[Dixielandjazz] Ruby Braff and Dick hyman

[Robert S. Ringwald]

Regarding the Dick Hyman/Ruby Braff recording "America The Beautiful," Stan
Brager wrote:

> Bob;
>
> I remember that album quite well. I was your engineer when you brought it
> into KCSN-FM to play on your show. I was so impressed, I bought the LP and
> then the CD which is still among the top recordings in my collection. It
> was
> recorded at the Keystone Oaks High School in Dormont, Pennsylvania.
>
> The liner notes state that the Wurlitzer theater pipe organ was built in
> 1927 and originally installed in the Prospect Theatre in Brooklyn, New
> York.. In 1974, the organ was purchased, restored and installed in the
> Keystone Oaks High School which is just outside of Pittsburgh.
>
> Dick Hyman came to the school about a day before the recording to
> familiarize himself with the instrument. He said, "The tonal colors of a
> pipe organ are its great glory.
>
> "And once you launch into a bright, swinging tempo with the instrument
> sounding perhaps a beat behind your fingers, the sensation is like leading
> a
> herd of galloping elephants. You don't dare look back."
>
> The liner notes begin with Ruby's words, "You really think you're
> answering
> to a higher authority when playing in a setting like that, because the
> sounds come out of the ceiling and everywhere. It's an incredible
> feeling."
>
> The album is on the Concord label and the LP had the same name as the CD -
> "America The Beautiful".
>
(snip)

It was on one of my first trips to NY.  I called Dick Hyman, who I had met 
in CA.  He said he was mixing a recording and to come over to the studio.  I 
spent the afternoon with him while he mixed the album.

It seems that after the concert where the recording had been made, he and 
Ruby stuck around.  After the audience left, they rerecorded some of the 
tunes.  Dick was choosing which takes to use.  he was actually asking my 
opinion...

Often when a radio or TV station signs off, they play a version of the "Star 
Spangled Banner."  I always said that if I owned a station, my signoff song 
would be this recording.

There are some other great tunes on the album also.

--Bob Ringwald K6YBV
www.ringwald.com