- The Man with the Horn
- A Dreamer’s Holiday
- National Emblem March
- Tenderly
- Count Every Star
- Skycoach
- Harlem Nocturne
- Mr Anthony’s Boogie
- Sentimental me
- Cook’s Tour
- The Fox
- Can Anyone Explain?
- Slaughter on Tenth Avenue
- Harbour Lights
- Idaho
- Thunderbird
- Nevertheless
- Dancing in the Dark
- Dragnet
- At last
- Tuxedo Junction
- In the Mood
- O Mein Papa
- Sound Off
- Skokiaan
- I’ll See You in My Dreams
The Ray Anthony Orchestra was a very high
quality dance band, the tuning and dynamics
are superb and the whole of the performance
is easy to understand and not likely to offend
anyone. When I started to play in dance bands
in the middle 50’s, this was the kind of music
we played, although I must own up to the fact
that we did not play it nearly as well as
the Ray Anthony band! One of the problems
of running a band of this type, is that you
need musicians of the highest calibre to play
it well, but it does not give them sufficient
freedom to keep them interested and it is
only by paying them over the odds that you
can keep them on board.
Ray Anthony served his big band apprenticeship
in the bands of Glenn Miller and Jimmy Dorsey
and he had observed first hand the kind of
music the audience liked. They liked it tuneful,
but not too demanding and often they were
more concerned with dancing than listening.
Ray got the mixture absolutely right and whilst
big bands were in decline during the period
that this music was recorded, Ray went from
success to success and chart hit to chart
hit. This put him in a position to hire the
best and keep them, which is why the band
plays so well. In fact I would put forward
this band as a model of what a first class
dance band should sound like. All of the section
work is immaculate, the dynamics are perfect,
the tuning without flaw. When you add to this
Anthony’s Cary Grant style good looks, his
melodic Harry James style trumpet solos, good
vocalists and his ability to hold the attention
of an audience, this really was a winning
combination.
Some famous names played with the band from
time to time, Billy Butterfield, Marshall
Royal and drummer Mel Lewis are present on
some of the tracks. The arrangements are such
however that famous jazz names have little
or no impact on he overall sound of the band.
If you like your dance music immaculately
played, this disc is for you. It should also
be heard by all aspiring young big band musicians,
so that they can hear the standard of section
cohesion a top class band can achieve.
Don Mather
CD Reviews
LIVING ERA CD AJA 5549
