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Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra: Transcriptions Sessions 1935

By Dave Nathan
February 1, 2001
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The brothers Dorsey just had fight over the direction their jointly led band should take and the union was over until they reunited many years later. Jimmy Dorsey immediately hied it up to the Electrical Research Products Studio in NYC and cut 31 sides. ..under the name James Dalton! Many of the tracks have been reissued piecemeal over the years on such labels as Rumbleseat, Muzak, Queen Disk and the like. Now the Denmark label Nostalgia Arts, part of Storyville Records, has issued 20 of the best of these sides.

Much of the material is typical early1930's dance band stuff that was the staple fare at most ball rooms and on the radio at that time. Typical from the period is "It Never Dawned on Me" given a heartfelt rendition by Kay Weber trying her best to turn this turnip into a tulip. But there are peeks at things to come in the future when Jimmy Dorsey's band was among the top drawer swing aggregations. Key Weber's voice gets a much more felicitous setting on "Cheek to Cheek". There's a fine arrangement of >I Wished on the Moon" with Bob Eberle doing the vocal honors. His voice sounds so much more formal and stilted here than it does just a few years later when he teamed with that blonde bubbly bombshell of a singer who lifted the Dorsey aggregation to heights it had never seen before. That, of course, was Helen O'Connell. There are some good clarinet solos by Jimmy and we hear snippets of his fluid, polished alto playing that earned him the respect and admiration of many top jazz artists of the day and since. This album is early Jimmy Dorsey and will those interested in the history and development of big band music in general and Jimmy Dorsey's Orchestra in particular.

Track Listing

Dorsey Stomp; Cheek to Cheek; Wolverine Blues; Top Hat, White Tie and Tails; The Peanut Vendor; You Are My Lucky Star; Three Little Words; It Never Dawned on Me; East of the Sun (and West of the Moon); Tap Dancer's Nightmare; No Strings; I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin'; On a Sunday Afternoon; Double Trouble; I Wished on the Moon; My Very Good Friend, the Milkman; From the Top of Your Head; The Gentleman Obviously Doesn't Believe; I'm on a See-Saw; Beebe

Personnel

Jimmy Dorsey

composer / conductor

Jimmy Dorsey - Alto Sax/Clarinet/Leader; George Thow, Salvatore "Toot"s Camarata - Trumpet; Bobby Byrne, Don Matteson, Joe Yuki - Trombone; Joseph "Fud" Livingston - Alto & Tenor Saxophone; Jack Stacy - Alto Sax; Skeets Herfurt - Tenor Sax; Bobby Van Eps - Piano; Roc Hillman - Guitar; James Taft - Bass; Ray McKinley - Drums; Kay Weber, Bob Eberle, Don Matteson, Dorsey Trio - Vocals

Album information

Title: Transcriptions Sessions 1935 | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Nostalgia Arts

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