Snark and Reverb

Ella Fitzgerald is known as the first lady of song. After hearing any album you can understand why she is given this title. However, after hearing this album, you understand it even more.

THE MUSIC

Most people are accustomed to hearing Ella sing either with Louis Armstrong or solo in her great songbook series. This album finds Ella in top form singing with a small jazz ensemble. This intimate style is a sharp contrast to the large orchestral tracks of her songbook series but it is in no way less impressive or lacking in artistic character.

The album starts out with a jazz standard more reminiscent of Charlie Parker/Dizzy Gillespie. However, when you hear Ella’s version of “A Night In Tunisia” you’ll wonder why you haven’t heard it this way before.

“Your My Thrill” is a complete vocal stunner. It’s sung in a hauntingly beautiful way and the delicate playing by the musicians just adds gorgeous layers of music on top of Ella’s voice. The song is just a superb performance all around.

“Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie” has a great drum intro as well as some awesome bass playing. This song has some great dynamics as well and definitely qualifies as a treat for the ears.

On “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most” you can hear Ella open her mouth before she even starts singing! The rendition of this song is probably among the very best I have ever heard. The delicate piano playing really stands out on this song as well as the light touch on the drums. Musicians often complain that slow songs are among the hardest to play. If this is so, this song makes it sound ever so easy with fantastic playing all around.

I have singled out only a couple of tracks on this 14 track record but rest assured that every single song is a winner - from the first to the very last note. You really must hear it to really appreciate Ella’s phrasing and the skill of all the musicians involved.

THE SOUND

In one word: AMAZING. When I play music recorded like this to people they are often dumbfounded to learn that the music is over 45 years old. This album was recorded and mixed at Radio Recorders and engineered by Val Valentin. The two-track reduction was made on 6/24/61 by Val Valentin. 1961!!! That’s nearly 48 years as of this writing. Nearly 48 years later, here I am listening to this great album and I swear you can hear tons of details. There is so much detail that you can literally hear the room where they are recording. I swear that I can actually hear the room - that’s right - your reading this correctly - THE ROOM! The time and spatial detail is just to die for. There are few albums that I would classify as perfections in music and sound. This is one of those albums.

Why? Well, I have heard many, many albums where they get the EQ right, the soundstage might be great as well, but the thing that always gets me to say “WOW!” is when you feel like you’re there. It takes a special combination of proper microphone placement as well as engineering skills to get an album to sound this good. One outstanding example is on the song “This Years Kisses”. In the intro you can hear the electric guitar on the left speaker, yet if you listen closely, you can hear the guitar strings being plucked on the right speaker. On “Good Morning Heartache” when Ella sings “Might as well get used to you hanging around…” you can hear her voice coming off the walls of the room on both speakers (and not just on this song either!!). The last bass note on “Good Morning Heartache” just floats decays in the air until it turns into tape hiss. This albums sound quality is really just uncanny in my honest opinion.

I expect you to doubt me. In fact, I hope you do doubt me so that you can go out and buy this fantastic album and verify all these claims yourself. You will not be sorry.

CONCLUSION

This is definitely one of Ella’s lesser known works but every song is delicate and her phrasing is light and nuanced in every good way there is. The sound is nothing short of spectacular with great spatial detail and ambiance. In short, this is a killer record and one that every jazz fan, female vocalist fan and audiophile should own. It deserves a place in the heart of any music fan’s collection.

SPECIAL NOTE

There are at least 3 different versions of this album. The version with the best sound quality is the early Verve release mastered by Dennis Drake. It should cost no more than $15.00 new. Avoid all the other versions.

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Yes, it is that time of year again! CHRISTMAS TIME! So what are you to do as a music lover?! Why…play music of course. The difficulty is knowing which albums to get and / or how to compile a good album. I’ll be helping in both areas, but first, a little history:

Christmas Music

Christmas music has been playing during the Christmas season since the 13^th Century. But, what exactly is Christmas music? Christmas music is simply any music of any genre which is traditionally played, performed or heard during the Christmas season. The music usually deals with common themes such as the folklore and traditions surrounding the holiday. The music can have a religious overtone or it can simply be about the weather being cold. Thus, many songs not originally intended to be Christmas music have been adopted as Christmas songs over the years.

