Swing Tonic: 1939-1946

Personnel: Fats Daniels, Kenny Sargent (vocals, clarinet, alto saxophone); Pee Wee Hunt (vocals, trombone); Eugenie Baird, Skip Nelson (vocals); Peter Barton, Herb Ellis, Jack Blanchette (guitar); Clarence Hutchenrider (flute, clarinet, alto saxophone); Pat Davis (flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone); Adrian Tei (clarinet, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Bruce Branson, Glen Gray (clarinet, alto saxophone); Art Ralston (oboe, bassoon, alto saxophone); Murray McEachern (alto saxophone, trombone); Bunny Bardach, Conn Humphries (alto saxophone); George Stuyvesant, Francis Broadwater, Gus Jean, Lon Doty, Jack Goldie (tenor saxophone); Sonny Dunham (trumpet, trombone); Ralph Muzillo, Fritz Austin, William Dunmore, Johnny Owens, Frank Ryerson, Grady Watts, Ray Grien, George Schwartz, Corky Cornelius, Red Nichols, Bobby Hackett, Jerry Brooks (trumpet); Billy Rauch, George Jean, Otto Alburn, Jack Pageler, Walter Robertson (trombone); Joe Hall , Lou Carter, Charlie LaVere (piano); Jackie Mills, Tony Briglia, Lou Fromm (drums).
Liner Note Author: George Hulme.
Recording information: Cedar Grove, NJ (1939-1946); Chicago, IL (1939-1946); Columbus, OH (1939-1946); Los Angeles, CA (1939-1946); New York, NY (1939-1946).
Arrangers: Leonard Whitney; Gene Gifford; Glen Gray; Bill Challis; Larry Wagner; Lou Carter; Ray Conniff; Sonny Dunham.
Between October 1929 and February 1946 there existed in North America a swing band known as the Casa Loma Orchestra. Beginning in 1935 it operated under the nominal leadership of saxophonist Glen Gray, a distinguished if somewhat enigmatic character with whom it has been lumped ever since. In 2007, the U.K.'s Jasmine label released Swing Tonic: 1939-1946, a 47-track anthology of selected recordings made between 1939 and 1946 by Glen Gray & the Casa Loma Orchestra, with vocals by Eugenie Baird, Skip Nelson, and trombonist Pee Wee Hunt. The Casa Loma's arrangers included Bill Challis (forever associated with Paul Whiteman and Bix Beiderbecke) and Ray Conniff (destined for a lucrative career in the easy listening market). Its ranks included trumpeters Red Nichols and Bobby Hackett and guitarist Herb Ellis. The band could swing like crazy. Proof of this exists in lively performances like "No Name Jive," "In the Mood," "Tuxedo Junction," "High Society," and a gutsy take on Sergei Rachmaninov's Prelude in C Sharp Minor. ~ arwulf arwulf