The proceedings get off to a great start with a smoochy, smoky little
number by Robert Katscher - ‘When Day is Done’. I guess
that this piece epitomises the selection of music on this disc. This
Laurie Johnson arrangement emphasises it as a late-night piece. There
is a particularly moody break for trumpets before the music closes
with a violin solo.
Many of the numbers derive from various ‘shows’ or ‘films’.
There is a fine arrangement of ‘I could have danced all night’
from
My Fair Lady. The beautiful ‘I’ve told every
Star’ comes from the Hammerstein/Kern musical
Music in the
Air which was premiered on Broadway in 1932. The Bob Hope and
Bing Crosby knockabout comedy
The Road to Morocco has given
the world the romantic ‘Moonlight becomes you’. The classic
Kurt Weill number ‘Speak Low’ comes from the largely forgotten
‘One Touch of Venus’, whilst ‘During One Night’
is the eponymous title from the 1961 film staring Susan Hampshire
and Don Borisenko with a musical score by Bill McGuffie. I am not
sure that the harmonica quite supports the mood of Starlight.
I am always pleased to find a number of ‘classic’ British
(Commonwealth) light music composers represented in these Guild CDs.
This disc is no exception. Steve Race’s ‘In Paris, In
Love’ opens with a vamp that could be an introduction to an
Adam Faith song. Later, the Parisian mood takes over this well-constructed
little tone-poem. A little closer to home Robert Farnon has painted
a picture of a ‘typical ‘Home Counties’ evening
with his thoughtful ‘How Beautiful is the Night.’ Equally
‘English’ in its mood is Cecil Milner’s ‘Melody
for Lovers’. This composer, who lived in Wimbledon for much
of his life, deserves to be better known. Angela Morley can always
be relied upon to deliver an effective and romantic piece of mood
music and ‘A Tender Mood’ is quietly restrained and probably
reflects lost love rather than an evening of romance. More positive
is Peter Yorke’s ‘Cocktails by Candlelight’. This
hints at the magic of two lovers sipping Snowballs or Cosmopolitans
in the Dorchester or Claridges.
Our American allies are well represented here too. ‘Manhattan
in Satin’ by Willis Schaefer is evocative of the lamented Rainbow
Room in the Rockefeller Center - an elegant lady sitting by the picture
windows with all the lights of Manhattan behind her. Cole Porter’s
standard ‘Mind if I make love to you’ is near perfect,
whilst up the road Harry Revel has painted a picture of an evening
‘Underneath a Harlem Moon’ which is a little edgier with
a few blue notes, muted trumpets, big band-style breaks and a good
part for clarinet. Further south ‘Moon over Miami’ by
Edgar Leslie and Joe Burke is Mancini-like with its use of sweeping
strings. Over in the Caribbean, David Rose has scored a hit with his
‘Night in Trinidad’. This has the trappings of calypso
worked over by a London-born, but Chicago-raised composer. There is
a Latin mood in ‘Midnight Tango’ by Hiller, Hiller and
Newman: this is the most lively and least starry piece on this CD.
I am not sure what the balalaika is doing in the Argentine though?
Balalaikas and accordions inform Hubert Giraud’s attractive
‘Sweet Surrender Waltz’ - something between a music box
and a Paris café scene. ‘Orchids in the Moonlight’
by Vincent Youmans has a sinister beat, yet the romantic strings play
down any suggestion of ‘things of the night’. Other tunes
include the wistful ‘Thinking of You’ by Harry Ruby that
makes such effective use of sweeping strings. ‘Take my Lips’
by Teo Usuelli is an upbeat little tune whilst ‘Stranger in
Town’ by Malcolm Lockyer reflects on the dichotomy of its title
- lonely but full of possibilities. Adolph Deutsch’s ‘Lonely
Room’ is not quite as sad as the title would imply. ‘Love
me if you wish’ penned by Vittorio Mascheroni is quite simply
beautiful and contains a luxurious trumpet solo.
The final number has gained a
double entendre - ‘After
Hours Joint’ by J. George Johnson. Perhaps to the innocent all
things etc … For me this piece epitomises my idealised view
of a nineteen-fifties night club down some half-lit, back street in
Fitzrovia. Drum and bass gently supporting strings and piano give
just the right atmosphere for a late night hang-out. It is a good
place to conclude this exploration of music inspired by the ‘Starlight
Hours’.
There is only one issue I have with this CD: I do wish that Guild
would, where at all possible, provide
all the composers’
dates. It is important that the listener is able to ‘contextualise’
these pieces, even although they are ‘only’ light music.
