The Bryan Ferry Orchestra "The Jazz Age" (2012)

The Jazz Age
release date: Nov. 26, 2012
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,98]
producer: Bryan Ferry & Rhett Davies
label: BMG Rights Management - nationality: England, UK

14th studio album by Bryan Ferry released by The Bryan Ferry Orchestra is a collection of Ferry compositions released on various albums from the early Roxy Music days and his later solo albums, but re-organised for and re-worked into traditional jazz as played in the 1920s and 1930s with a strings and brass backing band.
Stylistically, we're talking contemporary jazz, ragtime and swing, and not only is the orchestral instrumentation according to the aforementioned time but also the recording and production sound are in the spirit of that era, insofar that it feels completely genuinely old. Although, all original compositions were with Ferry on lead vocal, this release is completely without any vocal performance, and Ferry himself is "only" credited as composer, producer and bandleader.
The original Roxy Music and Ferry tracks are sometimes truly hard to recognise but the overall impression is a solid and original release. I would, however, have loved and preferred to hear these songs in vocal arrangements as the natural follow-up to his fine album As Time Goes By (1999). Having said that it's a "solid" and "original" release, although that does not imply that I enjoy it. I find it somewhat redundant.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Louis Prima "My Cucuzza" (1960) (single)

My Cucuzza, 7 '' single

release date: 1959

format: vinyl (D 45-208) (1960 issue)

[single rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]

producer: ?

label: Dot Records - nationality: USA

Tracklist: A) "My Cucuzza (Goo-goot-za)" - - B) "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop"

Single release by American entertainer and vocalist Louis Prima, who often made use of Anglicisation of popular Italian (folk) songs. The A-side is a song by Victor (Gari) Corpora music by Milton Rogers, and the B-side is a song by Curley Hamner (aka William J. Hamner) and Lionel Hampton.

This Danish issue of the US version switched the A and the B-sides, and the item was part of my parents' record collection. It was a single I used to play on a portable turntable at 6-8 years of age. The front cover went missing early on, say some 3-4 decades ago.

~ ~ ~

This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.

Paul Young "Rock Swings (On the Wild Side of Swing)" (2006)

Rock Swings (On the Wild Side of Swing)
release date: Nov. 6, 2006
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,44]
producer: Dieter Falk
label: Maxi Media - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Tainted Love" - 2. "Bennie and the Jets" - 4. "Why Does It Always Rain on Me" - 6. "The Boys of Summer" - 8. "Hungry Heart" - 10. "In the Ghetto"

8th studio album by Paul Young is his first album in 9 years. It's recorded, arranged, mixed and produced nearly only with Dutch musicians at Wisseloord Studios in The Netherlands and it's released on the small German label, Maxi Media (distributed by Sony BMG).
Although, being a studio release consisting of 13 tracks it only contains 1 original track written by Young and Steve Sidwell, who has also arranged most of the songs. Now, Paul Young isn't famous for writing a lot of great songs, but more famous for his singing qualities - yet, this is something different as all songs are arranged as swing band compositions. Instead of just singing classic standards (it does contain one standard - Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (made famous by Bing Crosby with his version from the movie "Holiday Inn" from 1942), this is more like a selection of modern standards. The selection of songs is a mix from all genres and styles, and despite using songwriters from various decades [and centuries] and as diverse as Elton John, Metallica, Travis, George Harrison, Eminem, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Lou Reed and Irving Berlin [geeh] the end result is remarkably uniform all thanks to the artistic arrangements.
Once you have accepted... (or: If you get to the point of accepting) the idea of using familiar songs and turned these into swing band standards, it's really an impressive accomplishment. As Paul Young comments in the inlay: "some [songs] were more of a challenge than others, when it comes to arranging them in a new style." and: "...the planning took longer, than the recording!" Yeah, I bet they did!
At first my favourites were songs like "Tainted Love" (written by Ed Cobb and song by Gloria Jones back in '65, but really first made famous by Soft Cell with its new wave and synthpop version from 1981) and Springsteen's "Hungry Heart" (heartland rock from The River, 1980), but as I got to hear it over again, it was just such a treat to hear that great singing voice of Paul Young just coming to terms with new material and adding his special touch that ultimately lifts these arrangements over most of mainstream pop these days. A britpop song like Travis' "Why Does It Always Rain on Me" sounds as an old classic standard in the hands of Young and Sidwell, and even the heavy metal track "Enter Sandman" by Metallica becomes more than digestable in this completely altered version. "In the Ghetto" was brought to international fame by one Elvis Presley, but here it's just as great - just completely different. The perhaps most difficult songs on the album are the two by David Bowie and Lou Reed: "Walk on the Wild Side" and "The Jean Genie", but they cannot disturb the sensation that the album is a much better release than some critics suggest.
Recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Dire Straits "Extendedanc'EP'lay" (1982) (ep)

Extendedanc'EP'lay, 12'' ep
release date: Jan. 10, 1983
format: vinyl (6400 766)
[single rate: 3 / 5] [3,08]
producer: Mark Knopfler
label: Vertigo Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: A) 1. "Twisting by the Pool" (4 / 5) - 2. "Badges, Posters, Stickers, T-Shirts" (2,5 / 5) - - B) 1. "Two Young Lovers" (2,5 / 5) - 2. "If I Had You" (3 / 5)

4-track ep by Dire Straits. The ep is also referred to as the Twisting by the Pool ep, as it was also released as a 7'' single with the first track as title. After releasing the Love Over Gold album, drummer Pick Withers left the band, and this ep features his replacement, Terry Williams. The ep signals a return to a more simple rock & roll inspired pop / rock sound where the new progressive element is absent. Track 1 was a major singles hit, but aside from that the ep doesn't contain memorable material.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Ella Fitzgerald "Lullabies of Birdland" (1955)

Lullabies of Birdland

release date: 1955

format: vinyl (1960 reissue, DL 8149)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,92]

producer: various

label: Decca - nationality: USA

Early compilation album by Ella Fitzgerald with eleven tracks stemming from older recordings, which have all been previously issued for 78rpm singles during the late 1940s and early 1950s (track #11 is recorded in 1945, tracks #5 & #8 are from 1947, track #9 from 1949, tracks #2-4 & #10 from 1952, tracks #1 & #6 from 1954, and track #7 from 1955).

These recordings are a fine treat and despite some missing dynamics, mostly issues with vocal range, this compilation is remarkably good.