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.