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Friday, November 25, 2016

Surf 'N Sand Under The Hawaiian Skies - Genoa Keawe And Her Hawaiians

Lei Aloha
Surf 'N Sand Under The Hawaiian Skies
Genoa Keawe And Her Hawaiians
Hawaii's Most Popular Television Artists
Enchanting Melodies with Benjamin Rogers at the Hawaiian Steel Guitar
Authentic Hawaiian Melodies Recorded in Hawaii
49th State Hawaii Record Co. - Honolulu, Hawaii
National Distribution Office - Hollywood, California

No back cover printing, black vinyl pressing.

Pleasant sounding mood set for relaxation or background listening.

Tropic Trade Winds
Lani - Wahine U'I
For You A Lei
Waikiki Hula - Fair Hawaii
Kahelelani
Dreams Of Old Hawaii
Lei Aloha
South Of Pago Pago
I'll Weave A Lei Of Stars
Song To Hawaii
What Aloha Means

The Spanish Guitars Of Laurindo Almeida

Clair de lune

The Spanish Guitars Of Laurindo Almeida
Produced by Robert E. Meyers
Capitol P8521
1960

From the back cover: Over-dubbing technique, when employed with taste by a first-rate artist, can open up some remarkably fascinating horizons in the realm of musical performance. Laurindo Almeida has attempted to do just that in terms of reconciling concert keyboard repertoire (the Fall Three-Crornered Hat excerpt is the only non-keyboard item) to the limitations of the guitar. Under normal conditions, the guitarist has only one hand available for spelling out the melodic line and its accompanying textures. To do justice to most keyboard music, he must either have another guitarist or keyboard accompaniment on hand; or he can prerecord his own accompaniment on tape and add the "solo" line to it subsequently. Mr. Almeida has chosen the latter alternative – arriving at composites not merely of two guitars, but sometimes of three, including the smaller alto guitar – thus retaining the full harmonic scoring of the original pieces.

As expanded here in sonority and texture, the guitar takes on some of the solidity of texture that we associate with the piano or harpsichord, but retains the flexibility peculiar to its being an extension of the individual player. In a few instances, such as Debussy's Clair de lune, discreet use of added reverberation to the recording has been used to enhance the over all sonority of the performance.


From Billboard - April 18, 1960: Almeida is truly a master of the classical guitar. His interpreatitaions of "Granados" and "Farruca" are exciting and he achieves a lovely effect on "Clair de Lune' and Chopin's "Valse." Some of the bands are multi-tracked. Sound is excellent.

Falla: Farruca (The Miller's Dance from The Three-Cornered Hat) - 2 guitars
Debussy: Clair de lune - 2 guitars and alto guitar
Almeida: Brazillance No. 1 - 3 guitars
Bach" Our Father, Who Art In Heaven (Chorale-prelude from Clavierubung, Part III) - 2 guitars
Ravel: Menuet (From Le Tombeau de Couperin) - 2 guitars
Chopin: Valse (Op. 69, No. 1) - 2 guitars
Grandos: Zambra (Spanish Dance No. 11) - 2 guitars
Debussy: La plus que lente - 2 guitars
Bach: Duetto iii (From Clavierubung, Part III) - 2 guitars
Chopin: Mazurka (Op. 7, No 1) - 2 guitars
Rachmaninoff: Prelude in C Sharp Minor (Op 3, No. 2) - 2 guitars and alto guitar

Moments To Remember - International Pop Orchestra 110 Musicians

Habanera
Moments To Remember
International Pop Orchestra
110 Musicians
Wyncote Sw-9146

Moments To Remember
A Blossom Fell
I'm Yours
Never Before
Tulips
Summer Day
Lost Moments
Habanera
La Guapa
A Media Luz

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Los Inigualables - Miguelito Valdés & Tito Guizar

Babalu
Babalu (from "stereo" copy)
Los Inigualables
Miguelito Valdes
Tito Guizar
Caliente Disco
Division Of Pathe Records LTD
CD 1000

Split set between Valdes and Guizar.

From the back cover: Miguelito Valdes is one of the greatest singers of Afro Cuban music. He is making his debut with Caliente Records in this LONG PLAYING ALBUM. This great singer began his career several years ago as a vocalist with the well known orchestra CASION DE LA PLAYA. He has associated himself with big name bands and has traveled extensively throughout all Latin America, where he is well known and liked. He also appeared in Latin American pictures in Hollywood and Mexico. His big hit La Cucaracha was written by Rafael Hernandez. He appeared in a festival given by the famous orchestra leader Xavier Cugat in Hollywood a few years ago. Miguelito Valdes was also accompanied by the Noro Morales Orchestra and one of the greatest Cuban coups, the famous Sonora Matancera. We are sure that long Playing Album is going to be one of your favorites. Text by Teddy Adorno

Tito Guizar, the lovable troubadour of Mexico, brings to you the best of his repertory in this Long Playing Album, by Caliente Records. The ranchers and uapangos that Tito sings are out of this world. This great Mexican singer has made many appearances in most of the important night clubs of Latin America and the United States, and many Spanish and American motion pictures.


