{"id":137,"date":"2021-03-30T15:38:47","date_gmt":"2021-03-30T15:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/?page_id=137"},"modified":"2021-05-10T14:02:25","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T14:02:25","slug":"1957-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/1957-2\/","title":{"rendered":"1957"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>In stride, in flux.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elmer Bernstein:&nbsp;<em><strong>Blues and Brass<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(Decca, 1958) (recorded January, February,&nbsp;July&nbsp;1957)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Elmer Bernstein\u2019s score to Otto Preminger\u2019s 1955 film\u00a0<em>The Man with the Golden Arm<\/em>\u00a0seemed to make the composer an overnight success\u2014that\u2019s the phrase the liner notes for this album adopts\u2014but, in reality, Bernstein had spent a few years languishing among\u00a0B-movies\u00a0after\u00a0refusing\u00a0to name names before the House Un-American Activities Committee.\u00a0One could say that his\u00a0<em>Golden Arm\u00a0<\/em>music\u00a0conquered both Hollywood and the Red Scare; Bernstein was immediately bumped to the film industry\u2019s A-list, soon to work on pictures like\u00a0<em>The Ten Commandments, The Magnificent Seven<\/em>, and another terrific jazz-tinged score, to\u00a0<em>Sweet Smell of Success<\/em>.\u00a0<em>The Man with the Golden Arm<\/em>\u00a0is still\u00a0one of the best film scores to incorporate jazz, with Shorty Rogers and Shelly Manne, in particular, given ample room to improvise in a modern style.\u00a0And it was successful enough\u00a0on record\u00a0that Decca approached Bernstein to write and conduct a follow-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite some advance press from&nbsp;<em>Billboard<\/em>&nbsp;(\u201cA remarkable album in many ways\u2026 some of the most imaginative big-band jazz to be heard\u201d)&nbsp;<em>Blues and Brass<\/em>&nbsp;didn\u2019t make much of a splash upon its release and soon went out of print.&nbsp;But it\u2019s a solid and striking album, somewhat in the Kenton vein but very much its own thing. Some tracks show Bernstein on the cutting edge: \u201cBlues at Five\u201d and \u201cLament in Five\u201d beat Brubeck and Desmond&nbsp;<em>et al.<\/em>&nbsp;to that meter by two years, and (at the other extreme) the Carnival-kitsch-parody&nbsp;of \u201cThe Poor People of Brazil\u201d summed up the exotica trend almost just as Martin Denny was kicking it off. But most of the album is in Bernstein\u2019s best big-city-noir manner, and it\u2019s pretty sensational.&nbsp;Many, many familiar California names blaze away: Bud Shank, Dave Pell, Maynard Ferguson, Milt Bernhart, the Candoli Brothers, Manne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Previn and Ernie Hughes share piano credit; I\u2019m guessing that Hughes took over for the July 1957 sessions, as I\u2019m pretty sure that,&nbsp;by then,&nbsp;Previn was already in Paris working on&nbsp;<em>Gigi<\/em>. (See below.) Previn sets the jangly tone for \u201cPoor People\u201d and stretches out a little on the classically-tinged \u201cSmooth,\u201d but is otherwise part of the band. Hell of a band, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/19-Smooth.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Elmer Bernstein: \u201cSmooth\u201d (1957)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The vogue for jazz-informed Hollywood film scores grew throughout the 1950s, led by composers like Bernstein, Alex North (<em>A Streetcar Named Desire<\/em>, 1951), Kenyon Hopkins (<em>Baby Doll<\/em>, 1956), and even Duke Ellington himself (<em>Anatomy of a Murder<\/em>, 1959). That Previn, eminently qualified for such a score but still beholden to MGM\u2019s luxe aesthetic, did not get his chance to join this roster until <em>The Subterraneans<\/em>, recorded in 1959, perhaps contributed to his eventual discontent with the movie business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shelly Manne &amp; His Friends:&nbsp;<em><strong>Modern Jazz Performances of Songs from Li\u2019l Abner<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(Contemporary, 1957) (recorded February 1957)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Previn, Vinnegar, and Manne followed up their&nbsp;<em>My Fair Lady<\/em>&nbsp;success by taking on the&nbsp;<em>other<\/em>&nbsp;hit musical of 1956, a Michael Kidd-directed adaptation of Al Capp\u2019s satirical comic strip that ran for 693 performances on Broadway. But Gene De Paul and Johnny Mercer\u2019s score is a very different beast than Lerner and Loewe\u2019s, the music very much in utilitarian, serviceable service