Search - Metropole Orchestra......... :: Kodachrome

Music that glows with color and life

Paul Lindemeyer | Ames, IA, USA | 02/11/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Kodachrome" arrived February 8 after a prolonged back-order, and I must say it was worth the wait - I haven't had this CD out of the player since! If you don't know Raymond Scott or the Beau Hunks/Metropole ensembles, this disc is a very good introduction to either - exciting, varied, tuneful, beautifully played, lovingly transcribed from rare old recordings, and unique in its charm and interest. And if you do know them - well, run, don't walk to the shopping cart with this one. I promise you'll enjoy it.From the smooth flow of forties traffic evoked on cut one, "Hertz Theme", to the priceless sound-cartoon of a 1935 vintage fender-bender on cut 17, "Confusion Among a Fleet of Taxicabs", this collection is a joyride all the way through. I wasn't prepared to like a ditty with a name like "The Bullfighter and His Piccolo", but they put even this over appealingly. The real highlights, though, are the delicious proto-Mancini "Secret Agent", the hypnotic fifties noir riff of "City of New York", the aural art deco sublimeness of "Egyptian Summer" (what was Ray's thing about Egypt, anyway?), the gestures towards "serious music" on "Minor Prelude", and the quick-tonguing tour de force "Two Young Lads in Saxophone School", which should send more than a few contemporary reedmen back to the woodshed.The Metropole heard here isn't quite the full 60-piece complement on their excellent Ferde Grofé album of several years past. Most cuts are in big band instrumentation, with several more adding a full string section and orchestral woodwinds. (Total personnel number 49, but I'd be surprised if more than 25-30 were present at a time.) The natural, minimally processed sound is lush and mellow, and the Dutch musicians exhibit virtuoso skills untainted by jaded assembly-line professionalism. Scott always admonished those playing his music to "make it your own", and they truly do. For that and many other reasons, "Kodachrome" is a collection to revisit again and again."

Yet another overlooked side of Raymond Scott

Paul Lindemeyer | 09/17/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"* * * * *KODACHROME is a fantastic collection of Raymond Scott's idiosyncratic orchestral music, performed by the 60-piece Metropole Orchestra. All compositions make their CD debut here.With KODACHROME, the Raymond Scott legacy grows yet again. After Scott disbanded his legendary "Quintet" in 1939, he formed the first of his many orchestras. Scott continued to compose, this time for a larger canvas, and some of his more historically fascinating work often went commercially unrecorded, performed only on radio (and preserved on transcription discs made by Scott himself). Includes such obscure titles as "A Bullfighter and His Piccolo," "Dreary Weather on 6th Avenue," and "Two Young Lads in Saxophone School." The earliest composition on KODACHROME, "Confusion Among a Fleet of Taxicabs Upon Meeting With a Fare," was composed in 1935; the latest, "City of New York" and "Naked City," date from 1953.KODACHROME was produced by Beau Hunks leader Gert-Jan Blom, and features exceptional artwork by Kellie Strom, and liner notes by noted author and jazz historian Will Friedwald...* * * * *"

Reviews

Paul Lindemeyer | 11/16/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"* * * * *"There is many a little masterpiece here. A wealth of rare material that will be of considerable interest to Raymond Scott's increasing following. Beyond that, it may well be THE outstanding big band release of the year."
--U.D.Lewis, ALL MUSIC GUIDE

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"Light years ahead of much of what is being unloaded on the public these days. For those who appreciate popular music, well-seasoned with class, this album should be an entertaining addition to the library."
--Jack Bowers, ALL ABOUT JAZZ

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