dance Of The Spanish Onion, Our Waltz, One Love, Manhattan Square Dance, American Hoe-Down, Serenade to a Lemonade and Parade of the Clowns, etc. I especially liked the pizzicato led Gay Spirits. Rose’s arrangements of the remaining 14 numbers are all interesting. The start of Serenade [The Student Prince] sounds as if it’s going to be Begin the Beguine, and Someone to Watch Over Me includes a quotation from Clair de Lune. The final number, Harlem Nocturne, features the alto-sax of no less a luminary than Woody Herman. The sound is good although I did find all those high strings a tad tiring to listen to at one sitting, but that could just be me. Without doubt, this album is another admirable addition to Sanctuary’s long list of re-issued 78s on CD. Praise, too, for the booklet cover design. Peter Burt

THE PLAYFUL PACHYDERM Classic Miniatures for Bassoon & Orchestra My Teddy Bear (Ganglberger); Romance (Elgar); Allegro Spiritoso (Senaille); Walking Song from Appelbo (Swedish folk tune); Mist-covered Mountains (Scottish folk tune); Piece (Faure); The Playful Pachyderm (Vinter); Four Folk Songs (Vaughan Williams); Bonny at Morn (Northumbrian folk tune); Lucy Long (Godfrey); Funeral March of a Marionette (Gounod); The Old Grumbler (Fucik); Habanera (Ravel); Carnival (Hume); The Bassoon (Ashlyn). George Perkins with the New London Orchestra conducted by Ronald Corp Hyperion CDA67453. Rather like the bass singer in opera, the bassoon is something of a neglected and side-tracked constituent of music. How pleasing, therefore, that this CD redresses the balance and delights under a title which conjures up a mischievous circus elephant, easily imagined in musical bassoon form. All the old favourites are there plus many new ones and jolly good they are too. Edmund Whitehouse

MANTOVANI & HIS ORCHESTRA Old And New Fangled Tangos Whatever Lola Wants [Lola Gets], Blue Tango, Tango delle rose, A New Fangled Tango, Music Box Tango, Adios muchachos, Besame mucho, Hernando’s Hideaway, Blaue Himmel [Blue Skies], Takes Two To Tango, The Rain in Spain, The Orange Vendor Folksongs Around The World Aura Lee, Skip To My Lou, The Streets Of Laredo, Shenandoah, The Blue-Tail Fly, Red River Valley, Oh! Susanna, Au Clair de la Lune, Frère Jacques, Du, du liegst mir im Herzen – introducing Lieber Augustin, Addio a Napoli, Rosa, Greensleeves – introducing Love Is Kind, Early One Morning, Annie Laurie, Wi’ A Hundred Pipers, All Through The Night, The Minstrel Boy, Two Guitars, Moon On the Ruined Castle, Hava nagila Vocalion CDLK 4265, 75 mins. No sooner had I expressed the hope, in JIM160, that these two albums might be on Mike Dutton’s list of intended re-issues, than here they are. Monty has always had a way with tangos and ‘Old and New Fangled Tangos’ from 1967 is a nice mix of the ‘classical’ with more modern tunes, some of which are not normally thought of as standard tangos. It is good to have Goehr’s clever Music Box Tango back in circulation. Another of my favourites, The Orange Vendor, is credited to Rodilo, who bore more than a passing resemblance to Mantovani himself. The newer tunes are all well suited to the tango rhythm, although we would expect nothing less from this conductor. The Tijuana trumpet led A New Fangled Tango is great fun. ‘Folksongs Around The World, from three years earlier, is a lush presentation that some will think is too syrupy to be always appropriate. It features traditional folk songs of America [arranged Cecil Milner] and from France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands [arr. Roland Shaw], the British Isles [arr. Milner], and Russia, Japan and Israel [arr. Mantovani]. It is unique in including a track, Wi’ A Hundred Pipers, without a single violin. The sound was the best Mantovani had received at that time and the arrangements are nothing if not colourful. I loved it. Peter Burt

