Search - Laine, Clayton :: Jazz Spectacular

Jazz Spectacular
Laine, Clayton
Jazz Spectacular
Genres: Country, Folk, Jazz, Pop, Christian & Gospel, Broadway & Vocalists
 
  •  Track Listings (11) - Disc #1

Though he shared the same urban musical background as other band singers of his generation (he was a mentor to Anita O'Day), Frankie Laine enjoyed a unique success in the 1950s with highly dramatic (and heavily orchestrate...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Laine, Clayton
Title: Jazz Spectacular
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Release Date: 1/16/2007
Album Type: Import
Genres: Country, Folk, Jazz, Pop, Christian & Gospel, Broadway & Vocalists
Styles: Traditional Jazz & Ragtime, Vocal Jazz, Easy Listening, Oldies, Vocal Pop, Traditional Vocal Pop
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Though he shared the same urban musical background as other band singers of his generation (he was a mentor to Anita O'Day), Frankie Laine enjoyed a unique success in the 1950s with highly dramatic (and heavily orchestrated) "cowboy" songs, including film and TV themes like "High Noon" and "Rawhide." He may have been closer to his real roots and affinities on this 1956 venture into jazz, with a comfortable collection of more-conventional pop tunes and an all-star band led by the superb trumpeter and Count Basie veteran Buck Clayton. Whatever his enthusiasm for the project, though, Laine isn't a jazz singer in any usual sense of the term, rather a good pop singer with an ability to emphasize lyrics in a distinctive, almost conversational way that creates an immediate bond with his audience. That relaxed yet precise diction makes the opening "S'posin'" particularly successful, but elsewhere his vocals serve essentially as pleasant frames for some excellent solos by Clayton, tenor saxophonist Budd Johnson, and special guest trombonist J.J. Johnson. --Stuart Broomer
 

CD Reviews

ONE OF THE TWO GREATEST JAZZ ALBUMS EVER RECORDED
Michael Pendragon | New York, NY United States | 05/02/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)

"The other one being THE STORY OF OLD MAN JAZZ & HIS LOVES (SCORE, 2002), and also featuring the singing of Frankie Laine. Guess it's clear who my all-time favorite jazz singer is.

*****
JAZZ SPECTACULAR is precisely that: spectacular. Buck Clayton's trumpet is the perfect match for Frankie Laine's trumpet-like voice (often compared to a trumpet, Laine patterned his approach to jazz largely on his idol, Louis Armstrong's horn playing). The individual tracks glide so seamlessly in and out of vocals and instrumentals that the two aspects seem to have melded into one. This is jazz at its finest."
Get on the stick, Columbia/Sony! (Trombonists, let them he
Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 02/19/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Frankie Laine may not have been a Sinatra, Tony Bennett, or even Dick Haymes, but he was a likeable performer who not only introduced the haunting "We'll Be Together Again" but gave 100% every time out, whether classic American Songbook material or ephemeral period pieces like "Cry of the Wild Goose" and "I Believe." But there's no better way to honor his memory than to re-issue this album, shamefully out of print weeks after his passing.



Even if you're not a Laine fan, he fits in perfectly in the mix of this hi-spirited swing session. Buck Clayton has a distinctive voice on the trumpet practically matching that of Pops, but above all the recording is a gathering of Titanic trombonists, all of whom play their tails off. To begin with, there's the inimitable Dickie Wells, whose only equal among Basie trombonists may have been Al Grey. Then there's Kai Winding and the most influential of them all, J. J. Johnson, both given generous ensemble and solo space. But if that's not enough, add Duke Elllngton's #1 trombonist, Lawrence Brown. Normally, the most genteel and lyrical of trombone voices, Lawrence blows up a storm here. In fact, on the finale, a red-hot "Roses of Picardy," he follows both J.J. and Kai with a solo that scoops everyone, setting up Laine's joyous "out" chorus.



Whether you regard Frankie as the featured singer or just another player, as the star or the catalyst, this is a session that he has a right to be proud of--one, moreover, that deserves a place in most listeners' collections."