The 32 tunes (71 min.) are released on CD here for the first time. The music consists of five radio broadcasts from shows performed for the U.S. Armed Forces at California military bases in 1945. The band heard here was formed by Artie Shaw for one year (1945), and included star trumpet player Roy Eldridge plus a young Dodo Marmorosa on piano and Barney Kessel on guitar. The musical style is big band swing jazz, including four Artie Shaw original compositions, some standards and some lesser-known tunes. The band as a whole also turns in a great performance, not least of all because of Artie Shaw's insistence on musicianship of the highest order. Another highlight of the CD are the five tunes with the Gramercy Five, Shaw's band-within-a-band. Aside from all the exciting, tight, swinging music, this CD is important because it consists of Artie Shaw's last
Artie Shaw (clarinet), Roy Eldridge, Stan Fishelson, Bernie Glow, George Schwartz, Ray Linn (trumpets), Gus Dixon, Harry Rodgers, Ollie Wilson, Bob Swift (trombones), Louis Prisby, Rudy Tanza (alto saxes), Jon Walton, Herbie Steward (tenor saxes), Chuck Gentry (baritone sax), Dodo Marmarosa (piano), Barney Kessel (guitar), Morris Rayman (string bass), Louis Fromm (drums), Imogene Lynn (vocal)
Introduction
Nightmare
Tabu
Little Jazz
Summit Ridge Drive
Lucky Number
Begin The Beguine
Introduction
Nightmare
My Heart Stood Still
On The Atcheson, Topeka And Santa Fe
Talk
Scuttlebutt
Gotta Be This Or That
Talk
Just Floating Along
Introduction
Nightmare
Blue Skies
One The Sunny Side Of The Street
Hop, Skip And Jump
Jumpin’ On The Merry-Go-Round
Introduction
Nightmare
Bedford drive
Along The Navajo Trail
The Sad Sack
S’ Wonderful
Introduction
Hindustan
Love Walked In
Can’t You Read Between The Lines?
The Glider