Georgie Auld - The Chronological Classics: 3 Albums (1940-1951)

Tracks:


Georgie Auld - 1940-1945 {CC, 1322}

Smooth and sometimes flashy tenor saxophonist Georgie Auld was heavily featured with Benny Goodman, Bunny Berigan, and Artie Shaw, whose band Auld attempted to front after Shaw, suffering psychological distress at finding himself mobbed by hyper-appreciative fans, retreated to Mexico in order to obtain some sort of privacy. Eight sides from January and February 1940 sound a lot like the previous Shaw orchestra; Kay Foster's vocals sweeten up five of these, while "This Is Romance," "Juke Box Jump," and "Sweet Sue" are solid, danceable big-band instrumentals. The orchestra was not a success and soon threw in the towel, partly because, unlike Shaw's previous material, these records came out on the little Varsity label rather than Victor's Bluebird imprint. Cut to the spring of 1944, and music of an entirely different sort. A "saxtet" co-led by Auld, Ben Webster, and Coleman Hawkins makes four sides for the progressive Apollo label, with Charlie Shavers, Israel Crosby, and Specs Powell in the band, among others. Hawkins naturally steers, with Webster riding shotgun. "Porgy" and "Uptown Lullaby" are languid ballads, while the exciting "Pick-Up Boys," with its off-mike vocal interjections, is perfectly matched by "Salt Peanuts," which in 1944 placed these musicians on the cutting edge of new jazz. This exquisite session makes the whole package worth having. The rest of the chronological survey shows Auld leading his orchestra in an up-to-date fashion. Five sides were recorded for Apollo only five days after the "saxtet" date, now bolstered with groovin' arrangements by Budd Johnson. The presence of Al Cohn and Howard McGhee doesn't hurt, either. Auld shows off a bit on a luxuriant "Concerto for Tenor" and steams up the place during "Taps Miller." "I Can't Get Started," bifurcated so as to fit on either side of a 10" record, is essentially Auld's homage to Coleman Hawkins. In February and March of 1945, Auld gathered together an exceptionally hot band for a brief spate of recordings issued on the Guild label. Auld's perceptive personnel choices included Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Butterfield, Freddy Webster, Trummy Young, Al Cohn, Manny Albam, Chubby Jackson, Erroll Garner, and Shadow Wilson! Patti Powers had a pretty little voice while Gordon Drake, whose droopy balladeering bordered on the soporific, served as a sort of laudanum poultice on "I Fall in Love Too Easily." Not surprisingly, the instrumentals ("Georgie Porgie," "In the Middle," and "Co-Pilot") provide more excitement and gratification.

01. Angel (2:51)
02. I Want My Mama (2:17)
03. This Is Romance (2:59)
04. Juke Box Jump (2:53)
05. Shake Down the Stars (3:04)
06. Imagination (2:29)
07. With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair (2:32)
08. Sweet Sue, Just You (3:03)
09. Pick-Up Boys (3:01)
10. Porgy (3:03)
11. Uptown Lullaby (3:20)
12. Salt Peanuts (2:56)
13. Sweet and Lovely (3:11)
14. Concerto for Tenor (3:16)
15. Taps Miller (3:11)
16. I Can't Get Started - Part 1 (2:06)
17. I Can't Get Started - Part 2 (2:24)
18. Georgie Porgie (2:54)
19. Sweetheart of My All Dreams (3:04)
20. I Fall in Love Too Easily (2:56)
21. In the Middle (3:13)
22. Lover Man (3:22)
23. Co-Pilot (2:49)
24. I'll Never Be the Same (2:55)