MANTOVANI & HIS ORCHESTRA with RAWICZ & LANDAUER Music From The Films Warsaw Concerto, Serenata d’amore, The Dream Of Olwen, The Legend Of The Glass Mountain, Story Of Three Loves - Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Cornish Rhapsody Film Encores My Foolish Heart, Unchained Melody, Over the Rainbow, Summertime In Venice, Intermezzo, Three Coins In The Fountain, Love Is A Many-Splendoured Thing, Laura, High Noon, Hi-Lili Hi-Lo, September Song, Theme from "Limelight" Vocalion CDLK 4255, 70:18 mins. This 2-on-1 brings us a superior selection of film music under the baton of maestro Mantovani. On ‘Music From The Films’ -- including the best of what Steve Race called "Denham concertos" [most films emanating from the British studio at that time seemed to have a full-blown piano pseudo-concerto on the soundtrack] -- he is joined by pianist friends Maryan Rawicz and Walther Landauer, who in the 30s, 40s and 50s were highly respected [even if we teenagers did sometimes call them Rabbits and Laundry] and immensely popular in the UK. The beautiful Serenata d’Amore is another of Mantovani’s own compositions. This was Monty’s first stereo Lp in 1958 and is a winner all the way. ‘Film Encores’ was originally released the previous year in mono and re-recorded in stereo, also in 1958, and is another five-star album. The sweeping strings at the start of My Foolish Heart are memorable. Three Coins has a magical ending, and Love Is is magnificent; I have yet to hear a finer version. The "Limelight" Theme is also v. good -- what an admirable tune that is. Monty’s many fans will not hesitate to add this CD to their collections. Neither should anyone else. Peter Burt

The very best of PEARL BAILEY EMI 724387493926, 73:47 mins. The "boffins" at EMI have certainly been busy (see Big Band Roundup). Pearl’s strident Cabaret singing has always passed me by and this one is no exception! Twenty six tracks arranged by her husband Louis Bellson and Don Redman compiled by obvious fan Lee Stevens, some for the first time on CD or not previously available. Call me Irresponsible has some pleasant string writing but the strings are drowned out on The second time around by her nasal voice, far too forceful for me! Pearl sometimes talked the lyric and those lyrics could be pretty explicit! The tracks contained here exclude the more risque songs (saved for another album which I know exists). Pearl played often in England starring in "Sunday night at the London Palladium" and "The Talk of the Town". She also had parts in many Hollywood films. Come fly with me is totally murdered on this album but perhaps that's just me! For fans only. Paul Clatworthy

TONY BENNETT The Art of Romance Close enough for love, All in fun, Where do you start, Little did I dreamI, I remember you, Time to smile, All for you, The best man, Don't like good-byes, Being alive, Gone with the wind RPM Records/Columbia 5188692, 44:29 mins. By the time this appears in print I'm sure many copies will have been sold. Something to cherish, Tony back with the mastery of Johnny Mandel! Being a perfectionist Johnny only had time to do five of the arrangements but he conducts all but two songs. It seems ages since rumours circulated of the recording taking place - I suspect time taken up by extensive editing and retakes! Tony's voice falters on occasions but still worth the wait! Tony turns in his best album in some while, some of the songs have been visited before but this is still an enthralling piece of work, continually revealing fresh nuances, graces and delicate shadings. I could listen till the sun comes up! Jorge Calandrelli and Lee Musiker scored the other songs and also deserve praise. If you buy for the singer or the backings, this is class! If you buy for both you have struck gold! Paul Clatworthy

