Harry James and His Orchestra 1948–49 explained

Harry James and His Orchestra 1948–49
Type:live
Artist:Harry James
Cover:HarryJamesAndHisOrchestra1948-49AlbumCover.jpg
Released:1969
Recorded:Radio Transcripts, 1948–1949
Genre:Jazz, big band
Label:Big Band Landmarks

Harry James and His Orchestra 1948–49 is a double album by American trumpeter Harry James with The Harry James Orchestra. The album consists of live radio transcripts recorded during 1948 and 1949 and was released in 1969 by Big Band Landmarks (Volumes X–XI).[1]

Background

As bop surpassed swing by the late 1940s, James was surprisingly open to its influence. For the tracks on this album, James had dropped his string section and vocalists and employed a variety of modern arrangements by Neal Hefti, Frank Devenport, Johnny Richards and Jimmy Mundy, which often inspired his musicians.[2]

Because of the musicians' strike that lasted for the duration of 1948, James recorded no new material for commercial release by his record label Columbia during this period, and outside of this period when he did record for Columbia, the label tended to focus more on James's pop releases.[3] The combination of these two factors makes these tracks some of the few available that represent James's jazz style during this period. This is unfortunate because as music critic Marc Myers has stated, "[James's] band of the mid-1940s was more modern than most of the majors, and in 1949 he led one of the finest bands of the year."[4]

The following is the promotional note from the Fresh Sound Records' CD reissue There They Go:

Track listing

Notes

Recording dates / locations

Selections on the album are from six sessions recorded from 1948 to 1950. The "Navy Show" numbers in parentheses below refer to the numbers of the original 16" transcriptions circulated only to radio stations for recruiting advertising.[7]

CBS "Call for Music Show" – recorded February 20, 1948 in Hollywood, California:A4: Snooty Fruity

CBS "Call for Music Show" – recorded May 18, 1948 in Hollywood, California:A6: Lover

CBS "Call for Music Show" – recorded June 15, 1948 in Hollywood, California:A3: You Turned The Tables On Me

"U.S. Navy Presents" – recorded June 1949 in Hollywood, California:A1: There They Go (USN 106) / B4: Raffles (USN 105) / B5: Six, Two And Even (USN 105) / B6: Bells (USN 105) / C1: Shine (USN 107) / C2: Block Party (USN 108) / C3: Forgotten (USN 108) / C4: Cottontail (USN 113) / D1: Proclamation (USN 110) / D2: Slap Happy (USN 111)

"U.S. Navy Presents" – recorded July 1949 in Hollywood, California:A2: 'Cept February, Which Has 28 (USN 101) / A5: Things Ain't What They Used To Be (USN 114) / B1: Or Words To That Effect (USN 101) / B2: Big Boy (USN 102) / B3: The Arrival (USN 102) / D3: Kerina (USN 114)

"U.S. Navy Presents the Land's Best Bands" – recorded November, 1950 in Hollywood, California:C5: I May Be Wrong (USN 4A) / D4: Bluebeard's Blues (USN 4A) / D5: Rank Frank (USN 12A)

Personnel

Notes

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Harry James And His Orchestra – Harry James And His Orchestra 1948-49 . Discogs . 20 December 2016.
  2. Web site: 1948-1949 . AllMusic . 20 December 2016.
  3. Web site: The Silence That Sparked New Sounds . The Wall Street Journal . 20 December 2016.
  4. Web site: Harry James: 1958-'61 . JazzWax . 20 December 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160202160519/http://www.jazzwax.com/2014/01/harry-james-1958-61.html . 2 February 2016 . dead .
  5. Web site: Harry James And His Orchestra – 1948 - 1949 - Vol. 1 . Discogs . 20 December 2016.
  6. Web site: Harry James – Things Ain't What They Used To Be . Discogs . 25 December 2016.
  7. Book: Lord, Tom . 2013 . The Jazz Discography Ver 14.

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