Harry James "Moonglow" Oct 23, 1971

Uploaded on Feb 2, 2012
Harry James plays a beautiful Jack Perciful arrangement of "Moonglow."

Harry shows off his burnished low register sound. Also featured is a wonderful trumpet section led by John Madrid, the Dick Spencer led sax section, and Dave Robbins soloing and leading the trombone section.

This from Harry's 1971 tour of England.

Harry James Plays Neal Hefti

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

By my count, there were four big-band albums that paid tribute to the pen of composer-arranger Neal Hefti between 1957 and 1961: Steve Allen Plays Neal Hefti (1957), Basie Plays Hefti (1958), Frank Capp's Percussion in a Tribute to Neal Hefti (1960) and Harry James Plays Hefti (1961). Or put differently, Hefti composed and arranged for four major bandleaders and had enough star power to get equal billing on the cover.  

The Allen album is a smooth swinger; the Basie album is probably the best known and gave us Cute among other New Testament gems; and Capp's album is a punchy offering. But the James album is the tiger. Joining James were top-notch band veterans: Rob Turk, Nick Buono, Bud Billings, Vern Guertin (tp), Ray Sims, Dick "Slyde" Hyde (tb), Dick McQuardy (b-tb), Willie Smith, Pat Chartrand (as), Sam Firmature (ts), Modesto Breseno (ts,bar), Ernie Small (bar,fl,tb), Jack Perciful (p), Terry Rosen (g), Russ Phillips (b) and Tony DeNicola (d).

The James band was such a crack outfit that all 10 of the tracks on the album were recorded in one sitting. The Hollywood session started at 8 p.m. and ended at 4 a.m. James didn't want to stop. The band was appearing at the Flamingo in Las Vegas at the time and was as fluid as any band could be, which makes sense since they played multiple sets each night. [Photo above of Neal Hefti, left, and Harry James in 1961]

According to the liner notes, Hefti went to Vegas, saw the band, met with James sketched out 23 themes and chose ones that would make for a great album mix (wish someone had rescued his desk-side garbage can!). As Hefti wrote in the album's liner notes:

"I scored the ones that I thought would make the best balanced album—from slow tempos (Rainbow Kiss) to medium (Hot Pink and The Creeper) to mainstream jazz (Mister Johnson; Harry, Not Jesse; Tweet Tweet and Koo Koo) to gospel (Sunday Morning) to Latin (Fontainebleauand Chiarina). The reaction from Harry and the band was sensational and I breathed a sigh of relief for the first time in a month."

Harry James Plays Neal Hefti has the usual Hefti bounce and hooks, but it also gives you an opportunity to hear an exciting orchestra led by a leader with standards that were even higher than other leading bands. By the way, Hefti was no stranger to James. He played trumpet and arranged for James's 1948-'49 band, one of the best orchestras of the period.

Harry James died in 1983 and Neal Hefti died in 2008.

JazzWax tracks: Your best bet for Harry James Plays Neal Hefti is 4 Classic Albums Plus here, which includes the album discussed as well as three other killers from the same period.

As for James's knockout 1949 band with arrangements by Neal Hefti, dig Harry James: There They Go here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Hot Pink, from Harry James Plays Neal Hefti...

And here's The Creeper...

And dig the James band of 1949, with Neal Hefti's real gone arrangement of Or Words to That Effect...

One more—Hefti's sizzling arrangement of Block Party...

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Harry James: 1958-'61

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, right around the time that Count Basie's New Testament Band was hitting its stride, another band was also at the top of its game—the Harry James Orchestra. The albums that James recorded from 1958 until 1961 were exceptional examples of updated swing—thanks to a confluence of events, including the availability of top players and arrangements with punch and swagger.

In many respects, the James band wouldn't have been as whip-tight and punchy if not for the influence of the Basie band, which had raised its game dramatically. So while Basie had Thad Jones, Frank Foster, Frank Wess, Neal Hefti and Quincy Jones writing arrangements in '58, James had charts by Jack Haskell, Ernie Wilkins, Bill Holman, Neal Hefti, Juan Tizol, Bob Florence and Jack Mathias, among others.

