CD REVIEW
– ENOCH
LIGHT / 4-CHANNEL DYNAMITE &
BIG BAND HITS OF THE ‘30s
Vocalion CDLK 4655
[67:53]
Remarkably for us
nowadays, three new easy
listening releases in almost as
few weeks. Firstly, there was Ferrante &
Teicher, secondly Iain
Sutherland (as I had written
about four of his earlier albums
the Editor has exerted his right
to review this one), and now the
exceptional Enoch Light
(1907-78): bandleader, producer,
A&R man, record entrepreneur
and label owner.
On this latest
album, remastered from the
original analogue tapes by
Michael J Dutton, there are two
Light produced
stereo/quadraphonic LPs from 1972
and 1975. The original sleeve
notes for 4 CHANNEL DYNAMITE
EXPLOSIVE! rightly claim
"Total Sound excitement from
the start as definitive musical
vitality bursts out all around
you".
Described as new
arrangements and recording
concepts of world-famous hit
songs, each of the ten tracks
have around ten of more lines of
detailed explanation in the
booklet. Opening with Simon and
Garfunkel's Cecilia, and
followed by Prelude to Peace
(adapted from one of J S Bach's
greatest hits Cantata No.140),
The Night They Drove Old
Dixie Down, Put a Little
Love in Your Heart, Jambalaya
(On the Bayou), the Beatles'
Penny Lane, Chicago,
Carole King's I Feel the
Earth Move, Ray Noble's Cherokee
and the popular Santana song, Oye
Como Va.
The main arranger
is Jeff Hest, with one
arrangement each by Dick Lieb and
Dick Hyman. As well as the usual
big band instruments, also used
include military drums, a
calliope (steam organ) and
octavoice. There are some
uncredited vocals.
Also recorded at
New York's A & R Studios two
years later, BIG BAND HITS OF THE
'30s VOLUME 2 is an equally
attractive proposition with a
dozen tracks that include Stardust,
American Patrol, Duke
Ellington's Solitude and
Caravan, Bugle Call
Rag and Little Brown Jug.
Among featured musicians are
world famous graduates from the
bands of Benny Goodman, Woody
Herman, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey
et al. Prominent are guitarist
Tony Mottola – who along
with Jeff Hest assists Light with
production – trombonist
Urbie Green, trumpeter Mel Davis
and clarinettist Phil Bodner, who
could also play saxophone and
English horn as well as a couple
of wind instruments.
In modern
parlance, this release is a
musical "banger" and,
if you are a lover of tuneful big
band sound, it will give much
pleasure.
©
Peter Burt, June 2024
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