Dean Franconi- The Lush String Sound of Dean Franconi and his Orchestra

This was $1.  It kind of fit the mold for your typical Donkey-Show Pot luck album.

I could not find a whole lot of information on Dean Franconi and was quite excited to write an easy post.  But after a bit of digging, I am working on the theory that Franconi is an alias of one Al Goodman, a somewhat prominent write, arranger and conductor of yore.  Born in Nikopol, Ukraine in 1890, Goodman somehow got to New York where he became Al Jolson’s musical director.  He moved on to works on Broadway and radio as well as a venture into television during its early days.  In terms of Broadway, he directed over 150 first night performances and would often hand off conducting duties after the initial show runs to focus on new productions.  For his period  (the pre-Golden era), he was one of Broadway’s most popular conductors.  He released a series of records under the Franconi moniker.  He would pass on in 1972.

This record, released in 1967 on the Design label, features many popular tunes of the time, most notably “Somewhere My Love” from Dr Zhivago, “Is Paris Burning?”, and “Hawaii” as well as tango favorites “El Choco and “La Cumparsita”.  As the title would suggest, the tracks are string heavy.  Any of these would make for a good sample, but I decided to go with “Espana Waltz”.

Good enough record.  Probably not among Goodman’s proudest moment, hence the alias, but the price was at least right.  Satisfactory.

Stanley Black- Some Enchanted Evening

Here is a record from Stanley Black that despite the price tag from 2017, I believe I bought this recently, after posting a record from Black some months ago.  Of course, I could be mistaken and this could be a happy coincidence. This was $2.

I posted a Black record a couple months back which was more exotica in nature.  This record, released by London in 1955, is more your standard ballroom orchestra fare, tackling Broadway tunes and your popular standard fare from your usually favorites: Porter, Rodgers, Hart, Hammerstein, Kern, Gershwin, etc.  Decent stuff.  For a sample, I went with the Porter tune “Love For Sale”.

This record sound nothing like the last record but I think that is a testament to the diversity of Black’s work.  And it was only $2.  Satisfactory,

Henri Rene and his Orchestra- Music For The Weaker Sex

I got this record before the MeToo movement grew big.  Admittedly, I bought this for the title. I guess I should apologize in advance but that was the attitude back then and this blog has become a sort of social snapshot of the past.  What a strange week this week, personally, which will probably seem like ancient history once this post comes out. But enough about me and social morays past and present.  I paid $6 for this?  Ok now this record upsets me.

Harold Manfred Kirchstein, known professionally as Henri Rene and born in New York City in 1906 to a German father and French mother, had a significant career as a bad leader, producer, composer, and arranger (that was a massive run on sentence).  After getting educated in Europe as well as touring the continent, Rene became the musical director and principle arranger for RCA Victor in Germany.  He worked with artists such as Harry Belafonte and Perry Como as well as his own band.  He also worked on film and television soundtracks.  People call his music a precursor to space age pop (although I can not hear it).  Rene died in 1993 in good old Houston, Texas, from what i do not know.  Maybe another Houston musician  who got into the syrup.  Either way, he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1610 Vine Street.

Space Age Pop Page

Hollywood Star

I did not like this album.  I thought the concept (music based on singers popular to females) was flimsy.  I thought the liner notes were sexist.  I thought the arrangements were bland.  There was nothing that really grabbed me.  It did have some moments but overall , this record did nothing for me. This came out on RCA Victor in 1958.  Featured male stars which the music is patterned for include Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Big Crosby, and Elvis Presley among others. Some songs are better than others but generally, I felt most of it was too tame.

Then why two samples if you hated it so?  No reason I guess.  Maybe to show that it was not all bad.  Here is “Harry” and “Nat” which I am guessing are names for James and King Cole.  

$6 for this killed me.  Way too much.  Meh.  Besides, I think Rene has done better work than this.

Concertbouworkest Orchestra under Bernard Haitink- ST

I got this record for $2 to write  post about my favorite place in the world, Amsterdam.  Which brings me to a hot topic as of late regarding my annual vacation.  First off. I am not eligible for vacation until January. I could still go at that time.  Mind you I miss the Christmas spirit which was everywhere last year but I can still see the Light Festival.  Also probably less tourists in January for better or for worse.  Well, the big issue is money.  Just not earning enough right now to justify going abroad.  What to do?  Well, where there is a will there is a way and I have not completely ruled out going but this year it is going to be tough.  Maybe I can pick up a side job here or there. Who knows. I did not think of this until I was done writing this but one down side to these Dutch treats are an absorbent amount of spell check.

