Al Hirt - The Heart and Soul of Dixieland Jazz

This five-LP box set, issued by the Longines Symphonette Society in 1967, consisted in large part of recordings that Al Hirt made for the Audio Fidelity label in the late 1950s. The trumpeter was appearing at a New Orleans club called Dan's Pier 600 at the time and hadn't yet achieved much fame beyond his home base. That would change in the following decade when Hirt signed with RCA Victor and recorded hits like Cotton Candy and Java.

The Audio Fidelity recordings were made by a sextet that included Harold Cooper on clarinet, Bob Havens on trombone, pianist Ronnie DuPont, Bob Coquille on bass and Paul Edwards, drums. Unlike most Dixieland sessions, the emphasis wasn't on the ensemble but on the featured soloist, in this case Hirt. Here's a sample track.

Up a Lazy River



Almost all of Hirt's Audio Fidelity recordings are available digitally. The British-based Jasmine label has recently released Swinging Dixie, a two-CD set that combines three of the Audio Fidelity LPs. It's widely available and can be had via download as well.

If you're keen on vinyl, The Heart and Soul of Dixieland Jazz turns up frequently online, with many copies selling at a reasonable price. Thrift stores and garage sales are other sources for this excellent box set.

The following version of Up a Lazy River is by another New Orleans veteran, Pete Fountain. The track comes from a 1975 LP on Monument called Super Jazz, which featured both Fountain and Hirt separately as well as three selections that they perform together. Lazy River is by Fountain alone, despite the credit on the YouTube video.

Martin Denny - Forbidden Island

Forbidden Island, released by Liberty in 1958, was Martin Denny's third album, following the success of Exotica and Exotica, Vol. 2, both released the previous year.

Forbidden Island was also Denny's first album recorded without vibraphonist Arthur Lyman, who had left to form a group very similar to Denny's. To replace Lyman, Denny hired Julius Wechter (who would later lead the Baja Marimba Band). But the music didn't change -- a mixture of exotic-sounding instrumentation, easy listening and rain forest sound effects, including lots of bird calls.

Forbidden Island included a couple of Rodgers and Hammerstein songs, March of the Siamese Children from The King and I and Bali Ha'i from South Pacific.

Bali Ha'i



Forbidden Island has received at least two CD reissues -- in 1996 on Scamp when it was paired with Denny's followup, Primateva, and 10 years later by a British label, Rev-Ola. The latter disc included both mono and stereo versions of the album. The Scamp release is top quality but I'm not sure what source was used by Rev-Ola. Both versions are still available online, but are expensive. Forbidden Island also is available as a download from most of the major sources.

From YouTube, here's the title song from Forbidden Island.

The Scavengers - Curfue (single)

Curfue (sic) is the "B" side of an obscure 1964 single ("A" side - Oasis) recorded by The Scavengers, an instrumental band from Grand Rapids, Mich. According to the Grand Rapid Rocks website, the members of the group were Wayne VanDam, lead guitar; George Pawlowski, drums; George Snider, bass; and George Lake, rhythm guitar.

Curfue



A copy of the Oasis/Curfue single sold for $44 on eBay in 2011. This release appears to constitute the entire catalogue of this Michigan band. There was at least one other mid-1960s instrumental group called The Scavengers, but they were based in California.

Milt Jackson & His Gold Medal Winners - Brother Jim (2nd post)

This 1986 album marked the end of Milt Jackson's contract with the Pablo label. The background of the album, as well as a different track, are available in this earlier post. Almost all of the previous information is still relevant.

This time around the track is Ill Wind, a tune which Harold Arlen composed (with lyrics by Ted Koehler) for a 1934 revue at the Cotton Club. The MP3 is taken from a cassette version of Jackson's album.

Ill Wind



Cheap copies of Brother Jim seem to have disappeared since my original post in June 2012. Expect to pay $15 and up for a used CD online. Used LPs appear to be only a couple of dollars cheaper. The album still is not available as a download.

From YouTube comes Harold Arlen himself singing and playing Ill Wind. No source or date is given.

Los Relampagos - Dos Cruces (single)

Los Relampagos (The Lightning) was a popular instrumental group in Spain during the 1960s. They specialized in pop arrangements of classical and traditional Spanish songs and were influenced by bands like Johnny & the Hurricanes and The Shadows.

The Dos Cruces (Two Crosses) single dates from 1965. The lead guitarist is obviously a fan of The Shadows' Hank Marvin.

Dos Cruces



There are several albums by Los Relampagos available on CD or as downloads from several sources. Most concentrate on the group's popular recordings from the '60s and almost always include Dos Cruces. The quality of the recordings probably varies widely, so sample before buying if possible.

Los Relampagos continued recording regularly into the 1970s and there have been occasional reunions since then. The date isn't readily apparent but this performance of Dos Cruces on a TV show appears to have occurred well after the peak of their popularity. Audio quality is good, video less so.

Willie Mitchell - Solid Soul

A third slice of Memphis soul from Willie Mitchell. You'll find the previous posts with more information on Mitchell HERE and HERE.

Solid Soul dates from 1968 and consists mainly of cover versions of other people's instrumental hits: Jimmy Smith's Prayer Meetin', Hugh Masekela's Grazing in the Grass and two Freddie King hits, San-Ho-Zay and Hideaway are among them.

Then there's Up-Hard, a driving R&B track from the LP that turned into a minor hit for Mitchell when it was released as a single.

Up-Hard



Solid Soul was packaged with its predecessor On Top on a 2-on-1 CD by Hi Records UK in 1995 and again in 2001. But it's out of print now and commands upwards of $40 for a copy.

Best bet for Willie Mitchell on CD is Soul Serenade: The Best of Willie Mitchell, a 1999 Capitol release. It includes Up-Hard and 19 other tracks. Used copies start at about $10 on Amazon.

There's a ton of Willie Mitchell material to download on iTunes and elsewhere. Stick to the albums on the original Hi label and avoid the compilations put together by companies that use old LPs as their source material.

Here's another track from Solid Soul. Thanks to mrsoul1770, publisher of the first-rate Groove Addict blog, for posting this on YouTube.

Moments in Love: Just Guitar

This uncredited guitar instrumental CD is from The Netherlands. No date is specified on the release from the Ray's Music label, but it probably is from the late 1990s.

Moments in Love: Just Guitar is a slimmed down version (14 tracks) of a similarly titled album, Romancing the Hits 1: Just Guitar, which was first issued as double-LP vinyl set on the PMF label in 1990. It contained 19 selections and was later released on CD under the same title, but I'm not sure whether it came before or after the Moments in Love version.

In any case, neither CD is available. Here's a track that's included on both versions of the album.

Baker Street



All 19 tracks are available on iTunes (and probably elsewhere) under the original title Romancing the Hits, Vol. 1 and credited to the fictitious group The True Romantics. If you're a fan of pop guitar instrumentals you could do a lot worse.