Old tunes, artists unbeatable

Press, 15 June 1989, Page 24

Old tunes, artists unbeatable

& discs

ALLAN FRANCIS

GLENN MILLER: “In the Mood”; 16 tracks of originals. SUCCESS CD 2105CD-AAD. COUNT BASIE: “Swingin’ the Blues”; 15 tracks. SUCCESS CD 2108CD-AAD. FRANK SINATRA: “The Lady is a Tramp.” SUCCESS CD 2124 CD-AAD. Listening to old tunes from the swing era is something like watching reruns of M*A*S*H, it is simply a matter of going over the same old ground one more time. However predictable, it is the quality of the product that holds the audience above all else, the article itself being good to start with, and the artists having injected so much dedicated skill into their arrangements. The combination is unbeatable. It is like a good story told again and again. Practically without exception the original performances have never been bettered — and one has only got to have the experience of going to any restaurant and listen to “updated” versions of the old swing repertoire to appreciate just how good the original tunes and artists were at the time.

It is a question of good tunes rendered by old fiddlers, and the conclusion is that their consummate artistry simply cannot be replaced or surpassed. Record companies capitalising on this fact cannot go wrong. It is only a policy of reproducing the repertoire in CD quality to ensure a responsive and grateful market. Music World is filling this gap in style with the Success CD, and this bracket from the 1940 s and 50s will attract new and old friends alike. Glenn Miller, for instance, does not exactly fit the true swing (or jazz) category, nor does Frank Sinatra qualify as a jazz singer, but no-one would dare to ever suggest Count Basie is anything but the personification of true jazz. Here, Miller airs the standards with what has become almost monotonous regularity. Basie, on the other hand, reaches further back still than the early 1940 s if our

estimation is correct, to the days of Herschel Evans, Eddie Durham, Buck Clayton, Lester Young and the tight-knit rhythm section of Freddie Green, Walter Page and Jo Jones from 1937 to 1939. In the total absence of liner notes it becomes a guessing game, though not an impossible one. It would not be hard though to recognise one of the richest solo lineups of the Basie band, this in spite of the relatively immature ensemble playing in “One O’clock Jump,” the boogies “Red Bank,” “Jimmy’s” (Rushing), and the famous Dorsey “Boogie Woogie.”

Frank Sinatra was enjoying his second career of singing, and unlike most in this situation he had come up better than ever. Standards from the pens of Cahn, Berlin, ■ Rodgers and Hart and Julie Styne gave the singer a perfect springboard for his enormous talents, tunes such as “It Depends on You,” “Come Fly with Me” and “You Make Me Feel So Young.” Those seeking fresh fields with Glenn Miller in particular, might find pleasure in RCA LP set NL89714(3). NAT KING COLE: “Unforgettable.” PMI VIDEO MVN 9911693 from EMI.

Not often enough do actual performances measure up to the advertisements. Here is the most notable exception of this current year, with the life summary of a great artist equally proficient at the keyboard and as a singer of character and integrity.

What the video lacks in ostentation in the beginning is more than compensated for in the sheer magic that follows. Old black and white TV shots of Cole’s early days underline the tragedy of a life beset with racial and health problems. His widow underplays the seriousness of both, yet poses a perfect summary of the unnecessary hurdles the family had to face. All through the heart break is the fine thread of song we are told sprang from a patron insisting that Cole add to his piano skills of “Sweet Lorraine” by singing on “request.”

Cole did have a second career with the popular song that sold millions, though far lesser artistically than what he was capable of, namely the “Rambling Rose” type of material, none of which, happily, are featured here.

In all the 90 minutes of the programme there was little wasted on dross. The songs included his early "Route 66,” the later “Nature Boy,” “Mona Lisa,” his own “Christmas Song,” “Here’s That Rainy Day,” the title tune, and culminating in shots of his last ride to the cemetery, “Stardust.”

The history was tastefully done, only on occasions was there a flicker of annoyance at what seemed an obtrusive comment when Cole was singing, banal words drowning a performance that would have been more telling on its own.

Over all though, the video is as indispensable as it is “unforgettable.” Nothing ever dated.

“GLENN MILLER: A stern, dogmatic hardnosed taskmaster, he worked equally hard at. controlling his musicians and his emotions.” — George T. Simon (“Best of the Music Makers, 1979”).

VLADIMIR HOROWITZ: “Horowitz in London.” (RCA video and CD RCD-I 4572). Live performance in the Royal Festival Hall, May 22, 1982.

By necessity, there are differences between the video and the CD of this performance, the main one being the length of playing time.

The CD contains none of the interesting monologue that takes place after the concert, and

none of the medley of romantic pieces which forms a big part of the performance. Prince Charles was present, looking slightly uncomfortable. Horowitz was obviously very much at home with his elfin smile and his favourite recording conditions. “God Save The Queen” is the only uneasy moment in the whole programme. The CD is confined to Chopin, Schumann and Scriabin, the central work

| being Schumann’s Op. 15 Kinderscenen, the opening pieces being a crisp Op. 61 Polonaise-Fantaisie and Ballade No. 1. Scria- • bin’s Etude in D Sharp | minor closes the CD share of the concert, about one half of the total. Horowitz is no stranger to the London Festival Hall, and is equally loquacious in an unassuming way on his favourite subjects of life, career and relationships with others. He was warmly received by Rachmaninov, who saw in the young pianist a disciple who would carry his works far into the future; at the same time he enjoyed a coolly polite collaboration with the volatile Toscanini.

Always the quick smile or throwaway line was never far away, making him an irresistible personality. The interviewer, if there was one. was never needed to stoke up the flow of reflective thoughts. His playing is on a par with concerts of the time, indeed superior to that in Moscow; there is no Mozart or Scarlatti, but both media are superblyrecorded. If it comes to choice, the CD has about 45 minutes of music, the video has nearly two hours of total programming. The long, insistent applause at the end says much for the appeal of this venture. -ALLAN FRANCIS.