What I do know is what I hold here in my hand, which is a souvenir record by the world famous Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam.  Named after the newly built concert hall of the same name, the orchestra began life in 1888 under Dutch conductor Willem Kes.  (Fun Fact: Paul McCartney mentions The Concertgebouw in his song “Rock Show”). It is located south of the Museum District.

In 1895, Willem Mengelberg took over and turned the orchestra into one of Europe’s best. Mengelberg’s illustrious reign ended in 1925.  After this time various conductors led this orchestra thru tours abroad including a 1954 trip to the Americas.  In 1988, Queen Beatrix added the title “Royal” to the orchestra.

Famed conductor Bernard Haitink (born in Amsterdam in 1929), took over the co-conducting duties in 1961 after the death of the popular Van Beinum.  He would became sole conductor in 1964.  Under his watch, the orchestra went thru a prolific recording period, most notably on Phillips Records (which this record is from). They also toured extensively.  Haitink also has worked with the London Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra among others.

From what I can tell, this record was made during a 1971 tour of the Americas.  I believe these segments were taken from performances in New York and San Francisco.  The composers represented on this album include Schubert, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Berlioz, Verdi, and Glinka.  Pretty good stuff.  There is a certain vibrancy with this record.  It is not easy to breathe new life into classical pieces but that is what I feel is going on with this record.

For a sample, I went with “Hungarian Dance #1 in G Minor” by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897).  Could have gone in any direction but settled on this one for some reason (probably because I have posted Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances before).

Good record.  Satisfactory.  I realized after writing this post how many times I walked by the Concertgebouw not realizing what it was.  I thought this post would cheer me up but it actually had quite the opposite effect.  Well, a trip in January is not out of the cards yet, but boy is it getting harder to reach.

 

Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic- Nocturne: Music for Quite Listening

This was $2.  It seemed like a pretty mellow and calming record.

If I had to describe this record, I would say it is something you would hear if you were watching a Holocaust documentary at the 9-11 Memorial on Remembrance Day.  Very , very , very solemn.  Most notably because of the inclusion of Sam Barber’s “Adagio For Strings, Op 11”.  There are some lighter moments including Grieg’s “Dawn” from Peer Gynt.  Man, that piece has some great music.  Anyway, here is this record with the impeccable Lenny Bernstein and the New York Phili.  This was released by Columbia in 1971.

For a sample, I went with one of the more airy pieces “Barcarolle” from Gaite Parisienne” a ballet by Frenchmen Jacques Offenbach (note: I am assuming he is French and feel confident enough that I am not fact checking this).

Oddly enough, I was expecting something a but different than what the title clearly stated on the front.  Just too depressing at times.  Meh.  Also, I could not just let statements go unchecked and therefore promote falsehoods.  Turns out Jakob Offenbach was born in Germany but France was where he learned and applied his trade.  He would be granted French citizenship over time and would later become a prime influence to both Strauss and Sullivan.

The John Foster Dulles High School Instrumental Music Department- Proudly We Play

I guess this is the record I have always wanted to post.  Straight from my old high school, John Foster Dulles, named after the Eisenhower Secretary of State and part of the John Foster Dulles educational complex on Dulles street.  This was $4.

One of my favorite stories in general, involved my alma matter.  Flash back to December of 2001.  I flew to London to see the Pogues in concert.  They had not played together for some time and I never thought they would get back with Shane McGowan.  Anyway, it was my first trip to London as an adult.  Really my first trip outside of North America by myself. So there I was around 10am-ish, after a long flight and a bit of a rude experience in customs, now finding myself coming to St James Park when I meet an old Irishman.

This marks the paths of the subjects during the story

A very talkative fellow, he asked me where I was from.  America I told him.  He went into a very length conversation ( or monologue more like it) about the hotel he worked in as a doorman,  It must of been one of the fanciest as he has met about every president, celebrity, and foreign dignitary in the last 40 years of the time of this story.  From Kennedy to Bush Jr, to Mohammed Ali to George Best.  He told me that Osama bin Laden stayed at his hotel some time back and how he never liked him back then.

It should be noted that there was a TV crew filming a segment on the bridge and polite man in the crew was trying to get the Irishman to be quiet to no avail.