Midnight Jazz EMI 724386686121 Double CD, 143:10 mins. Yet another compilation! Thirty tracks of anything but "edgy" jazz but mercifully not all ‘smooth’ which for me is a label to steer clear of! Moonlight in Vermont reminds the listener of what a great piano player Nat King Cole was although he gained greater fame with his singing. Lou Donaldson plays a very ‘bluesy’ Down home; Lou Rawles is listed as singing Willow weep for me but instead we get St James's Infirmary either a typo error or the compilers attention wandered! Days beyond recall featuring Sidney Bechet is too ‘traddy’ to be included. Autumn leaves by Miles Davis, Oh you crazy moon by Peggy Lee, Sweet stuff by Horace Silver and How long has this been going on by George Shearing make disc two the better selection. If you have not got the tracks elsewhere and EMI sell at the right price good backdrop for a night in of your choice. Paul Clatworthy

MUSIC FOR A FESTIVAL: Bax: Royal Wedding Fanfare, Elgar: Sursum Corda Op11, Pomp & Circumstance March No. 4 in G Major Op39, Vaughan Williams: English Folk Song Suite, Milhaud: Suite Francaise, Gordon Jacob: Music for a Festival, Arnold: Homage to the Queen. The Band & Fanfare Trumpets of HM Royal Marines School of Music conducted by Lieutenant Colonel F Vivian Dunn CVO OBE FRAM RM with Barry Rose (organ). Eastney Collection RMHSEC010 64:00 mins. This latest distinguished arrival from the Eastney Collection boasts three significant original works for wind band. Vaughan Williams’ English Folk Song Suite received its first performance at Kneller Hall in 1923 and in the version under review comes up delightfully fresh, bracing and invigorating. Milhaud’s fairly lightweight and engagingly tuneful Suite Francaise with movements carrying the titles of French provinces was a product of his stay in the USA during the Second World War and contrasts effectively with the more serious and weighty Music for a Festival which lends its title to this CD – for which recording sessions the composer Gordon Jacob was in attendance. Of the eleven movements of this fairly lengthy piece eight are included on this disc. The music was originally commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain for the 1951 Festival of Britain. The claims of this disc are enhanced further by resplendent performances of Elgar’s Sursum Corda – the Latin for ‘Lift up your Hearts’ – and Malcolm Arnold’s Homage to the Queen – in its original form a full length ballet – in which the Royal Marines Band is joined by the weighty tones of the Guildford Cathedral organ with Barry Rose at the console. It’s almost superfluous to add that the playing of this accomplished band in challenging repertoire is peerless and with good recording a wonderful and glowing testimonial to the talent and genius of Vivian Dunn who was surely a towering figure in military music in the last century. Roger Hyslop

ELGAR: Pomp and Circumstance Marches No. 2 in A minor Op 39, No. 4 in G major Op 39, Cockaigne Overture Op 40 Serenade, The Wand of Youth – 2^nd Suite Op 1b, Sérénade Mauresque Op 10/2, The Severn Suite Op 87. The Band of The Grenadier Guards, DOM Lieutenant Colonel P E Hills FLCM, psm. Specialist Recording Company SRC 105 73:00 mins. The Specialist Recording Company and The Band of the Grenadier Guards here revisit Elgar – Volume one is available on SRC 101, not reviewed in JIM. Both Pomp and Circumstance Marches are played here with commendable and predictably crisp precision. On the other hand, I approached the expansive Cockaigne Overture with some little apprehension since this is certainly a challenging and daunting piece for any wind band to tackle but The Grenadiers carry it off with aplomb and superb professionalism in an exceptionally well judged and well paced performance. I found their rendition entirely convincing not missing the strings of an orchestra to any significant extent, all helped no doubt by excellent, vivid recording. All the transcriptions here are effectively done by such well known figures as Dan Godfrey – both senior and junior – and Henry Geehl. The Severn Suite was, of course, originally scored for brass band as a test piece for the 1930 Crystal Palace Brass Band Championship and works exceptionally well in this arrangement for military band. Incidentally one of the items on this disc is a little known late published work Serenade, one of three miniatures originally for piano. Recommended strongly particularly as the standard of technical expertise and musicianship displayed here and by all our premier military bands has never been higher and yet they continue to be denied access to the national airwaves to showcase their considerable and indisputable talents. The recordings were made in November 2001 prior to the retirement of Lieutenant Colonel Hills as DOM. Roger Hyslop

