Bob Tulley and Hall Daniels

Bob Tulley

Quintet featuring Nash Maez

Recorded in Hollywood in 1954, this album captures the fresh, hard-driving sound of the Bob Tulley Quintet, featuring tenor saxophonist Nash Maez. Praised for its originality and strong musical personality, the group delivers eight tracks marked by energy, confidence, and a modern approach to jazz. Distinctive arrangements by Willie Maiden transform a classic quintet lineup — trumpet, tenor sax, piano, bass, and drums — into something strikingly new. Performed by a young yet seasoned group active on the Los Angeles jazz scene, this release stands as a vivid example of inventive mid-century jazz and a promising moment in the musicians' careers.

The Bob Tully Quintet comprised Bob Tulley on trumpet, Nash Maez on tenor sax, Hunky Page on piano, Paul Binning on bass, and Hank Milo on drums is a bit of a mystery group. Almost certainly recorded some time in 1954, it does not appear on the American Federation of Musicians (AFofM) logs for Skylark Records. The liner notes for the two EPs, Skylark EPs 106 and 107 credit most of the group's noteworthiness to the "arrangements" created by tenor sax man and arranger Willie Maiden, a name better known to most than any of the other members of the group.

In fact, the liner notes indicate that this group was working with Maynard Ferguson around Hollywood and Los Angeles at the time the recording date takes place. While this is possible, Maynard Ferguson was in Los Angeles during most of 1954, there are no recordings which feature any of these players with Maynard Ferguson at any time (with the exception of Willie Maiden, who does not actually play on this recording).

We know very little about Bob Tulley, himself. He is not credited on any other recordings. Bob Scherman, in his liner notes, uses many superlatives, so he was certainly impressed. The other members of the group are a tad less obscure. Nash Maez, after Willie Maiden, the best known musician on the date, had played and recorded with Perez Prado, both before and after this date, where he most likely came to know Willie Maiden. He also played with Rene Bloch's Orchestra after this date. He went on to play with various Latin groups and was on Danny Beher's 1992 California Salsa album released on his Sea Breeze label.

Paul Binning and Hank Milo are more obscure. They both appear on an Earl Hines date for Nocturne Records from July/August, 1954 which helps date this recording since it is referred to in the liner notes. Willie Maiden was the arranger for Hines' Los Angeles recording session. Binning and Milo also accompany Earl Hines on the trio portion of the Nocturne Records session that takes place in New York on August 21, 1954. However, apart from that session or group of sessions, nothing exists other than the instant recording as evidence of their musical history.

Hunky Page is a bit more famous, though he may not have recorded even as extensively as Paul Binning and Hank Milo. Hunky Page is best known for being the house pianist at the American Hotel for over 20 years in Sag Harbor, NY, and for teaching actor Chevy Chase how to play jazz piano. He seems to have had an outstanding reputation as a jazz pianist.

The original liner notes suggest that the leader in fact is Willie Maiden. He seems to have arranged all of the tunes and composed the originals. Most of the original liner notes are about him and he is described as a member of the group. His career included writing and playing for Perez Prado, an extensive career with Maynard Ferguson, a stint during the mid-60's with Charlie Barnet, and several years with Stan Kenton during the 1970's. He never recorded as leader.

The selections are all straight ahead, relatively short pieces, that do showcase the arrangements. The set includes four original compositions and four standards. All perform well, with some exuberance on the part of Bob Tulley leading to unintended turnarounds and minor clams. Nevertheless, this is a pretty nice set with some choice 1954 West Coast jazz similar in style and feel to other hi-fi recordings released by Skylark, Nocturne, Pacific Jazz and other small Hollywood labels. *magnebit.xeran.com*

Hall Daniels

Septet featuring Zoot Sims

Trumpeter Hall Daniels leads a finely balanced septet of top West Coast musicians on this 1955 session, recorded in Hollywood. Free of rigid "East Coast Vs. West Coast" labels, the music stands out for its clarity, swing, and solid musical substance. Daniels, an accomplished studio arranger known for his work with Les Baxter, contributes two original compositions alongside fresh arrangements of familiar standards. The ensemble features outstanding soloists including Dick Nash on trombone, Zoot Sims on tenor sax, and Bob Gordon on baritone, supported by a tight and experienced rhythm section. This recording captures a moment when Los Angeles studio musicians combined technical excellence with modern jazz expression, marking an early and confident step by JUMP Records into the modern jazz field.

You may have noticed that recently there has been much discussion and several articles have appeared concerning "East Coast" vs "West Coast" ideas in modern music. Since these sides were recorded in Hollywood, they must, of course, be in the West Coast idiom. We lean toward the theory that no matter where a recording is made, or which "school" it belongs to, that is bound to be interesting if it is good. We think that these efforts are very good.

It is fortunate that so much of the best recording equipment and so many of the best young modern musicians are concentrated in this area. That does create a problem — just which man to use on which instrument! This is the type of problem we should have more of. It's like looking at a tray of diamonds and picking seven to match.

The key diamond in this case is Hall Daniels, a top studio arranger and musician. Besides writing scores for motion pictures he is also noted for his work with Les Baxter. Hall composed two originals for this session, and then dressed up two familiar standards to showcase the wonderful artistry of the rest of the musicians in the group.

Hall is heard on trumpet on these sides, while on trombone is Dick Nash, brother of the famous Ted Nash and one of the most flawless artists we have ever heard. Zoot Sims is on tenor sax, and well known as a leader and as a side man with Woody Herman and Stan Kenton. The baritone sax is handled by Bob Gordon whom you have heard with Kenton, Pete Rugolo, Chet Baker and others. The piano man is Paul Atkerson, a Los Angeles Conservatory product better known for his solo work in the top night spots about Southern California. The rest of the rhythm section are ex-Les Brown men. In this small group you can really hear them and what they can do. Jack Sperling is on drums, Rolly Bundock on bass and Tony Rizzi on guitar.