So it goes on like this all the way thru St James Park, when in the middle of it all, he asks me if I know who the greatest American of all time was.  Ok, now my interest is peaked as I was tuning a lot of this talk out.  I finally get a word in the conversion when I tell him no. John Foster Dulles, the Irishman replies.  Great American ever, says he.  Has an Airport named after him, he does.  The Irishman was particularly proud of this fact.  “Well, he has a high school named after him too”, says I. 

Now for the first time since I met him, the Irishman goes silent.  An expression of deep thought goes over him.  “An airport and a School?,,,,,,,, Ack! Isn’t America grand”.  He then proceeded to continue the who’s who of celebrities he met at his hotel.  When we got to the Mall, we parted ways.  He gave me a kiss on both cheeks and went on his way, a little better of knowing that one can have both a school and an airport named after them in that magical place they call America.

Well, that was a bit longer than planned.  So getting back to this record, here is a double record of music by the various bands (symphonic, concert, and stage) from the years 1974-1976.  As I graduated in 1992, I know none of the people involved with this effort Bill Shaver (1932-2005) was the principle at the  time.  L.E. Elkins, namesake of Elkins High School, was the district’s Superintendent.  James Larson (1937-2015)  was the head musical coordinator.  He conducts symphonic band, while David Lambert the concert and stage bands.

All in all, this is a pretty good record.  I found the pieces interesting enough.  Five pieces of the symphonic band which I felt were ambitious and well executed.  I felt the same way about the three from the concert band.  The stage band, I felt had the best musicianship ,but I am probably biased towards it.  Overall, I enjoyed this album,  I guess I should also note that I had pretty low expectations prior to listening.  I mean it is a high school band album.

For samples, I wanted to highlight all the bands so here is the symphonic band with “Fantasies on a Theme by Hayden”, the concert band with the “Marriage of Figaro”, and for those who want something a bit more contemporary, here is the stage band with a funky “All God’s Children”.

Satisfactory record.

Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra- Blue Hawaii

This puppy was a buck.  Got it for the songs, most of which I like.  What is going on this week, other than zipping thru posts?  Well, nothing as much to make note of but still too much to dedicate too much time to writing this.

On that note, Billy Vaughn has always been hit or miss with me.  Well this album from Dot Records, released in 1959, is pretty much a miss.  I found the arrangements to be a tad slow and boring and not really in the whole tropical vein.  Of course, exotica was never really Vaughn’s bag and perhaps this is not fair, but what do you expect me to do about it today?

Well, for a sample, I went with one of my faves, “Hawaiian War Chant”.

Meh. Sorry Billy.  I’ll get you the next time around.

 

Jo Stafford- Sings American Folk Songs

This was all of $1.  When I bought it, there was some tie in or something notable about the record, but whatever that was escapes me now.  It does have a bunch of good folk tunes on it.  Today, as I write this, the Great 2017 eclipse happened, which by now must seem like a distant memory to most.

Truly a historical day in Houston if one likes looking a clouds.

Well anyway, here is this by singer Jo Stafford (1917-2008).  Born in what is not a dirty word, Coalinga, California, Stafford was a singer who started in a group with her sisters before joining the Pied Pipers and then parlaying this into singing with Tommy Dorsey. She went solo in 1944 and her biggest hit was 1952’s “You Belong To Me”.  She retired in the mid-60’s with a few pop ups here and there until her death of heart failure at age 90.

During her solo career, many of Stafford’s works were backed by the Paul Weston Orchestra. Stafford and Weston would marry in 1952 and remain in union until Weston’s death in 1996.  The two did perform in a comedy routine, at first for friends and then for a bigger audience.  As two incompetent lounge performers Johnny and Darlene Edwards, the duo released five records.

This record was a 1962 re-release of an earlier record by Stafford.  The original released came out tin 1948, making it one of her earlier solo recordings.  Two years later a second version came out adding two songs.  Then in 1962, this came out with an additional 4, bringing the total to 12. With these songs conducted and arranged by her hubby, Weston, it should be noted that although these are conventional songs, none of these are conventional arrangements.  And I think that is what gives the album its charm.  Consequently, Judy Collins lists this album as highly influential in terms of her getting into folk music.

Lot of good choices on this album.  I really liked “Cripple Creek”, “Single Girl” ,and my perennial favorite, “Poor Wayfaring Stranger”.  However, I decided to go with “Sourwood Mountain”.

Good record.  Satisfactory.

