Personnel:

Alvino Rey (g, dir), Gerry Mulligan (bs), Warren Barker (arr)

 

California-born guitarist, arranger, and bandleader Alvino Rey (1911-2004) emerged as a formidable foe of the stale phrase and a sworn champion of good sound… which usually turns out to be a brave, new sound, as Rey conceives it. His stimulating musical ideas get a vigorous waxing in these tunes, all ready for a fresh sounding dance party.

 

This rewarding music finds the notes of Alvino's own console guitar interwoven with the profound and colorful tones of the ten brass (five each of trumpets and trombones), an indomitable rhythm section, and Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax as featured soloist.

In fact, all the tunes in this fine, free, wide-open album are illuminated by Rey's solid musicianship and refreshing innovations that create amodern, high-style “Swingin' Fling!”

 

“Ping-Pong!” is an outstanding Stereo album that —as stereo fans know— is also a term that describes the effects of sound bouncing from one speaker to the other. And never did a gayer, brighter bunch of sounds get bounced about than these. The sound of Alvino's console guitar is heard on the left and on the right, hopping back and forth in a mad turntable tennis match with itself. On half the selections there are rollicking trombones, bouncing to all positions. On the other numbers there are three bright trumpets to the right, with three of the trombones at left, and let Alvino do the bounding about. Throughout the album, the three rhythm instruments —bass, drums, and piano— are centered. Also, there is a electric bass guitar at right and a standard electric guitar on the left. Alvino, besides bearing the brunt of the solo work, managed to conduct.

 

TRACKLIST:

01. I Love Paris (Cole Porter) 2:51

02. How High the Moon (Lewis-Hamilton) 3:07

03. A Swingin' Fling (Warren Barker) 2:55

04. Night Train (Jimmy Forrest) 3:48

05. I Didn't Know About You (Ellington-Russell) 2:30

06. Isn't it Romantic? (Rodgers-Hart) 2:29

07. Speak Low (Kurt Weill) 3:19

08. Rock Gently (Warren Barker) 2:58

09. Little White Lies (Walter Donaldson) 2:14

10. Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise (Romberg-Hammerstein II) 2:33

11. Chukkar (Warren Baker) 2:39

12. Twelfth Street Rag (Euday L.Bowman) 2:05

13. Temptation (Brown-Freed) 2:40

14. Aloha Oe (D.P. adapt. & Barker-Rey) 2:56

15. Mama's Gone Good Bye (Bocage-Piron) 2:39

16. Autumn Leaves (Kosma-Prevert-Mercer) 2:45

17. After You've Gone (Creamer-Layton) 1:50

18. The Peanut Vendor (Moises Simons) 1:48

19. The Man I Love (G. & I. Gershwin) 2:19

20. Sentimental Journey (Brown-Homer-Green) 2:33

21. Tenderly (Gross-Lawrence) 3:08

22. Begin the Beguine (Cole Porter) 3:45

23. Blues in the Night (Arlen-Mercer) 3:01

 

Sources:

Tracks #1-11, from the album “Swingin’ Fling” (Capitol ST-1085)

Tracks #12-23, from the album “Ping-Pong!” (Capitol ST-1262)

 

SWINGIN’ FLING WITH THE MUSIC OF ALVINO REY

'Freshly Styled, Big Band Music for Dancing Fun'

Arranged by Warren Barker and conducted by Alvino Rey

Featuring Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax

Recorded at Capitol Tower Studio, Hollywood, 1958

 

PING-PONG!

Alvino Rey, His Guitars and Orchestra

Arranged by Warren Barker and Conducted by Alvino Rey

Recorded at Capitol Tower Studio, Hollywood, 1960

 

Original recordings produced by Lee Gillette

Produced for CD release by Jordi Pujol

Stereo · 24-Bit Digitally Remastered

 

Note: On the original 1958 Capitol LP release of “Swingin’ Fling,” baritone sax player Gerry Mulligan was not mentioned, most likely for contractual reasons. The original liner notes merely referred to him as “an agile baritone sax.” So it was that, not being considered a jazz record, nor having been previously reissued on either LP or CD, his frequent solos went unnoticed by jazz discographers. Now, almost 65 years after the release of the album, we can celebrate the unusual and unexpected presence of a soloist as legendary as Mulligan on a recording of that kind. A fact that good jazz fans will appreciate and enjoy.