November 2008 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of jazz
trumpet legend Bunny Berigan. During the month of November 2008, The
Virtual Victrola will feature the music of Bunny Berigan, both as a
sideman and bandleader. This post features Berigan as a member of a group led by Gene Gifford.
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Big
band enthusiasts remember Gene Gifford as the talented arranger responsible
for the energetic barn-burners and sultry ballads that created the
unique sound of the Casa Loma Orchestra, the first superstar big band of the
early 1930's. Gifford played banjo and guitar in the Casa Loma
Orchestra and fellow bandmates recalled that he wrote his arrangements
by picking melody lines and sounding out harmonies on his banjo, rather
than using a piano.
But
by the mid-1930's, Gifford was struggling with chronic alcoholism.
Although Gifford was not dismissed from the band, leader Glen Gray
began giving Gifford less to do. And with the rise to prominence of
Benny Goodman and other swing bands near the end of 1935, Gifford's
earlier material began to sound dated. Gray began to look for other
arrangers to give the Casa Loma Orchestra a more contemporary sound.
Whether Gifford used this session to explore the possibility of
becoming a bandleader on his own is not clear. But whatever the
reason, Gifford assembled a talented ensemble of great jazz players for
this date, which was to be the only record session issued under
Gifford's own name.
Gifford
hired tenor saxophonist Bud Freeman and pianist Claude Thornhill, both
playing in the newly-formed Ray Noble orchestra, clarinetist Matty
Matlock and drummer Ray Bauduc, both from the Bob Crosby orchestra, and
four of New York City's top session musicians: guitarist Dick
McDonough, bassist Pete Peterson, trombonist Morey Samuel, and
trumpeter Bunny Berigan. Gifford also brought New Orleans trumpeter
Wingy Manone along, but used him only as a singer.
Many years later, Bud Freeman told author Dick Sudhalter,
We
were all so thrilled to get a chance to play such good arrangements on
a date like this that we almost ran into trouble with the recording
people. Usually, the A&R man will hope that you finish up what you
have to do in the alloted three hours or whatever. But this time we
were enjoying ourselves so much that we wanted to play things over and
over. They got good takes right away, but we just kept on playing.
Gifford
wrote the music and arrangements for all four tunes, and enlisted
Winston Tharpe and Joe Bishop as co-composers. Wingy Manone
contributed the lyrics to "Nothin' But The Blues." The arrangements
are concise and allow plenty of room for solos, which is an interesting
contrast to the densely-scored work that he previously turned out for
the Casa Loma Orchestra.
This date is remembered by jazz enthusiasts as a high point in the
career of trumpeter Bunny Berigan, whose solos on "Nothin' But The
Blues" and "Squareface" are perfect examples of the warmth, wit, and
sparkling grace of his playing. Matlock and Freeman get the chance to
stretch out nicely on "New Orleans Twist," which is also bolstered by
New Orleans native Ray Bauduc's enthusiastic drumming. "Squareface," a
bluesy and ironic tribute to the seductive powers of bottled spirits,
includes a nice trombone solo by Samuel and highlight's Manone's talent
as a vocalist. Manone's presence as a straight singer rather than a
comedian (as he was so often used) is yet another high point of this
rare and historic session.
The tunes:
Nothin' But The Blues
Download gene_gifford_nothin_but_the_blues.mp3
New Orleans Twist
Download gene_gifford_new_orleans_twist.mp3
Dizzy Glide
Download gene_gifford_dizzy_glide.mp3
Squareface
Download gene_gifford_old_squareface.mp3
