These recordings are from the period when the Casa Loma Orchestra was a true cooperative and Glen Gray, although elected president, was just one among equals. After a ten-year hiatus, Gray began recording again in 1956 under his name and now it was "his" Casa Loma Orchestra. Until overtaken by Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Chick Webb, and others, the Casa Loma was the most popular band among younger audiences, especially young white audiences. Attracted to the up-tempo, flashy "killer-dillers," the college crowd could kick up ...
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These recordings are from the period when the Casa Loma Orchestra was a true cooperative and Glen Gray, although elected president, was just one among equals. After a ten-year hiatus, Gray began recording again in 1956 under his name and now it was "his" Casa Loma Orchestra. Until overtaken by Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Chick Webb, and others, the Casa Loma was the most popular band among younger audiences, especially young white audiences. Attracted to the up-tempo, flashy "killer-dillers," the college crowd could kick up their heels to their heart's content. One of the more well-known of these, Gene Gifford's "Casa Loma Stomp" recorded in 1937, is on this compilation. Gifford's arrangements, as much as anything, contributed to the group's popularity. Another important factor was that the band filled its chairs with some of best players around. The multi-instrumentalist Sonny Dunham, whose trumpet was often brash, is melodious on the band's 1937 hit "Memories of You." By 1935, the band began to drift more toward commercialism with the crooning of Kenny Sargent, the Jack Teagarden-like vocal drawls of trombone player Pee Wee Hunt, and tongue-in-cheek vocal groups like the Boresome Foursome. Fortuitously, you get to hear the last instrumentalist hit for this incarnation of the band: Larry Wagner's "No Name Jive," which spotlighted Murray McEachern's alto, is included on this LP. Thornhill also was a pioneer in using instruments usually associated with classical music like the bassoon and oboe. Often denigrated, or at least not fully appreciated by big-band historians, Casa Loma Orchestra nonetheless was important in the development of big-band swing, and this album provides ample evidence of that. Some tunes on this album have appeared in various big-band compilations. What's really needed is a serious undertaking to pull together the best of the orchestra's work into a CD. ~ Dave Nathan, Rovi
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Add this copy of Greatest! to cart. $6.24, very good condition, Sold by MUSICAL ENERGI rated 2.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Wilkes-Barre, PA, UNITED STATES, published by Capitol DKAO-375.