Georgie Auld - 1945-1946 {CC, 1351}

This second volume in the Classics Georgie Auld chronology presents all of his studio recordings made between May 24, 1945 and April 30, 1946. Auld's big band shared some stylistic qualities with Billy Eckstine's orchestra; both groups handled the innovations of bop with intelligence and creative precision. The first two tracks on this collection were originally issued on the Guild record label; the rest appeared on Musicraft. Georgie Auld, whose career at times paralleled that of Charlie Barnet, played soprano and alto in addition to his customary tenor saxophone; also like Barnet he was a capable vocalist. There are three examples of Auld's singing voice in this part of the chronology: he delivers a fine rendering of "I Don't Know Why" (once closely associated with Russ Columbo), a tidy take on "Route 66" that closely mimics the version recorded only six weeks earlier by Nat King Cole, and a boppish `big band update of "Honey," an attractive Richard Whiting melody dating from 1928. Nine tracks feature vocalist Lynne Stevens -- she is at her best on Ellington and Strayhorn's "Just A-Settin' and A-Rockin'" -- but the truly substantial element here is the band itself, a 17-piece ensemble working with arrangements penned by Budd Johnson, Tadd Dameron, Al Cohn, Franz Jackson and Neal Hefti. Auld also used Hugo Winterhalter's excellent arrangement of "Time on My Hands," apparently the same chart used by Count Basie in 1942. Note the presence of baritone saxophonist Serge Chaloff alongside Cohn and Auld in the reeds; that's Joe Albany and Stan Levey in the rhythm section. The vocal highlight of the whole album is Sarah Vaughan's lovely interpretation of "100 Years from Today," a Victor Young melody with words by Ned Washington published in 1933. Georgie Auld had a really fine big band from 1943-1946, and led an exceptional group during the year 1949. His early-'50s recordings sometimes involve group vocals or lounge atmosphere; by 1955 and 1956 he fronted a group known as the Hollywood All Stars, using arrangements by Billy May. Most of his music is worth the effort it takes to chase it down and soak it up.

01. Honey (2:11)
02. Stompin' at the Savoy (3:09)
03. Jump, Georgie, Jump (2:35)
04. Daily Trouble (2:59)
05. Here Comes Heaven Again (3:16)
06. It Had to Be You (2:43)
07. Airmail Special (3:01)
08. Just A-Settin' and A-Rockin' (3:13)
09. Time on My Hands (3:17)
10. Blue Moon (2:57)
11. Come to Baby, Do (2:41)
12. Let's Jump (3:21)
13. Chicken Lickin' (2:56)
14. I've Got a Right to Know (3:11)
15. Stormy Weather (3:18)
16. You Haven't Changed at All (3:01)
17. Blue Moon (3:06)
18. Seems Like Old Times (2:49)
19. Daily Trouble (2:58)
20. Just You, Just Me (2:50)
21. 100 Years from Today (2:57)
22. I Don't Know Why (3:02)
23. Route 66 (2:44)


Georgie Auld - 1946-1951 {CC, 1371}

Volume three in the Classics Georgie Auld chronology opens with the last four sides he cut for the Musicraft label on June 14, 1946. The 16-piece big band had Neal Hefti in the trumpet section, Auld, Al Cohn and Serge Chaloff in the reeds, and vocalist Sarah Vaughan featured on "You're Blasé." While Hefti's two original compositions are pleasantly modern sounding, the true gem from this date was Budd Johnson's rock-solid "Canyon Passage." Changes in the postwar entertainment industry resulted in the dissolution and dispersal of many big bands. Auld threw in the towel and waited about two-and-a-half years before resuming his recording career on January 17, 1949. His new band had ten pieces, including trombonist Billy Byers, pianist Jimmy Rowles and drummer Alvin Stoller. Eight sides cut for the Discovery record label on this date and on March 21 used mostly Hal Vernon arrangements; Byers scored the charts for "Hollywood Bazaar" and "Mild and Mellow." (For a 100-percent satisfying example of Auld leading a ten-piece band similar to this one, seek out You Got Me Jumpin' (Sounds of Yesteryear 6680), recorded live at the Empire in Hollywood, CA, 1949.) The next leg of the chronology consists of nine titles recorded for the Royal Roost record label on January 24, 1951 by the Georgie Auld Quintet, with trombonist Frank Rosolino, pianist Lou Levy, bassist Max Bennett and drummer Tiny Kahn, whose eccentric opus "Seh! Seh!" is group participation bop; the band shouts the song's title at regular intervals as part of the melodic line. This little-known session hatched a veritable goldmine of cruising cookers and luscious ballads; "Taps Miller" and "New Airmail Special" are particularly piquant.

01. Canyon Passage (2:56)
02. You're Blase (3:01)
03. Handicap (2:55)
04. Mo Mo (2:42)
05. You've Got Me Jumpin' (2:38)
06. Darn That Dream (3:02)
07. Hollywood Bazaar (2:45)
08. They Didn't Believe Me (2:38)
09. Nashooma (3:12)
10. Vox Bop (2:54)
11. Mild And Mellow (2:55)
12. Settin' The Pace (3:15)
13. Seh! Seh! (2:39)
14. New Airmail Special (3:02)
15. Autumn In New York (2:31)
16. Be My Love (2:36)
17. Taps Miller (2:48)
18. Out Of Nowhere (3:08)
19. What's New? (2:31)
20. You Made Me Love You (2:33)
21. The Things We Did Last Summer (2:39)