Vladimir Golschmann- Mussorgsky (Pictures at an Exhibition)

Welcome to a fresh week of Donkey Show. Kick off the official start of this month’s anniversary celebration with this piece of work.  I bought this record for the same reason I posted it.  I have posted several versions of this work (well really only two-ELP’s and Tomita’s) and I felt that it would be a good idea to someday visit the proper piece. This was $1.60 with discount.

I also recently saw Pictures at an Exhibition performed at Jones Hall last month.  I had not been to Jones Hall since I was on a school field trip in elementary school.  Anyway, it was pretty good time and a pretty moving performance.  Mussorgsky’s piece was accompanied by Stravinsky’s Symphonies of Wind Instruments as well as John Adam’s Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra featuring Tim McAllister on sax..  All three pieces were conducted by Hans Graf, a former Houston Symphony director from Germany.  

Current director, Colombian born Andres Orozoco-Estrada, spoke to the audience beforehand about each piece of work as well as some general music appreciation.  This was interesting and entertaining as well.

Anyway, that night’s performance as well as the version on this album are more of a tribute to Joseph Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) who took Mussorgsky’s piano piece and turned it into the full orchestrated version we know today.

According to Orozco-Estrada’s speech, Ravel wrote the book on arranging for orchestra, quite literally.  In his book, Ravel highlighted both his greatest successes as well as his failures in orchestrating pieces of work. As far as the original work goes, it’s origins have been well documented (or at least documented) in this blog as well as Google.

Pictures at an Exhibition is Ravel’s best known arrangements of other peoples work.  I was amazed at the performance how well someone could completely flesh out such an arrangement from a sole piano piece.  Regardless, it is a fine piece and it is represented well on this album.  The conductor, Vladimir Golschman (1893-1972) was  French born but moved to the US where he led the St Louis Symphony from 1931 to 1958.

This album also features “A Night at Bald Mountain” which I was familiar with but unaware that this was also Mussorgsky’s work. However, I am going with the track that got me to the dance, a piece from Pictures.  I was leaning towards “Limoges/Catacombae” as a sample but somehow decided to go the easy route with what is the highlight of the piece  the epic ” The Little Hut/ Baba-Yaga” and the grandiose and majestic “Great Gates of Kiev”.  Both numbers draw on allusions to earlier movements in the piece.  It serves as a great end to this piece.

Satisfactory Record.

 

 

Rostal & Schaefer / Ron Goodwin- The Beatles Concerto

This was $4 and purchased to offset some of the $1 crap I bought on the same day.  Got to try real hard to screw up the Beatles.  Not saying that hasn’t been done and posted on this webpage.  Just saying it does take some concentrated effort.

.

Well, no trip to Phoenix is complete without some sporting event so Saturday night, the whole family went to a hockey game.  The Pittsburgh Penguins were playing the Coyotes.  Oddly enough, it was Larry Fitzgerald Bobble Head Night.  Great game.  Sidney Crosby was 2 points away from 1,000 so every time he touched the puck, you got excited.  Coyotes led for most of the game until the Penguins tied it up late in the third. The Coyotes then found themselves short handed in overtime but managed to hold Pittsburgh off long enough to score the game winner in the last minute of overtime.  Great game.

I learned last night that Concerto’s are meant to highlight a particular instrument. This piece of work show cases the piano talents of one Peter Rostal and John Shaffer as well as the writing/arrangements of John Rutter against the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra led by George Martin’s (who also produced the record)  buddy and first signing, Ron Goodwin(1925-2003).  Goodwin scored over 70 pieces of film, mostly UK releases including I’m Alright Jack.  He also scored Where Eagles Dare and Force Ten From Navarone. 

Released in 1979, this album contains one side consisting of three movements of the Beatles Concerto which had been performed worldwide since 1977.  The second side contains six Beatles impressions.  Both side are pretty good.  The concerto is a more complete work with elaborate orchestrations. The principles were trying to arrange and perform the Beatles’ work in a style of Rachmaninoff or Tchaikovsky. To this end, they were wildly successful as the work gained such comparisons instead of being a straight interpretation. The second side is also interesting as it takes Beatles songs and performs them in style similar to other composers.

I wanted to take samples from both sides to illustrate these things. From the first side, I leaned heavily towards the 3rd movement which puts “Can’t Buy Me Love” against a different background and marries it to “The Long And Winding Road”.  For the second side, I was really torn between  “A Hard Day’s Night” which wonderfully borrows from Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”, and “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” from which I should know by the now after doing this site, the style of which the music alludes to but don’t.  All I can say it that is a grandiose rendition.

Good album.  Satisfactory.