Disc One (1939-1940)
1. Cherokee
2. The Gal from Joe’s
3. Echoes of Harlem
4. Midweek Function
5. Lament for a Lost Love
6. The Duke’s Idea
7. The Count’s Idea
8. The Right Idea
9. Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie
10. Southland Shuffle
11. Comanche War Dance
12. Where Was I?
13. Leapin’ at the Lincoln
14. Afternoon of a Moax
15. Flying Home
16. Rockin’ in Rhythm
17. Pompton Turnpike
18. The Sergeant Was Shy
19. Ring Dem Bells
20. Wild Mab of the Fish Pond
21. Wings over Manhattan
22. Southern Fried
23. I Hear a Rhapsody
24. Redskin Rhumba
Collective Personnel:
Bob Burnet, Billy May, Johnny Owens, John Mendell, Charles Huffine, Charlie Shavers. Lyman Vunk, Bernie Privin, Sam Skolnick – Trumpets
Don Ruppersberg, Bill Robertson, Ben Hall, Spud Murphy – Trombones
Charlie Barnet – Soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax
Don McCook – Clarinet
Gene Kinsey, Don McCook, Skip Martin, Noni Bernardi, Leo White – Alto saxes
Kurt Bloom, Jim Lamare – Tenor saxes
Jim Lamare – Baritone sax
Bill Miller, Nat Jaffe – Piano
Bus Etri – Guitar
Phil Stephens – Bass
Ray Michaels, Wesley Dean, Cliff Leeman – Drums
Mary Ann McCall – Vocal (track 12)
Bob Carroll – Vocal (track 23)
Disc Two (1941-1949)
1. Skyliner
2. Good-for-Nothin’ Joe
3. Blue Juice
4. You’re My Thrill
5. Charleston Alley
6. All I Desire
7. Merry-Go-Round
8. Spanish Kick
9. Harlem Speaks
10. Things Ain’t What They Used to Be
11. Washington Whirligig
12. Pow-Wow
13. The Moose
14. Gulf Coast Blues
15. Flat-Top Flips His Lid
16. Drop Me Off in Harlem
17. You Always Hurt the One You Love
18. Blue Lou
19. Lonely Street
20. Portrait of Edward Kennedy Ellington
21. Easy Living
22. Pan Americana
23. Over the Rainbow
24. Claude Reigns
25. All the Things You Are
26. Really?
Collective Personnel:
Peanuts Holland, Lyman Vunk, John Martel, Jack Mootz, Bernie Privin, Bob Burnet, George Esposito, Charles Zimmerman, Walter Price, Cy Baker, Mickey Bloom,
Irving Berger, Joseph Ferrante, Jimmy Pupa, Al Killian, Roy Eldridge, Art House, Clark Terry, Doc Severinsen, James Nottingham, Joseph Graves, Jimmy
Campbell, Dave Burns, Tony DiNardi, John Howell, Lammar Wright, Maynard Ferguson, Rolf Ericson, Ray Wetzel – Trumpets
Gerald Foster, Dave Hallet, Burt Johnson, Charles Coolidge, Spud Murphy, Bill Robertson, Ford Leary, Don Ruppersberg, Tommy Reo, Kahn Keene, Wally Barron,
Russell Brown, Bob Swift, Eddie Bert, Ed Fromm, Porky Cohen, Tommy Pederson, Ben Pickering, Herbert Harper, Freddie Zito, Obie Massingill, Ken Martlock,
Dick Kenney, Harry Betts – Trombones
Ken Martlock – Bass trombone
Charlie Barnet – Soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax
Buddy Defranco – Clarinet
Hal Herzon, Joe Meissner, Gene Kinsey, Leo White, Conn Humphreys, Ray Hopfner, Buddy Defranco, George Bone, Murray Williams, Rae De Geer, Gene Kinsey, Walt
Weidler, Salvatore Dottore, Art Raboy, Vinnie Dean, Vinnie DiVittorio, Reuben Leon – Alto saxes
Kurt Bloom, Ed Pripps, Jim Lamare, Mike Goldberg, Andy Pino, Jack Henderson, Don Raffell, Dave Matthews, Dick Hafer – Tenor saxes
Bob Poland, Jim Lamare, Danny Bank, Robert Dawes, Manny Albam – Baritone sax
Dodo Marmarosa, Bill Miller, Nat Jaffe, Claude Williamson – Piano
Barney Kessel, Bus Etri, Tom Moore, Turk van Lake, Robert Bain – Guitar
Howard Rumsey, Phil Stephens, Bob Elden, Russ Wagner, Andy Riccardi, John Chance, Don Tosti, Eddie Safranski – Bass
Harold Hahn, Cliff Leeman, Richard Shanahan, Tiny Kahn – Drums
Carlos Vidal, Ivar Jameniz – Conga
Diego Ibarra – Bongos
Lena Horne – Vocal (tracks 2, 4, 6)
Kay Starr – Vocal (track 17)
Trudy Richards – Vocal (track 21)
Charlie Barnet had the great good fortune to be born into a wealthy family; thus he never had to rely on music for a living and could indulge his various
fancies, such as throwing parties with the Duke Ellington orchestra as the music providers (actually a stratagem, according to Ellington, for providing the
Ellington band bookings when business was slow) or hosting wild parties with his fellow band members, one of them ending with the whole crew taking a dip
in the hotel fountain (memorialized in Wild Mab of the Fish Pond, CD One, Mab being a nickname for Barnet). His many marriages and
romantic liaisons are also quite legendary.
