[Dixielandjazz] Hey, Haesler!

[Stan Brager]

Bill;

Thanks for the run-down on the Artie Shaw recordings. When I started serious
record collecting, I came across Shaw's "Pied Piper of Hamlin" on Musicraft
78 set. It was hilarious and it swung. Harry von Zell was the story-teller -
an excellent choice. Artie Shaw's Gramercy Five supplied the original music
which swung like crazy. I longed to hear them stretch out but knew that it
wasn't possible in order to tell the story. Shaw later recorded the "Pied
Piper Theme", but it wasn't the same somehow.

That Musicraft set disappeared along with some treasured books and other 78s
when the company for which I worked moved me from Idaho to Florida in the
early 60's. I searched in vain for many years and the hunt dropped into the
dim corners of my brain until recently. I think that Classics included it in
one of their Artie Shaw compilations - those are now, sadly, not available.

If anyone has a copy, please let me know. Maybe we can make a trade or...

Thanks;

Stan 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Haesler [mailto:bhaesler at bigpond.net.au]
> Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 12:28 AM
> To: M J (Mike) Logsdon; Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
> Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Hey, Haesler!
> 
> M J (Mike) Logsdon asked:
> > Whadaya think of Mosaic's Artie Shaw set?  I've only listened to part
> of the first disc, but I'm (surprisingly) impressed!
> 
> Dear Mike,
> Sorry about the delay in getting back to you.
> A lightning surge got in the way.
> I am now back to normal.
> The new Artie Shaw set is, as always with Mosaic, excellent.
> Although, like you, I have not yet played all 7 CDs.
> Being a tidy completist, I was hoping to eliminate a few CD Artie Shaw
> cross-duplications in my collection.
> Not an easy task, as it turned out.
> The 1936-37 sessions for Brunswick are all on Hep CDs and the 1937
> Thesaurus transcriptions have been collected neatly on both LP and CD.
> I had originally expected the 1938-45 Victor/Bluebirds material to be
> complete on the Mosaic set, but discovered (just prior to ordering it)
> that they had elected not to reissue the Helen Forrest vocal sides.
> Fortunately, all (except 2 songs) have been reissued on Jasmine CDs,
> which I have.
> Also missing on the Mosaic 'Victor/BBs' are 2 Martha Tilton tracks, one
> by Jack Pearle, 8 by Anita Boyer, one by Bonnie Lake, 2 by Paula Kelly
> and 2 by Georgia Gibbs.
> As for the 'complete commercially released' Gramercy 5, you need the
> 5CD set on Jasmine.
> The Artie Shaw records from 1945 to 1954 (Musicraft, Decca) have been
> reissued on French Classics CDs.
> If you can get then now. But these are not for me.
> The 'last recordings' from 1954 (Clef) are on Music Masters CDs.
> No one appears to have reissued on CD "Interlude in B Flat" by Arthur
> Shaw's Swing String Ensemble:
> Artie Shaw (cl) Carl Kress (g) Harry Bluestone, Emanuel "Manny" Green
> (vln) Isadore Zir (viola) Rudy Sims (cello) unknown (sb), Art Stein (d)
> broadcast from the 24 May 1936 Concert at the Imperial Theatre, New
> York City. (Although an mp3 exists from one of the long-deleted LPs.)
> Well, you did ask.
> 8>)
> Very kind regards,
> Bill.
> 
> 
>