A NORWEGIAN BANDSTAND: Borg: Den norske Armé og Marines Revelje, Den norske Armé og Marines Tappenstreg, Svendsen: Carnival in Paris, Okkenhaug: Lyric Dance, Thingn Æs: The Clown, Hansson: Valdres March, Grieg: Norwegian Dances, Gudim: Eg ser deg utfor gluggen, Johansson: Holmenkollen March, Halvorsen: Norwegian Rhapsody No. 1, Grøndahl: New Circus. Royal Norwegian Navy Band, Principal conductor: Leif Arne Tangen Pedersen. Specialist Recording Company SRC 122, 67:00 mins. For the latest in their highly imaginative ‘Bandstand’ series the Specialist Recording Company have ventured intrepidly across the expanse of the North Sea to produce a Norwegian version engaging the services of the excellent Royal Norwegian Navy Band established in 1820 and currently comprising some 29 musicians. Greig’s endearing Norwegian Dances will probably be the most familiar item in this concert for most collectors and is sensitively and idiomatically treated here in a highly effective transcription for wind band. Johann Svendsen is represented by probably his most popular work namely the ebullient Carnival in Paris, the arrangement being made by the ubiquitous Dan Godfrey, whilst Johan Halvorsen chiefly remembered today by his very popular march ‘Entry of the Boyars’ and like Svendsen a composer of symphonies makes his appearance with the first of two Norwegian Rhapsodies. Also here is a somewhat jaunty Lyric Dance by Paul Okkenhaug and a short 3 movement suite by Frode Thingn Æs The Clown which features a prominent solo cornet. Hanssen’s Valdres March described by fellow composer Ole Olsen as the finest march he had ever heard was included in an orchestral version as part of a collection of Norwegian Classical Favourites by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bjarte Engeset on NAXOS 8.557017 apart from which the two discs are entirely complementary as to their respective contents. In sum there is much attractive and interesting music here in nicely contrasting styles from orthodox military music to a ‘big band’ effect in the Gudim piece which is based on an old Norwegian Folk song and all rounded off neatly by a particularly engaging march by Oscar Borg Den norske Armé og Marines Tappenstreg which apparently translates as ‘The Reveille and Taps of the Norwegian Army and Navy!’ An unusual but inherently tuneful and thoroughly absorbing release, vividly recorded and anyone looking for something a little ‘off the beaten track’ will be well rewarded by purchasing this CD. Roger Hyslop

LEROY ANDERSON The Waltzing Cat The Typewriter, The Waltzing Cat, Fiddle Faddle, A Trumpeters Lullaby, Horse & Buggy, Plink Plank Plunk!, Belle of the Ball, The Irish Washerwoman, The Last Rose of Summer, The Phantom Regiment, Pyramid Dance, Blue Tango, Bugler’s Holiday, Sleigh Ride, The Syncopated Clock, Chicken Reel, Piano Concerto in C Major. Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paul Mann, with Simon Tedeschi (piano) ABC Classics 476 1589, 68:00 mins. An unexpected but very welcome release from the Australian Broadcasting Commission on their ABC Classics Label of the music of Leroy Anderson made so more so by the inclusion of the rarely performed or recorded three-movement Piano Concerto in C Major – the composer’s only extended orchestral work, playing for about 20 minutes. The music is inimitably and recognisable in his own idiom and style but with occasional hints of Rachmaninov. The concerto was written in 1953 and the composer conducted the first performance with Eugene List as soloist but according to James Koehne in his informative notes was withdrawn immediately afterwards for revision which in the event Anderson never got round to. It only surfaced again in 1989 when his executors allowed the concerto to be finally published in its original unrevised form. There is a rival recording on a difficult to obtain Telarc CD-CD-80112 with Stewart Goodyear as pianist with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra conducted by Erich Kunzel and coupled with music by fellow Americans George Gershwin, Scott Joplin, Morton Gould etc. On the present disc you get more music by Leroy Anderson including many old favourites but one or two novelties such as Chicken Reel and Pyramid Dance which currently lack modern recordings. Good committed playing from the Melbourne Orchestra and exemplary well detailed recording. Perhaps one or two individual items are played with a little more restrain than we are used to from American recordings but this is still a very worthwhile addition to the Anderson discography and I imagine the inclusion of the rare Piano Concerto will enhance the disc’s attractiveness to potential buyers. Well worth seeking out! Roger Hyslop

