Knuckles O’Toole- Goes To Paris

This week, we are highlighting a collection of small records, EP’s if you will.  We are starting with this one.  Not sure why I bought it other than it was Parisian and small.  I spent a big price though.  $4.  Almost a dollar per inch radius.  Apparently, this began life as 99 cents.

Surprisingly enough, there was no Knuckles O’Toole.  It was the the pseudonym employed by various keyboard players for a series of honky tonk style piano records,  Such luminaries to record under the moniker include Dick Hyman and David Harkness.  I am unsure who O’Toole really was on this record, which was released sometime on Waldorf Music Hall, Inc.  

Pretty much what you would expect.  A old timey honky tonk piano-y churning out French tunes.  Pretty decent songs.  Good record.  An easy listen at the very least.  I know what you are thinking.  I am going to go with my old favorite “Under The Paris Skies”.  Wrong. I am actually going with “Left Bank”.  I still enjoyed the version of “Paris Skies”.  I just liked “Left Bank” a bit more.

Satisfactory.

Erroll Garner- Paris Impressions Vol 1.

This record was $2.80.  The Cole Porter standard, ” I Love Paris” has been a frequent guest on this blog so I decided to see what Erroll Garner added to this cannon.

Garner, born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1923, was a prolific jazz pianist known for his swing ballads and distinctive style.  What makes his contributions even that more amazing is that he was an ear player and never learned to read music (when asked why he never learned, he would often reply “No one hears you read”). Influenced by Fats Waller and Earl Hines, Garner;s piano style, punctuated by vocal gruffs, was marked with melodic improvisations and an independence between hands. As a result, he influenced many including frequent blog guest, George Shearing.  Perhaps his greatest contribution to jazz was the standard “Misty” which he wrote.  Garner died of cardiac arrest in 1977, leaving behind a large catalog of works as well as an archive of unreleased material.

This record, released by Columbia in 1958, features songs with a Parisian slant, most notably the fore mentioned Porter tune.  He is credited as a pianist and harpsichordist on this record, but if memory serves me right, there is only one harpsichord tune on this and I am too busy at the moment to go back and check.  Really good interpretations of these works as well as great piano work.  A second volume was released the same year.

Well for a sample, of course I am going with the Porter tune.  You would assume that is a given at this point.  Anyway this song illustrates the magic of Garner in my mind.  I also went with the harpsichord track, “Cote d’ Azur” as it is a haunting number .  This song by the way, was written by Garner.

Satisfactory little record.

Michel Legrand- The New I Love Paris

So, yes, due to this blog’s two year anniversary, we are doing Sunday blogs.  I am trying to use Sunday for records that have a special place in this blog’s history, and this one is a fine choice.  It features songs that have been mainstays of this site as well as an artist who I have sung the praises of.  Also, this was a steal at $1.

The pervy looking French dude on the cover is Michel Legrand (born in Courbevoie, France in 1932). He is a prolific French writer, composer, arranger and conductor.  With his work on over 200 film and TV scores, including his Oscar winning “Windmills of You Mind” for the Thomas Crown Affair, I regularly point our Legrand’s work on two of my favorite French movies. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort.  I have posted Umbrellas on this blog.  Still looking for a copy of Rochefort.  Anyway, Legrand is still alive today.

Legrand burst on American radar with his version of the Cole Porter standard “I Love Paris” in 1954.  This 1959 is an updated release of songs associated with the City of Lights.  All the big titles are on here.  The album features some vibrant and interesting arrangements.   The songs are wonderfully constructed, imaginatively executed, and overall, carried out beautifully.  One complaint, however, the songs on each side segue into each other so there are no breaks.  It does makes for a dreamy sequence, not unlike Legrand’s film work.  However, it does make it hard to isolate tracks for samples.

Speaking of which, I decided to highlight three of the songs I post on a normal basis on this blog.  First off, we have the combination of “I Love Paris” with “Mademoiselle de Paris”.  Second, we have “La Vie en Rose” with “Under Paris Skies”. I could write more about these but today, I will let the music speak for itself.

Great record.  Top billing.