Toast to the Big Bands

Cocktail Hour CRG 212101

Disc 1 :- Perdido, Duke Ellington; Minnie the Moocher, Cab Calloway; Yes Indeed, Tomrny Dorsey; At the Woodchoppers Ball, Woody Herman; Maple Leaf Rag, Earl Hines; Taking a Chance on Love, Tommy Dorsey; California Here I Come, Lionel Hampton; Begin the Beguine, Artie Shaw; King Porter Stomp, Benny Goodman; Drummin' Man, Gene Krupa; In the Mood, Glenn Miller; Drop Me Off at Harlem, Duke Ellington; Honeysuckle Rose, Count Basie; All or Nothing at All, Harry James; Caldonia, Woody Herman:

Disc 2 :- East St Louis Toodle-oo, Duke Ellington; Sweet Lorraine, Artie Shaw; My Blue Heaven , Jimmie Lunceford; One O'Clock Jump, Count Basie; All Of Me, Jimmy Dorsey; American Patrol, Glenn Miller; The Boogie Woogie Man, Casa Loma Orchestra; I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Louis Armstrong; Mississippi Mud, Bix Beiderbecke; Jumpin' at the Woodside, Count Basie; The Nearness of You, Glenn Miller; Christopher Columbus, Benny Goodman; Take the A Train, Duke EIllington; King Porter Stomp, Fletcher Henderson; On the Sunny Side of the St., Tommy Dorsey.

This is generally a good representation of the big band music which.was popular around the years of the second World War. There are notable hits rnissing from this two CD set., like "Well, Git It" and "Opus One" both by Tonimy Dorsey, "Applehoney" by Woody Herman and "Trumpet Blues and Cantabile" by Harrry Janles as wcll as many others by Benny Goodman the instigator of the popularity of the Swing Era. However, with a ninety-per-cent success rate for positive selections, this collection is still very worthwhile. The large rnajority of the music here is upbeat and will leave the listener happy and invigorated, which in today's troubled tirnes must be a plus factor.

by Al Merritt

Toast to the Big Bands

Cocktail Hour CRG 212101

More New Sounds