Personnel:

Bob Freedman (arr, cond, as), Keith Williams (cond, tp), Herb Pomeroy, Lennie Johnson, Bill Berry, Frank Beach, John Audino, Don Fagerquist (tp), Gene DiStasio, Joe Howard, Herbie Harper (tb), George Roberts (b-tb), Benny Carter, Ted Nash (as), Varty Haroutunian, Joe Caruso (ts), Jimmy Mosher (bs), Ray Santisi (p), Tommy Tedesco (g), John Neves (b), Jimmy Zitano (d)

EAST & WEST COAST SERIES · Jazz & Swing Orchestras

Rare & Collectible Albums by Unsung Bandleaders

When the dust from the collapse of the Swing Era settled, there were few big bands left that had survived. Yet, because they loved the swinging drive of a full-on jazz orchestra, a series of adventurous and unsung bandleaders optimistically organized some fine, but short-lived, new orchestras that were packed with jazz and studio musicians, holding the flag of Swing high.

The exciting motion picture score from Anatomy of a Murder, written and performed by the Duke Ellington orchestra, became one of the best sold jazz albums of 1959. That same year, Ellington's dramatic jazz score, was recorded again in fine stereo sound and by an eleven-piece band arranged and conducted by Bob Freedman (1934-2018). For this job, he assembled some of the best musicians from the Herb Pomeroy orchestra—the leading band in Boston. Freedman's writing is sturdy, unpredictable, and succeeds in getting an excellent crosssection from the shouting richness of full-blown brass to the multishades of gray in muted and creatively voiced horns. The soloing we find sprinkled throughout the album is of high level.

The resurgence of the Big Band Jazz Sounds during the '50s was due in part, to the trend which started with the sweeping popularity of jazz themes from motion picture scores, notably Elmer Bernstein's “The Man With the Golden Arm” and Leith Stevens' “The Wild One,” and later developed into an even stronger pattern with popular jazz successes from television, such as Hank Mancini's “Peter Gunn,” and Count Basie's “M-Squad. Prior to his emergence as a big band leader, the musical career of Keith Williams (1924-2008) was multi-tangential, with indelible marks of success in each segment of the music business. But it was his never-ending desire to organize a swinging jazz aggregation, which in 1956 led to the creation of his 17-piece band labeled “The Dazzling Sound.”

TRACKLIST:

01. Main Title (Upper and Outest) (Duke Ellington) 5:09

02. Flirtbird (Duke Ellington) 3:38

03. Almost Cried (Duke Ellington) 1:53

04. Happy Anatomy, Part I (Duke Ellington) 2:15

05. Midnight Indigo (Duke Ellington) 2:53

06. Haupé (Duke Ellington) 2:32

07. Sunswept Sunday (Duke Ellington) 2:56

08. Grace Valse (Duke Ellington) 4:18

09. Happy Anatomy, Part II (Duke Ellington) 4:14

10. Perry Mason (Fred Steiner. Arr. by Brinley Bethel) 2:05

11. Themes from “The Wild One” (Leith Stevens. Arr. by Lyle “Spud” Murphy) 2:18

12. M-Squad (Count Basie) 2:20

13. Sound and The Fury (Alex North) 2:01

14. 77 Sunset Strip (Livingston-David) 2:14

15. Compulsion (Lionel Newman) 2:53

16. I Want to Live! (Johnny Mandel) 2:30

17. Peter Gunn (Henry Mancini) 1:54

18. The Thin Man (Pete Rugolo. Arr. by Jack Matthias) 2:38

19. Richard Diamond (Pete Rugolo) 2:00

20. Melancholy Serenade (Jackie Gleason. Arr. by Brinley Bethel) 2:35

21. The Man With the Golden Arm (Elmer Bernstein) 2:17

Sources:

Tracks #1-9, from the album "Jazz Themes from Anatomy of a Murder" (Coronet CX-99)

Tracks #10-21, from the album "Big Band Jazz Themes From TV & Motion Pictures" (Edison International SDP-501)

Personnel on "Jazz Themes from Anatomy of a Murder":

Orchestra Arranged and Conducted by Bob Freedman

Bob Freedman, conductor, arranger & alto sax; Herb Pomeroy, Lennie Johnson, Bill Berry, trumpets; Gene DiStasio, trombone; Varty Haroutunian, Joe Caruso, tenor saxes; Jimmy Mosher, baritone sax; Ray Santisi, piano; John Neves, bass; Jimmy Zitano, drums.

Recorded at Ace Recording Studios, Boston, 1959

Personnel on "Big Band Jazz Themes From TV & Motion Pictures":

Keith Williams and His Orchestra

Personnel featuring: Keith Williams, Frank Beach, John Audino, Don Fagerquist, trumpets; Joe Howard, Herbie Harper, trombones; George Roberts, bass trombone; Benny Carter, Ted Nash, alto saxes; Tommy Tedesco, guitar.

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, February 1959

Original recordings produced by unknown (#1-9), and Jack Ames (#10-21)

New liner notes by Jordi Pujol

Coronet cover design: Unknown

Edison International cover design: Design: Bill Thompson

Produced for CD release by Jordi Pujol

Stereo · 24-Bit Digitally Remastered