For whatever reason, James tends to be overlooked during this period and even in the 1940s and early 1950s. His band 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. I truly can't think of another orchestra that could top his U.S. Navy Presents band in '49—with James, Neal Hefti, Nick Buono, Pinky Savitt, Ralph Osborn (tp), Carl "Ziggy" Elmer, Dave Robbins, Chuck Preble (tb), Juan Tizol (v-tb,arr), Willie Smith (as,vcl), Al Pellegrini (cl,as), Corky Corcoran (ts), Sam Sachelle (ts,bar), Bob Poland (bar), Bruce McDonald (p), Tiny Timbrell (g), Joe Mondragon (b) and Frank Bode (d).

By late 1958, with the 12-inch LP in full swing and the introduction of stereo, the stakes at labels jumped, pushing producers to round up the strongest bands and record them as widely as possible to maximize the new stereo format. James' labels during this period were Capitol and MGM, and James had his pick of the best musicians in Hollywood.

Let's take The New James, for example, recorded for Capitol in April 1958. The band included James (tp,arr), Nick Buono, Ollie Mitchell and Bob Rolfe (tp), Ray Sims and Bob Edmondson (tb), Ernie Tack (btb), Willie Smith (as), Herb Lorden (cl,as), Sam Firmature (ts), Bob Poland (ts,bar), Ernie Small (bar), Jack Perciful (p), Dennis Budimir (g), Russ Phillips (b) and Jackie Mills (d), with arrangements by Jack Haskell, Ernie Wilkins, Bill Holman and Neal Hefti.

Don't recognize many of the names? Most were Hollywood studio monsters. Ernie Tack eventually wound up on The Tonight Show when it moved West. Ray Sims was Zoot Sims' brother and Sam Firmature was a Westlake College of Music grad. James wanted the arrangements during this period to be as challenging as possible—which was in keeping with his own show-off, former circus-trumpeter style. In effect, he was trying to one-up Basie. And he hired guys who could handle the charts.

The James band during this period has been eclipsed by bands led by Basie, Maynard Ferguson and Stan Kenton. While each served up its own brand of magnificence, James produced more consistently brilliant tracks than the others. Don't get me wrong, the three other bands mentioned were spectacular but not on every track recorded. By contrast, virtually everything James recorded during this period was an uncompromising, swinging gem. Big band music during this four-year period didn't get much better.

These five albums illustrate my points perfectly...

• The New James (1958)
• Harry's Choice (1958)
• Harry James Today! (1960)
• Spectacular Sound (1961)
• Plays Neal Hefti (1961)

JazzWax tracks: New James and Harry's Choice can be found on Gene Krupa & Harry James: The Capitol Vaults here. Harry James Today! was released with Plays Neal Hefti and tracks from Spectacular Sound on Harry James Today! (Fresh Sound). I'm not sure if it's still in print here but you might find copies at eBay.

As for that '49 band, you'll find tracks on There They Go: Harry James and His Orchestra with Arrangements by Neal Hefti (Fresh Sound) here.

JazzWax tracks: Tracks from the five albums mentioned above...

Here's Bells from The New James...

Bells

Here's Moten Swing from Harry's Choice...

Moten Swing

Here's Eyes from Harry James Today!...

Eyes

Here's Connectin' the Bones from Spectacular Sound...

Connectin' the Bones

And here's The Creeper from Plays Neal Hefti...

The Creeper

JazzWax clip: This clip taped in Japan in 1964 falls a little later than the years covered in my post, but I wanted you to see and hear rare footage of Joe Riggs, Ray Sims and Corky Corcoran...

- See more at: http://www.jazzwax.com/2014/01/harry-james-1958-61.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Jazzwax+%28JazzWax%29#sthash.83bg2pVC.dpuf
Used with permission by Marc Myers

Harry James - Caravan Live from Japan 1964

Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Harry James, Lionel Hampton

JazzSnap: Harry James ('43)

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

That's Harry James tuning up the fiddle, along with members of his 1943 orchestra. Upon enlargement, I could make out the string charts on the stand: Dancing in the Dark (left) and I Remember You. Clockwise from the upper left-hand corner is saxophonist Sam Marowitz, first violinist Sam Caplan, James and vocalist Helen Forrest, probably in Hollywood.

This image comes from Betty's collection of stills and snapshots, sent along by her friend Chris. Betty has donated all of her prints, including this one, to Rutgers University's Institute of Jazz Studies. But since she and Chris also are big JazzWax fans, they wanted you to see them, too.

Want to see the image large? Just click on it.

Want more JazzSnaps? Go to the right-hand column of JazzWaxand scroll down to "JazzSnaps" for links.

JazzWax clip: Here's Harry James in 1943 with Helen Forrest onMister Five by Five...
Used with permission by Marc Myers