Kodachrome: Raymond Scott Compositions for Orchestra [8712530911825]

Personnel includes: Jan Stulen (conductor); Leo van Oostrom, Marc Scholten (saxophone); Jan Oosthof, Jan Hollander (trumpet); Bart Van Lier, Jan Elsink (trombone); Janine Abbas (flute); Hans Vroomans (piano, celeste); Cornell Van Vuuren (electric guitar); Johan Plomp (bass); Frits Landsebergen (drums).
Recorded at MCO Studios, Hilversum, Netherlands in June 2001. Includes liner notes by Will Friedwald.
Kodachrome is Basta Records' fourth and best effort so far in re-creating Raymond Scott's endlessly imaginative and oh-so-treacherous-to-play repertoire. In the case of Kodachrome, 17 Scott originals are selected from among his lesser-known works, mainly big band scores, radio production music, and commercial advertising work. Although some of this music was recorded by Scott himself, the originals are currently unavailable, and in a few instances this music is only known from manuscript sources. There is many a little masterpiece here, among them "Fifinella," which will be familiar to fans of old-time radio as a collection of cues scattered throughout various broadcasts. Also there is "Secret Agent," an amazing 1942 piece which demonstrates that Raymond Scott was already thinking in the Mancini mode when Henry Mancini himself was still in high school. Although some of Scott's titles are "cartoony," none of this is cartoon music in a specific sense; pieces such as "A Bullfighter and His Piccolo," "Birdseed Special," and "Two Young Lads in Saxophone School" were written as "extras" for vintage radio programs. "Symphony Under the Stars," inspired by a 1938 evening spent at the Hollywood Bowl, and "Kodachrome" were both written for Scott's ill-fated 1942 big band -- whereas "Naked City" was written in the early '50s for no specific reason and seems to bear a kinship with Scott's music for the Broadway show Lute Song. Such is the range of the wealth of rare material that is included here, and it is played expertly well by the Metropole Orchestra. Add to that the exhaustive and well-written liner notes by Will Friedwald and the striking cover, and you have a disc that will be of considerable interest to Scott's increasing following. Beyond that, non-specialist big band fans should take note of this also; it not only may be of interest to you, it may well be the outstanding big band release of 2002. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis