Hank Crawford  “More Soul”  Atlantic Records (1961)   Portrait by Lee Friedlander.  Along with David “Fathead” Newman, Hank Crawford lead the pre-eminent sax section of Ray Charles classic group of the late 50’s – early 60’s.  Crawford, who joined Charles’ band in 1957, primarily held down the role of baritone sax player, but with this recording he’s able to stretch out on the alto.  As he often did with Ray Charles, More Soul sees Hank in the role of arranger.   The night that this record was cut, I’ve read, Crawford played Harlem’s Apollo theater until 1am, took the short ride down to Broadway and the Atlantic studios and recorded these seven tracks before dawn.  Crawford’s arrangements for septet dispense with piano, aside from a little comping by Hank, which vividly opens out the sound of brass and horns, and gives a greater weight and clarity to the bass/drums rhythm section of Edgar Willis and Milt Turner.  Fathead Newman plays tenor.  The great Tom Dowd engineered.  Nesuhi Ertegun produced.  Check it out!

(47 votes, average: 3.51 out of 5)

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“Guaranias Etarnas”   Dionisio   Imperial Records (Paraquay)

(33 votes, average: 3.33 out of 5)

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Nat “King” Cole   “The Touch of Your Lips”   Capitol Records (1961)

(49 votes, average: 3.82 out of 5)

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Sophia Loren singing in French   Barclay Records

(50 votes, average: 3.88 out of 5)

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“Shalom Pardner”   Yiddish-American Funny Songs & Humor by Leo Fuchs     Tikva Records

(43 votes, average: 3.12 out of 5)

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Mel Torme with the Marty Paich Dek-tette   Bethlehem Records (1956)   Design by Burt Goldblatt   // Pete Candoli, Don Fagerquist (tp) Bob Enevoldsen (vtb) John Cave, Vince DeRosa (frh) Albert Pollan (tu) Bud Shank (as) Bob Cooper, Jack Montrose (ts) Jack Dulong (bars) Marty Paich (p) Red Mitchell (b) Mel Lewis (d) Mel Torme (vo)

Lulu’s Back In Town / When The Sun Comes Out / I Love To Watch The Moonlight / Fascinating Rhythm / The Blues / The Carioca / The Lady Is A Tramp / I Like To Recognize The Tune Keeping Myself For You / Lullaby Of Birdland / When April Comes Again / Sing For Your Supper

(59 votes, average: 4.03 out of 5)

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“Bedtime Stories Italian Style”   by Giuseppe, the Italian Baby-sitter!   Box Office Records   “…a decidedly different delineation of a half-dozen famous fairy tales.   Combining today’s adult world of reality with the time-honored world of fantasy…”     “Taking farcical liberties under the protection of his pizzeria palaver, he puts the accent high on hilarity”     Giuseppe is in reality a prominent orchestra leader born and raised in NYC.   His Italian accent is strictly for this album, recorded at the repeated urging of friends who have joyfully sampled his performances at private parties.

(52 votes, average: 3.79 out of 5)

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Two 10″ LPs on the Sinter Records label out of Brazil.   (Top) Pixinguinha   “Marchinhas Carnavalescas”   (Bottom)   Almirante   “A Maior Patente do Radio”

(50 votes, average: 3.08 out of 5)

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Graham Dalley   Hollick & Taylor Records   (1966)   Recorded live at The Barn, a restaurant in Birmingham, England.   Sappy organ music like ‘ ‘Sayonara’, “Meet Me in St. Louis” and “The Folks on the Hill’     And sappier liner notes like “It was a great night out. The food and the wine and the mood and the music; you’re going to store it all away in some sweet corner of life’s memories to hold against less magical moments when you want to recall the rosy glow of friendliness and warmth which is the essence of our fare. At any rate, that’s how we hope you feel.”   But, give it up for the inspired front cover – which is why we’re here after all.

(39 votes, average: 3.13 out of 5)

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