[Zarathustra19]

Hi all,
  Its been some time since I've asked for recommendations, but I find myself in a tough situation.  I've been getting into music from the 1950's for a while now; stuff like Frank Sinatra's "In the Wee Small Hours," and I'd like to find some more instrumental things like the stuff my grandparents listen to.  What I mean is that they have a CD recorded by a friend called "Herb and Friends" which is like an instrumental piano accompanied by a brass and string band.  Its slow, for the most part; suited to slow dances and candle lit dinners.  So, what I'm looking to find is the same sort of sound, something like what the characters of Mad Men might sit down with an Old Fashioned Cocktail to listen to.  I'm not a fan of most "big band" music, especially with vocals, but I'm hoping to find some things like the accompaniment Frank Sinatra has on most albums.  If you have "In the Wee Small Hours" you might hear what I'm going for. 
 
Any help would be much appreciated.
 
Thanks and cheers,
Zach

 

[Headdie]

Why not try some Joe Williams with or without the Count Basie Orchestra...

 

[bigshot]

For the upbeat tunes, Billy May is great, especially the albums with the word brass in the title. For laid back, you can't beat Jackie Gleason with the incomparable Bobby Hackett.

 

[tru blu]

2x on Bobby Hackett…Music to Make You Misty…
 
…and since Mad Men was mentioned, maybe try Miles Davis' Sketches Of Spain? Playing that record was a plot line on one of the early episodes.
 
Oh, and one other thing: Such Sweet Thunder by Duke Ellington…
 

 

[Zarathustra19]

Thanks for the tips, guys.  I had completely forgotten about Duke Ellington, though I used to listen to him quite a bit in high school; a good example of what I'm looking for.  Miles Davis is another of the Jazz greats I've heard, but not the album that was recommended, so I'll look into that.  Joe Williams is a new experience for me, and I have to say I'm liking what I've been able to find his music on youtube, especially with Count Basie.  The others I will definitely look into as I'm discovering a wealth of new "old" stuff that is fitting the bill nicely.
 
Thanks again,
Zach
 

 

[rroseperry]

Are you looking for a luscious big band sound or more bop like?
 
There's Goodman's orchestra, Fletcher Henderson, Billy Eckstein, and Woody Herman, these are all dance bands, so not as string heavy as the bands backing Sinatra.

 

[Zarathustra19]

I'm open to pretty much anything, so I'll give those all a listen.  My initial thought was to have more strings involved, and I'd still like to go that route as well.
 
 
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[rroseperry]

The string big bands tend to back singers. I'd look for Jo Stafford's work with Tommy Dorsey and the really wonderful Ella Fitzgerald recordings of the American Songbook. There's also this really odd recording of John Coltrane with strings that I've never heard, but heard about.

 

[tru blu]

…maybe Desmond Blue by Paul Desmond…it's more of sax soloist with strings thing. Hey, why not Charlie Parker With Strings? Gil Evans' Out Of The Cool? Evans did the orchestral arrangements for Miles Davis' Sketches Of Spain. No strings in the orchestra on Out Of The Cool, but it's something I listen to a lot.

 

[bigshot]

There are sub genres within big band... There's hard swinging bands, bop bands and dance bands. But what you are describing in your original post are the sweet bands. They're terrifically underrated and mostly unknown to people who don't collect LPs.

The CD collection that defines the genre is the Jackie Gleason Ultra Lounge collection, but there are others in the easy listening section... Mantovani, Lawrence Welk, Wayne King, Hugo Winterhalter, David Rose, Henry Mancini, Bert KaemPfert, Nelson Riddle, Billy May, etc.

The other names being mentioned here are jazz bands. That can have similar moods, but it isn't the same at all. If you want that sultry 1950s cocktail lounge vibe, you have to go to the source- Easy Listening. No reason to be ashamed of it. It's great music.

The uptempo sweet stuff is great too. What's not to love about Kaempfert's "A Swingin' Safari" or Mancini's "Peter Gunn Theme"? Tons of variety in this music.

 

[tru blu]

Point taken, but they still represent what everybody back then called "legit"…

   I was going with the, "I'm pretty much open to anything…" part of the inquiry. 
 
Quote:

The other names being mentioned here are jazz bands. That can have similar moods, but it isn't the same at all

 

[rroseperry]

Quote:

There are sub genres within big band... There's hard swinging bands, bop bands and dance bands. But what you are describing in your original post are the sweet bands. They're terrifically underrated and mostly unknown to people who don't collect LPs.

The CD collection that defines the genre is the Jackie Gleason Ultra Lounge collection, but there are others in the easy listening section... Mantovani, Lawrence Welk, Wayne King, Hugo Winterhalter, David Rose, Henry Mancini, Bert KaemPfert, Nelson Riddle, Billy May, etc.

The other names being mentioned here are jazz bands. That can have similar moods, but it isn't the same at all. If you want that sultry 1950s cocktail lounge vibe, you have to go to the source- Easy Listening. No reason to be ashamed of it. It's great music.

The uptempo sweet stuff is great too. What's not to love about Kaempfert's "A Swingin' Safari" or Mancini's "Peter Gunn Theme"? Tons of variety in this music.

 

 
You're right. I admit I have a fondness for the dance stuff and great singers. I find the lounge stuff not so engaging, but it's a taste thing.
 
 

 

[tru blu]

Quote:

You're right. I admit I have a fondness for the dance stuff and great singers. I find the lounge stuff not so engaging, but it's a taste thing.

Well, I wasn't gonna bring this up, but the dirty little secret about some of the "easy-listening" of that period is that it's watered-down flourishes and stuff from jazz. Its objective was to reach a pop audience that wanted perhaps a little groove but was uneasy about hardcore beat-conscious musics like swing, bop and even early rhythm-and-blues. That's where ace jazz soloists like Bobby Hackett (and actually Sinatra, too; he got his start in swing bands) entered the picture. On the flipside, cats like Charlie Parker made string records to try to reach that wider audience.
 

 

[bigshot]

Unfortunately, the Easy Listening genre has been poorly served on CD. It's either lugubrious sleepy music for old people or strident cartoony ping pong stereo recordings of xylophones and Chinese gongs. I don't find "lounge" music very engaging either.

Easy Listening, as it was understood back in the 50s and 60s was a diverse and interesting kind of music. A lot of the good stuff is on CD, but you have to know which ones are the real deals and which are the gimmicky collections designed to appeal to hipsters.

There are a few safe bets. Just about anything by Les Baxter is great. I haven't found a bad Kaempfert collection yet. Mancini is always wonderful. There's a spectacular collection of Ray Anthony on Aero Records. Sinatra's bandleaders, Nelson Riddle and Billy May are always good. But I would avoid the cocktail lounge collections unless you are willing to edit them down to eliminate the excessively goofy tracks.

 

[rroseperry]

^2 on Riddle who was the arranger on the Gershwin songs for Ella Fitzgerald's Song Book opus.