of Mercer\u2019s twisty, funny lyrics. By all accounts, the show was a fine time; on their own, the tunes don\u2019t have nearly the profile or presence of Loewe\u2019s string of jewels. The album comes off as a series of very loose excuses for the trio to rehearse a particular style or mood. The best moments are the weirdest: a Previn celesta solo on \u201cUnnecessary Town\u201d; Previn\u2019s nearly avant-garde selection of colliding grooves and keys in \u201cProgress Is the Root of All Evil\u201d; and, most far-out of all, the pull-it-apart-and-put-it-back-together rhumba of \u201cOh, Happy Day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube contain-video wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Oh, Happy Day\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/v0hUmbiVnAo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not every track clicks, but the trio\u2019s chromium-steel polish is constant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This was Vinnegar\u2019s last recording in a trio with Previn and Manne&nbsp;(unless it was Vinnegar on Previn\u2019s 1958 Fats Waller album; see below). One listens in vain for any sort of musical dissatisfaction;&nbsp;and&nbsp;Previn and Vinnegar would&nbsp;work&nbsp;as fellow sidemen on several dates in the future. Instead, the success of&nbsp;their&nbsp;<em>My Fair Lady&nbsp;<\/em>album&nbsp;may have had something to do with the end of the collaboration.&nbsp;David Baker, who&nbsp;had known&nbsp;Vinnegar in Indianapolis, <a href=\"https:\/\/americanhistory.si.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/file-uploader\/David%20N.%20Baker%20SI-NEA%20oral%20history%20%282%29.pdf\">recalled&nbsp;some friction<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote blockquotecustom is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>[Vinnegar]&nbsp;had a big hit with&nbsp;<em>My Fair Lady<\/em>\u2026. I remember Leroy telling me much later that\u2014obviously, and it was justified, because sidemen don\u2019t get royalties;&nbsp;the royalties go to the leader or to the people who write the music\u2014I can remember&nbsp;[him]&nbsp;starting to get a little bitter then. Leroy said in an article, \u201cCan\u2019t work in L.A. unless you\u2019re a man, a friend,\u201d or whatever it was, because it was Shelly Manne and His Men, Shorty Rogers and His Giants\u2014yeah, yeah, \u201ca man, a friend, or a giant.\u201d [laughter] It probably had some truth to it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Previn had his movie work to fall back on, but, for freelancers, the economics were not so forgiving. Indeed, Vinnegar would release his first recording as a leader the following year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Andr\u00e9 Previn &amp; Russ Freeman:&nbsp;<em><strong>Double Play!<\/strong><\/em><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>(Contemporary, 1957) (recorded April-May 1957)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Freeman was a go-to West Coast pianist who recorded and played with&nbsp;a bunch&nbsp;of the scene\u2019s stars that Previn didn\u2019t\u2014Art Pepper, Maynard Ferguson, and, especially, Chet Baker. One point of connection was Manne: Freeman was one of the drummer\u2019s Men. This baseball-themed album of duets (backed by&nbsp;Manne, keeping the proceedings on rhythmic track) is, thus, a display of like-minded showing off. The opening \u201cTake Me Out to the Ball Game\u201d starts off both intriguing and not, with some compellingly murky harmonies interrupted by Previn bumping up the tempo with&nbsp;a favorite (and, if you\u2019ve been listening to as much Previn as I have, excessively familiar) blues-bop riff. But the album turns out to be fine listening. While many two-piano jazz efforts can devolve into more-is-more density, Previn and Freeman each show a real sense of and appreciation for space and transparency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Also distinguishing the album is that most of the&nbsp;numbers&nbsp;are originals, four from Freeman and three from Previn. Overgeneralizing a little, Freeman writes tunes and Previn writes songs, the former giving the musicians a course to run, the latter an object to tease apart. To put it another way: Previn\u2019s compositions are practically crying out for lyrics. Any group in search of an unfairly-forgotten ballad might check out Previn\u2019s \u201cCalled on Account of Rain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube contain-video wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Called on Account of Rain\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vQ2BYrREgJs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The blues continues to