This is a JUMP Record first venture into the Modern field, and it was a real pleasure for me to be entrusted with setting up the date. If you like this, there will be more, because there are lots of diamonds still on the tray out there. *Cliff Foottit (from the liner notes)

Bob Tulley and Hall Daniels

Rare And Obscure Jazz Albums

1 - Aladdin's Dilemma

(Bob Tulley)

2 - Jeepers Creepers

(Warren, Mercer)

3 - Imagination

(Van Heusen, Burke)

4 - Jazz Mambo

(Bob Tulley)

5 - Jaywalker

(Tulley, Maiden)

6 - Mood Indigo

(Ellington, Bigard, Mills)

7 - Skylark

(Carmichael, Mercer)

8 - Midnight Romp

(Tulley, Maiden)

9 - The Way You Look Tonight

(Jerome Kern)

10 - Nash-Ville

(Hall Daniels)

11 - You Don't Know What Love Is

(Raye, DePaul)

12 - Compatibility

(Hall Daniels)

13 - The Way You Look Tonight (alternate take)

(Jerome Kern)

14 - Nash-Ville (alternate take)

(Hall Daniels)

15 - You Don't Know What Love Is (alternate take)

(Raye, DePaul)

16 - Compatibility (alternate take)

(Hall Daniels)

#1 to #8:

from the 10-inch Bob Tulley Quintet (Skylark SKLP 16)

Bob Tulley Quintet Featuring. Nash Maez on Tenor Sax

Bob Tulley (trumpet), Nash Maez (tenor sax),

Hunky Page (piano), Paul Binnings (bass), Hank Millo (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, August 1954

#9 to #16:

from the 10-inch Hall Daniels' Septet (Jump JL-9)

Hall Daniels’ Septet Feat. Zoot Sims on Tenor Sax

Hall Daniels (trumpet), Dick Nash (trombone),

Zoot Sims (tenor sax), Bob Gordon (baritone sax),

Paul Atkerson (piano), Tony Rizzi (guitar),

Rolly Bundock (bass), Jack Sperling (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, February 14, 1955

Lighthouse All-Stars Collection II

 The very first Lighthouse All-Stars recordings

Howard Rumsey (1917–2015) occupies a central place in the history of West Coast jazz—not primarily as a virtuoso bassist, but as a visionary organizer, bandleader, and catalyst for a community of musicians who helped define the modern jazz sound of Southern California in the 1950s. Before becoming synonymous with the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, Rumsey had worked with major bands led by Stan Kenton, Charlie Barnet, and Barney Bigard, experiences that grounded him firmly in the professional jazz world of the 1930s and 40s. Yet it was his work as an impresario and resident bandleader that would secure his lasting legacy.

In May 1949, Rumsey persuaded the owner of the Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach, California, to allow Sunday afternoon jam sessions. What began as informal gatherings soon evolved into one of the most important regular jazz venues in the United States. Musicians from the Los Angeles scene—along with visiting players—would perform extended sets that could stretch from late afternoon into the night, attracting beachgoers, dedicated jazz fans, and fellow musicians alike. These sessions became a focal point for what would soon be labeled “West Coast Jazz.”

Out of these weekly performances emerged a more defined ensemble known as the Lighthouse All-Stars. The earliest late-1940s formation included local players such as Teddy Edwards, Sonny Criss, Hampton Hawes, Frank Patchen, Bobby White, and Keith Williams, with Rumsey on bass. It is important to note, however, that no known commercial or publicly documented recordings exist of this original late-1940s lineup. Their significance lies in their live presence and in the groundwork they laid, rather than in any surviving discography.

Only in the early 1950s, once the group's personnel evolved to include figures such as Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre, and Shelly Manne, did the Lighthouse All-Stars begin recording commercially. Independent labels—including Skylark and the Lighthouse Record Company, and later Contemporary Records—issued recordings that carried the Lighthouse sound far beyond Hermosa Beach. These records helped codify an aesthetic often associated with West Coast jazz: arranged yet flexible, cool in tone but rhythmically vital, and marked by a strong sense of ensemble interplay.

Rumsey’s true achievement was the creation of a sustained musical environment. By maintaining a regular platform for experimentation and performance, he fostered a scene in which arrangers, improvisers, and composers could refine a distinctly West Coast approach to modern jazz. Even without recorded evidence of its earliest incarnation, the name Lighthouse All-Stars came to represent one of the foundational institutions of postwar American jazz, and Howard Rumsey remains its indispensable architect.

The story truly begins to crystallize once the band entered the studio. As we begin the Lighthouse All-Stars Collection, we turn to the earliest recordings of the Lighthouse All-Stars.

The Early Skylark and Tampa EPs: The Lighthouse All Stars, Maynard Ferguson, Charlie Shavers set brings together some of the earliest commercial recordings associated with Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars, issued originally on the Skylark and Tampa labels in the early 1950s. Although Howard Rumsey is not credited as leader on the session documents, this material represents the first recordings of the Lighthouse All-Stars with Rumsey firmly at the musical core of the ensemble, at a moment when the group was just beginning to define its sound.

Cut at Capitol Records on March 26, 1952, the personnel on the key tracks includes Shorty Rogers (trumpet), Jimmy Giuffre (tenor sax), Milt Bernhart (trombone), Frank Patchen (piano), Shelly Manne (drums) and Howard Rumsey on bass, with guests such as Vivien Garry on vocals. These sessions—released as a Skylark EP originally titled Jam Session 2 and later repackaged on Tampa LPs—offer a fascinating early glimpse of the Lighthouse ensemble just as it was coalescing into one of the defining groups of the West Coast jazz scene.

Shorty Rogers And The Lighthouse All Stars

Though often overshadowed by the better-known Contemporary Records albums that followed, this program is historically significant: it captures the Lighthouse All-Stars at the threshold of their commercial recording career, rooted in the post–jam-session culture Rumsey had nurtured at the Hermosa Beach club, and points toward the broader recognition the band would soon achieve.

These early recordings of the Lighthouse All-Stars are featured on the following CD:

Shorty Rogers And The Lighthouse All-Stars

Maynard Ferguson Octet

Charlie Shavers Octet

Early Skylark And Tampa EPs

The three recordings that make up this program were originally released on the Skylark and/or Tampa Records labels in the early to mid-1950s. We have included three EPs that are not necessarily related to each other in this program to complete the release of Skylark and early Tampa jazz recordings on VSOP RECORDS. Bob Scherman, a child prodigy who became a record producer and composer, created the Skylark and Tampa Records labels during the early 1950s. Skylark was the label that Bob Scherman used to release recordings between 1951 and 1955, when the label was collapsed into Tampa Records. Practically every Skylark jazz recording had been re-issued as a Tampa release by 1955. (There are several singles that we will add to upcoming releases, and albums by Bill Donati that include jazz material that will be digitally released in the future.)

Bob Scherman participated in and supervised all activities of Skylark and Tampa, but he had help. Much of the studio work was shared by Dick Taylor, who had worked with Bob Scherman on some of his earlier efforts connected with his publishing work. Bob had set up his publishing company, Webster Music, to provide demo services for songwriters, as well as to promote his own compositions. He brought in Dick Taylor to manage many of the demo recording sessions, and later to act as contractor for some of the Skylark sessions, and some of the early Tampa sessions, as well.