But he genuinely loved big band music and was no slouch when it came to playing it in the reed section, either. He did not have to pander to anyone and
could follow the musical path he discerned, eschewing the music so beloved of his social group, which he considered “corny” or “schmaltzy.” One tune he
recorded, which is, unfortunately, not on this set, is titled The Wrong Idea and is a funny spoof by Billy May of such music, but his “antidote,” The Right Idea, is included on CD One. This track follows a pair of other Idea tunes that pay tribute to two of Barnett’s favorite
musicians: Duke Ellington and Count Basie. And Barnet was not much interested in playing for dancing, as is clear from some of the blazing tempos he set in
tunes such as Leapin’ at the Lincoln or Claude Reigns, to mention but two.
These 50 tracks may well be his “finest”; they certainly are representative of his recordings of that decade and include much of the best, for me, of what
he produced. Among them are the two for which he is best known, perhaps—Cherokee and Skyliner, the former opening CD One and the latter
opening CD Two. Cherokee’s opening riff of waving derby-muted trombones and crisp staccato punctuation of the other horns plays for four measures
until Barnet’s tenor enters and then continues behind the rest of the reed section which plays the melody. However, Cherokee was not Barnet’s
theme song as many believe—Redskin Rhumba, the last track on CD One, actually was, opening with a riff almost identical to Cherokee’s.
Then the rest of the number is simply jamming, led by Barnet, over the riff. Both Cherokee and Skyliner swing mightily and were among the
best sellers of the time.
The next five tracks, along with several others on both CD’s, pay tribute to one of the two major icons Barnet revered, Duke Ellington. These are either
Ellington compositions or others tipping the hat to the Ellington style, and one is a piece by Dave Matthews titled Portrait of Edward Kennedy Ellington, a tone poem. In them Barnet does not attempt a pastiche of Ellington, but he manages to convey the feeling
of Ellington, yet retain his own identity. Any Ellington fan would not be misled into thinking that it was the Ellington band but would recognize the
compliment Barnet was paying it. In similar fashion Barnet shows his admiration for Count Basie in his The Count’s Idea, and elsewhere
one can also detect the Count’s influence.
Barnet was blessed with great arrangers, especially Billy May, most of the selections on CD One being May’s contributions. His crisp brass figures and
tight reed section harmonies are prominent, and all are executed to near perfection by the band; but he was not averse to some humor, as is apparent in the
muted call and response by the brass in Pompton Turnpike. Barnet’s other arrangers, too, were of the first rank, and he himself was no laggard in
that department, as well as that of composer—witness the Idea tunes, Wild Mab at the Fishpond, and, of course, Skyliner.
As a glance at the personnel shows, Barnet’s dedication to playing big band music was attractive to many of finest sidemen of the time, some of them the
biggest names in the business, who did not hesitate to join his ranks when invited. Likewise vocalists were not loath to appear with his organization,
often finding it opened the door to their career and later fame, witness a young Lena Horne and Kay Starr here on CD Two.
These two CD’s provide over two and a half hours’ worth of fine big band music, and while a few fans of such will undoubtedly have some of the material
presented here, altogether this is a collection worth adding to one’s library. In his day Barnet never seemed to be given the quite recognition he
deserved, and this double CD set may go some way to enhancing his stature and remedying any such deficiency.
Bert Thompson
CD Reviews
RETROSPECTIVE RTS 4225