PASSING IN A Life on the Ocean Wave (Russell), Markers Call/Divisons Call (Trad.), Sea Shanties (Trad.), Auld Lang Syne (Trad.), On the Quaterdeck (Alford), By Land and Sea (Alford), Heart of Oak (Boyce), The Thunderbirds (Gray), Rule Britannia (Arne), Scipio (Handel), Defence of the Realm (Weston), The Captain General (Dunn), Soldiers of the Sea (Dunn), Washington Greys (Grafulle), The New Colonial (Hall), Barnum and Bailey Favourite (King), On Parade (Elms), Shrewsbury Fair (Neville), Wellington (Zehle), The Invincible Eagle (Sousa). Band of H.M. Royal Marines, Plymouth. D.O.M. Major P. Weston M.Mus., A.R.C.M., L.R.S.M., R.M. Introduced and Narrated by Commodore D.W. Pond R.N. CLOVELLY CLCD13604, 61:00 mins. A fascinating and imaginatively conceived disc giving an excellent insight into the ‘Passing In’ parade at H.M.S. Raleigh, Torpoint, Cornwall in which new entrants after 8 weeks initial basic training make the formal and somewhat dramatic transition from ‘civvies’ to sailors as the ‘Pass In’ to the Royal Navy. There is an interesting, informative and succinct commentary interpolated at several points by Commodore D.W. Pond R.N. Playing through this CD with one or two occasional shouted orders setting the scene gives one the distinct feeling of being transported to the parade ground of this naval establishment hopefully perhaps as a passive observer rather than an actual participant doubtless under the gimlet eye of a seasoned C.P.O.! The programme which was recorded in the band complex rather than the parade ground includes a fine selection of marches by some of the giants of the genre – Alfrod, Dunn, Sousa and even a certain Mr. Handel! There’s also a recent piece – Defence of the Realm – by the current D.O.M. of the Plymouth Band, Major P.A. Weston. All credit to Clovelly for releasing this disc with all dispatch since the recording sessions took place in late September 2004 and the disc was in my hands by mid November 2004! Recording quality is full and brilliant and it’s difficult to imagine finer playing than we get here from the Plymouth Band. So full marks to Clovelly and the Senior Service for such an unusual, enterprising, and engrossing disc. Despite the armchair ‘square bashing’ this CD has given me great and stimulating pleasure – there is absolutely no danger of ‘nodding off’ and is cordially commended not least for the great musical experience. Roger Hyslop

DAVID HUGHES Great British Song Stylist Castle PLSCD738. 20 tracks for around £2.99 from the Fifties "pop" career of this fine artiste who became a celebrated opera singer and died aged 47. Among the songs are I Talk To The Trees, Rags To Riches, With These Hands, Bridge Of Sighs, Wild Horses, and If I Had Wings. But the disc would be worth the modest price if it only featured David’s duets with Jo Stafford, Let Me Hear You Whisper and One Love Forever, one of the first "Records of the Century" [78 rpm, of course] on the then new Philips label. Peter Burt

FRANKIE LAINE "I Believe" I’m Gonna Live Till I Die, Shine, That’s My Desire, We’ll Be Together Again, I May Be Wrong, The Cry of the Wild Goose, Mule Train, Your Cheatin’ Heart, Jezebel, Rose Rose I Love You, etc.. 27 tracks Memoir CDMOIR586, 75:09 mins. Many of Frankie Laine’s biggest hits are here. It’s incredible to think that all these tracks are over 50 years old!