 

The first set of recordings on this album consists of recordings that were made on March 26, 1952 at Capitol Records. They are or at least appear to be the first recordings credited to the Lighthouse All Stars. Side 1 consists of "M.B.B." or "More Big Boy", and Side 2 consists of a medley which includes "You Know I'm In Love With You", "Whispering" and "I Get A Kick Out of You" performed by Vivien Garry. The first release of this material on Skylark Records (apart from single 78s) was an EP entitled "Jam Session 2" Skylark 12.   This same material was later re-released as Tampa LP 12 "Shorty Rogers and the Lighthouse All Stars", with a cover designed by Maurice Childs, (that is the cover used for this album.)

The second set of recordings on this album consists of a program that appeared on an EP originally entitled "Jam Session 1" released as Skylark SK11. Side 1 featured Paul Nero's "Cool Canary Blues" and Side 2 was devoted to a jam on "Sweet Georgia Brown". Both selections are fairly long, coming in at around 13 minutes and 40 seconds each and feature extended solos by each player. "Sweet Georgia Brown" was also released on Skylark EP100 as by a Lighthouse All Stars group with the same personnel. The actual recording date is not certain although it would appear contemporaneous with the "Jam Session 2" material, judging by the personnel and the Hot Canary-Cool Canary connection. The labels on the various releases of this material suggest that the original leader was violinist Paul Nero, whose actual name was Kurt Polniarof (not to be confused with saxophonist Klaus Doldinger who goes by the same name). Paul Nero was a very in-demand violinist for pop and jazz sessions, whose extensive work invites comparisons with the careers of Harry Bluestone and Felix Slatkin. He presented himself very much as a fiddler rather than a violinist and his playing is often compared to that of Eddie South or Stuff Smith. He composed a number of works based upon his original composition, "The Canary", including "The Hot Canary" by Stan Kenton featuring Maynard Ferguson on Capitol, Paul Weston on Capitol Records, Florian Zabach on Decca, Ella Fitzgerald with Sy Oliver on Decca and "The Cool Canary Blues" offered here. Portions of these live recordings were used to create the live portions of "M.B.B" and the Vivien Garry medley. The Maynard Ferguson "Jam Session 1" material is lengthy and was actually recorded live, in contrast to the "Jam Session 2" sides. While it is likely that originally the group was led by Paul Nero, most releases on Skylark credit it to Maynard Ferguson. He had recently recorded Paul Nero's "Hot Canary" with Stan Kenton for Capitol, and was very much identified with that recording. There are nice solos by Maynard Ferguson, Bob Cooper, Abe Most, Tony Rizzi and Paul Smith.

After the two "Jam Sessions 1" selections, we have included the original versions of "Big Boy" which were released as "Big Boy Part 1" and "Big Boy Part 2" on Skylark 538, both sides presented here as one track. As is evident, "M.B.B." is simply a combination of both parts 1 and 2 with additional live material added in to give the impression that the material was recorded live in a club. These are the essential components of every version of "M.B.B." and "Big Boy" released on Skylark and Tampa. It is interesting to note that there are many fans of this recording, especially among those who were alive and on the West Coast when this recording was first released. Today, there is still some question as to whether "Big Boy" and "M.B.B." were intended to be received as a tribute to the rhythm and blues honking saxophone style of playing that was enjoying popularity at the time or whether they were intended as parody. Opinions are divided, and each is welcome to form their own.

The final EP included on this release was originally released as Skylark 103 Charlie Shavers:"Jazz". The common link between all of these musicians is the post-war Tommy Dorsey band, in particular the period between September, 1946 and June, 1947 when all were sidemen in that aggregation and, at times, in the Clambake Seven. The material performed is also a bit earlier in style from the two other Skylark sessions featured on this album. All four selections are of average length for a 78 of that period, with no extended solos. Two of the selections are adaptations of popular classical works, one is a tin pan alley standard ("Three Little Words"), and one an original work devoted to musicians union head, James Petrillo. The selection devoted to James Petrillo, head of the musicians' union, also suggests that this was recorded during the late 1940's when his iron-fisted control of recorded music gave rise to the 1942 and 1948 recording bans. This material features clarinetist Abe Most, and he may have had something to do with both the Jam Session 1 material and these Charlie Shavers recordings being released on Skylark and Tampa, since his solos are showcased, at least on the Charlie Shavers' sides. Tony Rizzi is also on this recording, making him the only musician to perform on all three recordings presented here. *from the liner notes*

1 - M.B.B

(Giuffre, Rogers)

2 - Jam Session Medley

a) You Know I'm In Love With You

(Brandt)

b) Whispering

(Schoemberger)

c) I Get A Kick Out Of You

(Porter)

3 - Cool Canary Blues

(Paul Nero)

4 - Sweet Georgia Brown

(Berney,Pinkard)

5 - Big Boy, Part 1 & Part 2

(Giuffre, Rogers)

6 - Three Little Words

(Kalmar, Ruby)

7 - Pet-rill-o

(Shavers)

8 - Choppin' Up Chopin

(Chopin, Shavers)

9 - La Traviata

(Verdi, Shavers)

#1, #2, #5:

Shorty Rogers (trumpet), Jimmy Giuffre (tenor sax), Milt Bernhart (trombone),

Frank Patchen (piano), Tony Rizzi (guitar [#2b]), Howard Rumsey (bass),

Shelly Manne (drums), Vivien Garry (vocals [#2]).

Recorded at Capitol Records, March 26, 1952

(Producer Bob Scherman created a "live" jazz club sound with his Skylark releases by adding applause and "cocktail lounge chatter" at the mixing stage.)

#3, #4:

Maynard Ferguson (trumpet), Bob Cooper (tenor sax), Abe Most (clarinet), Paul Nero (violin),

Paul Smith (piano), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Stan Fletcher (bass), Irv Cottler (drums).

Recorded possibly at The Lighthouse, Hermosa Beach, California, 1952

#6 to #9:

Charlie Shavers (trumpet), Abe Most (clarinet), Sid Cooper (alto sax), Boomie Richman (tenor sax), John Potoker (piano), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Sandy "Sid" Bloch (bass), and Alvin Stoller (drums).

Recorded in New York City, possibly late 1945

Note: The print quality of the booklet accompanying this CD is very poor. 