be both crisis and opportunity:&nbsp;\u201cIn the Cellar Blues\u201d (according to the liner notes, improvised on the spot at the recording session) puts a few too many quotation marks around the form, but Freeman\u2019s blues-based \u201cFungo\u201d is more interesting, with Previn actually&nbsp;fashioning&nbsp;the more&nbsp;lucid and convincing solo. The whole record is a nice example of the sort of spontaneous arranging-in-real-time that, one suspects, most strongly drew Previn to jazz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Les Brown and His Band of Renown:&nbsp;<em><strong>Composer\u2019s Holiday<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(Capitol, 1958) (recorded&nbsp;June&nbsp;1957)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For this album of all-new original tunes, big-band stalwart Brown tapped an interesting cross-section of film composers, West Coast artisans, and swing pros: Frank Comstock, Elmer Bernstein, Marty Paich, Dominic Frontiere, and so on. Previn\u2019s contribution, \u201cNight Blooming Jazz Man,\u201d is a lot of Kenton-esque sound and flurry signifying the beginning of an album or, maybe, a concert: loud and brassy and fast-moving enough to grab your attention, but perhaps not so intricate or melodically valuable to waste on those listeners still finding their seats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube contain-video wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Les Brown &amp; his Band of Renown - Night Blooming Jazz Man\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Xyow2ie_vbs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Andr\u00e9 Previn &amp; His Pals:&nbsp;<em><strong>Modern Jazz Performances Of Songs From Pal Joey<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(Contemporary, 1957) (recorded October 1957)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Adding&nbsp;another entry to&nbsp;the book-musical-survey&nbsp;ledger&nbsp;(and, perhaps, having learned a lesson from&nbsp;<em>Li\u2019l Abner<\/em>),&nbsp;Previn and Manne&nbsp;mined<em>&nbsp;<\/em><em>Pal Joey<\/em>\u2019s<em>&nbsp;<\/em>rich vein of Rodgers and Hart gold, first heard on Broadway back in 1940, conveniently revived in 1957 via Columbia Pictures\u2019 film version.&nbsp;Their&nbsp;new bassist was Red Mitchell, who had been working steadily among the West Coast jazz players since the early 50s, recording with Bob Brookmeyer, touring with Gerry Mulligan, and (perhaps most importantly to Previn and Manne) spending a couple of years in a trio with Hampton Hawes and drummer Chuck Thompson.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hawes was one of Contemporary\u2019s stars. (According to Hawes\u2019 memoir, after his tumultuous army stint in Japan, Hawes was literally steered to the label by Shelly Manne after a chance meeting on the street.) The Hawes-Mitchell-Thompson trio had&nbsp;released three critically-acclaimed albums, then another three with guitarist Jim Hall (all recorded in a single session). Three months after recording&nbsp;<em>Pal Joey<\/em>, Mitchell and Manne would join Barney Kessel to back Hawes on&nbsp;<em>Four!<\/em>. The comparison with Previn\u2019s recordings with the same personnel is almost apples to oranges. Previn\u2019s swing is a clean surface, and when he veers away from it, it\u2019s to fill up time on a macroscopic level. It\u2019s a kind of Newtonian sense of rhythm, in contrast with Hawes\u2019 quantum approach, deeply inside the beat, generating a powerful swing by microscopically&nbsp;varying&nbsp;orbits around the tempo.&nbsp;The articulation is very similar but still very different. As a teenager, Hawes had been playing with Charlie Parker while Previn was still emulating Nat Cole, and Hawes\u2019 rhythm and touch are bound up at a molecular level. Previn, as noted, created his own hybrid by grafting bebop articulation onto lines that evolved out of Cole\u2019s style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the future, Previn will continue to lean more and more on that dimension of touch and accent. On his first outing with Mitchell, though, Previn&nbsp;opts for a light, detached touch almost throughout, contributing to the&nbsp;album\u2019s&nbsp;cross-hatched texture.&nbsp;(It\u2019s almost like a texturally simpler version of Tatum\u2019s firmly-etched but delicate sound.)&nbsp;Mitchell proves to be a busier player than Vinnegar,&nbsp;and perhaps Previn is responding to that, giving many of the tracks a more contrapuntal feel: \u201cThat Terrific Rainbow,\u201d for example (featuring some expansive bass solos), or the dual-feel drive of \u201cWhat Is a Man?