BILLY MAY – A Tribute Cherokee, American Patrol, Clambake in B Flat, Lazy River, Memphis in June, Fat Man Mambo, Minor Mambo, All of Me, My Silent Love, etc… 27 tracks Sanctuary Living Era CD AJA 5575, 78:03 mins. So much has been written about Billy May during the past year, and Living Era are joining a growing list of record companies who are reissuing his vintage recordings. As well as his own orchestra, this CD finds May scores for Charlie Barnet, Glenn Miller and Charles LaVere.

THE ROYAL MARINES PLAY BRITISH MUSIC Salute to the Colours (Dunn), Cockleshell Heroes (Dunn), The Globe and Laurel (Dunn), Jupiter – The Planets (Holst), March – Suite No.2 in F Major (Holst), I Vow to Thee My Country (Holst), Country Gardens (Grainger), Drakes Drum (Stanford), The Old Superb (Stanford), The Little Admiral (Stanford), The Contemptibles (Stanley), Sea Songs (Vaughan Williams), Scherzo – Music for a Festival (Jacob), Welcome the Queen (Bliss), Call to Adventure (Bliss), The Churchill March (Grainer), Orb and Sceptre (Walton), Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 in D Major Op.39 (Elgar). Band and Fanfare Trumpets of H.M. Royal Marines School of Music, conducted by Lieutenant Colonal F. Vivian Dunn C.V.O., O.B.E., F.R.A.M., R.M., with Frederick Harvey (baritone), David Bell and Barry Rose (organ). EASTNEY COLLECTION RMHSEC009, 66:00 mins. The latest release from the Eastney Collection is to be the more warmly welcomed since it gives us the all too rare opportunity to hear again the fine baritone voice of Frederick Harvey whose career was abruptly terminated by and early death at the age of 59 in 1967. He was a Devon man born in Plymouth and served throughout the Second World War in the R.N.V.R. undertaking a number of recording sessions with the Royal Marines Orchestra, Portsmouth Division under a certain young Captain F. Vivian Dunn so was perhaps uniquely qualified for performing some of Stanford’s Songs of the Sea and Fleet. Never was this considerable talent more challenged than in the tongue twisting ‘Little Admiral’ which required crystal clear articulation for its full effect and in which this gifted singer negotiates through tricky waters with consummate ease. Several of the tracks originally appeared on an HMV LP ‘Music of the Sea’ released in the early 1960’s the cover of which was graced by and illustration of a painting of HMS Victory and a fine official photograph of the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes. Despite the claim that the recordings range in date from 1953 to 1968 which would imply a mix of both mono and stereo tracts careful listening on headphones would appear to reveal that all have two dimensioned sound imaging. Notwithstanding there is little variation in the more than acceptable sound quality throughout this disc which is brought to a resounding conclusion by a splendid and frisson inducing Pomp and Circumstance No.1 complete with the full blooded panoply of organ joining the band in the final reprise of the famous trio tune. This latter recording made in Guildford Cathedral in 1968 is historically significant as Brian Culverhouse in his introductory notes to this release states that this was the final recording Sir. Vivian made for EMI under whom he was contracted with the Royal Marines Band Service although of course he went on to make a number of commercial recordings with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Light Music Society Orchestra. A self recommended disc, a valuable addition to the steadily expanding Eastney Collection and a superb reminder of Sir Vivian’s outstanding musicianship. Roger Hyslop