For a more comfortable reading of the same text, go to: https://magnebit.xeran.com/store/page242.html

Jazz goes to... The Dave Pell Octet

Shortly after it was formed in 1953, the Dave Pell Octet won best new combo of the year in polls conducted by Americas Daily News and Mirror newspapers. Six of its eight members were included in Down Beat magazines 1953 poll of the top musicians in the country. Pell and his group flipped fans everywhere they appeared, specializing in Proms and School Dances, and becoming the first name jazz group ever to play for dancing at one of the top Sunset Strip clubs, The Crescendo, and also the Hollywood Palladium.Its jazz was described variously as tasty, sophisticated, subtle, warm, bright, clean, friendly, inventive, happy, and a complete show and concert rolled into one. One successful Octet approach was to have the crowd gather around the bandstand to watch it play a fast jive number featuring the bands excellent soloists.An essential contributing factor in the Octets success was that Pell hired the West Coasts finest arrangers to write the beguilingly melodic and always attractive, danceable band charts; people of the calibre of Marty Paich, Bill Holman, Shorty Rogers, Jack Montrose, Med Flory, John T. Williams. And it was this canny combination of quality and accessibility that really made the Octets name and gave the music its enduring flavour. In Dave's own words: Heres hoping you enjoy our combined dance-and-jazz Campus Hop! *Jordi Pujol*

Dave Pell was a saxophonist who worked in Les Brown's band on the American West Coast from 1947 to 1955. In 1953 he formed his octet, which included some musicians who had played for Les Brown, such as Don Fagerquist and Ray Sims. Dave Pell won considerable popularity by playing in colleges and for high school proms, concentrating on jazz which was suitable for dancing. The music was of high quality, thanks especially to the talented arrangers that Pell employed, including Bill Holman, Marty Paich, Shorty Rogers and Jack Montrose.

The Octet made two LPs called Jazz Goes Dancing, the first in 1956 sub-titled Prom to Prom and the second in 1957 subtitled Campus Hop. They consist of tight, disciplined arrangements which make the most of the eight musicians. Each track contains a good deal of ensemble writing, leaving limited room for jazz solos. What solos there are seldom last for more than 16 bars. Only four of the dozen tracks on the first LP last for longer than three minutes.

One danger of such short, clean arrangements is that they can seem soulless, but that tendency is kept at bay with interesting treatments of the tunes. For instance, "Let's Face the Music and Dance" is taken at an unusually slow tempo, and "Forty-second Street" is updated from its old-fashioned mood to sound like a cool modern arrangement.

Dave Pell himself had a clipped style on the tenor sax, without much vibrato - somewhat similar to the style of altoist Lee Konitz. The trumpeters on both LPs are excellent, with Jack Sheldon particularly notable on "We're in the Money" and "Would You Like to Take a Walk". Med Flory's solos on baritone sax are well worth hearing.

These albums is certainly well-suited to dancing but also to listening, as it is full of musical subtleties. *Tony Augarde (musicweb-international.com)*

Dave Pell Octet

Jazz Goes Dancing

Prom To Prom

The Dave Pell Octet, which made its first recordings in 1953, came out of the Les Brown big band and was the epitome of a swinging, cool-toned, West Coast-style jazz group. Pell's ensemble at the time consisted of the leader on tenor, trumpeter Don Fagerquist (an underrated great), trombonist Ray Sims, baritonist Marty Berman, pianist Arnold Ross, guitarist Tony Rizzi, bassist Bob Bates and drummer Irv Kluger. In order to increase his audience, Pell went out of his way to play for dancing audiences without altering his music much. This long-out-of-print LP is an excellent example of Dave Pell's music of the era, with a dozen songs (two originals and ten vintage standards) whose titles have something to do with college-age people or dancing. Examples include "Young and Healthy", "The Continental", "When I Take My Sugar to Tea" and "Walkin' My Baby Back Home". Worth exploring. *Scott Yanow*

In the space of practically no time at all, the Dave Pell Octet has come to hold an extremely high reputation in the jazz world and, most recently, in the collegiate and high school orbit of dancing. Its jazz has been described variously as tasty, sophisticated, subtle, warm, bright, clean, friendly, inventive and happy. Be that as it may, there is a feeling of rapport here that is missing in so many other groups, and Pell's Octet always keeps everything swinging, whether lightly or from the heels. The cohesion engendered by the Octet is a natural thing indeed, in that three of its members — tenor saxophonist Dave Pell, trumpeter Don Fagerquist and trombonist Ray Sims — for years were stellar members of the fine Les Brown band. The other little Pells — baritone saxophonist Marty Berman, guitarist Tony Rizzi, bassist Bob Bates, pianist Arnold Ross and drummer Irving Kluger — each has his particular claim to fame, especially Rizzi, who is now on Dinah Shore's TV show; Ross, who was at one time Lena Horne's 

accompanist; and Bates, who was a member of the original Dave Brubeck quartet.

As for Dave Pell himself, he has all the qualities necessary for success in the music business. He's both handsome and personable; he has a complete knowledge of his instrument and knows exactly the manner in which he wants his Octet to play and to perform; he's by way of being a nifty guy with a wonderful sense of humor. On top of all this, he also maintains in Hollywood a thriving photography and publicity business. Our Mr. Pell is one for the record!

*Radio Corporation of America (liner notes)*

1 - Look Who's Dancing

(Arthur Schwartz, Dorothy Fields)

2 - East Of The Sun

(Brooks Bowman)

3 - You

(Walter Donaldson, Harold Adamson)

4 - Young And Healthy

(Warren, Dubin)

5 - The Continental

(Herb Magidson, Con Conrad)

6 - Dance For Daddy

(Dave Pell)

7 - When I Take My Sugar To Tea

(Fain, Kahal, Pierre)

8 - If I Had You

(Shapiro, Campbell, Connelly)

9 - Cheek To Cheek

(Irving Berlin)

10 - Let's Face The Music And Dance

(Irving Berlin)

11 - Prom To Prom

(Dave Pell)

12 - Walkin' My Baby Back Home

(Turk, Ahlert)

Don Fagerquist (trumpet), Ray Sims (trombone), 

Dave Pell (tenor sax), Marty Berman (baritone sax),

Arnold Ross (piano), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Bob Bates (bass), Irving Kluger (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, May 28 (#1, #4, #10, #12), 

May 31(#2, #5, #7, #8) and June 4 (#3, #6, #9, #11), 1956

✳✳✳

Dave Pell Octet

Jazz Goes Dancing

Campus Hop

Subtitled "Jazz Goes Dancing" (which was the name of an earlier album), this LP (which was last reissued by the Spanish Fresh Sound label) features the Dave Pell Octet playing a dozen songs written by Harry Warren. The danceable music swings and features fine short solos from the members of the octet, which at the time were trumpeter Jack Sheldon, valve trombonist Bob Enevoldsen, Pell on tenor, baritonist Med Flory, pianist Paul Moer, guitarist Tom Tedesco, bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Mel Lewis. The West Coast all-stars perform arrangements by Marty Paich, Bill Holman, Shorty Rogers, Flory and John Williams to such songs as "You're My Everything", "Forty-Second Street", "Lulu's Back In Town" and "I'll String Along With You".