Cielito Lindo
Jalsico
El Rancho Grande
La Cucaracha
Adios Muchachos
You Belong To My Heart
Babulu
Amor
Quiereme Mucho
Celina
Mambo Jambo

Music For Daydreaming - George Melachrino

Music For Daydreaming
Music For Daydreaming
The Melachrino Orchestra
Conducted by George Melachrino
RCA Victor LPM 1028
1954

Sweet lush strings set and one entry found in the Melachrino concept "Music for..." series.

From the back cover: Webster defines a daydream as "a reverie filled with pleasing, often illusory, visions of anticipation."

The only boundaries, then, are the outer limits of one's own imagination. A daydream can fly you to the uttermost exotic land, bring you the choicest of the world's luxuries even transport you to another planet.


To A Wild Rose
Serenade In The Night
Barcarolle
In The Still Of The Night
Star Dust
Moonlight And Roses
Dusk
By The Sleep Lagoon
Indian Summer
Evensong

I Want To Be Happy! - Emil Stern

Love And Marriage
I Want To Be Happy!
Featuring Emil Stern
Wacker Series
Mercury MG20341
1959

From the back cover: Emil Stern is a picturesque example of the protean artist in action. Composer, bandleader and pianist, he has offered constant proof through the years of virtuoso qualities inherent in his keyboard magic. Though much of the music that you hear between these covers may seem deceptively simple, there can be no doubt that every time Emil Stern approaches the keyboard to elicit from it the unique characteristics of his 1925-style piano, the listener is privileged to hear the work of a true artist.

Sample something completely different from Stern's 1959 set "Moody" Mercury MGW 12002

I Want To Be Happy
Rose Marie
Twelfth Street Rag
Charleston Parisian
Nobody's Sweetheart
Love And Marriage
Where Will The Dimple Be?
Halleluia
Fredo
The King Of The Fox Trot
Sweet Sue Just For You
The Call Of The Wild

New Perspectives In Piano - David Swift

Like Young
New Perspectives In Piano Sounds
Great Hits Recorded With Maximum Separation Of The Left And Right Hands
David Swift, pianist with orchestra
Workshop Series
Exploring Uncharted Patterns Of Sound
Warner Bros. Records 1441
1962

From the back cover: Through multi-channel recording and re-dubbing, it was possible to record each hand of Swift's individually, not to neglect one hand (as every pianist, to some degree, must) while the other takes the lion's share of the attention.

From Billboard - January 20, 1962: Fine artist on piano by Swift and superb recording and pressing surface are combine in the stereo versions of this album (the sample above is from the mono pressing). The sound separation and ping-pong effects are excellent. There is much variety and movement in such a small combo which features piano, guitar, bass, drums and, on some tracks, Latin percussion.

One of a series of "Workshop" sets featuring an expensive to produce book-fold jacket design printed on a foil stock. Although Warner Bros. experimented on these projects the marketing copy, Exploring Uncharted Patterns Of Sound, seems to be a bit of an oversell if you compare the adventurousness of these sets to competing period stereo releases of the same nature.

Blues On Parade - Woody Herman
Honky Tonk Train - Bob Zurke's
Begin The Beguine - Eddie Heywood
720 In The Books - Jan Savitt
Like Young - Andre Previn
Boogie Woogie On St. Louis Blues - Earl Hines
Boogie Woogie - Pinetop Smith
Picnic Moonglow - Morris Stoloff
Near You - Francis Craig
Beat Me Daddy 8 To The Bar - Floyd Cramer
Cow Cow Boogie - Freddie Stack

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Jazz

Boogie Beat
Jazz
Halo 50242

Nice jazzy compilation set from this budget label.

Duke Ellington - Blue Skies
Georgie Auld Jump - George, Jump
Jack Teagarden - The Blues
Dizzie Gillespie - Blue N' Boogie
Sarah Vaughan - Lover Man
Boogie Beat - Alamo Boogie
Pee Wee Hunt - Royal Garden Blues
Coleman Hawkins - Ol' Man River
Teddy Wilson - Sweet Georgia Brown
Joe Bushkin - Chicago
Sidney Bechet - Sweet Lorraine
All Stars (6) - Minor Mirage

Stereo Showcase

Should I - Jack Marshall
Stereo Showcase
Capitol Dimensional Stereo SKAO 1268
1959

From Billboard - November 9, 1959: The set gives a representative sample of material contained in 12 LP's, the label's current release. It's predecessor proved a strong item saleswise, and this could follow suit. As a sound demonstration disk, or for a preview of things to be heard in the releases the set is ideal. There is also a booklet that lists the other selections in the various albums from which these tracks are taken. Low-price should also be a buy incentive.

Lush print production is the highlight of this book-fold designed package that features a 12 page insert bound to the spine (see the Billy May page sample above).

Brassmen's Holiday - Billy May
Banana Boy - Les Baxter
The Wooden Soldier And The China Doll - Joe "Fingers" Carr
Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries - Nelson Riddle
Mocking Bird - Ray Anthony
Indiana - Red Nichols
Swanee Cha River Cha - The Mighty Accordion Band
Should I - Jack Marshall
Fire - Goddness - Webley Edwards
Bizet Has His Day - Les Brown
Frenesi - Jackie Davis
American Patrol - Felix Slatkin