Chamber Jazz Sextet - Plays Pal Joey (1989)

The Chamber Jazz Sextet, an intriguing West Coast cool jazz group from the 1950s, consisted of Dent Hand (on trumpet and bass); altoist Frank Leal; Modesto Briseno on clarinet, tenor, and baritone; Allyn Ferguson on piano and French horn; bassist Fred Dutton doubling on bassoon; and drummer Tom Reynolds. On this 1958 CD reissue, they play jazz versions of songs from the Rodgers & Hart score to the film Pal Joey. The original play had "I Could Write a Book" as its best-known song, but the movie also added some Rodgers & Hart hits from earlier productions, including "There's a Small Hotel," "My Funny Valentine," "The Lady Is a Tramp," and "I Didn't Know What Time It Was." All of those songs plus three others are performed by the Chamber Jazz Sextet in concise, colorful, and swinging versions, arranged by Allyn Ferguson and Bill Holman. Fun music.

This is an album of efficient, well player, clean west coast jazz by a group of musicians who certainly deserved wide recognition than they actually achieved. The sextet contained a number of up and coming young men as well as a couple of seasoned professionals; Allyn Ferguson on French horn and piano; Dent Hand on trumpet and bass; Frank Leak on alto; Modesto Briseno on clarinet, tenor and baritone; Fred Dutton on bass and bassoon; Tom Reynolds on drums. This album commemorated the release of the film version of Richard Rodgers "Pal Joey," a musical adaption of some short stories by John O'Hara which appeared first as a stage production. It opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway on December 30, 1940 with a cast which included a young Gene Kelly and June Havoc. Only four of the tunes heard here are from the original stage show, namely.