*Scott Yanow*

Listening to the Dave Pell Octet is like hearing music played all over again for the first time. The joyful abandon of the arrangements and the carefree style of the musicians make this a delightful album.

I have heard my music played by the Memphis Five in the beginning of the jazz era and, continuing through the years, by all the great bands up to the present day. Truthfully, I thought that I had heard about everything and that the end had been reached, but Dave Pell proves there is no end. 

I could go on and on singing the praises of these wonderful musicians and orchestrators, but if you just lend an ear you'll see why I heartily recommend this album to the young and the young in heart. *Harry Warren (liner notes)*

1 - Java Junction

(Harry Warren)

2 - You're My Everything

(Warren, Young, Dixon)

3 - Forty-Second Street

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin) 

4 - By The River Saint Marie

(Harry Warren, Edgar Leslie) 

5 - I Know Why And So Do You

(Harry Warren, Mack Gordon)

6 - We're In The Money

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

7 - Cheerful Little Earful

(Warren, Gershwin, Rose)

8 - Would You Like To Take A Walk

(Warren, Rose, Dixon)

9 - Lulu's Back In Town

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

10 - I'll String Along With You

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

11 - Remember Me

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

12 - Summer Night

(Harry Warren, Al Dubin)

Jack Sheldon (trumpet), Bob Enevoldsen (valve trombone), 

Dave Pell (tenor sax), Med Flory (baritone sax),

Paul Moer (piano), Tommy Tedesco (guitar), Buddy Clark (bass), Mel Lewis (drums). .

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, November 12 (#4, #5, #6, #7),

November 14 (#2, #3, #11, #12) and November 27 (#1, #8, #9, #10), 1957

Les Brown's Men

On June 15, 1955, Down Beat magazine profiled the members of Les Brown's orchestra in an article titled "Here's The Lineup Of The Les Brown Ork". The four protagonists of the album presented below were introduced as follows:

RONNY LANG [a.k.a. Ronnie Lang], 25, alto sax, was bom in Chicago, but first started playing in Los Angeles with Hoagy Carmichael's Teenagers. Ronny also worked with Earle Spencer, Dick Pierce, Ike Carpenter, and Skinnay Ennis. He joined Les in 1949 and played with him for a year before being drafted. Ronny rejoined Les in 1953. He is married, has one child, and stays in shape by playing tennis and golf.

RAY SIMS, 34, trombone, started playing at 15. Ray, brother of Zoot Sims, worked for Don Briggs, then with Giggie Royse in Honolulu until the war. He was in the army

three years. Ray also played for Jerry Wald, Bobby Sherwood, and Benny Goodman, before joining Les. "I love to watch and play baseball", says Ray.

DAVE PELL, 30, tenor sax, bass clarinet, oboe, and English horn, played with the bands of Bob Astor, Bobby Sherwood, and Tony Pastor before going to the coast to join the Bob Crosby show. Dave had a small group around L.A. for a few years, and recorded an album for Trend Records with an octet made up of the nucleus of the Brown band which proved to be a big success. Since then, the group recorded two more albums for Trend and one for Atlantic Records. When the Les Brown band has open dates, Dave has no trouble booking the group for jazz concerts and teenage dances. In his "spare time", Dave maintains a photography studio and an advertising and publicity office in Hollywood. He is married, and his wife is expecting a child.

DON FAGERQUIST, 28, trumpet, started his career in music back in his home town, Worcester, Mass. Don studied with local teachers and played in his high school band. He has been associated with the following orchestras: Mal Hallett, Gene Krupa, Artie Shaw, Woody Herman, and a small combo with Anita O'Day, before joining Les Brown.

Don enjoys his record collection, and keeps in trim by swimming. He has two children: Tom, 8, and Donna June, 2.

Ronny Lang • Ray Sims • Dave Pell • Don Fagerquist

The Les Brown All Stars

The Les Brown All Stars are actually three groups — the Dave Pell Octet, Ronny Lang Saxtet and Don Fagerquist Nonet — comprised for the most part of members or alumni of Brown's popular and long-lived Band of Renown and encircling on this anthology from the mid-'50s three numbers by Zoot Sims' older brother, trombonist Ray, with string section. Pell's group, the precursor to the others, is heard on three tracks, as are the Fagerquist and Lang groups.

Pell, who joined Brown's band in 1948, formed his crowd-pleasing octet five years later. While the first group was made up entirely of personnel from the Band of Renown, others soon were enlisted, such as baritone saxophonist Bob Gordon, pianist Paul Smith and bassist Joe Mondragon, who are among the performers here. Pell is the common denominator in all three groups, manning the front line with Gordon and tenor giants Sims and Bill Holman in Fagerquist's nine-piece ensemble, with altos Lang and Bob Drasnin in the former's Saxtet.

The music, much of it taken from the Great American Songbook and neatly arranged by the likes of Holman, Marty Paich, Shorty Rogers and Wes Hensel, never strays far from Brown's dance-oriented philosophy (as Pell says, music that was "danceable and yet still had a jazz feel ). It's cheerful music that swings breezily along behind buoyant solos by Pell and the others. Pell, a remarkably durable musician who made his professional debut in 1941 plays a "happy tenor" that would put a smile on almost anyone's face. If you've heard Zoot or Bob Cooper, the tenors who perhaps came closest to Pell in style and temperament, if not in sound, you'll know what I mean.

*Jack Bowers (allaboutjazz.com)*

Four of Les Brown's most talented stars... leading four gifted groups through stimulating jazz performances! 

You may, quite rightfully, be bothered about the title "All-Stars" being applied to almost every musical group of more than four pieces. And then along comes a unit which has every right to use the title, and all of a sudden you feel sorry for the ones that try to bluff.

Such a group is the entire Les Brown Orchestra — a facile, skilled, sharpshooting gang of musicians who know what to do when jazz time rolls around.