\u201d On the ballads, Previn seems to be more in his film-arranger vein\u2014\u201cI\u2019m Talkin\u2019 to My Pal,\u201d being a prime example,&nbsp;a simple, straightforward statement without much in the way of \u201cmodern jazz interpretation.\u201d His take on \u201cBewitched\u201d&nbsp;(which diverges completely from his earlier takes, on&nbsp;<em>By Request<\/em>&nbsp;and Pell\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Love Story<\/em>)&nbsp;is a little more complex: very little of Previn\u2019s usual \u201cjazzy\u201d style, but unspooling a seemingly inexhaustible thread of harmonic shadings and improvised melody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube contain-video wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Rodgers \/ Hart \/ Andre Previn, 1957: Bewitched - Shelley Manne, Red Mitchell Trio\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Hjp2RE1wVIg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&nbsp;ability to spin swatches of pop-song mood,&nbsp;pretty much at will, is going to mark more and more of Previn\u2019s work in the studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Peggy King and the Andr\u00e9 Previn Trio:&nbsp;<em><strong>The Navy Swings<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(Sounds of Yesteryear, 2009) (recorded autumn 1957)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another set of AFRS programs, this one interesting for a couple of reasons. The first is the presence of Peggy King, late-era big-band singer and early-era television star. King and Previn were an item\u2014they were engaged for a time after Previn\u2019s marriage to Betty Bennett ended\u2014but they hardly ever worked together, at least on record; King was under contract with Columbia, where resident A&amp;R guru Mitch Miller kept her on a tight leash, limiting her repertoire to satiny girl-next-door pop. Previn did arrangements for King\u2019s nightclub shows, though, and the pair did record a couple of sides together, both orchestral-sweet, both songs from fairy-tale television musicals: \u201cHe Never Looks My Way,\u201d from Jerry Livingstone and Helen Deutsch\u2019s 1956 version of&nbsp;<em>Jack and the Beanstalk<\/em>, and, more notably, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3wLG4dQov44\">\u201cIn My Own Little Corner\u201d<\/a> from Rodgers and Hammerstein\u2019s 1957&nbsp;<em>Cinderella<\/em>. But these shows are (to the best of my knowledge) King and Previn\u2019s only recorded jazz collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The recordings are also the first of what will soon become Previn\u2019s standard trio, with Red Mitchell and drummer Frank Capp. Previn was the one who brought <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moderndrummer.com\/2017\/09\/frank-capp\/\">Capp to Los Angeles.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote blockquotecustom is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>I got into the studios through Andr\u00e9 Previn. I was working at the Sahara in Vegas with Dorothy Dandridge. Andr\u00e9 was working in the lounge, and we\u2019d hang out together. In those days every studio in Los Angeles had its own contract orchestra. That means that they had between sixty and seventy-five musicians who had signed contracts to play for the studio. At the time I got back to L.A. from Vegas, someone had just retired from the Warner Brothers orchestra. Andr\u00e9 called Ray Heindorf\u2014who was the conductor of the orchestra\u2014and said, \u201cI\u2019ve got a drummer for you.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the 50s went on, Previn played more and more jazz with Capp, largely because Previn liked to tour but Shelly Manne didn\u2019t,&nbsp;and eventually, Capp would take over permanently. (<em>Plus \u00e7a change<\/em>: one of Capp\u2019s first major gigs was taking over Manne\u2019s spot in the Kenton band.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The fifteen-minute episodes of <em>The Navy Swings<\/em> (Previn and King recorded four) didn\u2019t leave all that much room to musically stretch out,&nbsp;the guests&nbsp;fitting four numbers around banter with, and Navy recruiting pitches from, host George Fenneman (best known as Groucho Marx\u2019s announcer\/foil on <em>You Bet Your Life<\/em>). The trio\u2019s instrumental selections&nbsp;are mostly drawn from the \u201cFriends\u201d and \u201cPals\u201d records\u2014the first outing,&nbsp;<em>My Fair Lady<\/em>,&nbsp;the just-recorded&nbsp;<em>Pal Joey<\/em>\u2014with a few others, including \u201cWho\u2019s on First\u201d from <em>Double Play!