[Dixielandjazz] Pied Pier of Hamlin (was Hey, Haesler!)

[Bill Haesler]

Stan Brager wrote [in part]:
> 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......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.

Dear Stan,
I chased that Musicraft album for a mate for many years until finally conceding defeat.
It was as rare as hen's teeth and/or rocking horse poo.
The six 78rpm sides were recorded for Musicraft in LA on 28 July 1946 and also released on 78s by English Parlophone and reissued on a Golden Tone LP.
It is not on the French Classics CD 1368 which only contains the remainder of the Musicraft sessions from June 19, 1946 to November 11, 1946 [the first Musicraft dates are on Classics 1330]; the jazz oriented Columbia items from "Modern Music For Clarinet" (minus the classical pieces) : "The Man I Love"/"I Concentrate On You" - "Mood In Question"/"Rendezvous For Clarinet And Strings"; the first two Decca sessions, December 30, 1949 ("Orinoco"/"Mucho De Nada") and January 3, 1950 ("Love Is The Sweetest Thing"/"I Get A Kick Out Of You").  
The 6-sided set of "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" from July 28 was available on Crystal Stream IDCD 45/46.
Crystal Stream Audio is run by a friend here in Australia, Ian Dodds.
  http://www.crystream.com.au/
Not on the site, but I will check with him to see if it is still available.
There is a version of "The Pied Piper Theme" (January 1950) from a Thesaurus transcription issued on the Jasmine 5CD Gramercy Five set.
"The Pied Piper Theme" you mention is probably the Clef version, recorded in Feb/March 1954.
I believe that this is the other one on the Jasmine 5CD set.
For a mouldy old fig record collector, I'm getting slightly out of my depth here.
8>) 
Very kind regards,
Bill.