A number of Brown's men lead bands in this album, augmented by a few sturdy West Coast jazzmen who are in complete rapport with them. See if you don't agree that this collection puts the phrase "All-Stars" back in the position where it belongs — a signification of strength and quality that corresponds to "sterling" on silver. *Jack Tracy (liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - Mike's Peak

(Shorty Rogers)

2 - Thou Swell

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

3 - The Way You Look Tonight

(Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields)

4 - You Don't Know What Love Is

(Don Raye, Gene De Paul)

5 - The Man I Love

(George and Ira Gershwin)

6 -Sorta Moonlight

(Wes Hensel, Ronny Lang)

Side 2

7 - Love Is Just Around The Corner

(Lewis E. Gensler, Leo Robin)

8 - Klump Jump

(Marty Paich)

9 - My Funny Valentine

(Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)

10 - Love Me Or Leave Me

(Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn)

11 - Let's Fall In Love

(Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler)

12 - Poopsie

(David Pell)

#1, #8, #12: Dave Pell Ensemble

Dave Pell (tenor sax), Bob Gordon (Baritone sax), Ray Sims (trombone),

Don Fagerquist (trumpet), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Paul Smith (piano),

Joe Mondragon (bass), Ralph Peña (bass [#8]), Jack Sperling (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Melrose Studios, Hollywood, California,

June 15 (#1, #12) and June 17 (#8), 1955

#2, #6, #10: Ronny Lang Saxtet

Ronny Lang, Bob Drasnin (alto saxes); Dave Pell, Abe Aaron (tenor saxes);

Butch Stone (baritone sax); Donn Trenner (piano); Buddy Clark (bass); Bill Richmond (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Melrose Studios, Hollywood, California, June 23, 1955

#3, #5, #7: Don Fagerquist Nonette

Don Fagerquist (trumpet); Bill Holman, Dave Pell, Zoot Sims (tenor saxes);

Bob Gordon (baritone sax); Vernon Polk (guitar); Donn Trenner (piano);

Buddy Clark (bass); Bill Richmond (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Melrose Studios, Hollywood, California, June 21, 1955

#4, #9, #11: Ray Sims With Strings

Ray Sims (trombone, vocal [#11]), Ronny Lang (flute), Corky Hale (harp),

Donn Trenner (piano), Buddy Clark (bass), Bill Richmond (drums).

[String section led by Les Brown but unidentified personnel]

Recorded at Capitol Melrose Studios, Hollywood, California, June 27, 1955

Liberty Records • Jazz in Hollywood Series (XI)

Ted And Dick Nash

The Brothers Nash

✤Liberty (LJH 6011)✤

Ted Nash, birth name Theodore Malcolm Nash (October 31, 1922 – May 12, 2011) was a jazz musician who played saxophone, flute, and clarinet. He was a session musician in Hollywood studios. His brother is trombonist Dick Nash and his nephew is saxophonist Ted Nash, who is a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis.

Nash was born in the Boston suburb of Somerville, Massachusetts. His goal was to become a classical flutist until he began playing saxophone in his early teens. His professional career began when he went on the road with a succession of dance bands. In 1944, he became tenor saxophonist for the Les Brown big band.With Brown he played on the number one hits "Sentimental Journey" and "My Dreams Are Getting Better All the Time", both sung by Doris Day.

In the late 1940s, after getting married, Nash settled in the Los Angeles and became active as a session musician in the Hollywood movie and television studios. In 1956, he recorded with Paul Weston's orchestra the album Day by Day, with vocals by his former colleague and close friend, Doris Day.

He was the featured soloist on The Music from Peter Gunn soundtrack, performing the alto saxophone solo on the theme and on the second bridge of "Dreamsville". He was known for his mastery of the extreme altissimo register of the saxophone. He wrote Ted Nash's Studies in High Harmonics for Tenor and Alto Saxophone published in 1946.

Through the 1950s and 1960s, he worked as a sideman for June Christy, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Billy Eckstine, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Nancy Wilson. During the 1970s, he worked with Judy Collins and Quincy Jones. He retired in the 1980s.

Dick Nash, birth name Richard Taylor Nash (born January 26, 1928) is an American jazz trombonist most associated with the swing and big band genres.

He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and began playing brass instruments at ten. He became more interested in this after his parents died, and he was sent to Kurn Hattin Homes for Children in Vermont. At Kurn Hattin Homes, the first instruments he studied were the trumpet and bugle. His first professional work came in 1947 with bands like that of Tex Beneke. He served in the California National Guard from 1950 to 1952 and played for a band.

After his discharge from the military, he went back to Boston, where he attended Berklee College of Music. He then joined Billy May's band. Later he became a first-call studio musician in Los Angeles, California. He was composer, conductor Henry Mancini's favorite trombonist, and was featured soloist on several Mancini soundtracks, beginning with "Mr. Lucky" and "Peter Gunn". Nash's trombone is featured on the "Theme From Hatari!" from the soundtrack for the John Wayne film (1962), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and Days of Wine and Roses. In 1959 he played bass trombone on Art Pepper + Eleven – Modern Jazz Classics.

His brother was the saxophonist Ted Nash and he has three children, Ted, also a saxophonist, Nikki, and Bill. *wikipedia.org*

This, [album] is in the nature of a new beginning for two brothers who have made names for themselves independently and are united at last in California with their music. 

Here, they have pooled their extreme musical talents and come up with an album of rare taste and quality. The music here is a pleasure to listen to. It combines clean, crisp sounds with good jazz. It is sometimes delicate, sometimes forceful. Often quiet — more often, exciting. And always conceived and executed with good taste.

The sound the group gets is amazing. Six men manage to sound like a group twice its size. They make it seem easy. Piano and guitar (Jimmy Rowles and Tony Rizzi) work first as a unit then as independent voices. Bass and drums (Harry Babasin and Roy Harte) are ever-present but never flambuoyant. Dick's trombone is joined by Ted, at one time or another, on alto, tenor, soprano, baritone, flute, alto flute, piccolo, clarinet, and bass clarinet to give a startling aural exhibition — and did I say only six in the total aggregation?

Much of the group's balance and continuity are due to the subtle arrangements of Frank Comstock, Chuck Kopley, Bob Harrington, and Jim Emerson.

The brothers Nash could hardly have picked a more swinging group of tunes for their Liberty Records' debut. *Don Nelson (liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - I Remember You

(Schertzinger, Mercer)

2 - We'll Be Together Again

(Carl Fisher, Frankie Laine)

3 - Juntos

(Frank Constock)

4 - Prelude To A Kiss

(Ellington)

5 - Theme From "The Bad And The Beautiful"

(Raskin)

6 - I Could Write A Book

(Rodgers, Hart)

Side 2

7 - Back In Your Own Backyard

(Jolson, Rose, Dreyer)

8 - For Heaven's Sake

(Meyer, Bretton, Edwards)

9 - Cuban Verandah

(Harrington)

10 - The Nearness Of You

(Washington, Carmichael)

11 - Night Soliloquy

(Kent Kennan)

12 - You Are Too Beautiful

(Rodgers, Hart)

Ted Nash (alto, tenor, soprano and baritone saxes, flute, alto flute, piccolo, clarinet, bass clarinet),

Dick Nash (trombone), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Jimmy Rowles (piano),

Harry Babasin (bass), Roy Harte (drums).