<\/em> (here still called \u201cDouble Header,\u201d putting the recording date sometime between that album\u2019s recording and release) and a version of \u201cHoneysuckle Rose\u201d that\u2019s intriguing on forensic grounds (see 1958\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Andr\u00e9 Previn Plays Fats Waller<\/em>). But they\u2019re all limited to a single chorus of soloing (mostly Previn, though Mitchell&nbsp;gets a shout-out and a&nbsp;spotlight on \u201cI Could Write a Book\u201d).&nbsp;The numbers with King are the highlight, her gauzy croon playfully flirting with a brassier belt, Previn\u2019s accompaniments using less of his usual harmonic legerdemain and more creative voicing and textures: brightly swinging versions of \u201cI\u2019m Beginning to See the Light\u201d and \u201cIt\u2019s Alright with Me,\u201d a pedal-to-the-floor \u201cMad About the Boy,\u201d a languorous \u201cHappiness Is a Thing Called Joe,\u201d and a&nbsp;deft, deceptively straightforward \u201cBewitched.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/13-Bewitched.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption>Peggy King and Andr\u00e9 Previn<em>: <\/em>\u201cBewitched\u201d (1957)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pete Rugolo:&nbsp;<em><strong>Percussion at Work<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(EmArcy, 1958) (recorded November 1957)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPete prefers to think of this as an abstract album of interesting sounds rather than specifically as a jazz set,\u201d Leonard Feather wrote&nbsp;in his liner notes.&nbsp;Actually, this might be the jazziest of Rugolo\u2019s hi-fi spectaculars, largely devoted to songs he originally wrote for the Kenton band in the 40s, now expanded and re-recorded in the most splendid of stereo.&nbsp;It\u2019s also an excuse to triple- and quadruple-down on drummers: Larry Bunker, Shelly Manne, and Mel Lewis all appear, often at the same time, and John Costanzo\u2019s bongos are invariably high in the mix.&nbsp;To be sure, there\u2019s no shortage of angular, abstract sounds, but the sounds then casually slide into&nbsp;swinging&nbsp;solos by Bunker, or&nbsp;Don Fagerquist,&nbsp;or, especially, Previn, who contributes the majority of the album\u2019s straight-ahead jazz passages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Previn\u2019s&nbsp;improvisations&nbsp;are&nbsp;sharp and&nbsp;searching. On Rugolo\u2019s \u201cFugue for Rhythm Section,\u201d Previn shifts into his solo with an elegant shrug, then examines his ideas with an appraiser\u2019s&nbsp;expert&nbsp;eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube contain-video wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Pete Rugolo - Percussion at work (1958)  Full vinyl LP\" width=\"533\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vdeJlJL2hy8?start=249&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even&nbsp;on&nbsp;the obligatory thrown-together blues (here called \u201cFunky Drums,\u201d jointly credited to Previn, Bunker, Manne, Lewis, and Rugolo)&nbsp;Previn\u2019s bag-of-riffs approach shows&nbsp;a nice, slightly-pixilated&nbsp;restraint. The whole album is much of a muchness, but Previn\u2019s contributions are intelligent respites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(As an aside, this record, like Rugolo\u2019s other, similar efforts, hints at the way the Kenton\/West Coast style infiltrated&nbsp;thenew medium&nbsp;of&nbsp;television. If you&nbsp;had&nbsp;told me that&nbsp;<em>Percussion at Work<\/em>&nbsp;was a collection of cues for say,&nbsp;<em>Lost in Space<\/em>\u2014which featured some of the best and wildest music ever to make it to the small screen\u2014I\u2019d believe it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/interlude-on-influence\/\">\u2190 <em>Previous: Interlude: On Influence<\/em><\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/1958-2\/\"><em>Next: 1958<\/em> \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In stride, in flux. Elmer Bernstein:&nbsp;Blues and Brass&nbsp;(Decca, 1958) (recorded January, February,&nbsp;July&nbsp;1957) Elmer Bernstein\u2019s score to Otto Preminger\u2019s 1955 film\u00a0The Man with the Golden Arm\u00a0seemed to make the composer an overnight success\u2014that\u2019s the phrase the liner notes for this album adopts\u2014but, in reality, Bernstein had spent a few years languishing among\u00a0B-movies\u00a0after\u00a0refusing\u00a0to name names before the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/1957-2\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;1957&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-137","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":572,"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/137\/revisions\/572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sohothedog.com\/previnjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}