I do not expect the dates of composition to be given as I imagine
that in many cases this will be well-nigh impossible.
As always with the Guild Light Music series the recording quality
is superb: all the pieces have scrubbed up well.
I enjoyed this relaxed selection of music designed to be heard during
the ‘starlight hours’. It is to be hoped that many more
‘chilled’ tunes are available and will duly be presented
in this hugely impressive series.
John France
Track listing
Robert KATSCHER (1894-1942) arr. Laurie
JOHNSON (b.1927) When Day is Done, Ambrose &
his Orchestra/Laurie Johnson (1956) [2:55]
Jerome KERN (1885-1945) arr. Conrad SALLINGER
(1901-1962) I’ve Told Ev'ry Little Star, song (from
‘Music in the Air’) The Conrad Salinger Orchestra/Buddy
Bregman (1958) [3:40]
Frederick LOEWE (1901-1988) arr. Percy
FAITH (1908-1976) I could have danced all night (from
‘My Fair Lady’) Percy Faith and his Orchestra (1956) [3:37]
Hubert GIRAUD (b.1920) Sweet Surrender Waltz,
Andre Kostelanetz and his Orchestra (1955) [2:35]
Willis SCHAEFER (1928-2007) Manhattan in Satin (from
‘Impressions of New York’) New Concert Orchestra/Cedric
Dumont (1957) [2:58]
Vincent YOUMANS (1898-1946) arr. Robert FARNON
(1917-2005) Orchids in the Moonlight, Robert Farnon and his
Orchestra (1951) [3:00]
Johnny Burke (1908-1964) James Van HEUSEN (1913-1990)
Moonlight Becomes You (from ‘The Road to Morocco’) Glenn
Osser and his Orchestra (1955) [3:39]
Steve RACE (1921-2009) In Paris, In Love, Steve
Race and his Orchestra (1961) [2:23]
Harry RUBY (1895-1974) Bert KALMAR (1884-1947)
Thinking of You, John Clegg and his Orchestra (1958) [3:50]
Robert FARNON How Beautiful is Night, Leslie Jones
and his Orchestra (1959) [3:40]
Cecil MILNER (1905-1989) Melody for Lovers, Georges
Derveux and his Orchestra (1953) [3:03]
Kurt WEILL (1900-1950) arr. Morton Gould (Speak
Low, (from ‘One Touch of Venus’) Morton Gould and
his Orchestra (1961) [4:29]
Cole PORTER (1891-1964) Mind if I make love to
you? (from "High Society") Pete King and his Orchestra (1959) [2:49]
Angela MORLEY (1924-2009) A Tender Mood, Telecast
Orchestra/Angela Morley (1961) [3:05]
Edgar LESLIE (1885-1976) Joe BURKE (1884-1950)
Moon Over Miami, Guy Luypaerts and his Orchestra (1956) [3:23]
Anthony Toby HILLER (b.1927) Irving HILLER, Daniel
NEWMAN Midnight Tango, Reg Tilsley and his Orchestra (1954)
[2:29]
Peter YORKE (1902-1966) Cocktails by Candlelight, Telecast
Orchestra/Peter Yorke (1961) [2:43]
Teo USUELLI (1920-2009) Take My Lips (Meraviglose
Labbra), Laurie Johnson and his Orchestra (1960) [2:13]
Malcolm LOCKYER (1923-1976) arr. Bruce CAMPBELL
Stranger in Town, Bruce Campbell and his Orchestra (1955) [2:49]
Adolph DEUTSCH (1897-1980) Lonely Room, Ferrante
& Teicher with their Orchestra (1960) [2:34]
Vittorio MASCHERONI (1895-1972) Amami si Vuoi
(Love Me if You Wish) Orchestra of the 6th San Remo Festival/George
Melachrino (1957) [3:15]
Bill MCGUFFIE (1927-1987) James DYRENFORTH (1895-1973)
During One Night: Theme, Harry Pitch (Harmonica) Bill
McGuffie and his Orchestra (1961) [2:33]
Harry REVEL (1905-1958) Underneath the
Harlem Moon, Werner Müller and his Orchestra (1956) [2:37]
David ROSE (1910-1990) Night in Trinidad, David
Rose and his Orchestra (1959) [2:46]
J. George JOHNSON (1914-1994) After Hours
Joint, New World Theatre Orchestra (1957) [4:15]
All tracks in mono except Kern, Farnon, Weill, Mascheroni and Johnson
Dates refer to recording, not composition