Recorded at Western Recorders, Hollywood, California, December 1, 1955 and April 6, 1956

Liberty Records • Jazz in Hollywood Series (IV)

Abe Most Quintet

Mister Clarinet

✤Liberty LJH 6004✤

Abe Most (February 27, 1920 – October 10, 2002) was a swing clarinetist and alto saxophonist who is known for his performances and recordings of the works of Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman. He began his career in 1939 as a member of Les Brown's big band. After serving three years in the US Army during World War II from 1942-1945, he became a member of Tommy Dorsey's big band.

Most made a few albums with smaller labels, including Superior (1946), Trend (1954), Annunciata (1978) and Camard (1984). He was a studio musician for seven decades, playing on albums by Earth, Wind & Fire, Ted Gärdestad, Dick Haymes, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman, and Dory Previn among others. He can also be heard playing on the soundtrack of the film "How to Marry a Millionaire". He is the older brother of jazz musician Sam Most. *library.ucsb.edu*

Mister Clarinet stands out due to its emphasis on swing music and showcases Abe leading a quintet made up of prominent musicians from that time. The twelve tracks featured on the album highlight Most's remarkable versatility and skill on the clarinet. This album is well-regarded for its sophisticated performances and the high standard of its arrangements, reinforcing Abe Most's status as an exceptional swing clarinetist. *worthpoint.com*

He's a jazz clarinet player and he's the Most! And Abe is his first name. 

He stands 6 ft. 2 in — weighs 15 stone. He’s good-natured, guileless, easy-going and always smiling. As so many of the Hollywood musicians say: "Of all the guys around, Abe is the friendliest and the happiest". 

But. one Christmas Day he cried his eyes out. It was December 25, 1929. He was nine. For three years Jack Teagarden had been his idol. Naturally, young Abe Most wanted Santa to give him a trombone, and he'd "gotten a clarinet instead". 

"You see, things weren't too good in Dad's hat business", Abe told me. And the still youthful Pop Most chimed in: "Yes, licorice sticks were much cheaper than slip horns". 

Anyway, it seems that little Abe soon dried his eyes. He quickly transferred his affections from Big T (Jack Teagarden) to BG (Benny Goodman) and settled down to learn the intricacies of the Boehm system. He practised to good effect, as is amply evidenced on the fascinating new recordings by Abe with his own group of Hollywood jazz stars. 

The accomplished Abe was born, of Russian parents, in New York. Immediately on leaving high school he formed his own jazz quartet, a clarinet-accordion-guitar-bass group. 

However, the California sun lured Abe back. He returned to Hollywood to rejoin Les Brown. The Most clarinet was heard with the Brown band on the Bob Hope and other radio and TV shows emanating from the West Coast.

In 1950, Abe left Les to go to the 20th-Century Fox film studios as their jazz clarinettist. 

Nevertheless, Abe and his friend Buddy de Franco have their own mutual admiration society. Abe was, actually, Buddy's successor in Tommy Dorsey's band. 

Abe has studied extensively under the Schillinger system. He composes and arranges everything played by the group.

You will find that it is not, in any way music for profound study. But it is music for consummate enjoyment. It's modern jazz with a completely unpretentious approach — a swinging, ebullient sound that expresses the personality of its creator — articulate ABE (the) MOST.

*Howard Lucraft (liner notes)*

Side 1

1 - Let's Fall In Love

(Arlken, Koehler)

2 - There's A Small Hotel

(Rodgers, Hart)

3 - You Go To My Head

(Coots, Gillespie)

4 - Smoke Rings

(Gifford, Washington)

5 - The Lively Ghost

(Abe Most)

6 - Myrtha

(Abe Most)

Side 2

7 - Lady Is A Tramp

(Rodgers, Hart)

8 - Little Girl Blue

(Rodgers, Hart)

9 - Makin' Whoopee

(Kahn, Donaldson)

10 - Stuffed Olives

(Abe Most)

11 - What Is There To Say

(Harburg, V. Duke)

12 - Mr. Caddis Thorpe

(Abe Most)

Abe Most (clarinet), Tony Rizzi (guitar),

Paul Smith (piano), Joe Mondragon (bass), Larry Bunker (drums).

Recorded in Hollywood, California, August 1955

The Dave Pell Octet - The Complete Trend And Kapp Recordings

The success of the Dave Pell Octet was one of the fairy-tale stories of the West Coast jazz of the Fifties. Founded by Pell in 1953, this small jazz group, drawn from the nucleus of Les Brown's orchestra, was among the most popular jazz outfits in Southern California within months. The Octet's first library had the stimulating and ingeniously voiced arrangements of Shorty Rogers and Wes Hensel, which gave this group the feel of a big band. "We used the guitar as a voice in unison with trumpet", Pell explained, "and so the Octet sound had a successful formula which allowed us to play a tempo that was danceable and yet still had a jazz feel".

Bill Brown, Daily News jazz columnist wrote: "Pell and his group have flipped fans everywhere they've appeared. It's a skilled and interesting group and one you should hear". The Octet's cohesion was remarkable, and additional scores by such talented arrangers as Marty Paich, Johnny Mandel, and Bill Holman, helped establish its sound and personality.

All of the Octet's recordings for the labels Trend (1953-1954) and Kapp (1956), which epitomize its smooth sophistication; with their tightly scored ensembles, the deft styling concealed some excellent musicianship, and they all contain highly individualistic contributions by its stellar soloists, Don Fagerquist, Ray Sims, Ronny Lang, and the airy, swinging tenor of Dave Pell, who said, simply: "We play jazz for dancing. That's our forte". *Jordi Pujol*

Mine is not the approach of a jazz musician who goes into the recording studio to play 40 minutes of completely improvised jazz. Our projects are carefully planned. I feel that our music should be well designed, interesting yet easy to follow. We find it best to state the melody first, then come the spots for the blowing. But even behind a jazz chorus I want backgrounds going at the same time to give an overall big band sound. The restatement of the melody, in one form or another, in the closing completes the pattern. *Dave Pell*

The Dave Pell Octet

The Complete Trend And Kapp Recordings

1953 ~ 1956

Back in the 1950s, a group of guys from New York and Philadelphia moved to Hollywood to get steady work in the nascent TV and movie recording industry and developed a sound called "West Coast Cool". Essentially, is was a reaction to the torrid tempos and harmonics of bebop; a kinder, gentler sound, more adaptable to cruising along Pacific Coast Highway in your convertible while wearing your Hawaiian shirt. The softer and more arranged sounds have been denigrated by some, but they have surprisingly aged well, especially when the music was in the capable hands of Pres-inspired tenor saxist Dave Pell, who faithfully carried the lighter than sound air and kept it popular until it was finally taken over by the cacophonous shrieks and wails by the barbarians at the gates in the late 50s and early 60s.