FRANK CHACKSFIELD & HIS ORCHESTRA Black Satin Chill Samba (Fones); Isla Del Sol (Wilson); Blue Baion (Aldrich); Pacific Blue (Chacksfield); Sleepy Time Bossa Nova (Frith/Turner); Heidi (Nash); Winter Dreams (Alstone/Chacksfield); Fernando (Rey); When It's Twilight In Capri (Gurner); Barbiroussa (Warren); Mexican Doll (Rey); Tamoretta (Mellis/Senicourt); Black Satin (Warren); On The Tamiami Trail (Vezey); Autumn Romance (Fones); Dreamy Eyes, Dreamy Girl (James/Scott); Just Like A Leaf In The Wind (Warren); Solitario (Loublique); Tenerife (Fenoulhet); Make You Happy (Langford); Soho Samba (Harrison/Johnson/Pugh); Soft Lights (Harris/Waugh). Prestige Elite Records CDSGP0961. West of Sunset Cuban Boy (Chacksfield); Capri Serenade (Ballerini); Jumpin' Jupiter (Harrison/Johnson/Ross); Cheeky Cha Cha (Fones); Inishannon Serenade (Chacksfield); Singapore Girl (Fones); La Nina Callada (Caffell); Miami 747 (Fones); Bless Your Heart (Chacksfield/Chester); Marylin (Fones); An Idle Dream (Hughes); I'll Be There (Fones); After All (Litchfield/Wills); Sahara (Ninaber); How Was It For You (Langford); Shadow Play (Caffell); Majorcan Holiday (Johnson/Litchfield); Jog Trot (Langford); West of Sunset (Hughes/Johnson/Pugh); Aperitif (Langford); Wedding In Schio (Fones); Ocean Sunrise (Vezey). Prestige Elite Records CDSGP0962.   These two superb CDs were released in the UK towards the end of last year. I must admit that when I bought them, most of the tracks meant little to me but Frank Chacksfield's name was enough to entice me to obtain them. I am so glad I did. These are two very enjoyable CDs. Most of the tracks are very hummable, catchy tunes. There is a good variety of music from some slower, romantic tracks to quite a few faster paced up-tempo tracks. Some of the tracks have the trumpet as a lead instrument and a couple have the accordion as the lead instrument but all of the tracks are accompanied by the famous lush string sound of Chacksfield's orchestra.   Six of the tracks are composed by Chacksfield, this includes the track titled Tamoretta attributed to Mellis/Senicourt. I understand that Senicourt is one of the many pseudonyms used by Chacksfield. I must say I didn't know that Chacksfield was such a talented composer. There is even a very enjoyable up-tempo melodic tune composed by Ronnie Aldrich titled Blue Baion. Apart from the very beautiful track titled Inishannon which appeared on the 1993 Chacksfield 'Streaks of Lavender' CD (NB long deleted CD), I believe that most if not all of the tracks on both CDs were not commercially available before. According to the CD sleeve notes, all of the music was licensed from music publishers Novello & Co. Limited. This is the company that owns Music Sales Limited, Chester Music, Bosworth & Co and other music publishers. I should make clear that the music on the CDs is not really themed in anyway. The tracks on both CDs are just an ad-hoc compilation of music licensed from Novello & Co. There is over an hour of music on each CD and the sound quality is really excellent and all at a low price of around £5.99 for each CD. Further information on these CDs can be obtained from the Prestige Elite Records Limited website at http://www.prestige-elite.com/  The CDs are available from all good record shops in the UK. They can also be obtained directly from Prestige Elite's distributors Pinnacle Entertainment who have a secure online shop for the public to use at http://www.pinnacle-entertainment.co.uk/ The CDs can also be obtained from the usual internet websites like HMV at http://www.hmv.co.uk/ In summary, I would say that this is Chacksfield and lush beautiful orchestral music at its best. A must not just for Chacksfield fans but for all lovers of our kind of music. Do not delay in adding these CDs to your collection. Chris Landor