''Harry James and His Orchestra 1948–49'' is a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...

by American trumpeter

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but ...

with The Harry James Orchestra. The album consists of live radio transcripts recorded during 1948 and 1949 and was released in 1969 by Big Band Landmarks (Volumes X–XI).

Background

As bop surpassed swing by the late 1940s, James was surprisingly open to its influence. For the tracks on this album, James had dropped his string section and vocalists and employed a variety of modern arrangements by

Neal Hefti Neal Paul Hefti (October 29, 1922 – October 11, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger. He wrote music for '' The Odd Couple'' movie and TV series and for the ''Batman'' TV series. He began arranging professionally in hi ...

, Frank Devenport,

Johnny Richards Johnny Richards (born Juan Manuel Cascales, November 2, 1911 – October 7, 1968) was an American jazz arranger and composer scoring numerous sound tracks for television and film. He was a pivotal composer/arranger for cutting edge, adventur ...

and

Jimmy Mundy James Mundy (June 28, 1907 – April 24, 1983) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, arranger, and composer, best known for his arrangements for Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and Earl Hines. Mundy died of cancer in New York City at the age of 7 ...

, which often inspired his musicians. Because of the musicians' strike that lasted for the duration of 1948, James recorded no new material for commercial release by his record label Columbia during this period, and outside of this period when he did record for Columbia, the label tended to focus more on James's pop releases. The combination of these two factors makes these tracks some of the few available that represent James's jazz style during this period. This is unfortunate because as music critic Marc Myers has stated, " ames'sband of the mid-1940s was more modern than most of the majors, and in 1949 he led one of the finest bands of the year." The following is the promotional note from the Fresh Sound Records' CD reissue ''There They Go'':

Track listing

Notes *The tracks on disc 1 were released in Germany as a single album entitled ''Harry James and His Orchestra 1948–1949, Vol. 1'' by the Solid Sender label (SOL 501). *All but the last two songs were re-issued on a CD entitled ''Harry James and his Orchestra 1948–1949, There They Go (Arrangements by Neal Hefti)'' by Spain's

Fresh Sound Fresh Sound, or Fresh Sound New Talent, is a jazz record label established in Barcelona, Spain, by Jordi Pujol. The label was initially founded as a reissue label. The catalog includes work by musicians both major and minor that was recorded be ...

label (FSRCD 399). *Eighteen of the songs were re-issued in 1994 on a CD entitled ''Things Ain't What They Used To Be'' by the Four Star label (FS-40053).

Recording dates / locations

Selections on the album are from six sessions recorded from 1948 to 1950. The "Navy Show" numbers in parentheses below refer to the numbers of the original 16" transcriptions circulated only to radio stations for recruiting advertising. CBS "Call for Music Show" – recorded February 20, 1948 in Hollywood, California: A4: Snooty Fruity CBS "Call for Music Show" – recorded May 18, 1948 in Hollywood, California: A6: Lover CBS "Call for Music Show" – recorded June 15, 1948 in Hollywood, California: A3: You Turned The Tables On Me "U.S. Navy Presents" – recorded June 1949 in Hollywood, California: A1: There They Go (USN 106) / B4: Raffles (USN 105) / B5: Six, Two And Even (USN 105) / B6: Bells (USN 105) / C1: Shine (USN 107) / C2: Block Party (USN 108) / C3: Forgotten (USN 108) / C4: Cottontail (USN 113) / D1: Proclamation (USN 110) / D2: Slap Happy (USN 111) "U.S. Navy Presents" – recorded July 1949 in Hollywood, California: A2: 'Cept February, Which Has 28 (USN 101) / A5: Things Ain't What They Used To Be (USN 114) / B1: Or Words To That Effect (USN 101) / B2: Big Boy (USN 102) / B3: The Arrival (USN 102) / D3: Kerina (USN 114) "U.S. Navy Presents the Land's Best Bands" – recorded November, 1950 in Hollywood, California: C5: I May Be Wrong (USN 4A) / D4: Bluebeard's Blues (USN 4A) / D5: Rank Frank (USN 12A)

Personnel

– leader, trumpet *Everett McDonald – trumpet (tracks: A2, A5, B1-B3, C5, D3-D5) *Gene Komer – trumpet (tracks: A3, A4, A6) *

– trumpet (tracks: A1, B4-B6, C1-C4, D1, D2) *Nick Buono – trumpet *Phil Cook - trumpet (tracks: C5, D4, D5) *Pinky Savitt – trumpet (tracks: all except C5, D4, D5) *Ralph Osborne – trumpet * Willie Smith – alto saxophone *Musky Ruffo – alto saxophone (tracks: C5, D4, D5) *Al Pellegrini – alto saxophone, clarinet (tracks: A1, B4-B6, C1-C4, D1, D2) *Eddie Rosa – alto saxophone, clarinet (tracks: A2-A6, B1-B3, D3) * Corky Corcoran – tenor saxophone *Jimmy Cook – tenor saxophone (tracks: A2, A5, B1-B3, D3) *Sam Sachelle - tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone (tracks: A1, A3, A4, A6, B4-B6, C1-C4, D1, D2) *Bob Poland – baritone saxophone *Carl "Ziggy" Elmer – trombone *Chuck Preble – trombone (tracks: A1, A3, A4, A6, B4-B6, C1-C4, D1, D2) * Dave Robbins – trombone (tracks: A1, A2, A5, B1-B6, C1-C4, D1-D3) *Jimmy Palmer - trombone (tracks: C5, D4, D5) *

Juan Tizol Juan Tizol Martínez (22 January 1900 – 23 April 1984) was a Puerto Rican jazz trombonist and composer. He is best known as a member of Duke Ellington's big band, and for writing the jazz standards " Caravan", "Pyramid", and " Perdido". ...

– trombone *Lee O'Conner - trombone (tracks: A2, A5, B1-B3, C5, D3-D5) *Victor Hamann – trombone (tracks: A3, A4, A6) *Bruce MacDonald – piano *Jack Marshall - guitar (tracks: C5, D4, D5) *

Tiny Timbrell Hilmer J. "Tiny" Timbrell (January 15, 1917 – May 7, 1992) was a Canadian-born session musician, session guitarist. Timbrell was born in Canada but moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue his career in music. For a time, he sold guitars at ...

– guitar (tracks: A1, A3, A4, A6, B4-B6, C1-C4, D1, D2) * Tony Rizzi - guitar (tracks: A2, A5, B1-B3, D3) *Abe Luboff - bass (tracks: C5, D4, D5) *Artie Bernstein - bass (tracks: A2, A5, B1-B3, D3) *Ed Mihelich - bass (tracks: A3, A4, A6) * Joe Mondragon – bass (tracks: A1, A2, A5, B1-B6, C1-C4, D1-D3) *Bob Neel - drums (tracks: C5, D4, D5) *Buddy Combine - drums (tracks: A3, A4, A6) * Don Lamond – drums (tracks: A2, A5, B1-B3, D3) *Frank Bode – drums (tracks: A1, B4-B6, C1-C4, D1, D2) *

Louis Bellson Louie Bellson (born Luigi Paolino Alfredo Francesco Antonio Balassoni, July 6, 1924 – February 14, 2009), often seen in sources as Louis Bellson, although he himself preferred the spelling Louie, was an American jazz drummer. He was a composer ...

– drums (tracks D4 and D5) ;Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harry James and His Orchestra 1948-49 Harry James albums 1969 albums Albums arranged by Neal Hefti Big band albums