This two disc set has the soft and sleek toned tenorist with fellow Angelenos including Don Fagerquist, Ray Sims, Ronny Lang, Jeff Clarkson, Don Trenner, Claude Williamson, Tony Rizzi, Rolly Rundock, Bill Richmond and Jack Sperling. The polished chrome arrangements are by the likes of Marty Paich, Shorty Rogers, Johnny Mandel, Med Flory, and Bill Holman among others. The themes of the three albums produced here give tributes to composers Irving Berlin, Rodgers & Hart and Burke & Van Heusen.

Vocalist Lucy Ann Polk gives girl next door versions of daiquiri-flavored "Like Someone In Love", "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" and "Aren't  You Glad You're You". Pell himself is lithe and warm as he coos on "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket" and "Kate". Pell adds some rich harmonics as he switches to the English horn on "Russian Lullaby" and Ronny Lang wisps on the flute during "It Never Entered My Mind" and "Darn that Dream". The team is light enough to swing with soft shoes, but thick enough to show some muscle in the process, and the creative charts keep the music concise, coherent and clever.

The liner notes include all of the studio info, as well as some great background on a period when a jazzer could make a good living and buy a house in the Valley just by blowing his horn. Any complaints? *George W. Harris*

The Dave Pell Octet was one of the definitive cool jazz groups of the 1950s. Tenor saxophonist Pell played with Les Brown's big band during 1948-56 and started to record with an octet drawn from the orchestra in 1953. His first project was a set of a dozen Irving Berlin tunes, and the results are quite memorable. The swinging and subtle ensembles, concise and emotionally restrained solos, and excellent musicianship would be trademarks of the band. Consisting of Pell; trumpeter Don Fagerquist; trombonist Ray Sims; Ronny Lang on baritone, alto, and flute; pianist Jeff Clarkson; guitarist Tony Rizzi; bassist Rolly Bundock; and drummer Jack Sperling, the octet plays arrangements by Shorty Rogers, Jerry Fielding, and Wes Hensel. Recommended.

The Rodgers & Hart set was one of the group's most famous recordings, with classic renditions of "Mountain Greenery", "The Blue Room", "Spring Is Here" and "Ten Cents a Dance" being among the highpoints. The arrangements (by Marty Paich, Wes Hensel, Shorty Rogers, and Johnny Mandel) practically define the idiom, as do the cool-toned solos. A gem.

This release reissues the band's two Johnny Burke/Jimmy Van Heusen albums. Lucy Ann Polk sings eight of the 16 selections, and she is a major asset, displaying a relaxed, straightforward, basic, and winning approach, warmly uplifting each song. The arrangements are by Shorty Rogers, Wes Hensel, Bill Holman, Bob Enevoldsen, Jack Montrose, Med Flory, Jim Emerson, and Buddy Bregman. The octet sounds at its best on "But Beautiful", "Suddenly It's Spring", "It's Always You", "Aren't You Glad You're You", "It Could Happen to You", and "Imagination". Timeless music. *Scott Yanow*

*CD 1*

1 - I'm Putting All My Eggs In One Basket

2 - Change Partners

3 - Love And The Weather

4 - Russian Lullaby

5 - Kate

6 - Say It With Music

7 - I Used To Be Color Blind

8 - Let's Have Another Cup Of Coffee

9 - Better Luck Next Time

10 - They Say It's Wonderful

11 - This Year's Kisses

12 - He Ain't Got Rhythm

13 - Why Do You Suppose?

14 - Have You Met Miss Jones?

15 - You Are Too Beautiful

16 - Mountain Greenery

17 - A Ship Without A Sail

18 - The Blue Room

19 - I've Got Five Dollars

20 - Sing For Your Supper

21 - It Never Entered My Mind

22 - The Lady Is A Tramp

23 - Spring Is Here

24 - Ten Cents A Dance

(#1 to #12: All compostions by Irving Berlin)

(#13 to #24: All compostions by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart)

*CD 2*

1 - But Beautiful

2 - My Heart Is A Hobo

3 - Like Someone In Love

4 - Swinging On A Star

5 - Suddenly It's Spring

6 - It's Always You

7 - What Does It Take

8 - Aren't You Glad You're You

9 - All This And Heaven Too

10 - It Could Happen To You

11 - Just My Luck

12 - Imagination

13 - When Is Sometime

14 - Darn That Dream

15 - Humpty Dumpty Heart

16 - Polka Dots And Moonbeams

(All compositions by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen, except #14 by Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen and Eddie De Lange)

#1 to #12 (CD1):

Don Fagerquist (trumpet), Ray Sims (trombone, vocals [#10]), Ronny Lang (baritone sax, alto sax [#6, #11], flute [#4]), Dave Pell (tenor sax, English horn [#4], Jeff Clarkson (piano), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Rolly Bundock (bass), Jack Sperling (drums).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, April 22 (#3 to #6) and May 28, (#8 to #11), 1953; May 14 (#1, #2, #7, #12), 1956 

#13 to #24 (CD1):

Don Fagerquist (trumpet), Ray Sims (trombone), Ronny Lang (baritone sax, flute [#21]), Dave Pell (tenor sax, bass clarinet [#23]), Donn Trenner (piano, celeste [#15]), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Rolly Bundock (bass), Bill Richmond (drums).

Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, California, June 11, 21 and 24, 1954

#1 to #16 (CD2):

Don Fagerquist (trumpet), Ray Sims (trombone), Ronny Lang (baritone sax, flute [#6, #14, #16]), Dave Pell (tenor sax, English horn [#6, #14, #16]), Claude Williamson (piano, celeste [#14, #16]), Tony Rizzi (guitar), Rolly Bundock (bass), Jack Sperling (drums), Lucy Ann Polk (vocals [#1, #4, #6, #8, #10, #12, #14, #16]).

Recorded at Radio Recorders, Hollywood, California, December 18 (#1, #4, #6, #8, #10, #12, #14) and December 28 (#16), 1953; May 7 (#2, #3, #5, #7, #9, #11, #13) and May 21 (#15), 1956

#1, #2, #7 and #12 (CD1): from "The Dave Pell Octet Plays Irving Berlin" (Kapp KL-1036)

#3 to #6 and #8 to 11 (CD1):  "The Dave Pell Octet Plays Irving Berlin" (Trend TL-1003)

#13 to #24 (CD1): "The Dave Pell Octet Plays Rodgers & Hart" (Trend TL-1501, reissued as Kapp KL-1025)

#1, #4, #6, #8, #10, #12, #14 and #16 (CD2): "Dave pell Octet · Lucy Ann Polk" (Trend TL-1008)

#2, #3, #5, #7, #9, #11, #13 and #15 (CD2): "The Dave Pell Octet Plays Burke & Van Heusen" (Kapp KL-1034)