Selecting Great Christmas Music

Part of the Christmas season is the ability to relax with loved ones and enjoys many of the joys of the Christmas season and what Christmas wouldn’t be complete without some music. So, what music should you get? What are some good Christmas albums? Where do you start? Full length themed album or a compilation album? Well…let’s start with Christmas Themed album by a single artist or band which are commonly available.

Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song

Back on a piping hot day in 1946, Mel Torme wrote a nostalgic Christmas song he titled simply, The Christmas Song. Nat King Cole was the choice to sing it, and he accepted. With strings added to his Trio for the first time, Nat’s beautifully genuine vocal and the classic arrangement evoked the sentiments of the holiday so well that it’s seldom been equalled. Not only was The Christmas Song a huge hit, it has remained a perennial hit ever since. That evergreen is possibly Nat’s most widely heard record these days.

Originally, The Christmas Song was a single only. Nat recorded more holiday novelty singles on occasion over the following years. A full scale, classic pop holiday album finally came in 1960, fourteen years after The Christmas Song, with this, The Magic Of Christmas.

The Magic of Christmas was soon to undergo a repackaging. In 1961, Nat would record The Christmas Song for the third time, this time in stereo. In 1963, Capitol combined that 1961 remake of The Christmas Song with the bulk of this album (minus God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman) and renamed the album, surprisingly enough, The Christmas Song. That comp would remain Nat’s staple Christmas album for decades to come and is the one now available on shelves all over the world.

A great album with many great tunes, it has become a staple of the holiday season.

Vince Guaraldi Trio – A Charlie Brown Christmas

I’ll be damned if the first time you listen to this disc you will not be undoubtedly transported directly back to your childhood. The original soundtrack recording of the CBS television special recorded in 1965, this album has become a holiday favorite since the CBS television special was first broadcast and has become an essential Christmas album ever since. Songs like “Linus and Lucy”, “Christmas Time” and the jazzy “O Tannenbaum” allow many people to re-live their childhood Christmas’ of years gone by.

Ella Fitzgerald – Wishes You A Swingin’ Christmas

Ella was known as The First Lady of Song and this album proves that it is a titled which is well deserved. This album was recorded back in 1960 when Ella was at the very peak of her creative talents. Every song on this album swings and each songs carries Ella’s vocal stamp like a flag. It is filled with songs that have been sung to death, yet Ella gives them a much needed breath of fresh air that leaves listeners wishing the album had more music than it contains.

NOTE* The album was originally released on CD in 1989 and, in my opinion, the 1989 release sounds much better than the 2002 remaster of the same album.*

Frank Sinatra – A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra – the name alone should be incentive to have this on your shelf. First released in November, 1957, Frank Sinatra’s “A Jolly Christmas” album was released by Capitol Records barely one month after the release of “Elvis’ Christmas Album” which became the “Number 1″ best-selling LP of the 1950s .

It’s hard to believe it now, but back in 1957 “A Jolly Christmas” was thought to be music in poor taste. Despite the poor reviews the album went on to become the 13^th best selling LP of the 1950’s. Time does indeed heal all wounds and this album has stood the test of time.

This sublime Christmas collection touches the hearts of new generations of Sinatra fans time and time again due to Sinatra’s singing or the track listing which give us the best of the popular ’secular’ Christmas songs, combined with traditional ’sacred’ carols.

NOTE * The very best sounding version of this LP are the early, gray label vinyl versions of this LP. The original CD release of “A Jolly Christmas” from 1987, mastered by Larry Walsh is still the best-sounding CD version of this album. Avoid the remasters done by Bob Norberg at Capitol Mastering at all cost.

Dean Martin – Christmas With Dino

With such a great voice, it’s hard to understand why Dean Martin didn’t do more holiday albums. Dean Martin only recorded two Christmas albums during his career – one for Capitol Records and one for Reprise Records. This albums deals with holiday songs from his Capitol years and it’s a winner in every way. Most of the songs are well known but Dean makes them his own.

This album is a great introduction to Dean Martin’s intimate style of singing and is a Christmas essential.

Bing Crosby – White Christmas

THE CHRISTMAS ALBUM! If there was ever an album that defined the holiday season – this one would be it. This is one the best selling albums of all time and it has NEVER been out of print since it was released in the form of a multiple 10-inch, 78-rpm record set in 1945. As result Bing Crosby is also known as The Voice of Christmas. That says a lot!

Its initial success was attributed to its striking a chord with homesick GI’s in the Pacific Theatre of Operations during the Second World War, but that somehow spilled over onto the Home Front, and it continued long after the troops returned and the war had ended. It has been so successful that it has cracked the Top 40 in an amazing sixteen different years!

If I were on a deserted island and could only have 1 Christmas album, this is the album I would pick. While Bing went on to record many, many more Christmas tunes on various albums, this album embodies the Christmas spirit more than any other Christmas album out there.

Honorable Mentions:

Perry Como – Greatest Christmas Songs

Bing Crosby – Christmas Classics

Andy Williams – The Andy Williams Album

The Ventures – The Venture’s Christmas Album

Frank Sinatra – Christmas Collection

Johnny Mathis – Merry Christmas

The Carpenters – Christmas Portrait

Elvis Presley – Elvis’ Christmas Album

Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass – The Christmas Album

Henry Mancini - Greatest Christmas Songs

Glenn Miller Orchestra - In the Christmas Mood

Al Green - White Christmas

Michael Buble – Let It Snow!

Burl Ives - Christmas Album

Brenda Lee - A Brenda Lee Christmas

The Drifters - Christmas Album

Aimee Mann - One More Drifter In The Snow

Christmas Compilations / Various Artists

Now That’s What I Call Christmas (2 CD Set)

This set is among the best compilation albums I can think of. It features the rare and hard to obtain 1953 recording of “The Christmas Song” by Nat King Cole as well as countless other Christmas favorites on the first CD and newer, lesser known holiday favorites on the second CD. Usually priced somewhere between $9.99 and $15.99, it’s a bargain at any price. Why? Well, mainly because this set gathers some of the best singles from various albums and puts them in one place. Attempting to compile this on your own would not only be costly but it would also be extremely difficult.

If you don’t own any Christmas music and are not familiar with some the artists above, then this is a great place to start.

Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift For You

This album features many artists such as The Ronettes, The Crystals and Darlene Love. This album was painstakingly put together during a hot August month by producer Phil Spector and was supposed to be originally released on November 23, 1963. The original release date was pulled as a sign of respect for the recently assassinated President. As a result of the gloom mood that followed President Kennedy’s death, the albums sales were relatively low.

However, over the years, this album has been called the greatest rock and roll Christmas album of all time and has inspired many “copycat” albums. Spector’s “Wall of Sound” technique is perfectly tailored to the Christmas music within album and it’s a great addition to any Christmas collection.

A Very Special Christmas

Modern day artists singing Christmas songs about collard greens, Christmas wish-lists and Christmas cheer. Released in 1989, the first “Very Special Christmas” was such a success, it spawned the “The Very Special Christmas Series”. The series now contains a total of seven volumes including a live album and an acoustic album. The music throughout the series is very good but nothing beats the very fist album. Charming, whimsical and full of Christmas cheer, it’s a compilation album worth seeking out.

DIY

That’s right – DIY. DIY stands for Do It Yourself. And why not? I’m sure you have a Christmas album or two. Why not make your own compilation? The theme should be relatively easy – it’s Christmas! All you have to do is select your favorite Christmas songs from the many albums you own and put them together to make a cohesive whole. The problem facing many people is not knowing what songs to put on a CD. I would suggest that you start off with the 25 most played songs as a template.

According to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, the following are the Top 25 most-performed “Holiday” songs for the first five years of the 21st century:

1. “The Christmas Song” (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)

2. “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”

3. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

4. “Winter Wonderland”

5. “White Christmas”

6. “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!”

7. “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”

8. “Jingle Bell Rock”

9. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”

10. “Little Drummer Boy”

11. “Sleigh Ride”

12. “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”

13. “Silver Bells”

14. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”

15. “Feliz Navidad”

16. “Blue Christmas”

17. “Frosty the Snowman”

18. “A Holly Jolly Christmas”

19. “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”

20. “Here Comes Santa Claus” (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)

21. “It’s Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas”

22. “(There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays”

23. “Carol of the Bells”

24. “Santa Baby”

25. “Wonderful Christmastime”

Remember, this is only a template and it is not written in stone. Feel free to add in non-traditional songs or add in songs from Christmas shows or cartoons. Most importantly – have fun. Christmas is a time of cheer and time that should be spent with family and friends. What better way to spend your time together than singing, dancing and listening to Christmas songs you will be able to cherish to years to come!

Merry Christmas and happy holiday music hunting!

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